Li Haichao always wanted to go back more than 3,000 years ago.
When he was no longer the leading teacher of the Sichuan University archaeological team at the Sanxingdui excavation site, the archaeological greenhouse he was in disappeared, vicissitudes of life, and restoration.
In the splendid ancient Shu Kingdom, he may be the high priest who is presiding over the ceremony. The wind is howling from the wilderness. Those questions that have excited and frustrated him for a long time now finally have the answer.
"Who among us here has never thought of going back to more than 3,000 years ago?" 27-year-old Xu Danyang also wanted to return to the ancient Shu Kingdom. The "Pit Chief" who participated in the new round of excavations at the Sanxingdui site, There are two deep dimples when he smiles.
For a long time, he stared at the bronze statue of a man with his head turned and kneeling that he had dug up by himself: with a Chinese character face, prominent cheekbones, sword eyebrows, and almond eyes, "Is this the ancient Shu people from a thousand years ago?"
——This is Sanxingdui, no matter how curious you are, it can surpass the Sanxingdui you imagine.
Since the launch of a new round of archaeological excavations on September 6, 2020, more than 11,000 numbered cultural relics have been unearthed in 6 newly discovered "sacrificial pits".
This May, on the banks of the Yazi River in Guanghan, Sichuan, the Sanxingdui archaeological greenhouse was peaceful.
A few hundred meters away, the new Sanxingdui Museum has broken ground, and the bronze mythical beast unearthed in the No. 3 "Sacrificial Pit" will meet the audience for the first time.
And Li Haichao, Xu Danyang and their partners enjoyed spending a whole day in the sacrificial pit, with the soil and utensils right in front of them, and no one could disturb them.
1
bond with the river
Li Haichao stared at the sacrifice pit in front of him for a long time. He knew clearly, "The current excavation is just the tip of the iceberg. It needs to be continued by generations of archaeologists. There will be more surprises to be continued."
At first glance, Li Haichao is a serious scholar.
A tall, unsmiling man from Inner Mongolia, his shirt was always clean and ironed, even in the dusty archaeological site.
As the youngest professor at the School of Archaeology, Culture and Museology, Sichuan University, he arrived at Sanxingdui almost along the purest and idealistic path.
"It seems that all the choices in life before are to make this moment happen." Li Haichao counted. When he was young, he entered the history base class of Wuhan University. Appointed to Sichuan University, he has never been to Sichuan before.
Shortly after he came to Sichuan, Sichuan officially issued the "Implementation Plan for the Protection and Inheritance of Ancient Shu Civilization", and formulated development goals such as "establishing a relatively complete ancient Shu civilization protection and inheritance system in 2025".
In this context, Sanxingdui restarted the exploration of the sacrificial area and discovered 6 new sacrificial pits in one fell swoop.
"Dream" became his summary of his encounter with Sanxingdui.
In this re-excavation, Li Haichao was the "pit leader" of the sacrificial pits No. 5, 6 and 7.
He will use the tone of his parents to evaluate the "pits" he is responsible for, "Although pit 5 is the smallest, it has been refreshing our cognition since the very beginning. The most complicated in the pit." There are also pits 6 and 7. "Pit 6 appears in the northwest corner of pit 7 with a broken relationship. The two pits were formed in a sequence of times, and there are pits on top of them, so it is very difficult to excavate. ."
Several pits did not have a "safety", but each one made him happy.
In Pit 5, a small piece of gold foil hidden in the soil was unearthed, which was inconspicuous.
The more it was cleaned up, the bigger it felt, and it felt like it was a big thing. Then, an ear-like outline was revealed, "We suddenly realized that it is a golden mask!" Gradually, when the soil was removed little by little, half of the golden mask surprised the world. , "This is the first significant artifact since the entire re-excavation."
"The excitement at that time is really indescribable in words." Li Haichao's thoughts rushed along with it - did the old man who dug the No. 6 pit know that there is still No. 7 pit below, the well-ordered wooden box, carbonized badly , there is silk in the box, is the text ready to come out?
In fact, the excavation of Sanxingdui has already become a relay of interdisciplinary research.
Under the new exploration of archaeological excavation and cultural relics protection at the same time, the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology has joined forces with 39 domestic scientific research institutions and colleges represented by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Peking University and Sichuan University.
Li Haichao stared at the sacrifice pit in front of him for a long time. He knew clearly, "The current excavation is just the tip of the iceberg. It needs to be continued by generations of archaeologists. There will be more surprises to be continued."
2
moment of concentration
"That was the first time that a large mask has been seen by modern people in more than 3,000 years. I saw it." Huo Jiaxing is a graduate student from Sichuan University. This scene strengthened his determination to continue his career in archaeology.
In fact, for the entire Chinese archaeological community, the new round of archaeological excavations in Sanxingdui has carried the expectation of representing the highest level of Chinese archaeology in the 21st century from the very beginning.
"There are several generations of Chinese archaeologists here." Xu Danyang was admitted to Peking University with the second-best college entrance examination score in the city.
In the Sanxingdui archaeological greenhouse, he could almost meet everyone in his division.
As the youngest "pit leader", Xu Danyang is most afraid of others calling him a genius.
After graduation, he came to the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology as an assistant librarian.
The new round of excavations in Sanxingdui is the first large-scale archaeological project he deeply participated in, and the growth is also silent.
In the past two years, he remembered the natural awe of his partners in the face of civilization and history, the tacit understanding of the team under the protection instinct, and the holding of breath and caution in every cultural relic extraction...
On June 23, 2021, the bronze mask was officially extracted.
When it was time for the extraction, all the excavation cabin staff, the media, and the documentary filming team crowded into Pit 3. The excited, whispered discussions that could not be suppressed, gradually became quiet as the machinery slowly ascended, and everyone held their breaths until The moment it was successfully packed into the cultural relic box, applause broke out at the scene.
This is a moment of concentration that belongs to Xu Danyang, and it is also a moment remembered by many young archaeologists.
"That was the first time that a large mask has been seen by modern people in more than 3,000 years. I saw it." Huo Jiaxing is a graduate student from Sichuan University. This scene strengthened his determination to continue his career in archaeology.
In the face of such a magnificent and grand history, the wind was moving at that time, and the heart was moving at this time.
At such a moment of concentration, at each "sacrificial pit" excavation site, everyone involved can tell a lot.
Young archaeologists describe their daily mood by opening a "blind box". For them, the common label of "Sanxingdui archaeologists" is enough to make them cherish each other across regions and professions.
Order, awe and inheritance flow in the 2,000-square-meter archaeological greenhouse.
Once, after visiting the Palace Museum, Wang Xudong stood outside the archaeological greenhouse and sighed: "I was deeply shocked by the open and tolerant attitude and style of the Sichuan archaeological and cultural and expo circles."
3
Beyond archaeology
Li Haichao believes that people's enthusiasm for Sanxingdui is a manifestation of cultural self-confidence. "An individual person needs to have memory, and the same is true for a country and a nation."
Openness and inclusion are beyond archaeology.
Sanxingdui is like a young man running in the ancient Shu civilization.
On the Internet, Sanxingdui Museum has more than 4 million fans.
Netizen Caiqian used a piece of 500 grams of gold to imitate the gold mask unearthed in Pit 5.
A few months later, he imitated the 1.4-meter-long Sanxingdui golden rod excavated in Pit No. 1 in 1986.
Everyone loves Sanxingdui, which made this group of archaeologists a little unexpected.
Xu Danyang, a self-proclaimed "people in the peach blossom garden", had the experience of being interviewed by the media for the first time.
Li Haichao's feeling is more intuitive. Since Sanxingdui's "shangxin" has brought about a rise in the surrounding housing prices, the landlord of the archaeological team in Guanghan wants to sell the house while it is hot.
So, he took the team members to move, and while carrying the quilt into the car, he sighed, "For the first time, I felt the impact of the archaeological project on the place."
Li Haichao believes that people's enthusiasm for Sanxingdui is a manifestation of cultural self-confidence. "An individual person needs to have memory, as does a country and a nation." Therefore, when the significance of Sanxingdui has been extended to public archaeology, this Help the archaeologists who are accustomed to silence begin to walk in front of people.
In Sichuan, from universities to research institutes, hundreds of popular science lectures on Sanxingdui archaeology have been held online and offline. contact, and even an introduction to scientific archaeology.
Such a lecture changed Li Haichao quietly.
In the past, he was immersed in his own research, concerned with the boundaries of personal life and work.
Now, he will seriously explain the rules of conduct in lectures for high school students, "If you have done archaeology, you can't get involved with things related to the sale of cultural relics." Refused, and hurried back to the excavation site.
Similarly, there is Xu Danyang.
He probably calculated that since the start of a new round of excavations in Sanxingdui, he has participated in more than 100 public archaeological activities.
He is always full of joy to share, and he will also face questions, "I am helpless if I don't find words. Besides, words are very important, but archaeological work does not rely on words, and it does not mean that there are no words. Shu's understanding has stagnated."
4
find happiness
This summer, Ye Pan is about to become a civil servant, Huo Jiaxing plans to continue his studies, and Li Haichao has turned his research direction for the next 20 years to Sanxingdui... They are all serious about becoming a happy person.
Of course, understanding will not stagnate, and the dream of archaeologists is being passed on.
Recently, a graduate student told Li Haichao that he seemed to have finally touched a little archaeological "door".
Because it is an inter-professional postgraduate entrance examination, this student with a relatively weak foundation was confused and anxious at the beginning of the research.
Li Haichao took her to Sanxingdui, let her find interest in a little bit of digging, and then slowly expand into a research direction. This process is also called "getting started".
"So, my classmates and I are very lucky to be able to work in Sanxingdui." Since participating in the excavation, the archaeological team of Sichuan University has rotated nearly 70 students to participate in the field. Volunteers can fill up.
"At the site, people and history stare at each other, and details are all over the place." Li Haichao almost foresees that in the next few years or even more than ten years, there will be many undergraduate, graduate and doctoral thesis "salvage" from the Sanxingdui archaeological site. , "This has greatly improved the quality of students' papers and their understanding of the industry."
But on the other hand, he never taught his students to become archaeologists, "Being a happy person is the biggest premise."
And Huo Jiaxing, who is in his thirties, is preparing for the exam.
He majored in finance as an undergraduate, and after a few years of work after graduation, he resigned to prepare for the exam.
In the archaeological team of Sichuan University, he is older than his classmates, but he is always very happy, lying on the platform happily to clean up the utensils, "Holding up a piece of gold and a piece of jade in his own hands, he can feel the heaviness of history. "; Happy to be the driver of the team, "They are all female classmates, I have to take on the task of picking up and dropping off." He believes that youth is for trial and error. Now that he has found something he really likes, he will naturally do whatever he does with joy.
Huo Jiaxing's younger brother, Ye Pan, who graduated this year, has been admitted as a civil servant in Deyang City.
Three months before graduation, he seized the opportunity to come to the Sanxingdui archaeological site to participate in the excavation, which was a graduation gift he gave himself, "Maybe I will not be at the archaeological excavation site in the future, but I am still engaged in the field of cultural tourism, I will Guard Sanxingdui in another way."
The scope of protection can be expanded infinitely.
For Ran Honglin, director of the Sanxingdui Institute of Archaeology, the current challenge for Sanxingdui archaeologists is, "We need to consider what kind of research to do in the future and how to tell stories so that the public can truly appreciate how great Chinese civilization is."
Faced with the proposition of the times, everyone is making their own choices.
This summer, Ye Pan is about to become a civil servant, Huo Jiaxing plans to continue his studies, and Li Haichao has turned his research direction for the next 20 years to Sanxingdui... They are all serious about becoming a happy person.
Only Sanxingdui, the excavation work in the sacrificial area is still going on. As the top ten new archaeological discoveries in the country in 2021, it is forever young and always waiting to be revealed.
West China Metropolis Daily - Cover reporter Du Jiangxi Dai Zhuxin intern Man Yiting Photography Li Jiayu Liang Jiaqi