Listening to Cultural Relics and Telling Stories, Decoding Sanxingdui | Sanxingdui Silk: The Colorful Bronze of Chinese Civilization that Ashes Cannot Cover Over 3000 Years | Silk | Sanxingdui
Silk is one of the most exciting new discoveries in the new round of Sanxingdui archaeological excavations, as it was discovered from ashes over 3000 years ago.
Since 2020, the China Silk Museum has collaborated with the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology to discover silk on more than 40 objects, including bronze snakes and bronze eye shaped vessels, in Sanxingdui through a small reagent kit. The varieties include silk, qi, and woven fabrics.
"Qi is a high-end silk product, and there is also light and thin silk, like smoke and yarn, flowing and agile," said Zhou Yang, Deputy Director of the China Silk Museum.
Zhou Yang was deeply involved in the excavation, protection, and research of silk fabrics in Sanxingdui. She introduced that most of the cultural relics in the Sanxingdui sacrificial pit have been burned and may have been submerged in water. Along with other treasures, they have been buried underground for thousands of years, mixed with the ashes, soil, and other elements inside the pit, and have long lost their original appearance.
The China Silk Museum, based on immunological principles, has led the development of a low-cost and easy to operate test paper that can detect traces of silk from thousands of years ago in about 15 minutes. With the help of the latest archaeological research in Sanxingdui, the earliest silk in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River has been found.
This is a silk micrograph and physical extraction taken at the Sanxingdui Museum on July 26th. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Xi
The name of Shu is closely related to silkworms, and most of the legends about sericulture in ancient China are related to the Shu region. The first generation of ancient Shu kings was named Silkworm Cong. It is said that he was named "Qingyi Shen" because he wore green clothes to persuade farmers and mulberry farmers in the folk.
Modern scientific archaeology confirms the traces of silk, indicating that Sanxingdui is one of the important origins of silk in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, containing the splendid "genes" and ancient codes of Chinese civilization.
Silk is one of the most important symbols of Chinese culture. The discovery of cocoon shells at the Yangshao Cultural Site, the discovery of tooth carved silkworms at the Shuanghuaishu Site in Zhengzhou, the discovery of stone carved silkworm pupae at the Shicun Site in Xia County, Shanxi, and the discovery of silk ribbons at the Qianshanyang Site in Huzhou, Zhejiang... all prove that China is the world's earliest country to domesticate silkworms, spin silk, and weave silk, with a wide distribution area. Silk is closely related to Chinese civilization.
Silkworms and mulberry have unique significance in the spiritual world of the Chinese people. The small silkworm, experiencing changes in its short life, has triggered the ancient Chinese ancestors to associate and contemplate major issues such as heaven and earth, life and death.
The Book of Rites records: "After the silkworms are harvested, they are divided into cocoons and called Silk Effect Gong, using the attire of a suburban temple." This illustrates the important role of silk in sacrificial ceremonies.
Zhou Yang's research suggests that early silk was not easily obtained, and an important use of silk was for ceremonial purposes. The bronze standing figure in Sanxingdui, adorned with intricate patterns and neat patterns, should be a depiction of a leader dressed in embroidered clothes presiding over a grand ceremony.
This is a silk micrograph taken on July 26th at the Sanxingdui Museum. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Xi
Archaeologists detected a very strong silk fibroin signal in the ash layer of the 4th sacrificial pit in Sanxingdui, indicating that a large amount of silk had been burned here. Experts say: Does this indicate another function of silk in ritual, such as burying silk costumes underground or burning them with fire, to convey the essence of ritual to the heavens? Is there any writing on the silk clothing for sacrificial purposes, and can it provide a possibility for searching for ancient Shu script Unclear passwords are left for the future.
"The origin of silk is the chapter with the most Chinese characteristics and Eastern wisdom, because it contains the unique contributions of the Chinese people to world civilization, original technological inventions, and the Chinese people's thinking about the life and death of heaven and earth. In the process of integration of Chinese civilization, silk is a very significant convergent element, and myths, legends, historical records, and archaeological discoveries all indicate that the knowledge and value systems of Bashu and the Central Plains are roughly the same." Zhou Yang said.