The two sacrificial pits in Sanxingdui are the most important discoveries in the archaeological sites in China for more than half a century. The birth of a large number of exquisite cultural relics strongly proves that it was once a developed ancient city in the southwest of China more than 3,000 years ago, and the history of ancient Shu once turned a glorious page here. Among these ancient Shu treasures, there are many grotesque bronze sculptures, among which the bronze statues with majestic appearance and strict Weah are particularly eye-catching, which vividly reflect the witchcraft concept and primitive religious consciousness of ancient Shu ancestors and vividly illustrate the political structure and social form of Gu Yinshu in Sanxingdui. Its cultural relics fill the blank of some important cultural relics in the cultural evolution sequence of China. As an outstanding representative of China's ancient civilization in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, it once again proves the diversity of the origin of Chinese civilization.
Among the bronze figures unearthed in Sanxingdui, this bronze statue is a "leader" in terms of clothing, image and volume. According to its modeling characteristics and status symbol, it is generally called "the first witch".
The bronze statue consists of two parts, the portrait and the base, and is cast by "sectional embedding casting method". The body is hollow and 2.62m high, in which the figure is1.72m high, the base is 0.9m high and weighs180kg. Standing barefoot on the square monster seat, the seat consists of three parts: seat base, seat legs and seat table. The seat base is trapezoidal, and the legs of the chair are four connected monster heads: the desktop is square, and the decorative patterns around it are mainly solar halo patterns. It has a flower-shaped crown on its head, a good face, a zigzag shape, heavy eyebrows, a prominent nose, a hook at the corner of its mouth and a perforation in each ear. The neck is slender, the right arm is raised in front of the nose, the left hand is raised at the same height as the chest, and the hands are rolled up, which seems to be practicing. Wearing a narrow-sleeved and half-sleeved suit. The outermost layer is a single-sleeved garment, the middle layer is a short coat, and the inner layer is the longest, with long sleeves. The whole portrait is unique, precise and solemn, and magnificent. Tasting the moral of this model, it seems that he is doing something, uploading people's feelings to God and making God's commands suitable for the people. The square platform on which he stood can be understood as the Dojo of his practice-altar or mountain. In the middle of the crown on the head of the Dali bronze statue, there is a circular symbol representing the sun. Judging from its position, this giant statue may be performing its functions on behalf of the sun god, or he may be the incarnation of the sun god himself. This is a direct manifestation of sun worship.
It is generally believed that bronze statues represent a king and a wizard. In the eyes of ancient Shu ancestors, he was the messenger who connected two worlds: the world of God and the world of man.
A bronze statue is not a work of art that shows realistic style. From the analysis of body structure, his figure does not conform to the proportion of normal people. No one with such a body can be found anywhere in the world. In other words, this work of art does not represent people in the general sense. Thick hands, slender figure and such a long neck can't be connected with real people at all. It can only be interpreted as an abstract human body art model, a stylized thing, and an artistic expression of ancient Shu people's special liking.
There are also different opinions about the meaning of the bronze ring hand. Some scholars believe that the unique artistic modeling of bronze statues is embodied in the unique "hand worship" of ancient Shu people. The overall shape presents the image of "a group of witches". As an emperor or a wizard, he waved his huge circular hands during the sacrifice, peeped at the sky and the earth, and conveyed the meaning of heaven to people. The huge ring-like hand shape was exaggerated and deformed by the ancient Shu people out of awe of emperors or wizards. Obviously, no one can grow such huge hands. If it really existed at that time, the only possibility was that the emperor or wizard held a ring-shaped ornament, that is, an instrument, in his hand when he presided over the sacrificial activities, which might be one or two. When you do this, you are covered under God's robe, and from a distance, you are one with the real hand. After the research of Sanxingdui Museum, it is more inclined to think that the identity of the statue of Daliren is the most authoritative leader of Sanxingdui ancient Shu State, which combines the identity of a god, a wizard and a king, and is a symbol of the supremacy of divine power and kingship.
Sanxingdui bronze statue is one of the main carriers of ancient Shu witch culture and primitive religious culture. Its modeling characteristics and formal composition are all aimed at expressing its cosmic feelings and pursuing the primitive religious thought of harmony between man and nature in ancient Shu. Its casting time has a history of more than 3,000 years, and it is the highest and most complete bronze statue in existence. As far as the world is concerned, Sanxingdui bronze colossus is also the largest bronze figure statue in the same period, so it is also called "the king of bronze statues in the world", and its exquisite production is unique in the archaeological history of Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties so far.
refer to
[1] A brief analysis of the cultural connotation of Sanxingdui bronze statue by Lu Sainan.
[2] Baidu Encyclopedia