Cover Bronze mask (ca. 1300 – 1100BC) (Photo: courtesy of Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)
Bronze mask (ca. 1300 – 1100BC) (Photo: courtesy of Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)
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This biggest Sanxingdui exhibition in the city will include masks, figures and objects that show off the sophisticated craftsmanship of ancient China
From September 27, 2023 to January 8, 2024, the Gazing at Sanxingdui: New Archaeological Discoveries in Sichuan exhibition will journey visitors back 3,000 to 5,000 years ago with its showcase of 120 artefacts—including bronze, jade, gold and pottery objects excavated from Sanxingdui’s archaeological site in Sichuan—at the Hong Kong Palace Museum. The exhibition is a joint effort between the Hong Kong Palace Museum, Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and the Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology.
Among the exhibits, 55 pieces were excavated between 2020 and 2022, and 23 items are declared grade-one national treasures. Almost all of the pieces are being shown outside of Sichuan for the first time, and this is also the largest Sanxingdui exhibition in Hong Kong to date.
The exhibition is divided into four sections: bronze heads, masks, and figures; urban life during the Bronze Age in Sanxingdui; gods and shamans; and the origin, culture and legacy of Sanxingdui.
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Above Gazing at Sanxingdui: New Archaeological Discoveries in Sichuan (Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Palace Museum)
Gazing at Sanxingdui: New Archaeological Discoveries in Sichuan (Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Palace Museum)
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Highlights of the exhibition include the largest Sanxingdui bronze mask ever discovered, bronze figures that give us a clue of what it might have been used for, and more. There is also a 3D 1:1 holographic projection of a sacred bronze tree, which is a prized relic that is housed in the new Sanxingdui Museum in Sichuan.
The Sanxingdui culture and its Shu people date back to 2500 to 1600BC, and are found in the Chengdu Plain of southwestern China. It is also considered one of the major prehistoric cultures of Bronze Age China, and is named after the region’s geographical features—where there are three knolls lying next to a crescent-shaped river—that the site the poetic name of “three-star mounds” in Mandarin.
There is evidence that the Shu people possessed highly sophisticated bronze and gold forging skills, and their awe for nature can be detected in their religious sculptures and decorations that make references to spiritual trees, birds and magical creatures such as dragons. All this makes them one of the most culturally valuable civilisations in the mid to lower part of the Yangzhi region.
Above Bronze mythical creatures (ca. 1300 – 1100BC) (Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Palace Museum)
Above A gold mask (ca. 1300 – 1100 BC) (Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Palace Museum)
Bronze mythical creatures (ca. 1300 – 1100BC) (Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Palace Museum)
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The site was abruptly abandoned in 1,000BC, and it wasn’t until 1927 that it was first discovered by a farmer named Yan Daocheng and his son Yan Qingbao, who unearthed more than 400 pieces of jade and stoneware in their front yard. The relics were later relocated to the West China Union University, which also kickstarted Sanxingdui’s scientific excavation and research.
“Sanxingdui is one of China’s major national archaeological projects. [As Hong Kong is our ‘window’ to the West], it is only apt for us to organise this exhibition to be at the Hong Kong Palace Museum,” says Wang Yi, the deputy director of the the Suchuan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, and director of Sichuan Provincial Cultural Heritage Adminstration. He adds that the hope for this exhibition is that it will draw in both local and foreign visitors, and “I have confidence that the Hong Kong Palace Museum can tell a good story of Sanxingdui”.
From September 27, 2023 to January 8, 2024. Hong Kong Palace Museum, West Kowloon.
Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
