The Story
Before 1986, most scholars believed that Chinese civilization was born along the Yellow River. Then a team of brickmakers in Sichuan struck a pit containing hundreds of bronze and jade objects unlike anything ever found in China — or anywhere else on Earth. The discovery of Sanxingdui (三星堆) and its successor culture Jinsha shattered the 'single cradle' theory of Chinese civilization. The Sanxingdui people built advanced bronze casting 3,000 years ago, worked gold to remarkable purity, and revered supernatural beings with oversized eyes, elongated ears, and enigmatic smiles. They wrote nothing we can read. They vanished. Renewed excavations from 2019 onward have unearthed additional pits, gold masks, ivory, and silk fragments, each find raising new questions rather than answering old ones. This theme gathers the most iconic Sanxingdui artifacts and traces what we know, what we suspect, and what we may never discover.
Artifacts in This Theme
Bronze
Bronze Standing Figure
The tallest and oldest known bronze statue in the world — a 2.62-meter enigmatic figure with enormous hands, seemingly grasping something now lost to time.
Gold
Gold Mask of Sanxingdui
A hauntingly beautiful gold mask weighing about 280 grams, with protruding eyes and an enigmatic smile that has captivated the modern world.
Bronze
Sacred Bronze Tree
A nearly 4-meter tall bronze tree with birds, flowers, and a dragon — possibly representing the mythical Fusang Tree connecting heaven and earth.
