Editor's note:
The beauty of the national treasure, through ancient and modern times, is used to carry the Tao, and it is magnificent.
Behind each rare cultural relic is the ingenuity and wisdom of the ancients, engraved with the cultural genes of the Chinese nation, and witnessing the exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations.
Starting from January 11, 2023, China News Agency "East and West Questions" launched a series of plans for "Treasures of Town Halls" (1), using experts to explore the meaning of cultural relics and the stories behind them.
China News Agency, Guanghan, January 14th: Why is the Sanxingdui bronze statue called "the king of bronze statues in the world"?
——Interview with Chen Dean, a researcher at the Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology and the first director of the Sanxingdui Site Workstation
China News Agency reporter Yue Yitong
The bronze standing figure unearthed in the No. 2 sacrificial pit of the Sanxingdui site in 1986 is one of the "treasures of the town hall" of the Sanxingdui Museum.
This precious cultural relic is 260.8 centimeters in height, 180 centimeters in height (crown to sole), and weighs about 180 kilograms. It is the tallest and most complete bronze standing figure in existence, and it is also the largest bronze statue of a figure in the world at the same time. , Known as the "King of Bronze Statues in the World".
What is the true identity of the bronze statue?
What are your hands holding?
How does the bronze standing figure reflect the close connection between the ancient Shu civilization and the Central Plains civilization?
What kind of religious views did the ancient Shu people show?
As one of the excavators of the bronze standing statue, Chen De'an, a researcher at the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology and the first director of the Sanxingdui Site Workstation, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency's "East and West Questions".
The interview transcript is summarized as follows:
China News Agency reporter: Why is the bronze statue called "the king of bronze statues in the world"?
Chen De'an:
When the bronze standing figure was unearthed, it was broken into two parts, and it was lying on its back at the bottom of the pit with its hands raised high.
When the excavation of the sacrificial pit was coming to an end, everyone was very excited to unearth such a heavy object. We cleaned up the surrounding objects and soil before carefully lifting it out.
This utensil is inlaid and cast by segmental casting method. It has a hollow body and is divided into two parts: the figure and the base.
The portrait wears a high crown, and wears a three-layer garment with narrow sleeves and half-arms. The decorations on the garment are complicated and exquisite, mainly dragon patterns, supplemented by bird patterns, insect patterns, and eye patterns, etc., and a checkered belt on the body. decorated.
His hands are clasped in a hollow shape, and his arms are slightly encircled in front of his chest.
Wearing anklets and standing barefoot on a square base, the overall image is dignified and dignified.
Sanxingdui Bronze Standing Figure.
Photo by Wang Lei
Such an important cultural relic is studied in the context of the bronze civilization of the Shang Dynasty in China or the bronze civilization of the world. Its characteristics are also very distinctive, the most prominent being its tallness.
From a deeper background, the ability to cast such a tall bronze figure in sections not only highlights the superb bronze casting skills of the ancestors of ancient Shu, but also shows the development of Chinese bronze civilization at that time.
Due to the addition of tin and lead to bronze, it has strong fluidity, which laid the material foundation for Chinese ancestors to cast complex bronzes. While Chinese bronze casting technology is becoming more and more mature, and it is constantly climbing the peak of skill and art, other civilizations in the world are still using red at the same time. Copper is used as the raw material of copper ware, and red copper can usually only be forged, and it cannot be cast with more complicated patterns or some hollow objects.
Under the background of the above era, it is also unique to look at the bronze standing figure from a global perspective. As the largest bronze figure statue in the world at the same time, it is well-deservedly known as the "king of bronze statues in the world".
Chen De'an and the Bronze Standing Figure.
Photo by Wang Lei
China News Agency reporter: What is the real identity of the bronze statue? What is it holding in its hands?
Chen De'an:
Judging from the structure of this bronze ware, the bottom is a trapezoidal base with four supporting "legs" above it, but this part shows the shape of a dragon's mouth wide open when viewed from four directions.
There is also a small platform above the dragon horn, and the bronze figure stands on this platform.
The bronze figure raises its hands, as if holding something, but what exactly is it holding?
There are different views in the industry, such as ivory, jade cong, and tooth Zhang.
As far as I am concerned, through the study of the gestures of the bronze figure unearthed in Sanxingdui, I think that this person did not hold anything, but imitated the shape of rising in the air, posing a ceremonial posture, implying that "he" is slowly Ascend, fly high into the sky to worship the gods.
The small platform on which the bronze statue stands is engraved with cloud patterns, bead patterns, and sun patterns, showing the scene of the sun rising from the sky and shining brightly.
The portrait stands on the platform, with a slender shape, as if standing on a cloud, and the hem of its clothes hangs down, giving people a rising dynamic.
Combined with the faucet on the platform, the feeling of rising is even stronger, highlighting the desire of the ancient Shu people to get as close to the gods as possible.
Bronze standing figure pedestal.
Photo by Li Huili
There are different opinions in the industry about the identity of the bronze portrait.
I think it might be a witch, but more like a king.
As far as the clothes it wears, the narrow sleeves and the left lapel, although worn in three layers, give people a sense of lightness and elegance. Combined with the silk unearthed from the sacrificial pit at the Sanxingdui site, it is likely to be silk products. This was a very luxurious material at the time.
There was also a tie, looped around the edge of the collar and knotted at the back, with a hole between the two knots, where I presume an ornament may have fallen.
The decorations on the clothes are complicated and exquisite, and the dragon patterns, animal face patterns, bird patterns, insect patterns and fret patterns are all clearly visible, which created a precedent for the emperor's clothing.
Part of a bronze standing figure.
Photo by Li Huili
The costumes and the image of being lifted into the air by a dragon clearly show his impressive status, and he has reached the level of an emperor.
Such a well-dressed figure with exquisite gowns must be a grand priest if he personally participates in the sacrificial ceremony.
And this bronze standing figure was placed in the ancestral temple. It is not difficult to speculate that offering sacrifices to the gods thousands of years ago was a solemn and frequent thing for the ancestors of ancient Shu.
China News Agency reporter: What kind of religious views do the ancient Shu people show in the bronze statues?
Chen De'an:
Looking at the various bronzes unearthed in Sanxingdui, it is not difficult to see that the ancestors of ancient Shu attached great importance to the worship and sacrifice of gods.
Through decades of analysis and research on the artifacts unearthed from the Sanxingdui site, I believe that the sacrificial behavior of the ancestors of Sanxingdui may be based on the appearance of meteorological and astronomical phenomena.
Take the "sun-shaped utensil" shaped like a steering wheel as an example. This utensil reflects the phenomenon of solar halo. Why was it built and placed in the Jongmyo for worship?
Because the ancient Shu people were in awe of this meteorological phenomenon.
In the era when farming was the main mode of production, the religious views of the ancestors of Sanxingdui were actually based on the observation of the whole world by generations. This is a characteristic of natural religions and the biggest difference between natural religions and man-made religions place.
When the ancients observed special natural phenomena that could not be explained by the natural science knowledge at that time, they regarded it as the descending of gods or the appearance of miracles, which led to sacrificial behaviors. The main purpose of their sacrificial offerings was to pray for good weather.
Taking the bronze standing statue as an example, such a distinguished "king" personally participated in the sacrifice, and attached great importance to the sacrifice, showing the worship of the gods by the ancient Shu ancestors of Sanxingdui from top to bottom, and the sacrifice based on this worship Behavior has formed a fairly complete set of systems.
This kind of god worship has also become the source of inspiration for them to cast the exquisite and complicated Sanxingdui bronzes full of ingenuity.
Part of a bronze standing figure.
Photo by Wang Lei
China News Agency reporter: How does the bronze statue reflect the close connection between the ancient Shu civilization and the Central Plains civilization?
Chen De'an:
The bead pattern and dragon pattern on the bronze statues first appeared in the Central Plains civilization, and the obvious sun god worship of the Sanxingdui ancestors actually appeared as early as the Hongshan Culture and other Neolithic cultures.
Many distinctive things in Sanxingdui are quite related to the civilization of the Central Plains.
Especially around 4,800 years ago, the entire Central Plains civilization was in a period of great change and integration, which also had an impact on the ancient Shu civilization.
In fact, the appearance of the unique tall bronze wares in Sanxingdui, including bronze standing figures, added a type in Chinese bronze civilization. From the casting details, it can be clearly seen that it is closely related to the civilization of the Central Plains, reflecting the Chinese civilization. of pluralism.
At the same time, a large number of bronze wares unearthed from the Sanxingdui site also reflect the casting skills and design creativity of ancient Shu people's bronze wares, which reached a new peak under the influence of Shang civilization.
Bronze wares were unearthed in Sanxingdui.
Chen Wenshe
This kind of peak is not only the peak of casting technology, but also the peak of artistic creation. It can be said that it is also a "sweet song through the ages" in the ancient Shu civilization.
Even today, the Sanxingdui Bronze Ware is a unique case and model in the world for the study of bronze portraits and even bronze wares.
(Finish)
Respondent profile:
Chen Dean, a researcher at the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and the first director of the Sanxingdui Site Workstation.
Photo by Wang Lei
Chen Dean, a researcher at the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology, and the first head of the Sanxingdui Site Workstation, has been engaged in work related to the Sanxingdui Site since 1980. It has been 42 years since then.