Ancient Shu shines in Shanghai

Over 200 of the objects have come from Sichuan, but the Shanghai Museum has also managed to borrow objects from 25 other museums and institutions all over the country that reflect the connections between the Shu civilization and other parts of China.

"We believe the exhibition will be phenomenal," says Chu Xiaobo, director of the Shanghai Museum.

The institution began accepting online bookings on its WeChat social platform a few days ahead of the opening.

"We have reserved space for 8,000 visitors every day, and in five minutes we were fully booked," he says.

"We are confident we'll be able to turn the new Shanghai Museum East into a cultural landmark recognized by the whole world."

On Jan 29, the Shanghai Museum invited members of the media to witness the unpacking of two signature exhibits for the upcoming exhibition.

The first was Bronze Figure With Towering Strands of Hair, which dates to between the 13th century and 11th century BC. Standing 104 centimeters tall, the statue's knees are bent and its buttocks are prominent in a posture resembling that of a person doing a dead lift.

The figure has changed people's impressions of traditional Chinese art, says Hu Jialin, a bronze researcher at the Shanghai Museum, because it is commonly believed that traditional Chinese art tended to emphasize the abstract and avoided realistic depictions of the human form.

"This figure shows that realistic representations of human figures were found in China as early as 3,000 years ago."

Hu points out that contrary to the public perception that Sanxingdui and Jinsha art was "exotic" and different, it was an integral part of ancient Chinese art, and was closely connected to cultural relics found in many other parts of the country.

"We noticed the similarly realistic depictions of animal forms on bronze art in the Yangtze River watershed," Hu says.

"And we believe the terracotta soldiers were somewhat influenced by the bronze figures of Sanxingdui."

The second artifact unveiled to the media was a gold mask excavated at the Sanxingdui site in 2021.

"We have found similar masks at the Jinsha site, and this shows that Sanxingdui and Jinsha share a similar cultural root," Hu says.

Archaeologists have speculated that the mask was originally placed on a bronze head sculpture and was important to the worship of gods during Shu sacrificial ceremonies, he says.

The latest exhibition is the third in the Shanghai Museum's ongoing series, The Essence of China, which aims to present the origins of Chinese civilization through a series of exhibitions over the course of a decade, according to Chu.