“Faces of Sanxingdui” Shed Light on Mysterious Ancient Kingdom“三星堆面孔”展現(xiàn)神秘古國風(fēng)采

A golden face with patinaed turquoise eyes stares out of the darkness. Illuminated around it stand three other bronze heads—some have flat tops， others round—all looked over by a giant bronze statue almost 9 feet high1. All have the same piercing， angular eyes. There’s something about the “Faces of Sanxingdui”—as this collection of sculptures is being billed—that feels both familiar and alien. They were displayed at the Hong Kong Palace Museum from September 2023 to January 2024. They may appear Mayan or Aztec to the untrained eye， but these over-3，000-year-old sculptures weren’t unearthed anywhere near Mesoamerica’s ancient civilizations. They were discovered on China’s Chengdu Plain， at an archeological dig site called San-xingdui.

露出金面罩的銅銹綠色雙眼從黑暗中向外凝視。這件頭像的周圍立著另外3件由燈光照亮的青銅人頭像——有的是平頂，其余的則為圓頂，它們都在一個近9英尺高的大立人銅像的注視之下。青銅人頭像和大立人銅像的眼睛都有棱有角、目光銳利。這組被稱為“三星堆面孔”的青銅像給人一種既熟悉又陌生的感覺。2023年9月至2024年1月，這組青銅像在香港故宮文化博物館展出。在外行人眼中，它們看起來像瑪雅人或阿茲特克人的文物，但這組有著3000多年歷史的青銅像并非出土于中美洲附近的古文明遺址，而是從中國成都平原一個名為“三星堆”的考古現(xiàn)場挖掘出來的。

Thought to be the largest and oldest site left by the Shu kingdom， a civ-ilization in southwestern China once only hinted at in myths and legends， Sanxingdui was not discovered until the 1920s， when a farmer stumbled across objects while digging an irrigation ditch. The site has since been found to contain the ruins of an ancient city made up of residences， sacrificial pits and tombs enclosed by high dirt walls. Archaeologists from the Sanxingdui Museum say the city was established some 4，800 to 2，800 years ago， until it was abandoned around 800 BC for unknown reasons.

三星堆被認為是最大、最古老的古蜀國遺址。古蜀國這個位于中國西南部的文明社會，其存在曾經(jīng)僅在神話傳說中有所暗示。直到20世紀20年代，一位農(nóng)民在挖灌溉渠時偶然撿到幾個物件，人們才發(fā)現(xiàn)三星堆。后來，人們在三星堆發(fā)現(xiàn)了一座古城的遺跡——這座古城由高高的土墻圍起，里面有房屋、祭祀坑和墳?zāi)埂Ｈ嵌巡┪镳^的考古人員說，古城大約建于4800年到2800年前，在公元前800年左右不知什么原因被遺棄了。

The mysterious and talented Shu

神秘而又技藝超群的古蜀人

The Shu kingdom， which emerged in the Sichuan basin during the Bronze Age， is believed to have developed independently of the Yellow River Valley societies. Its inhabitants created exquisitely crafted bronze， jade， gold and ceramic objects， depicting fantastical beasts， kings， gods and shamans with bulging eyes and enlarged ears. Remarkably， the sculptures predate the Terracotta Army， a collection of earthenware statues depicting the armies of China’s first emperor Qin Shi Huang， by at least 1，000 years. Wang Shengyu， a curator at the Hong Kong Palace Museum， said the objects are far more advanced， imaginative， and artistic than those being produced anywhere else in China at that time.

古蜀國于青銅時代出現(xiàn)在四川盆地，被認為是獨立于黃河流域社會發(fā)展起來的。古蜀人制作的銅器、玉器、金器和陶器工藝精湛，塑造出種種模樣離奇的野獸、君王、神和祭司——他們都有鼓起的眼睛和大大的耳朵。令人驚嘆的是，古蜀雕像的制作時間比展現(xiàn)秦始皇時期軍隊的陶制兵馬俑還要早至少1000年。香港故宮文化博物館的策展人王圣雨表示，相比同時期中國其他地方制作的器物，三星堆的要先進得多，也更具想象力和藝術(shù)感。

“You can tell that it’s very sculptural and very artsy，” said Wang at the exhib-ition opening， pointing to a roughly 1-foot-tall bronze figure whose fantastical， braided hair extends out to three times the height of its body and， had it not been broken， would stretch much further. “You can imagine how magnificent it was. From above his nose and all the way up， it would’ve been over 4.9 feet tall， according to the fragments archeologists found. The end of the pigtail is on his shoulder.”

王圣雨在展覽開幕式上指著一個約1英尺高的青銅人像說：“你能明顯看出來，這個銅像頗具雕塑感和藝術(shù)性?！边@件青銅人像夸張的發(fā)辮向上延伸，高度是其身體的3倍，如果沒有損壞，還會高得多?！澳憧梢韵胂笤瓨釉撚卸嗝磯延^。根據(jù)考古人員發(fā)現(xiàn)的碎片推測，從人像的鼻子上端算起，原本的高度可能超過4.9英尺。發(fā)辮的起點在肩膀的位置?！?/p>

Little is known about the Shu kingdom other than what’s been discovered on the 1.4-square-mile2 site. There is no evidence of a written Shu language， and historical literature contains scant3 information about its culture other than a handful of myths and legends， including a reference to a Shu king called Can Cong whose eyes were said to have protruded—perhaps explaining why so many of the 13，000 relics recovered from the site feature bulging eyes.

除了從這處1.4平方英里的古城遺址發(fā)現(xiàn)的東西外，人們對古蜀國知之甚少。無證據(jù)顯示古蜀國存在書寫文字，史料著作也沒有多少關(guān)于其文化的記載，只有零星的神話傳說。其中一個傳說與一位名叫蠶叢的古蜀國王有關(guān)，據(jù)說他的眼睛是凸起的——也許這一點能說明，從遺址出土的1.3萬件文物中，為何有如此之多的物件塑造出鼓起的眼睛。

Since 1986， eight excavated pits at Sanxingdui have yielded giant masks with bulbous， insect-like eyes and protruding ears， mythical creatures with gaping mouths and an almost 13-foot bronze “tree of life” sculpture. All the items were found shattered， burned and buried， leading experts to believe the pits were used for ritual sacrifices. Some have been painstakingly reconstructed by archaeologists. “It took 10 years to reconstruct the tree，” said Wang. That tree was not on show in Hong Kong， as it is considered too precious.

自1986年起，從三星堆8個挖掘坑出土的文物包括巨大的面具（它們都有招風(fēng)耳和如昆蟲那般凸伸的球狀眼睛）、張著大嘴的青銅神獸，還有一棵近13英尺高的青銅“生命之樹”。所有器物出土?xí)r都是支離破碎的，都是用火燒過后才掩埋起來的，因此專家們認為這幾個坑是用于祭祀的?？脊艑W(xué)家們竭力修復(fù)了部分器物。王圣雨說：“修復(fù)那棵樹用了10年時間?！庇捎凇吧畼洹北徽J為過于珍貴，并未在香港展出。

A continuous civilization

賡續(xù)不斷的文明

The exhibition placed these items in the context of other ancient civilizations and includes the Shu among the many societies to have existed in the country’s 5，000-year history. According to a press release from organizers， museum and Hong Kong government officials at the opening stressed the “continuity， inventiveness， unity， inclusiveness and emphasis on peace and harmony” of Chinese history.

香港故宮文化博物館的展覽將三星堆文物置于其他古代文明的場景中展示，將古蜀國納入中國五千年歷史里出現(xiàn)的眾多社會之中。根據(jù)展覽主辦方發(fā)布的一篇新聞稿，香港故宮文化博物館領(lǐng)導(dǎo)和香港特區(qū)政府官員在展覽開幕式上著重指出，中國歷史“具有連續(xù)、創(chuàng)新、統(tǒng)一、包容的特性，注重和平與和諧”。

Henry Tang， chairman of the governing body behind the West Kowloon Cultural District （where the Palace Museum is located）， said in a statement that the district and museum are looking to “promote cultural and artistic exchanges between China and the world， ‘tell China’s story well’， and strengthen the public’s cultural self-confidence.”

唐英年是西九文化區(qū)（香港故宮文化博物館所在地）管理局董事局主席。他在一份報告中說，西九文化區(qū)和香港故宮文化博物館都希望“促進中國與世界的文化藝術(shù)交流，‘講好中國故事’，加強民眾的文化自信”。

The Hong Kong Palace Museum said the exhibition was “curated based on academic and archaeological research” and that it reinforces its mission to deepen audiences’ “understanding of the lives and cultures of various regions and ethnic groups as well as exchanges among them in ancient China， which have contributed to the magnificence of China’s civilization and its ‘diversity in unity’ pattern of development.”

香港故宮文化博物館表示，三星堆展覽是“在學(xué)術(shù)和考古研究的基礎(chǔ)上策劃的”，并強調(diào)其目的在于使觀眾進一步“了解中國古代不同地區(qū)、不同民族的生活和文化以及彼此之間的交流，而這種交流為博大精深的中華文明及其‘多元一體’的發(fā)展模式做出了貢獻”。

1 1英尺約為0.3米。

2 1.4平方英里約為3.6平方千米。 3 scant欠缺的；不足的。