Hong Kong Palace Museum | Gazing at Sanxingdui: New Archaeological Discoveries in Sichuan

8001. Human head with gold mask

The bronze head before you is nearly life-size, with disproportionately large ears. The slender face has thick eyebrows and angled, sharp-cornered eyes, and wears a mask made of shiny gold leaf. Some scholars believe that ancient people pasted the mask on the head with a mix of raw lacquer and lime, but the meaning of the mask is still a mystery. If you look from the back, you’ll find a braid, which reflects the customs of the people who lived in Sanxingdui 3,000 years ago. Some believe that the ancients didn’t cut their hair often, so braids were handy to keep their hair out of the way. As you look at other bronze heads in the exhibition, notice how facial features, hairstyles, and the forms of masks differ. Let’s “head on” and check them out!

8002. Mask with protruding pupils

The protruding eyeballs and wing-shaped ears of the mask in front of you are peculiar and not quite human, or at the very least, an exaggerated depiction of a person. Its fantastic appearance seems to embody all-seeing and all-hearing divine power. Move around to observe the mask, and you’ll find a swirled cloud ornament about 70 cm high extending from the forehead. Some scholars say this is a “tongtian chi”, an antenna for receiving messages from the gods. Others propose that the mask’s appearance is based on an actual Shu king named Cancong, who was known to have bulging eyes. Another theory is that the mask is related to a human-deity mix, with a human face and a snake body, called the Torch Dragon.

8003. Mask

In front of you is the largest bronze mask ever discovered from ancient times—not only in China, but in the world. Weighing 65.5 kg, it’s approximately the weight of an average adult. Check it out carefully from different angles, and you'll find several places where pieces were joined together. Its face, eyes, and ears were all cast separately before attached with hot metal—a process called soldering—onto the mask. The multi-step casting and soldering processes are evidence of the skill of the Sanxingdui people in producing large-scale bronzes. Given its massive size, the mask was not made to be worn. Do you see the openings on each side of the forehead? Scholars think these were used to fix such masks in place, perhaps to tall wooden posts, in ceremonial settings. Imagine travelling through time and space to these ritual sites and looking up at this mask from below. Can you picture how impressive a scene this was?

8004. Kneeling figure with twisted head

The statue before you was unearthed recently in 2021; it features a kneeling figure with its head turned sideways. Its prominent hair bun is the tallest among all similar artefacts excavated in Sanxingdui. Look at the figure carefully, and you’ll find plentiful cast motifs on its surface, including what are called the cloud-and-thunder pattern, swallowtail pattern, and feather crest pattern. Now, focus your attention on the palms and the inner sides of the two hair buns were polished smooth. Scholars think the slots may suggest that this statue, along with the two similar ones unearthed from the same sacrificial pit, jointly supported a larger object.

8005. Bronze bells and Stone chimes

Distinctive musical instruments and rhythms were played in large temples or ceremonial rituals at Sanxingdui. In addition to bronze bells, Sanxingdui also had stone chimes, with the largest one over 1 m long and 0.5 m wide.  Now please listen to the sounds. Bronze bells…..Stone chimes……

8006. Stand with animal face and phoenix bird motifs

Scholars believe that the brick-like object in front of you is a base for inserting other objects. Jadeware is common at Sanxingdui, but the abundance of patterns on this one is unprecedented. If you inspect the block of jade carefully, you’ll see engraved patterns on all four sides. Most of these patterns appear on bronze, gold, and other jade artefacts from Sanxingdui, but there are also eight unique cicada-like motifs (look for them in the opposite corners of each side). Some scholars point out that these patterns resemble a human face. Perhaps future finds will help us figure out the symbolic meaning of these engravings. 

8007. Mask

In front of you is the largest gold mask of the ten unearthed at Sanxingdui. It’s made of approximately 85% gold, plus several other metals such as silver, copper, iron, and tin. Looking from the back, you’ll see the edges are constructed to point inward. Scholars speculate that the mask was once attached to another similarly contoured statue made of bronze or other materials such as wood, but the corresponding statue has yet to be found. The mask was deformed when it was found due to centuries of being buried underground and was restored to its current appearance thanks to the meticulous efforts of experts.

8008. Mythical creature

In front of you is a pair of statues, big and small. Focus your gaze on the bigger one, which is the largest Sanxingdui bronze mythical creature ever unearthed. It presents a majestic appearance, with both its head and magnificent curled tail held high. If you look at it from the front, you’ll have a clearer view of the small figure standing on its head. Scholars presume that this unusual creature was likely a ritual object once placed in a temple.

8009. Hybrid tiger-dragon figure

The statue before you is one of the tallest bronze animal yet found at Sanxingdui. Measuring 75.5 cm high, it’s about the height of an umbrella. Scholars describe the creature as a tiger-headed dragon supporting itself with its front paws while the rest of its body arches high into the air. If you look closely at the underside of the upturned body, you may be able to spot a piece of bronze connected by copper wire. Scholars think this patch covers what might once have been an opening, but they haven’t been able to confirm this. Go ahead, take a guess—what do you think the purpose might have been?

8010. Dragon-shaped object

In front of you is a dragon-shaped object. Its snout-like mouth is interesting; on the end, you’ll see a teeth-like grid called the zhang-sceptre motif, a linear pattern named after a ritual dagger. Watch for this motif to recur in this exhibition. The tubular body is covered with shallow-relief fish-scale patterns consistent with the typical appearance of a dragon. Despite all this complexity on the surface, the body is only 3 mm thick—not much thicker than a credit card or coin. Would you have guessed the object is hollow just by observing its exterior? Extraordinary skill must have been required to produce such thin bronzeware at that time. Most likely this was part of a larger object, possibly fitted onto a cylindrical wooden column and fixed with nails.

8011. Figure with animal headdress

In front of you is a figure wearing a tall headdress. Based on the elaborate headdress and the hands that likely once held some kind of object, scholars believe that the figure represents a high-ranking participant in a ritual. The vertical element in the middle of the headdress is typically interpreted as an elephant trunk, while the blade-like projections on both sides form a pair of animal ears.

8012. Yue-axe

The jade axe before you is an ancient artefact first exhibited in Hong Kong. Similar weaponry made of metal is a common find in Bronze Age China. Scholars believe that it was never intended as a weapon but created exclusively for ritual ceremonies. Take a look at the notched carvings on the sides. You’ll notice small holes along the edges, which suggest that the axe was tied to a handle. You can also find black markings on the top part of the axe. Scholars believe these could be the remains of an adhesive used to hold the handle.

8013. Trumpet-shaped object

The gold object in front of you is shaped like the end of a trumpet and was unearthed from the Jinsha site. If you look at its central section; you’ll find a raised part with a small opening. It’s believed this gold artefact was once attached to another object. Although several trumpet-shaped gold and bronze objects have been found at the Jinsha site, most have a plain surface. In comparison, the simple yet elegant openwork cloud motifs make this object particularly noteworthy.

Other unique objects in similar shapes were first seen in the Central Plains, namely the conical white pottery objects found in the palace remains at Erlitou in Henan province. For that reason, some scholars regard this gold object as significant for studying social, artistic, and technological exchanges between ancient Shu civilisation and foreign cultures. However, its specific function and usage await further research and investigation.