In the depths of history, there are moments that have been frozen in eternity, their radiance shining through thousands of years and still shining with the brilliant light of civilization. Today, let’s take a look at the golden ornament of the Sun God Bird of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, which has become a symbol of Chinese cultural heritage.
The golden ornament of the Sun God Bird from the Shang and Zhou dynasties is a golden artifact from the Shang and Zhou dynasties. It was unearthed in Jinsha Village in 2001 and is now collected in the Jinsha Site Museum in Chengdu. The overall shape is a circular thin sheet, with an outer diameter of 12.5 centimeters, an inner diameter of 5.29 centimeters, a thickness of 0.02 centimeters, and a weight of 20 grams. The pattern is divided into two layers, inner and outer, with twelve rotating tooth shaped rays evenly distributed in the inner layer; The outer layer is composed of four identical birds flying counterclockwise.
The center of the inner pattern is a circle without a side bar, surrounded by twelve clockwise rotating tooth shaped awns evenly distributed around it. The awns are in the shape of slender fangs, with pointed outer ends, and the pattern resembles a sun spinning continuously in the sky. The outer pattern consists of four identical birds flying counterclockwise, evenly distributed around the inner sun, with necks and legs stretched out, wings spread and flying, and claws with three toes. Connect your head and feet forward and backward, flying in the same direction. The direction of flight is opposite to the direction of the inner solar rays.
The gold content of the Sun God Bird gold jewelry from the Shang and Zhou dynasties is as high as 94.2%, which is processed from natural sand gold. The whole machine adopts various processing techniques such as hammering, shearing, and polishing, with the front polished bright and the back unpolished and relatively rough. The collection has rich historical and cultural connotations, and has significant historical, artistic, and scientific value. It is an important physical material for studying the ancient Shu ancestors’ gold ware making techniques, bronze civilization, and deep-seated ideology during the Shang and Zhou dynasties.
On August 16, 2005, the golden decoration pattern of the Sun God Bird from the Shang and Zhou dynasties stood out from more than 1600 candidate patterns and became a symbol of Chinese cultural heritage, as well as the core pattern of Chengdu’s urban emblem.
In 2013, the gold decoration pattern of the Sun God Bird from the Shang and Zhou dynasties was also included in the “Third Batch of Prohibited Cultural Relics for Overseas Exhibitions”.
