Sanxingdui Artefacts in China

The Mysterious Ancient Artifacts of Sanxingdui that have Rewritten Chinese History



In the spring of 1929, a farmer was digging a well when he discovered a large stash of jade relics. This was the first clue that eventually led to the discovery of a mysterious ancient kingdom. Generations of Chinese archaeologists searched the area without success until 1986, when workers accidentally found the pits containing thousands of artifacts that had been broken, burned, and then carefully buried.

The discovery of the artifacts opened up a world of intrigue. The objects found in the sacrificial pits included animal-faced sculptures and masks with dragon ears, open mouths and grinning teeth; human-like heads with gold foil masks; decorative animals including dragons, snakes, and birds; a giant wand, a sacrificial altar, a 4-metre tall bronze tree; axes, tablets, rings, knives, and hundreds of other unique items. Among the collection was also the world’s largest and best preserved bronze upright human figure, measuring 2.62 metres (8 feet).

A sacrificial altar with several four-legged animals

A sacrificial altar with several four-legged animals at the base to support a few bronze figures closely resembling the large face masks, each holding in outstretched hands a ceremonial offering of some sort. Photo source: Wikipedia


The artifacts were radiocarbon dated to the 12 th-11th centuries BC. They had been created using remarkably advanced bronze casting technology, which was acquired by adding lead to a combination of copper and tin, creating a stronger substance that could create substantially larger and heavier objects, such as the life-size human statue and the 4-metre tall tree.

Bronze Heads and gold foil masks in Sanxingdui - China

Dozens of bronze heads were found in the pits, some containing gold foil masks

Some of the masks were enormous in size – one measures an incredible 1.32 metres in width and 0.72 metres in height, the largest bronze mask ever found. The three largest masks have the most supernatural features of all the Sanxingdui artifacts, with animal-like ears, monstrously protruding pupils, or an additional ornate trunk.

Researchers were astonished to find an artistic style that was completely unknown in the history of Chinese art, whose baseline had been the history and artifacts of the Yellow River civilisation(s).

Bronze Dragon Head in Sanxingdui China

A bird or dragon-like bronze head. Photo source .

The spectacular discovery at Sanxingdui in 1986 turned Sichuan into a focal point in the study of ancient China.  The ancient artifacts found in the two pits date to the time of the Shang dynasty, in the late second millennium BC, when the primary civilised society was flourishing in the Yellow River valley, in north China, thousands of miles from Sichuan. No similar find has been made anywhere else, and there are no inscriptions at the Sanxingdui site to shed light on its culture, which was apparently a distinctive Bronze Age civilisation, unrecorded in historical texts and previously unknown. The discovery contributed to a fundamental shift from the traditional understanding of a single centre of civilisation in north China to the recognition of the existence of multiple regional traditions, of which Sichuan was clearly one of the most distinct.

The culture that produced these artifacts is now known as the Sanxingdui Culture, and archaeologists are identifying it with the ancient kingdom of Shu, linking the artifacts found at the site to its early legendary kings. References to a Shu kingdom that can be reliably dated to such an early period in Chinese historical records are scant (it is mentioned in Shiji and Shujing as an ally of the Zhou who defeated the Shang), but accounts of the legendary kings of Shu may be found in local annals.

According to the Chronicles of Huayang compiled in the Jin Dynasty (265–420 AD), the Shu kingdom was founded by Cancong.  Cancong was described as having protruding eyes, a feature that is found in the figures of Sanxingdui. Other rulers mentioned in Chronicles of Huayang include Boguan, Yufu, and Duyu. Many of the objects are fish and bird-shaped, and these have been suggested to be totems of Boguan and Yufu (the name Yufu actually means fish cormorant).

Bronze Head - Sanxingdui China

A large bronze head with protruding eyes believed to depict those of Cancong, the semi-legendary first king of Shu. Photo source .

A metropolis of its time, covering about three square kilometres, Sanxingdui had highly developed agriculture, including winemaking ability, ceramic technology and sacrificial tools and mining was commonplace. According to archaeological findings, the settlement at Sanxingdui was abandoned suddenly around 1,000 BC. For reasons that are still unknown, the prime of Sanxingdui Culture came to an abrupt end. 

The sacrificial pits are believed to have been sites for the ancient Shu people to offer sacrifice to Heaven, Earth, mountains, rivers, and other natural gods. The human-like figures, bronze animal-faced masks with protruding eyes and flat bronze animal-faced masks may be natural gods worshiped by the Shu people.

"Judging from the numerous bronze human images and funerary objects, the ancient Sanxingdui kingdom had unified and ruled the people through primordial religion. They worshiped nature, totems and their ancestors. The ancient Shu kingdom probably often held grand sacrificial activities to attract tribes with different religious beliefs to come from far and near to worship," said Ao Tianzhao from the Sanxingdui Museum, who has been studying the Sanxingdui culture for half a century. He believes the large number of bronze artfacts at Sanxingdui indicates that this site used to be a mecca for pilgrims.

Since the discovery, these artifacts have received a great amount of international interest and attention. They have been exhibited at world renowned museums such as The British Museum, Taipei’s National Palace Museum, National Gallery of Art (Washington), Guggenheim Museum (New York), Asian Art Museum (San Francisco), Art Gallery of New South Wales (Sydney) and Lausanne Olympic Museum (Switzerland).  A selection of the artifacts are now making their way to the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California, where the exhibition, ‘China’s Lost Civilization: the Mystery of Sanxingdui’, will be featured from 19 th October 2014 to 15 th March, 2015.

The discovery of Sanxingdui shocked the world, but the history of the artifacts remains a mystery. Only the contents of two solitary pits reflect the immemorial and brilliant civilisation of the Shu – no other artifacts like them have ever been found since. There are no historical records, and no ancient texts that speak of them, leaving experts asking what the purpose of the objects was, where the culture came from, and where they went after burying their most precious treasures. The Sanxingdui civilisation is a unique page in China’s long history and for now it remains an enigma.

Times Higher Education , December 1996

Featured image: A bronze mask of Sanxingdui. Photo source .  

By April Holloway

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This is The Khu: Jula. The Catfish King: Kadphises I. Aka "Kujula Kadphises I, king of Kush at Elephantine, and Kushan king. His "nickname" is Elu or Ili. He is "Qi" the son of Yu the Great. He is Yu's "ya": his son. Yuya.

He is aka "King Yao" of the Hilltribes of Burma...the Pyu" tribes. The state of Illinois is named after him: Little Ili. His Gani, or "mischevious dwarf helpers of Shiva" were the miners, and the "mes" were the smithies. MesGani. Michigan. Go read about the ancient copper mining in Michigan at "greatancestors."

Without any doubt, the huge bronze face with spiked eyes (those are not "protruding eyes") once was attached to the prow of an ancient Greek warship. A "Ram."

Absolutely no doubt what that is.

"A large bronze head with protruding eyes believed to depict those of Cancong, the semi-legendary first king of Shu." No. Those are not "protruding eyes." Those are spikes. And it is not a "head" it is a mask of a "god." A Huge one, with mounting holes to attach to ship's prow. Do you not see the holes to mount this RAM????

That my friends, is an image of Yama, the Ugarit god of the ocean and the god of death. "Yufu"=Yuya=Yama=YHW. Look at article at Wikipedia on "YHWH" it states clearly that scholars say "YHWH" is aka "Yama." So do many Jewish scholars. Ugarit....Canaan. Invaded by the Mittai KHaburs of Washukanni/VasuKanni. The Haberu Kanni/Cains. Speaking "Luwian" which is Levite...hence it was renamed "The Levant."

And a close look at Yuya's mummy *clearly* shows someone drove spikes into his forehead, into his eyes. CLEARLY one can see he was blinded. Colorized images of his mummy shows he was a reddish-blond haired Leper. Images of him are easily located in ancient Indo-Aryan artwork as a Leper, with one blinded eye: his right eye. He is even called "The yellow-haired devil/Asura" in the ancient Vedic sanskrit.

I say it is depicted on the "Narmer" (Naram-Simha) Palette, "Narmer" wearing a lion's tale, driving a spike into a Greek sailors' forehead. Then the reverse side shows the line of Greek sailors being marched, and one looks exactly like another of the images: wearing that "eye goggle" mask. Blinded and carrying a Standard: Set. With a shovel slung over his shoulder...never heard of YHWH and the Shovel tale in bible? Go look....

Not to mention that the palette also depicts two Greek sailors swimming away in fear from a curious image: it is the Shavista, the symbol of Shiva. And above all images: The Catfish: VishNu as Matsya.

Everyone here does realize that Greeks had an ancient colony in Fujian province called "Yue?" If you didn't, go look it up. The dates are correct. The Chinese called Yuya "Yufu."

And that huge/tall statue? Yuya as "Tushratta/Dashartha" (the ten avatars of VishNu): He is an alchemist. Yuya/YHW/Yufu had a city he settled, Al-Khemmis, aka "AkMin", in the Minya District of Upper Egypt: fact. Al-Khemmis...Alchemist.

Yuya/Tushratta as king of the Mittani KHaburs forged bronze weapons and agricultural implements at Washukanni/VasuKanni (Cains/blacksmiths) that they TRADED TO THE CHINESE. Mittani is in Assyria. The Mittani worshiped Indo-Aryan/Vedic gods and goddesses.

They were aka the YueZhi/Asii traders of the Silk Road. Aka "TochAryan/ Caucasians. This is all EASILY researched and verified.

And yes, some of those masks I have found images very similar since this discovery, in ancient Indo-Aryan art. Especially telling is the "cat mask" image wearing a goggle mask....that is an Asura.
demon image, easily found. Same elongated neck, with TWO SETS OF EARS like this Chinese ask. Unique and indisputable.

Yuya/Yufu's mummy is next to his wife: "Thuya." A "Thyia" means "Water Nymph" in Greek. HE IS Yudhisthera, the famous BLIND KING of the Mahabharata, aka "Dhritarastera." Judah and Athira.

"God and his Wife."

Stop thinking inside a fake perimeter set by those wishing to deceive. The Turko-Greek tribes traveled this Silk Road often, and they also sailed the Indian Ocean. The other Indo-Aryan tribes called them "Yoni." The IONIANS. Stop thinking the ancients didn't sail the seas everywhere: they did. Stop thinking the ancients didn't travel far and wide: didn't the university of Pennsyvannia just PROVE Egyptian kings rode on HORSEBACK in 1600 BC??? Yes, they did...and I KNOW WHO THAT KING IS.


And "Narmer" is Naram-Simha, an avatar of VishNu. Half-man/half-lion....which is why "Narmer" is wearing a lion's tale in images.

Go look at the Narmer Palette. Don't be afraid to expand your Horizons....You will know I am correct.

A genocide was likely, whether or not the Sanxingdui people were relatively isolated from the rest of China. It was a deliberate move to make them disappear from the face of the Earth, thus any traces that were unique to them had been erased.

A simpler explanation is that acting under the sanction of the Zhou Dynasty, it was a one-off covert campaign to wipe out the Kingdom of Shu. No records were thus left. For what reasons the Zhou wanted to eliminate its former ally, I'm not sure though... :D

Correction: Not Minor Asia, but the Near East and Central Asia.



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