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Sanxingdui (Three-Star Piles) Museum

Sanxingdui (Three-Star Piles) Museum

Write: Packard [2011-05-23]

Sanxingdui Museum is located in Northeast of Sanxingdui archeological site, west of the famous cultural city of Guanghan, on the bank of Jian River (commonly called Yazi River), 40 kilometers (about 24.9 miles) north of Chengdu City. Covering an exhibition area of 4,000 square meters (about 1544.4 square miles), and opened in October 1997 this is an archeological museum with excellent modern facilities. The cultural relics in the museum were mostly unearthed from the Sanxingdui site. In order to know about the museum we should know more about the Sanxingdui site.
The first Sanxingdui relics were discovered by a farmer in 1929 and excavation has continued ever since. During this period, generations of archaeologists have worked on the discovery and research of the Sanxingdui culture. In 1986, two major sacrificial pits were found and they aroused widespread academic attention around the world.
Sanxingdui refers to three earth mounds at the site. Hence the site found here is called Sanxingdui Relic. The Relic area stretches for about 12 square kilometers (about 4.6 square miles), which is the largest, oldest, and most connotational Shu cultural relic in Sichuan. It is said that the Heavenly Emperor cast down three handfuls of earth which fell near the Jian River and became three earth mounds on Chengdu Plain. The three earth piles, described as three golden stars in a line, hence became known as Sanxingdui (three-star piles). Now affirmed by modern archaeology, the three earth mounds of the Sanxingdui Relic are in reality the southern wall of an ancient city that was built of earth. There are two breaches in the city wall, after the collapse and subsequent erosion; it became the three mounds we see today.
The first hall of the museum is composed of "three stars accompanying the moon", the splendid civilization of ancient Shu. Cultural relics showed in this hall systemically represent the excellent achievements in every field in its long history.
The second hall contains symbols of all kinds of gods reflecting the mysterious and primitive religion. Cultural relics showed in this hall tell people about the political structure and social relations of ancient Shu, as well as the idea of ancient people.
The third hall is composed of "forever the soul of Shu", the special cream of relics. Here are shown over 10 groups of national treasures with historical and artistic value.
The fourth hall with the scheme of "forever Sanxingdui" shows off the excavations and studies of Sanxingdui. It introduces the industrious work of generations of experts both at home and abroad in the past 50 years. It represents the great effect of Sanxingdui and the important role it plays in academic circles.
For the swarms of tourists all year around, a new Exhibition Hall was opened on May Day in 2004, covering an exhibition area of 7,000 square meters. The exhibition in this hall is mainly a complex display of jade articles, gold plate and pottery, with the old Exhibition Hall specializing in bronze wares.
Sanxingdui Relic is the spiritual homeland of the ancient Shu people and the Sanxingdui Museum is the place for modern people to meet the ancient Shu.
Location:
It is located in the city of Guanghan, 40 km from Chengdu
Ticket Price:
80 yuan