Ancient Sichuan: Treasures from a Lost Civilization

by Robert Bagley (Editor)

This extraordinary catalogue accompanies a major traveling exhibition of 128 works of bronze, jade, and clay dating from the thirteenth century B.C. to the second century A.D. The majority of these stunningly sophisticated works of art--among the most unusual and spectacular produced anywhere in the ancient world--all come from a startling archaeological discovery made just fourteen years ago at the previously unknown site of Sanxingdui in Sichuan province. The discovery of this Bronze Age civilization fundamentally changes our understanding of Chinese history.


Representing fifteen hundred years of cultural production, these striking objects are extraordinarily varied, ranging from a monumental standing figure and an almost life-size bronze horse to ritual vessels, masks, and bronze heads of fantastic-looking supernatural beings, finely honed jade knives and ritual blades, and marvelous clay statuettes. Most have never before been seen in the United States. The exhibition and catalogue represent a unique international effort to continue the study of ancient Sichuan.


Under the leadership of Robert Bagley, an international team of scholars contributes eight essays on the archaeological discoveries at Sanxingdui, the art historical importance of these objects, and the new history of ancient China they tell. Contributors are Michèle Pirazzoli-t'Serstevens, Jessica Rawson, Lothar von Falkenhausen, Alain Thote, Jenny F. So, Michael Nylan, and the Seattle Art Museum's Curator of Chinese Art, Jay Xu. In addition to the essays, there are individual entries for each object, nearly all of which have been newly photographed for this publication.


Ancient Sichuan contributes to a revolutionary change in perceptions of ancient Chinese civilization, providing an unprecedented opportunity to explore the art, material culture, and spiritual life of ancient China.


EXHIBITION


Seattle Art Museum, Seattle
May-August 2001


Kimbell Museum of Art, Fort Worth
September 2001-January 2002


Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
March-June 2002


Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto
August-November 2002

Genres: China, History

360 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2001

Reviews

[Steve]

Bronze head from Sichuan, China


Until 1986 the western province of Sichuan (Szechwan) was regarded as a cultural backwater, historically speaking, with China's historical (as opposed to legendary) record commencing around 1900 BCE with the early Bronze Age Erlitou, the Erligang and then the literate Anyang civilization (around 1200 BCE) in the Yellow River valley (setting aside Neolithic precursors). But in 1986 a site, Sanxingdui (Three Star Mounds), was discovered in Sichuan that revealed a highly advanced Bronze Age culture contemporaneous with these cultures and possessing a very unique art.(*)

The site turned out to be a walled city belonging to what is now called the Sanxingdui Culture founded ca. 1,600 BCE with walls 40 m thick at the base and 20 m at the top, varying in height from 8–10 m and enclosing an area of 3.5 square kilometers. There was also a set of inner walls. So this city was very sizable - comparable to the largest known city in East Asia of the time, Zhengzhou, in the Yellow River valley - and provided with powerful fortifications.




Jade carving


So far, the sophisticated and striking jade, clay and bronze art pieces have been recovered primarily from what have been identified as sacrificial pits. The tombs of the elite have not yet been located. Surprisingly to me, in one of these pits 67 elephant tusks were found! Gratifyingly, the burnt and ground bones found in the pits were not human, in contrast to the contemporaneous human sacrifices in the Anyang culture (occasionally as many as several hundred at a time).




Bronze statue 2.6 m in height


The Sanxingdui culture clearly developed directly out of the Baodun culture, but it was materially and culturally much more sophisticated. And it seems that it was fairly well shielded by the surrounding mountain ranges from other influences, though it appears that the bronze casting technology itself may have come up the Yangzi River. The many humanlike images and forms have absolutely no parallel in the Anyang culture, in which images of men and gods played a negligible role. But there are ceremonial knife shapes common to both cultures. It appears that there might have been some influence in one period on Sanxingdui pottery by the Yellow River culture, but the matter is far from obvious. This seems to be an essentially autochthonous culture about which there is much yet to be learned. And because at least in China they still care about their cultural past, archaeological work is proceeding apace.




An unusual bronze mask


Ancient Sichuan: Treasures from a Lost Civilization (2001), edited by Robert Bagley, is a beautiful, large format volume jointly produced by the Seattle Art Museum and the Princeton University Press that commemorates a large travelling exhibition. The excellent illustrations are assorted with informative essays by experts relating the archaeological findings in Sichuan down to around 200 CE and discussing the region's incorporation into China proper, complete with references to the growing literature. Just the kind of "coffee table book" I like and the kind of purchase I indulge myself in around Christmas. Merry Christmas to me! :)



A curious bronze tree complete with fruit and perching birds, 4 m tall


(*) All the images used in this review are of objects retrieved from the Sanxingdui site. I am deliberately oversimplifying the discovery history and am ignoring the Neolithic precursor of the Sanxingdui culture, namely the Baodun culture, as well as the corresponding Stone Age culture in the Yellow River valley. The Sichuan basin had much smaller walled cities already in the second half of the third millennium BCE.

[Czarny Pies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man and his world never cease to surprise me. This book is the catalogue an exhibit that toured North American in 2001/2002.

The exhibit contained works in bronze and jade from Sanxingdui in Sichuan province. The discovery of this site revealed the existence of a Bronze-Aged civilization in China that had existed from the thirteenth century B.C. to the second century A.D,

My family had a years pass to the Royal Ontario Museum which hosted the exhibit during its stay in Toronto. We simply wondered in without the slightest idea of what to expect. My wife and I were stunned. We had never seen anything like these objects before despite having visited at least a dozen Chinese collections in a dozen or so Europe cities over the previous years including the very large collection of the Royal Ontario Museum.

Keep going to the museum. The astonishments never end. Pay special attention for announcements of Chinese exhibits. The current government is making every effort to bring the glorious past of China to its citizen and so many archeological sites are being examined throughout the middle kingdom. As a result we in North America are being treated to a wonderful sequence of tremendously exotic exhibits from the Middle Kingdom.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went to the exhibit at the SAM and was struck by how many similarities some of the masks have with precolumbian art of the mayan peoples. Since we don't have the writing or know the social history of these sichuan peoples (we weren't aware of this particular civilization at all before the discovery discussed in this volume), we can't, at least for now, prove any migration or cultural relation, but it's intriguing.

[Laphirax Helminen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es un hermoso libro de gran formato, bien encuadernado en cartoné con tela, con fotografías preciosas, documentado y escrito por especialistas como Michèle Pirazzoli-t'Serstevens, Lothar von Falkenhausen, Jessica Rawson y Michael Nylan, no se le puede pedir más a un catálogo de exposición. Incluye bibliografía y glosario. Y no solamente trata el sitio de la Edad de Bronce de Sanxingdui como uno podría pensar por la portada y título, también contiene una introducción y piezas posteriores halladas en la misma provincia de Sichuan de los periodos Zhou y Han.