Hong Kong Palace Museum | HKPM Special Exhibition Talk Series: Civilisation Uncovered—Sanxingdui

The new archaeological discoveries at the Sanxingdui site have yielded tremendous finds in recent years. In particular, the priceless artefacts excavated from the eight sacrificial pits have gained worldwide attention. Among them are various objects that are completely new in form to archaeologists, necessitating analysis and research on different aspects of the objects and their connotations. What is “Sanxingdui”? What are the characteristics of the artefacts unearthed there? Is Sanxingdui the ancient Shu Kingdom mentioned in literature? What is Shu’s relationship with the Shang, Zhou, Chu, and Qin States? Professor Chen Xiandan will explore and analyse the above-mentioned topics, as well as the relationships between artefacts unearthed from Sanxingdui and the mysterious Bashu pictographic symbols.

This talk accompanies the special exhibition “Gazing at Sanxingdui: New Archaeological Discoveries in Sichuan”, on view in Gallery 8 at the Hong Kong Palace Museum from 27 September 2023 to 8 January 2024. The exhibition features 120 remarkable bronze, jade, gold, and pottery objects from around 2,600–4,500 years ago. Nearly half of these were unearthed in the most recent excavations at the Sanxingdui site between 2020 and 2022, and many are being exhibited outside Sichuan for the first time. This exhibition is jointly organised by the Hong Kong Palace Museum, the Sanxingdui Museum in Guanghan, and the Jinsha Site Museum in Chengdu, with the support of the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Bank of China (Hong Kong) is the Sole Sponsor of this special exhibition.

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