A Companion to Chinese Archaeology (Underhill/A Companion to Chinese Archaeology) || The Sanxingdui Culture of the Sichuan Basin

A Companion to Chinese Archaeology, First Edition. Edited by Anne P. Underhill.© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The Sanxingdui Culture of the Sichuan Basin

SUN Hua 孙华

The Sichuan basin is located in southwest China to the east of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. This well-formed basin is protected from the cold Siberian winds by the high plateau and a series of mountain chains which surround it. To some extent these mountains have also isolated the plain from outside contact, which means that for a considerable time the Sichuan basin was a relatively autonomous economic cultural area. Before this region was brought under the control of the Qin 秦 state in 316 BC , two ancient states previously occupied this area, called Ba 巴 and Shu 蜀 . The Ba-Shu culture dates from around 500 to 100 BC . The pre-Qin cultures of this region have distinct characteristics and are very different from other contemporaneous cultures, having formed a style of their own. Founded on the basis of a successive, enterprising tradition, this cultural system had strong, long-lasting continuity and stability. It was because of this high degree of stability that long after the Qin con-quered the states of Ba and Shu, the cultures in the region continued to maintain their distinctiveness.

Some of the historical information regarding the pre-Qin cultures in the Sichuan basin was preserved and recorded. It was transmitted by the Western Han historian Yang Xiong 揚雄 (53 BC to AD 18) in his work entitled Shu Wang Benji 蜀王本紀 ( Records of the King of Shu ) and by the Eastern Jin dynasty historian Chang Qu 常璩 ( AD 291–361) in the Huayang Guo Zhi 華陽國志 ( Record of the Kingdoms South of Mount Hua ). 1 These accounts are the only manuscripts outside of central and

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southeast China which record a pre-Qin genealogy of kings, and they reveal the deep-rooted and uninterrupted cultural tradition of the Sichuan basin.

The Sichuan basin is composed of three main natural zones: the Chengdu plain to the west, hills in the center, and the Three Gorges area to the east. The Chengdu plain is a fl at fertile area covered in a dense web of rivers, and this area has been a center of culture, economy and government since ancient times. The Chengdu plain was the ruling center of the ancient state of Shu and was the area for the establish-ment of earlier, large metropolitan sites, especially the urban centers of Sanxingdui 三星堆 located in the Guanghan area and Jinsha 金沙 (Shi ’ erqiao 十二桥 culture) in modern Chengdu city (Figure 8.1 ).

The succession of pre-Qin cultures in the Sichuan basin was also centered in the Chengdu plain. These start with the Neolithic Baodun 宝墩 culture ( c .2700–1750 BC : see Chapter 7 ), followed by the cultures of Sanxingdui ( c .1750–1200 BC ), Shi ’ erqiao ( c .1200–800 BC ), and Ba-Shu 巴蜀 ( c .500–100 BC ) which only slowly merged with the cultural traditions of the Qin (221–206 BC ) and Han (206 BC to

Figure 8.1 General geographic area of the Sanxingdui culture and the Shi ’ erqiao culture in Sichuan province.

THE SANXINGDUI CULTURE OF THE SICHUAN BASIN 149

AD 220) empires ( Sun 2000 ). Of these cultures, Sanxingdui had the greatest geo-graphic scope and the most distinctive cultural traits. It was precisely from the start of the Sanxingdui culture that cultures of the Sichuan basin begin to make contact with the cultures of the Central Plain, a process that brought the area into the Bronze Age. The earliest bronze-casting technology here occurred at this time, and a single urban center emerged at Sanxingdui. Starting from the Sanxingdui period, the unique features of the cultures of ancient Sichuan began to take form. Sanxingdui was a remarkable fl ourishing culture in the Yangzi river valley, opening a new page in the history of ancient cultures in Sichuan and in China as a whole. The culture of Sanxing-dui has attracted the attention of many scholars researching the Chinese Bronze Age. Research on Sanxingdui is especially important for understanding the relationship between the Bronze Age states that fl ourished in central China and the Shang state that was situated to the north.

HISTORY OF RESEARCH ON THE SANXINGDUI SITE AND CULTURE

Discovered in the spring of 1931, Sanxingdui was the fi rst prehistoric site in the Sichuan basin to attract the attention of scholars. A British missionary, V.H. Donithorne, received news that two years before in Guanghan county, while excavat-ing a cistern, a farmer named Yan had uncovered over 400 pieces of jade. (The cistern is located in what is referred to now as Yueliangwan 月亮湾 in the northern part of the Sanxingdui site.) Donithorne believed that the objects were extremely valuable. He collected a few of these jades and placed them in the care of the Museum of West China Union University, run by an American named David C. Graham. Following the clues provided by Donithorne, Graham, along with other scholars, carried out an excavation at the site in 1934. The rich results of this excavation lead Graham to introduce the term “Guanghan 广汉 culture” to describe these remains from what he believed was a culture from a non-Han ethnic group. 2 Graham believed that the site could date from the late prehistoric period to the beginning of the Zhou dynasty, around 1100 BC . Graham ( 1934 ) further believed that the characteristics of this culture revealed clear connections with respect to the prehistoric cultures of central and northern China. The newly appointed curator, Zheng Dekun 郑德坤 ( 1946 ), compared the remains found at Sanxingdui to those of other regions and identifi ed earlier and later components at the site. Despite having inadequate evidence he cor-rectly predicted what later archaeologists were able to demonstrate – that the later components, including the pit containing the jades, dated to the Shang–Zhou era. The observations of both individuals concerning connections between Sanxingdui and cultures of the Central Plain were essentially correct.

Sanxingdui is currently the largest pre-Qin site that has been discovered in the Sichuan basin. The exploration of the Sanxingdui culture was founded on the solid basis of the rich discoveries at Sanxingdui, much like research on cultures of the Central Plain after discoveries at Anyang (see Chapter 17 ). A major difference is that after the initial excavations at Sanxingdui were carried out in 1934, research there was unfortunately interrupted for a long period of time. It was only in 1956 that archaeological work resumed at Sanxingdui. Excavations were carried out at two separate locales within the site, Yueliangwan in the northern part of the site, and the

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other, named Sanxingdui, in the southern part of the site. Since the full extent of the site was not yet known, these two locales (Yueliangwan, Sanxingdui) were given the following names to indicate two separate sites: Hengliangzi 横梁子 and Sanxing-dui ( Wang and Jiang 1958 ). Later, a special survey was carried out by the history department of Sichuan University to build on the previous investigations at the site. The surveyors speculated that the locale of Sanxingdui, which is separated from Yueliangwan by the Mamu 马牧 river, formed part of the same site ( Sichuan Daxue 1961 ). This realization provided a basis for future work. In 1963, students and pro-fessors under the direction of Feng Hanji 冯汉骥 carried out more excavation at Yueliangwan. Their careful analysis identifi ed different stratigraphic layers with several house remains and burials. Feng recognized that the extensive remains at the Sanxing-dui site as a whole likely represented the capital of the ancient state of Shu ( Feng and Tong 1979 ). It is a pity that, for various reasons, this season of excavation is represented only by an extremely simple report, published in 1993 (see Sun 1993 ). Thus, research on the site of Sanxingdui was delayed for 30 years ( Ma 1992 ).

The Sanxingdui site truly began to attract attention from the scholarly world in the 1980s. From 1980 to 1986, The Sichuan Provincial Institute of Archaeology carried out six large-scale excavations in the southern area of the site, providing a more comprehensive understanding of the Sanxingdui site and culture. The fi rst large-scale excavations in the 1980s recovered over 10,000 artifacts from clearly identifi ed layers which allowed archaeologists to establish a relative chronology for the site. Scholars then recognized that the site of Sanxingdui could be divided into three major chronological periods ( SSWGW 1987a ). During the next two years, archaeologists from Sichuan province carried out more excavation at the site. The major result was the discovery of layers representing the fourth and latest period of occupation. This provided a solid basis for the understanding of cultural development at Sanxingdui. From this point onwards, research at Sanxingdui focused on questions such as the origins, development, and transformation of the culture and its relation-ship to other Bronze Age cultures. In 1986, another season of large-scale excavations took place at Sanxingdui, and then it was possible to establish detailed chronological relationships ( Chen Xiandan 1989 ).

It was also in 1986 that the two large, unusual pits were unexpectedly revealed. They contained large amounts of splendid bronzes, jades, gold and animal horns. It was not only the quantity of objects and the quality of their manufacture that sur-prised the world, but also the fact that many of these objects were of new types and forms. The sophisticated and diverse objects accelerated the development of research on the Sanxingdui culture ( SSWGW 1987b, 1989 ). These artifacts caused a sensation both at home and abroad, attracting the attention of the public and scholars alike. 3 Research during this period focused on the pits themselves and the objects they contained. As I explain later, there have been many discussions about the dating of these objects as well as their nature and ritual meaning, along with their cultural origins.

Between 1988 and 2005, researchers from the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Archaeology carried out eight additional seasons of large-scale excavations at Sanxing-dui. Based on information from prior seasons of research, the archaeologists suspected that the large earth embankments near the site may in fact have been the remains of a city wall. The research focus thus changed from understanding the sequence of


cultural deposits to the major features of the settlement. This involved a move to exposing larger horizontal areas of the site.

It was determined that the earthen ramparts to the east and to the west were in fact city walls contemporaneous with the Sanxingdui period (Figure 8.2 ). In addition, the southern portion of the wall was discovered, followed by identifi cation of its form, manner of construction, and date ( Chen De ’ an 1991, 1995 ). It was clear that the site of Sanxingdui was fl anked by walls on three sides. A wall to the north probably also existed but was destroyed by the Yazi 鸭子 river. At the same time, excavations in the north revealed a feature attached to the city wall that also formed the southern wall of an inner walled area at the settlement. The discovery of city walls made it possible to get a clearer understanding of the scale and organization of the site.

Then more excavations were carried out in the principal areas of the site. Three important kinds of information emerged about the organization of the site. First, the remains of a late Neolithic culture in the form of a few poorly preserved house remains were discovered below the city wall in the northern portion of the site. At the same time, remains postdating the site of Sanxingdui were found above the wall, thus allowing the temporal limits of the wall ’ s construction to be ascertained. Second, a cemetery outside the western city wall at Rensheng 仁胜 village was discovered with 28 earthen pit graves ( tukeng mu 土坑墓 ). This was the fi rst time that graves were identifi ed at the site. The excavations allowed us to gain a tentative understanding

Figure 8.2 Location of major sections of the Sanxingdui site.

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of burial ritual at the site ( SSKYS 1999 ). Third, in the high area of the northern part of the site known as Qingguanshan 青关山 , part of the foundations of a group of large-scale buildings were uncovered. For unknown reasons the full extent of these buildings was never excavated, but it appears other adjacent elevated areas also con-tained large-scale buildings.

After 1980, the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Archaeology carried out a total of 14 excavations at Sanxingdui. After almost 70 years from the date of discovery and 16 seasons of excavation, archaeologists demonstrated that Sanxingdui was no ordi-nary settlement; it was a large-scale capital city surrounded by a wall with large, palace-like buildings ( gongdian jianzhu 宫殿建筑 ) as well as ritual buildings.

Around the same time that excavations were being carried out in the 1980s by the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Archaeology at Sanxingdui, the Chengdu City Insti-tute of Archaeology began a series of archaeological investigations on the Chengdu plain. One of their main accomplishments was to demonstrate the existence of the late Neolithic Baodun 宝墩 culture in the area (see Chapter 7 ). They discovered a total of eight Baodun sites, revealing the origin of the Sanxindui culture as well as a late Neolithic regional center ( Jiang et al. 1997 ). Another important accomplish-ment was the discovery of the Shi ’ erqiao 十二桥 culture ( c .1200–800 BC ), postdating Sanxingdui. They also discovered the capital site of that culture – Jinsha 金沙 – thus providing evidence for development of a new center following the abandonment of the Sanxingdui site ( CSW and BDK 2002 ). Third, archaeologists discovered an Eastern Zhou period capital dating to around 600–300 BC under the old city wall of Chengdu city ( CSW 2002 ).

Archaeologists also have discovered cemeteries and caches contemporaneous with or slightly postdating the Sanxingdui site in the Three Gorges area near Chongqing 重庆 city and the Hanzhong 汉中 area of southern Shanxi province. These discoveries made it possible to research the relationship between Sanxingdui and that of sur-rounding cultures ( Zhao 1996 ). Another result is more effort by archaeologists to reconstruct the history of the Chengdu plain prior to the Qin invasion in 316 BC . There is a signifi cant lack of historical records from this area in comparison to central China. There is a risk involved in connecting legends to archaeological materials, and one must be extremely cautious in doing so.

MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SITE OF SANXINGDUI AND THE SANXINGDUI CULTURE

Many publications focus on the bronze and jade objects from the famous pits found at Sanxingdui, but it is important to provide more information about the site as a whole. It is only possible to provide a preliminary description of the site, however, because the major, concluding site report has not yet been published, and few struc-tures have been discovered.

There were three major phases of occupation at the settlement of Sanxingdui. During the fi rst phase representing the Neolithic Baodun culture, the site was not surrounded by a rammed-earth wall, but it was already the largest settlement in the Chengdu plain. Judging from the size, the site may have already been a regional center. In contrast to other areas of the Chengdu plain where walled sites were


occupied and then abandoned, the site of Sanxingdui was continuously occupied right up until the founding of the Sanxingdui period, Bronze Age, capital.

The second phase of occupation, the Bronze Age Sanxingdui culture dated around 1750–1200 BC , was the most prosperous. The construction of the wall brought together two areas that are now separated by a river, and the settlement increased in size. The different functional areas of the settlement became better defi ned, too. Palatial style buildings were constructed on the hills in the northern part of the site, and the southern part became an area dedicated to religion and ritual. Archaeologists have identifi ed two different sub-phases at the site. The early Sanxingdui phase ranges from about 1750–1400 BC . No high-quality bronze artifacts were unearthed from this phase. A bronze plaque ( shipai 饰牌 ) with turquoise inlay, however, may date to this phase. The jade industry was already considerably developed. Jades in the shape of ge 戈 dagger- axes, fu 斧 axes, bi 璧 disks, cong 琮 tubes, and other ritual objects are abundant.

The late Sanxingdui phase dates to around 1400–1200 BC . This phase is character-ized by an increase in bronze production and the production of more complex jade forms. Tall bronze zun 尊 vessels have been found in the center of the Sanxingdui cultural region and in neighboring regions. Jade ge dagger-axes began to be manu-factured with teeth along the sides of the blade (Figure 8.3 A). On the pointed end of some of these ge there was a forked and sharp opening, and some of these open-ings were even decorated with an engraving of a bird. Longer ge were produced as well. It appears that the construction of the wall surrounding the settlement began during this phase. As discussed below, our current data indicate that the two famous ritual pits mark the end of this phase.

During the third major period of occupation, the Shi ’ erqiao period, Sanxingdui went from a state of cultural fl uorescence to abrupt decline around 1200–1000 BC . The majority of inhabitants left the site, and their remains are concentrated in a small part of the northern area of the site. Sanxingdui became an ordinary settlement in the Chengdu plain, and a new regional capital was established at Jinsha.

Although our knowledge of the internal organization of Sanxingdui is not as clear as one would like, its basic structure can be described. In addition to fi nding a large wall around the settlement, archaeologists also discovered a moat. The preserved portion of the wall built of piled earth is over 40 m wide at the base and 20 m wide at the top. It is roughly 1,090 m long on the eastern side, 1,150 m long on the southern side, and 650 m long on the western side. The reconstructed city is trape-zoidal-shaped, narrower in the north and wider in the south, with an overall surface area of approximately 3.5 sq km.

The center of the Sanxingdui site is divided into northern and southern sections by the Mamu river. The centers of the northern portion are at the high points known as Xiquanliangzi 西泉梁子 and Yueliangwan, the area excavated in 1956. In addition, at the raised earthen area (mound) of Qingguanshan, excavators found remains of a large habitation area where there appears to have been a large structure, measuring over 50 m in length, given the surface area covered by postholes and earthen foundations. At the locales of Yueliangwan and the earthen mound at Cangbaobao 仓包包 , several caches containing jades were found, including a bronze plaque of inlaid turquoise that must have been some kind of personal adornment.

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Figure 8.3 Bronze and jade forms from the late Sanxingdui phase (not to scale): (A) jade ge dagger-axe; (B) bronze fi gures of divine beings with projecting eyes from pit K2 (showing proper proportions and original appearance); (C) bronze fi gure with braid-style ( bianfa ) hair; (D) bronze fi gure with holes for pin to tie up hair ( jifa ); (E) reconstructed bronze “sacred altar” from pit K2; (F) bronze fi gure from pit K1, possibly a person from an enemy state. ((A, C, D) Photographs by Sun Hua. (B, E, F) After SSWKY 1999 : 197, Figures 108–110; (E) also after SSWKY 1999 : 233–235, Figures 120, 129, 131–132; and Sun 2010 : 57, Figure 9; (F) also after SSWKY 1999 : 29, Figure 18.)


The center of the southern portion of the site is the locus of Sanxingdui, an area surrounded on three sides by the Mamu river. Three earthen mounds originally stood here, but today only half of one remains. These mounds originally looked like three stars in the sky, hence the origin of the name 三星堆 Sanxingdui, meaning “three star mound.” The two famous pits were found in the southwestern area of these mounds. As discussed below, they contained many bronze representations of deities, human fi gurines, bronze and gold scepters, and a bronze tree with deep spiritual meaning.

At the locale of Yueliangwan on one side of the Mamu river excavators found large scale buildings and abundant artifacts made from jade and bronze, suggesting that this area once contained palaces. The discovery of large numbers of ritual objects in the pits located at the Sanxingdui on the other side of the river led scholars to believe that this area was dedicated to ritual activities.

Residences of ordinary people have also been discovered at Sanxingdui. These houses constructed of wattle-and-daub were distributed around both the palatial and ritual areas. Most are square or rectangular in shape. For some, wattle-and-daub walls were used to subdivide the space into several rooms. These houses were rather large in size, with an average area of 15–30 sq m. There is even one house that has a surface area of over 200 sq m ( Chen De ’ an 1998 ).

The early Bronze Age urban center of Sanxingdui was by far the largest settlement with the highest population density that had ever developed in the Chengdu plain. Available data suggest that there were no sites of intermediate size between the capital of Sanxingdui and small-scale settlements. The political organization of the society appears to have been relatively simple. Sanxingdui served as the center and capital site of the culture, and a large number of small settlements served as the foundation of the society.

As discussed above, the administrative center and residences in the north were sepa-rated from the area devoted to ritual activities in the south by a natural river. Therefore the activities concerning daily life were separated from the activities associated with spiritual life. This may have been a system instituted by the earliest states of the Chengdu plain, since the later site of Jinsha also exhibits these characteristics.

We believe that the Rensheng area (Figure 8.2 ) was the primary cemetery of Sanxingdui. Very little material, however, has been uncovered from the graves. They are oriented to the northeast, basically aligned along the same axis as that of the set-tlement as a whole. The heads of the deceased are all oriented towards the river, and the single skeletons are in a supine and extended position. All of the graves are simple rectangular pits. It appears that there was originally a rich layer of organic material at their base, possibly representing the decomposed remains of grave furnishings. In roughly half of the graves, there was an offering of either a domestic animal or an elephant tusk. In the majority of cases, offerings are those of a large animal. In many grave there are also traces of cinnabar ( zhusha 朱砂 ). The few graves that have been excavated clearly show a tendency for people to bury objects made from jade or ivory.

Other fi nely made goods The ceramic, jade, and bronze objects from the Sanxingdui culture are especially noteworthy. The ceramic vessels have unique characteristics, including forms such as particular varieties of he 盉 pitchers and li 鬲 tripods, thin and tall dou 豆 stemmed

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dishes with handles, fl at-bottomed basins ( pingdi pen 平底盆 ), large ring-footed pan shallow dishes ( daquanzu pan 大圈足盘 ) , necked jars or bottles ( ping 瓶 ), and spoons with bird-shaped handles ( niaotouba shao 鸟头把勺 ). Gritty inclusions are visible on the exterior of the vessels. The excavators, however, believe that originally these objects were covered with a fi ne clay slip. Because the soil in the area is composed of extremely sticky clay, the slip must have degraded. Many pottery vessels are very tall and thin, with large mouths, large shoulders, and thin bases, features that give a feeling of top-heaviness and instability.

The art of jade-working was particularly developed at Sanxingdui. Finds of jade are extremely rare at Neolithic sites in the Sichuan basin. During the Sanxingdui period, however, jade objects become the most noticeable class of artifact. Jades can be divided into the categories of ritual objects, tools, and objects for personal adorn-ment. Some of the major forms of ritual objects are: ge dagger-axe-shaped objects ( gexingqi 戈形器 ), axe-shaped objects ( fuxingqi 斧形器 ), yue- shaped objects ( yue-xingqi 钺形器 ), bi disks and cong 琮 tubes. The varieties of axes are the most numer-ous, and they exhibit a number of unusual features which are not seen in other regions such as those with tips engraved with the design of a bird. There are also objects that have been called yazhang 牙璋 , distinguished by deep inner indentations forming a Y-shape ( Feng and Tong 1979 ) and complicated, toothed mid-sections. In addition, the variety of bi disks with pierced rectangular holes is unique to the site ( SSKYS 1998 ). There also are a large number of stone bi -disk-shaped objects which appear to imitate the jade objects. Another unusual characteristic of the Sanxingdui culture is that some stone bi disks are very large in diameter. There have been debates about the function of the bi disks since they were fi rst noted by Graham in 1934 (see Dye 1930 ; Feng and Tong 1979 ; Zhang 1979 ).

The bronzes unearthed at Sanxingdui have attracted considerable attention. The most unusual pieces are the bronze sculptures, which can be divided into sculptures of humans (including sculptures of divine beings), sculptures of animals (including imaginary animals), sculptures of plants, and composite models.

Sculptures of humans are the most numerous. There are sculptures of divine beings with large pointed ears and protruding eyes (Figure 8.3 B), sculptures and masks of real humans (Figure 8.3 C–D) and possibly ritual specialists of life-like dimensions, and small sculptures of humans. In terms of design, there are full body sculptures, half-body sculptures, sculptures of heads, faces, and large numbers of eyes and eye-balls made from bronze. It is clear that certain pieces, like the large standing bronze men, would have been presented as stand-alone fi gures. The bronze heads would have had to be placed either on a body made out of wood or on a wooden pillar. It is possible that the very large bronze faces were originally part of a much larger wooden sculpture. Some of the characteristic bronze eyes could have been placed on the walls of a temple.

With respect to animal sculptures, there are dragons, snakes, birds (the most common), tigers, and animal masks. In terms of the representations of plants, there are two large sculptures of trees, a few small sculptures of trees, and a few portraying fl owers and leaves. The only example of a composite sculpture is what we have called a “sacred altar” ( tongshentan 铜神坛 : Figure 8.3 E).

The bronze sculptures of human faces appear to have been produced with a great deal of uniformity. They all have long faces with wide brows and large eyes, along


with wide fl at lips with upturned corners forming a mysterious smile. The bodies of these individuals are all thin and lanky with disproportionately large and chunky hands. The most numerous forms of bronze containers are zun 尊 and lei 罍 , but a number of bu 瓿 jars and pan 盘 shallow dishes also were found. The zun jar appears to have held a special ritual function in the lives of the people at Sanxingdui. These zun jars may have played an important role as an intermediary in communication between the secular and the divine, judging from an object unearthed in the second large pit which seems to show kneeling men and mythical beasts with four ritual specialists carrying a zun -like object ( Sun 2010 ).

THE TWO LARGE PITS FOUND AT SANXINGDUI

The two famous pits discovered in 1986 at Sanxingdui are without a doubt the most distinctive and controversial features of the site ( SSWKY 1999 ). The location within the large site of Sanxingdui originally called “Sanxingdui” where these pits were discovered was an area characterized by raised earthen mounds built by people. Pits were dug on top of the raised area and fi lled with objects that had a deep religious meaning. It is clear that this area must have been the ritual center of the settlement. My colleagues and I estimate that each of the mounds in the area was originally 200 m long. Today the remaining height of the raised area is about 10 m above the current ground surface. It is the highest in elevation in the southern portion of the site. The Mamu river has destroyed the entire western portion. Consequently, the location once called “Sanxingdui” stands out in contrast to the surrounding area when viewed from the banks of the river.

The two famous pits, named K1 and K2, are situated on the southwestern corner of the raised area. The excavators discovered there was a ramp leading into the south-eastern corner of pit K1. Also, outside pit K2 but in a contemporary layer there were traces of a structure (called F1). The two pits are rectangular in shape, with neatly dug walls. Pit K1 measures 4.57 m by 3.39 m and is 1.46 m by 1.64 m deep. Pit K2 is 5.30 m by 2.25 m and 1.40 m by 1.68 m deep. Despite the fact that the two pits are spaced 30 m apart, they are oriented along the same axis at 125° (i.e., to the southeast). After the construction of the pits was fi nished, two types of objects were placed in the pits: objects which had either been previously burned, or those which were not burned. They were then covered with burnt bone and ash. It is evident that whoever needed to bury these objects did so with a great deal of preparation and care.

There is quite a disparity with respect to the quantity of items placed in each pit. The volume of pit K1 was 20.4 cu m, whereas pit K2 had a capacity of 17.1 cu m. The quantity and diversity of objects unearthed in pit K2, however, are much greater than for pit K1. Also, the objects placed in pit K1 (420 in total) only occupied a portion of the fl oor of the pit. In pit K2, not only did the 1,300 objects fully cover the fl oor of the pit, but they were placed in layers on top of each other. Several scholars have pointed out that aside from the bronze sculptures, these pits may also have contained sculptures made of wood. Even though pit K1 contained fewer objects than pit K2, this pit also contained large amounts of wood charcoal, possibly indicating the pres-ence at one time of a larger number of wooden sculptures in K1. This analysis should

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be correct, as some of the bronze heads still had pieces of wood adhering to their interior. A number of the bronze heads in pit K1 had been subjected to a very high temperature fi re and as a result had partially melted (such as objects K1:7, K1:26, K1:72). It is inside these heads that the traces of wood were discovered.

The objects in the two different pits appear to come from two different areas, and there are no objects that can be pieced together from the two different pits. There are additional differences between these two pits. The fi rst pit contained a golden staff ( zhang 杖 ), a staff with a lion and dragon image, other staffs that also seem to have served as symbols of power, and shuanglan ge 双栏戈 blades of jade with tips in the shape of a beak or with images of birds. The second ritual pit did not contain any of these gold, bronze, or jade objects. Pit K2 contained numerous important items such as three enormous masks of divine beings with protruding eyes and pointed ears (Figure 8.3 B), roughly 10 bronze faces, a number of animal-like faces, six bronze “sun wheels”, two very large bronze trees, several fi gurines which combine the bodies of humans and birds, the object interpreted as the complex sacred altar, many bronze eyes and pupils, and large quantities of yazhang jade axes. Since pit K1 did not contain any of these remains, it seems that the objects in pit K2 have special religious meaning.

There are also differences in the style of the objects in the two different pits. For instance, the faces of the bronze heads in pit K1 are all relatively short with narrow mouths. There are even some sculptures which have very realistically represented single-line rounded jaws and smiles. In pit K2, the faces of the bronze sculptures are all rather long, with wide mouths and two levels of rectangular chin-lines.

The heads in pit K2 are clearly more stylized and abstract than those in pit K1. The realistic style of the objects in pit K1 could indicate that this pit is earlier in time than pit K2. Differences in dates for only a portion of the artifacts, however, cannot confi rm whether the pits as a whole differed in date. There are clearly some objects in pit K1 which are the same date as those in pit K2; the most notice-able of these is a broken bronze bu jar (called K1:130). The style of this piece is distinctly later than the other containers in this pit, and it is a typical piece from the Yinxu (late Shang) period at Anyang. It is similar to the objects of later date from pit K2.

We conclude that both pits were buried about the same time, which corresponds to the later phase of the Sanxingdui period. This is around the time the site would have been abandoned. It thus appears that the activities surrounding these pits were closely linked to the abandonment of the urban center at Sanxingdui around 1200 BC , when the inhabitants suddenly gave up the place where they had lived for over 600 years. The reasons behind the abandonment could be linked to attacks from enemies, internal struggles, the inability of people to deal with natural disasters, or a sudden outbreak of disease. The reasons for the deposition of objects in these pits could be linked to any of these factors. The two ritual pits at Sanxingdui were care-fully oriented in the same direction as the entire settlement, the cemetery, and the graves within the cemetery. Also, the objects were placed in the pits in an orderly fashion. They were clearly made and deposited in prepared pits by people with similar beliefs, for a special purpose. In ancient China it was not uncommon for conquering groups to destroy the temples and ritual items of their enemies. When temples were destroyed, the precious objects contained within could have been reused (especially


rare goods made from materials such as bronze and gold). The numerous objects found in the ritual pits at Sanxingdui, however, point to a different situation.

So why did the people of Sanxingdui decide to bury large numbers of objects which had been partially destroyed? The most common opinion is that the two pits were created as part of some kind of ritual activity. In other words, the pits are jisikeng 祭祀坑 , or sacrifi cial pits. Making sacrifi cial offerings, however, would have been an activity which occurred on a regular or cyclical basis. Ritual burning of many precious bronzes in an offering to the gods was not the kind of activity which could have been frequently carried out. Another aspect to consider is that sacrifi ces are always offered to something. The pits at Sanxingdui not only have large quantities of human sculp-tures, but also large-scale representations of deities which combine a human upper body with the feet of a bird, and bronze objects that point to sun worship. It seems contrary to logic that objects of veneration themselves would be buried in sacrifi cial pits. Therefore the common conclusion that pits K1 and K2 at Sanxingdui should only be explained in terms of sacrifi cial offerings does not make sense. The creation of these two pits must be closely linked to the abandonment of the site, when Sanxingdui changed from being a regional capital to an ordinary settlement. The fact that such ritually important objects had been partially destroyed and were then carefully buried by the inhabitants of Sanxingdui must be related to the internal strife at the time. Perhaps after their main temple had been destroyed, the people solemnly buried their valued ritual objects and then left the place that they had inhabited for so long. The two pits at Sanxingdui would thus serve as testimony to an important historical event.

WHAT THE ARTIFACTS AT SANXINGDUI REVEAL ABOUT THE SOCIETY

Excavations at the capital site of Sanxingdui have identifi ed substantial amounts of religious objects that could have been used in sacrifi cial activities. These artifacts must have been the most important items stored in the temples of Sanxingdui and, thus, provide rich information about the society. It is possible to make conclusions about different classes of people on the basis of variation in the features of the bronze sculptures that have been found.

There are 65 bronze fi gures from the two large pits at Sanxingdui which reveal clear and recognizable hairstyles. It is evident that the majority of individuals in the Sanxingdui state wore braided hair, including both the ruling class and commoners. These two classes of individuals, however, can be distinguished by the way the braid is tied at the top of their head. Some fi gures have braid-style hair down their back, ( bianfa 辫发 : Figure 8.3 C). On other fi gures, hair is tied at the back of head and held by a hairpin (the jifa 笄发 style: Figure 8.3 D). In addition, there is a fi gure with loose hair that rolls backward, then sweeps forward ( juanfa 卷发 ). There are varia-tions of these hairstyles, too. One is a crown-like hairstyle bounded by ropes. Another includes a butterfl y-like ornament attached to the rear of the head. Yet another has horn-like hair obtruding from both sides of the temples. My colleagues and I consider these to be variations of the jifa (hair tied back) style. With respect to the fi gures that have recognizable hairstyles, 47 of these have a bianfa (braided) hairstyle, 17 have the jifa style, and only one fi gure has the juanfa style. The bianfa and jifa bronze heads are life-size, with vivid facial expressions and gestures. Both categories

160 SUN HUA

of sculptures were decorated with gold foil. The consensus is that these depict the ruling classes of the Sanxingdui state.

An unusual, kneeling fi gure that is depicted with a juanfa hairstyle is relatively smaller – only 14.6 cm in height. This fi gure has large, obtruded eyes, is biting down tightly on his teeth, and wears a short tunic which is folded to the right. His lower body is covered by a wide belt and loincloth (Figure 8.3 F). This disagreeable, atrocious-looking, and slovenly fi gure is fundamentally different from the others found in the two large pits. It is possible that this fi gurine depicts an individual from a hostile state or community.

Individuals with the bianfa hairstyle appear to belong to two different classes. One of these is the ruling class, which is represented by a large number of fi gures. The other is the commoner class, depicted by kneeling stone fi gures with braided hair. Members of the ruling class are depicted with hair that is combed backwards from their foreheads and tied into a braid. Some of these fi gures wear various shapes of hats. Members of the ruled class are represented by a kind of hairstyle where the hair at the top of the head is separated by a middle part and cut short; only the remaining hair at the nape of the neck is tied into a braid. Because fi gures with this hairstyle are naked and kneeling, and their hands are bound behind their backs, it is possible that they represent members of the lowest stratum of society. The fi gures from the ritual pits at Sanxingdui thus symbolize a system of social stratifi cation, although we need to learn more about the nature of the lower social classes.

It also can be concluded that the ruling class of the Sanxingdui state was created from two different groups of elites: those who held secular power and those who held ritual power. The ruling classes consisted of individuals wearing the bianfa and jifa hairstyles. Clearly, the individuals with the jifa hairstyle were responsible for religious rituals. Examples of these individuals include the sumptuously dressed standing fi gu-rine whose hands held an unknown object (labeled as :149, 150). Another individual wears headgear in the shape of a bird and holds his hands in front of his chest. He wears pants which merge into bird feet and is standing on a cloud-like mist ( :264, 327). Furthermore, there are four fi gures found in the middle layers of the “ritual altar” who hold canes, and who wear robes with sun motifs ( :296; see SSWKY 1999 ; Sun 2010 ). Other examples include the bronze fi gurines which appear to be carrying ritual regalia such as zun -shaped objects above their head, or those holding jade zhang 璋 ( :48; :325). The hairstyles on all these individu-als are in the jifa style, and none of the individuals wearing a bianfa style are depicted as participating in what are clearly ritual activities. The fi gurines show that there was a division of labor between the individuals represented with a bianfa and those wearing a jifa style. The people who wore jifa hairstyles monopolized religious authority and specialized in religious ritual. They constituted a community of diviners or priests. The bianfa individuals may have specialized in daily administrative or even in military affairs, but we currently do not have any material evidence to support the idea of military activities. Shared political power is something which appears to be refl ected in other artifacts at Sanxingdui. For instance, of the four bronze fi gures on which the remains of gold foil were discovered, two have hair in the jifa style and the other two have hair in the bianfa style.

It seems that the people who made the fi gures were highly aware of the materials they used. The bodies of most fi gures, some probably representing people and some


deities, probably were made from more easily available materials like wood, while the heads or masks seem to have been made exclusively from bronze. Obviously, bronze is a precious material, and it would have been used to construct the most critical portions of objects. Gold is even rarer, and only in special instances was this used as an element of decoration. The four heads that were decorated with gold foil repre-sented individuals from both elite classes, judging from the hairstyles. This seems to have been an intentional representation of the two upper strata of society in the Sanxingdui culture. The ruling class of the Sanxingdui kingdom would have included the clans that were distinguished by the bianfa and jifa hairstyles.

A golden scepter was unearthed from pit K1 which likely served as regalia. On one side of this scepter there are two sets of symbolic motifs formed by hammering. In the lower sections of these motifs, there are two human faces which are wearing fl ower crowns and have triangular-shaped ears. Above each face, there are two feath-ered arrows shooting a fi sh. The shaft of the arrow is followed by birds fl apping their wings ( SSWKY 1999 ). The iconography on this gold scepter can in fact be divided into two groups, one on the left and one on the right. Each group consists of a human face, bird, and an arrow spearing a fi sh. To a certain extent these two groups of iconographic representation might indicate the two groups who exercised power in the Sanxingdui state. A scepter was discovered in each of the two large pits at Sanxingdui. At the head of one of these is a bronze dragon, and at the head of the other is a bronze eagle. These two scepters not only refl ect different symbolic mean-ings but also might correspond to the two different elite groups.

Evidence for worship of the sun We also can conclude that the Sanxingdui people practiced sun worship. The two famous pits found at Sanxingdui yielded two large bronze trees which closely resem-ble each other. The base of one of the bronze trees is like a plate with a tripod on it. A large and straight trunk arises from this base and branches burst forth from the central trunk. The second bronze tree has already been reconstructed and is over 5 m tall, with three groups of branches. Each group includes three smaller branches, and there are nine branches on which a bird is seated. There also is a downward-facing dragon creeping down the trunk. The tree on which the nine birds are seated is reminiscent of an ancient Chinese legend about 10 suns and the fusang 扶桑 and ruomu 若木 trees where the suns reside. It is worth noting that there are different shapes of branches on the two bronze trees found at Sanxingdui. The branches of the fi rst bronze tree are facing upwards, like those of a mulberry tree, while the branches of the second bronze tree are slender and pendent, like those of willows. In ancient Chinese legends, the fusang tree of the east is usually regarded as a mul-berry tree, while the ruomu tree of the west is called xiliu 细柳 , presumably indicating a willow tree. Given the downward-facing dragon sitting on the well-preserved, bronze ruomu tree, originally there might have been an upward-facing dragon sitting on the severely damaged fusang tree. Many ancient myths indicate that the sun is being pulled by dragons like a wagon when it is travels in the sky. These dragons often rely on aid from trees to pull the sun to rise in the sky.

The fusang tree depicted on the well-known silk painting from the Western Han period (206 BC to AD 24) Mawangdui tomb M1 found in Changsha, Hunan province,

162 SUN HUA

illustrates a similar dragon entwined around a tree. The sun is the most remarkable celestial body, generating the light and warmth essential to every living creature. The ideology of sun worship is widely shared and adopted by many ancient peoples. It seems it is only Chinese myths that involve 10 suns in the sky that are transported by birds (or birds are the avatars of the sun) which rest on the fusang tree in the east and the ruomu tree in the west, traveling across the sky in shifts. The fi rst textual records mentioning 10 suns with fusang and ruomu trees date to the Eastern Zhou period (770–221 BC ). The two bronze trees representing sun worship at Sanxingdui demonstrate that these Chinese myths originated in Sichuan no later than the late Shang period, not in the eastern coastal region of China as originally believed.

The people of Sanxingdui depicted the sun in two ways. One involves the sun as a bird sitting on the bronze tree as mentioned above. The second method is a wheel-shaped object with radiating beams of light from the center. Examples are the six bronze wheel-shaped objects from pit K2 ( SSWKY 1999 : 235–239, Figure 134, Plates 88.3, 89.1, 68). These “wheels” also are depicted on the robe worn by the diviner standing on the bronze “sacred platform” from pit K2 ( SSWKY 1999 : 231–237). These artifacts and motifs representing the sun are the most remarkable feature of the Sanxingdui culture. In the Central Plain area, in contrast, ancestor worship was the core of the ritual system. The supreme deity could interact with the secular world through the medium of ancestors. Early rulers consciously placed emphasis on the pedigree of their gods. Other religions based on nature worship, totem worship, and deities had declined in importance or were forgotten. It appears that at Sanxingdui instead, people maintained strong emotional connections to the sun, and sun worship played a signifi cant role in the society.

Another important conclusion is that the Sanxingdui aristocracy was engaged in a cult of bird worship. Individuals with the body of a bird and a human head might have been a personifi cation of a sun god. In addition, birds might have served as clan-emblems. Among the bronze human fi gures at Sanxingdui, some of the most spectacular are the three very large masks with protruding pupils, and long and pointed ears with no holes on their lobes for pendants or earrings. These three masks are fundamentally different from the other bronze heads unearthed at the site. My colleagues and I believe that these represent deities of a high status. These masks are the largest of all the bronze heads unearthed at Sanxingdui. Their profi le is in the shape of the Chinese character ao 凹 . The rectangular apertures in the middle and both sides of their foreheads suggest that the masks were attached to another struc-ture for display. One of the masks is larger than the other two; it might have been placed in the middle, with the two smaller masks on either side.

Other artifacts suggest that these human-faced deities might originally have looked like a bird with a human head. This proposition is based on two lines of evidence. First, the bird with human head standing on the shoulder of a square zun bronze vessel on one object has similar facial features to the bronze masks in terms of its protruding pupils and pointed ears. In addition, pit K2 yielded a small bronze tree with three branches shaped like twisted-bread. Three bird fi gurines with human heads are attached to each branch. They also have protruding pupils and pointed ears. These three bronze masks were likely displayed on a wooden body in the shape of a bird.

Representations of protruding eyes on deities are common features in the early religions of China. The tremendous size and solemn representation of these three


bronze masks with protruding pupils indicates that they were worshiped by the com-munity that cast them. The fact that many of the deities are depicted with bird-like characteristics shows that birds played an important role in the ideology of the people. The idea of using birds to depict a sun god is by no means unique. If the supreme god of the Sanxingdui people was depicted as a bird, the ancestors of these people might be represented by bird features too. Among the three large bronze human-head bird fi gures from Sanxingdui, the largest one might correspond to the sun god, while the two smaller masks might depict the two ancestor gods of the Sanxingdui people. This proposition is supported by the fact that the historical poetry of the Zhou people of the Guanzhong 关中 area of Shaanxi province illustrates their god ruling at the supreme place of heaven accompanied by their ancestors such as King Wen. 5 It is likely that the people of Sanxingdui simultaneously worshipped two ancestor gods since political power was held by two different groups. In addition, since the Sanxingdui people viewed birds as the image of their supreme god and ancestor gods, it is likely that they dressed up in bird costumes during sacrifi cial activities, given the bronze fi gurines in bird costumes and bird-style ornaments discovered in the two pits.

The signifi cance of eyes The people of Sanxingdui used eyes to symbolize the sun and its light. The supreme god and ancestor gods were depicted as having abnormally protruding eyes. Eyes might have played a signifi cant role in self-identifi cation. People are always impressed by the eyes on the artifacts from the two large pits at Sanxingdui. Eyes are also the most common engraved motif on Sanxingdui ceramics. Bronze deity fi gures always have protruding pupils. Eyes on even the regular bronze fi gures are relatively large. In addition, a bronze plaque with an animal face has large lozenges for eyes and cylinder-shape pupils. Eyes also are used as decorative motifs on the robes of bronze fi gures. Eyes must have been an essential part of Sanxingdui ideology, represented in two different ways.

First, the most distinctive characteristic of the supreme god of the Sanxingdui people has large, protruding eyes. Such pupils might denote the fact that this deity wields tremendous power, or the capacity to control light. The chapter entitled “Da Huang Bei Jing 大荒北經 ” of the Shan Hai Jing 山海經 ( The Classic of Mountains and Seas ), a partially pre-Qin document, records a deity called “ zhulong 烛龙 ”, or torch dragon. The image and characteristic of this deity is that he has

a human face and a snake ’ s body, and he is scarlet. He has vertical eyes that are in a straight seam. When this deity closes his eyes, there is darkness. Wherever the deity looks with his eyes, there is light. He neither eats, nor sleeps, nor breathes. The wind and the rain are at his beck and call. This deity shines his torch over the nine-fold darkness. This deity is Torch Dragon. 6

Since this light comes when the deity opens his eyes and darkness arrives when he closes them, the eyes of zhulong share parallel functions to those of the sun. The protruding eyes of the supreme god of the Sanxingdui people may have served a similar function to that of zhulong . It seems reasonable to suggest that the people of Sanxingdui worshipped representations of eyes due to their intimate connection with the sun.

164 SUN HUA

Second, the kings of ancient China often claimed they were the descendants of the supreme god. These rulers would have been thought to have certain sacred charac-teristics. The supreme god and ancestor gods both have protruding eyes, pointed ears, and are represented as combinations of humans and birds. As their descendants, the ruling groups at Sanxingdui might have dressed in bird costumes and thus rein-forced their genealogical relationship with these deities in an effort to demonstrate their closeness to the supreme god and ancestor gods.

Many scholars suggest that the later Shu people also worshiped eyes. The chapter “Shuzhi 蜀志 ” (Annals of the Kingdom of Shu) of the Huayang Guo Zhi 華陽國志 ( Record of the Kingdoms South of Mount Hua ) written by Chang Qu 常璩 during the Eastern Jin dynasty ( AD 317–420) records that “Cancong 蠶叢 , the Marquis of the Shu State, had large eyes and proclaimed himself the fi rst Shu king.” 7 The morphol-ogy of the character Shu 蜀 also looks like a creature with large eyes. Therefore, the Sanxingdui culture could be connected to the ancient Shu ethnic group, and the site may represent the fi rst state of the Shu people.

THE SHI ’ ERQIAO PERIOD SITE OF JINSHA AND SIMILARITIES TO SANXINGDUI

The site of Jinsha is located in the western part of modern Chengdu city (see Figure 8.1 ). During the 1990s this area was still largely devoted to agricultural fi elds. The cultural remains from the upper layers (including parts of buildings and many graves) were removed by late historic-era occupations. In addition, the river which originally ran through the site has changed its course a number of times. As a result, the only remaining deposits are in the eastern and western areas. This situation at fi rst caused people to believe the extent of the site was small, and consequently, when a large building was discovered in the northwestern part of the site in 1995, it did not attract any attention from the scholarly community. Jinsha only received more attention in 2001, when large quantities of valuable objects were found in the southeastern corner of the site. Since then, the Chengdu City Institute of Archaeology has carried out several large-scale excavations at Jinsha. The site is now designated as the Jinsha Archaeological Park. Some areas are covered by a roof as an archaeological museum. Excavators at Jinsha found large-scale palatial buildings as well as ritual installations.

The fi rst phase at Jinsha is the early Shi ’ erqiao period, the transitional period from the Sanxingdui culture to the Shi ’ erqiao culture, around 1200–1000 BC . No large-scale buildings or ritual installations were found in the remains from this period. At that point the site of Jinsha was not yet a large capital. The second phase corresponds to the middle-late Shi ’ erqiao period, about 1000–800 BC . This was the period of cultural fl orescence. All of the important large buildings, objects, and ritual remains date to this period. Despite the fact that no city wall has been found, no contemporary site of similar scale has been discovered in the Sichuan basin. It is logical to propose that the site of Jinsha became the capital of the Chengdu plain and surrounding areas. The third phase at the site corresponds to the Post-Shi ’ erqiao culture, around 800–500 BC , when the settlement experienced a rapid decline and people likely moved to other areas.

The cultural deposits at Jinsha cover an area of roughly 3 sq km. As at Sanxingdui, there is a similar spatial division of Jinsha into different activity areas. In the central


to southern portions of the site, the Modi 磨底 river runs from west to east, dividing the site into northern and southern areas. The palatial area is located north of this river, and the ritual area is located to the south. Habitation areas and cemeteries are near the ritual area. Some scholars, however, believe that Jinsha should be divided into four different areas (see CSW 2005a ).

The palatial area is in the northwest and central portion of the site. There are several buildings with large surface areas indicative of high status residents in this area. These buildings are oriented from east to west, and it appears that the anterior area formed a large gate. There were two groups of buildings with court-yards that were constructed according to the same standards as the palaces of the Shang dynasty kings in the Central Plain. Near the buildings at Jinsha was a series of artifi cial ditches (2.50 m wide) reinforced with cobblestones. The presence of very clean sandy silt in these ditches leads us to believe that these were canals which supplied fresh water to the palatial area of the urban center.

The ritual area is situated in the southeastern portion of Jinsha, facing the admin-istrative region from across the river. Over 200 gold items, 1200 bronzes, 2000 jades, and 1000 stone pieces have been collected from this zone ( CSW 2005a :10–19), along with large quantities of pottery vessels, elephant tusks, pig tusks, deer horns, and other objects. It is very likely that the excavators are correct in believing that the southeastern area of the site was dedicated to ritual activity ( CSW 2004: 168; 2005a : 2–4), but it must have played other roles as well. Probably it also was used for craft production. Excavators found elephant tusks deposited in wood-lined pits (some of these tusks had already been cut into sections), pig tusks, deer antlers, and other material piled together. In other parts of the southeastern site area, high concentra-tions of half-fi nished jade items were uncovered as well as incomplete objects of bronze. Therefore the southeastern area was not solely reserved for rituals, but was also a place where the production of highly valued objects took place.

Surrounding the palatial and ritual zones were more residential areas. Houses here were made of wattle-and-daub and had a relatively large surface area. Large quantities of pottery vessels were deposited around these houses. In addition a number of cem-eteries were discovered. Several are contemporaneous with the palatial and ritual areas, while others date to the phase representing the decline of the settlement ( CSW 2005b ).

The capitals of Jinsha and Sanxingdui are only 40 km apart. The site of Sanxingdui fl ourished around the beginning of the Shang period or shortly after, and the site of Jinsha fl ourished around the end of the Shang. The rise and fall of these cities appear to be intimately linked. The site of Jinsha shares many cultural characteristics with Sanxingdui. First, the spatial organization of the two sites is very similar. Both sites are fl anked by a large river to the north and a smaller river that runs through the center, dividing the sites into northern and southern sections. The secular and palatial buildings are concentrated north of the river, whereas the areas to the south seem dedicated to ritual activity. This is a key characteristic of cities in the Sichuan basin prior to unifi cation by the Qin. The people of both sites shared the same model for city planning. It is very likely that the inhabitants of Jinsha relocated there from the site of Sanxingdui.

Second, several fi gures and other objects very similar to those of Sanxingdui have been unearthed at the site of Jinsha, indicating that the residents of the two settle-ments shared a common aesthetic. If one takes the very particular fi gures of divine

166 SUN HUA

beings at the two sites, these include fi gures that have human-like faces with protru-ding eyes and pointed ears. The majority of the fi gures portray individuals with braided hair.

Third, the inhabitants of Sanxingdui and Jinsha shared common concepts of reli-gion. Objects at both sites suggest sun worship, for example the bronze “sun tree” at Sanxingdui along with wheels in the shape of a sun and the gold-leafed disks with four birds circling the sun at Jinsha. Both sites also share a number of representations of birds that appear to be imbued with meaning. Examples of this from Sanxingdui are the bird with a human body, two fi gures of humans disguised as birds, the jade ge with images of a bird on its edge, and the golden staffs with images of birds. At Jinsha, excavators found several bronze statues of birds and jade ge dagger-axes with representations of birds. In addition the representation of birds and harpooned fi sh on gold objects is essentially the same at both sites. A large number of bronze eyes has been unearthed at both sites.

The ruling class at Sanxingdui was composed of a secular group of people who wore plaited hair and a religious group which wore hair secured in a bun with hair-pins. After the transition to Jinsha it appears that some changes occurred. A small standing fi gure of bronze has hair of a similar style to those of individuals at Sanxing-dui with braided hair. This fi gure, however, has a headpiece in the form of the sun and a short cane, perhaps symbolizing authority, inserted into its belt. Its two hands are positioned in front of its chest in a similar fashion to the individuals with hairpins from Sanxingdui. This bronze fi gure with clear differences from the fi gures at Sanxing-dui combines the features of the fi gures with braided hair and those with hairpins from Sanxingdui. It appears the Jinsha fi gure symbolizes the combination of secular power (including that of military affairs) with religious power.

It is likely that when the Sanxingdui state fell, a new state was established on the Chengdu plain. The individuals who were previously responsible for the religious affairs of society probably lost their power, and individuals previously responsible for secular affairs like administration and the military began to exercise their power in a new arena. We can therefore deduce that towards the end of the Sanxingdui state period, competition for power began between the secular and the religious elite, and the secular elite began to bring matters concerning religious power into their own hands. This struggle broke the previous agreement of power between the two elite groups of people, and the Sanxingdui state entered a phase of turmoil. This phase of internal strife is refl ected in the archaeological remains. The previously prosperous city of Sanxingdui was now abandoned, the solemn temple was destroyed, and a large number of precious objects were destroyed and buried. The capital of the Sichuan basin moved from Sanxingdui to Jinsha, and a new, secular elite took control of religious affairs. The culture which followed that of Sanxingdui then entered a new period of prosperity. During this time, the pre-Qin cultures of the Sichuan plain once again began to regain a peak of glory.

CONCLUSIONS

The remains unearthed at the capital sites of Sanxingdui and at Jinsha contain extremely rich historical information about the Sichuan basin. This area has not been


investigated as thoroughly as other areas such as the Central Plain. The remains from Sanxingdui and Jinsha have revealed major differences from remains found in the Central Plain with respect to the kinds of rituals that took place and the beliefs they represent. There is still much information waiting to be revealed.

NOTES

1 The text of Shu Wang Benji had originally been lost. Later scholars in the Ming and Qing periods started to compile it from other historical records that had quoted from the book. The most complete collection is included in Quan Shanggu Sandai Qin Han Sanguo Liuchao Wen 全上古三代秦漢三國六朝文 ( A Complete Collection of Essays from Periods of Ancient Times, Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, Three Kingdoms, and Six Dynasties ), compiled by a Qing scholar named Yan Kejun 嚴可均 (1762–1843) (Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1958). The best available edition of the Huayang Guo Zhi is 華陽國志校補圖注 ( Illustra-tive Commentaries on the Record of the Kingdoms South of Mount Hua ), ed. Ren Naiqiang 任乃強 , annotated, Shanghai: Shanghai Guji, 1987. [JW]

2 The Han zu 汉族 , is the largest ethnic group in the People ’ s Republic of China. [Ed.] 3 See also Bagley ( 2001 ). [Ed.] 4 The circled number refers to a layer in the pit. [Ed.] 5 Shijing . Shisan Jing Zhushu, ed. Ruan Yuan 16: 1.503–504. [JW] 6 Yuan Ke 袁珂 , Shan Hai Jing Jiaozhu 山海經校注 (Commentaries on the Classic of Moun-

tains and Seas ), Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1980: 17.438. For English translation, see Anne Birrell, The Classic of Mountains and Seas , New York: Penguin Putnam, 1999: 188. [JW]

7 Ren Naiqiang, ed., Huayang Guo Zhi Jiaobu Tuzhu : 118. [JW]

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Documents

A Companion to Chinese Archaeology (Underhill/A Companion to Chinese Archaeology) || The Sanxingdui Culture of the Sichuan Basin