Sanxingdui People

The Sanxingdui people were ancient ethnic groups living on the Chengdu Plain about 3,000 to 5,000 years ago, whose civilization is named after the Sanxingdui Ruins in Guanghan, Sichuan. Archaeological findings show they created a highly developed bronze civilization, with unique artifacts like bronze masks, divine trees, and golden staffs—giant vertical-eye masks have protruding eyeballs, and the bronze divine tree has three layers and nine branches, reflecting a mysterious religious sacrificial system. They might have been the early people of the ancient Shu Kingdom, relying on rice cultivation for agriculture and boasting highly specialized handicrafts. Their civilization interacted with those of the Central Plains and the Yangtze River (middle and lower reaches), while featuring a distinct combination of theocracy and kingship. Unsolved mysteries of the site (such as the lack of writing and sudden demise of the civilization) make the Sanxingdui people a highly mysterious part of Chi