Page 215 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

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different types might have been arranged or in- drawn (it would seem) from a single type. Compared
tended to interact symbolically remains unknown. with the many permutations of the so-called taotie
Nothing comparable is attested at present from any known from Shang tradition, this is a relatively
other Bronze Age culture within the boundaries of stable imagery. The people of the Sanxingdui cul-
present-day China. ture certainly knew of the Shang image (see cat. 74),
Do these figures represent kings or ancestors of yet they devised a distinctly different set of sym-
the people of the Sanxingdui culture? At Anyang, bolic representations for their purposes, which on
deceased kings and remote ancestors were the present evidence did not include rites involving
focus of intense cultic activity. Are these images of bronze vessels and offerings of the kind
gods, spirits, or totems of the Sanxingdui people? documented in the north. RT
Many scholars assume that the complex pantheon
of deities and spirits documented in Late Zhou and 1 Excavated in 1986; published: Zhao 1994, nos. 21-22.
2 Excavated in 1986; published: Sichuan 1989, 2; Zhao 1994,
Qin-Han texts (such as Shan hai jing [Classic of nos. 23-24; Rawson 1996, no. 23.
mountains and seas] or Chu ci [Songs of Chu]) must
have had ancient roots among the many different
peoples of the earlier Bronze Age, especially in the
south. Are the images susceptible of some other
explanation? The faces and masks are consistent,

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