Encountering Sanxingdui civilization in NYC

From:Chinadaily.com.cnAuthor: 2024-10-22 14:40

Spanning millennia, the history and mystery of Sanxingdui's ancient civilization is reaching international audiences through modern digital platforms.

The exhibitionSanxingdui Encounter: A 12K Micro-viewing of National Treasuresopened on Saturday at the Memor Museum in New York, offering visitors an opportunity to have an immersive virtual experience of the relics and also see the physical replicas of these treasures.

The display will last until Jan 19.

Sanxingdui, an archaeological site located in modern-day Guanghan, Sichuan province, China, illustrated the civilization of the ancient Shu kingdom, which flourished from around 1700 BC to 1050 BC. Sanxingdui was not discovered until the 1920s and ongoing archaeological efforts continue to reveal new discoveries.

By the end of 2022, fieldwork on six newly uncovered sacrificial pits was nearly complete, yielding a wealth of precious artifacts. Over 4,000 items, including jade, stone, and pottery, were unearthed during this phase of excavation. Archaeologists are piecing together the history of the ancient Shu civilization and presenting these findings to the public.

The Shu kingdom, which arose in the Sichuan basin during the Bronze Age, is thought to have developed independently from the Yellow River Valley societies, long regarded as the cradle of Chinese civilization. Its people produced finely crafted bronze, jade, gold, and ceramic artifacts, depicting mythical creatures, rulers, gods, and shamans with exaggerated features such as bulging eyes and enlarged ears.

"Sanxingdui's rich heritage deserves international attention, with its vast cultural significance needing to be shared with a broader audience," the director of Memor Museum, Willa Ao, told China Daily.

"Sanxingdui's culture is an integral part of Chinese culture, and our goal is to share China's history, culture, and civilization with more international audiences in a way that is accessible, understandable, engaging, and approachable. We want to present the Sanxingdui relics through a blend of digital and physical experiences," Ao said.

One example Ao gave is a bronze figure, which strikingly resembles the stance of an American fitness coach performing a deadlift. Additionally, the bronze tree is adorned with numerous small hanging artifacts, reminiscent of ornaments used to decorate Christmas trees.

This is not the first time Sanxingdui has made an appearance in New York. Its unearthed bronzes were previously showcased at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2002 as part of a broader exhibition on bronze artifacts, but Ao said this time she wanted to provide New Yorkers a younger and interactive way to feel the relics in person through 1:1 replicas from the Sanxingdui Museum's collection, using ultra-high-definition 12k technology, AI interaction and VR immersion, which required three years of preparation.

UHD 12K technology refers to a video resolution of approximately 12,000 pixels across the width of the image, significantly higher than 4K and 8K resolutions.

Among the highlights of the exhibition are bronze masks, ceremonial altars, and the renowned gold mask, each offering a glimpse into the sophisticated artistry and spiritual depth of the Shu civilization.

Visitors will have the opportunity to view the famous Bronze Mask with Crown and Protruding Eyes, a rare artifact that provides insight into the ceremonial and spiritual practices of the ancient Shu people.

Also on display is the striking Bronze Head Wearing a Gold Mask, first unearthed in 1986, which illustrates a unique blend of social status and ritual significance.

"Although they are replicas, they remain highly valuable," Ao said. She explained that the replicas were created with permission from the Sanxingdui Museum, using the same materials to faithfully reproduce the original artifacts. They were also transported across the ocean according to the same standards used for authentic relics.

Visitors will be able to explore the relics using VR technology, which brings large artifacts like the Large Standing Man and the Bronze Sacred Tree into the gallery through virtual exploration. The exhibition also employs 12K video capture to document smaller artifacts, delicate bronze bells, and bird sculptures, magnifying them for a closer look.

"We use the highest resolution technology to capture every element of the artifacts. With 12K resolution, even the smallest artifacts are magnified, revealing intricate patterns that are invisible to the naked eye in a museum display," Ao said.

"Digitization is not only a crucial method for preserving relics but also an essential tool for their protection," Ao said. "Archaeological work now includes digital methods to gather artifact data, and it's important for us to make use of this. Simply preserving these cultures isn't enough, we must better promote our culture."

Visitors can also use VR experience to view the 3.96-meter-high Bronze Sacred Tree and 2.62-meter-tall Large Standing Man through an interactive experience where, through VR headsets and controllers, visitors can enter a 3D-scanned replica of the Sanxingdui archaeological cabin and immerse themselves in the first-person perspective of archaeologists.

"Visitors will gain a direct understanding of what the archaeological process is really like," the organizers said.

Sanxingdui is an incredibly important archaeological discovery, not just within Chinese archaeology, but within the world of archaeology, Kristen Martucci, one of the curators, told China Daily.

Martucci, 26, has been studying Chinese since high school and pursued East Asian studies, particularly ancient Chinese history, at Harvard University. "I'm particularly interested in early Chinese history, so Sanxingdui is certainly part of that," she said.

She primarily helps translate materials into English and curates the exhibition in a way that is approachable for American and international audiences.

"There's never just one perfect translation. Scholars spend months, sometimes years, figuring out the correct interpretation of something. And even then, there's debate," she said, explaining that her work is also a learning process in both Chinese and history while uncovering the "mystery."

"I've never been to the Sanxingdui Museum. I learned about Sanxingdui in my grad school courses, but even for me, seeing these replicas and using this exhibition and VR to experience it — that's new to me, so it's really exciting," she said.

Edit:孫儷洋

The copyright of the article and the picture belongs to the original author. If there is any infringement, please contact to delete it

牛牛在线精品免费视频观看| 亚洲视频在线精品| 国产精品天天影视久久综合网| 国产亚洲精品资源在线26u| 久久久久亚洲精品中文字幕| 四虎国产精品成人| 国产精品素人福利| 日韩精品高清自在线| 精品丰满人妻无套内射| 伊人久久精品一区二区三区| 精品久久久久中文字幕日本 | 亚洲午夜久久久精品电影院| 无码国产精品一区二区免费模式| 国产在线精品网址你懂的| 99re这里只有精品国产精品| 国产综合精品久久亚洲| 国产精品无码永久免费888| 国产精品 羞羞答答在线| 国产精品内射视频免费| 国产视频精品免费视频| 久久97久久97精品免视看| 久久91这里精品国产2020| 国产综合色产在线精品| 亚洲精品无码鲁网中文电影| 久久精品国产99国产精偷| 国产成人精品日本亚洲| 久久精品丝袜高跟鞋| 特级精品毛片免费观看| 99re热精品视频国产免费| 精品人妻久久久久久888| 精品国产一区二区三区色欲| 久久久久久久久66精品片| 久久亚洲欧美国产精品| 四虎永久在线精品免费网址| 国产剧情AV麻豆香蕉精品| 国产精品乱码一区二区三区| 国内精品卡1卡2卡区别| 久久精品国产亚洲AV麻豆不卡| 久久香综合精品久久伊人| 国产精品1024永久免费视频| 日韩精品人妻一区二区三区四区|