A 'Cloud Dialogue' of Sanxingdui!

Over 200 North American teenagers and thousands of British teenagers participated in a 'Cloud Dialogue' of Sanxingdui!

At 8:00 a.m. Beijing time on May 30 (8:00 p.m. EST on May 29), SICC held a 'Night at the Museum' online event for North American teenagers and college students in cooperation with the School of Foreign Languages of Southwest Jiaotong University's Department of International Chinese Education, the Chinese School Association in the United States (CSAUS), the Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics and Archeology Research Institute, and the Sanxingdui Museum in Guanghan, Sichuan. It was the first time since the excavation of sacrificial pits in Sanxingdui in 1986 that Sanxingdui culture communicated with North American teenagers. As part of the event, young people from China and abroad held an hour-long 'cloud dialogue' about Sanxingdui. It is reported that this online show will be broadcasted in the Chinese classes of partner colleges in Britain, American and Europe.

No. 1 bronze sacred tree

At the beginning of this event, nearly 200 participants fromWashington University in St Louis, Yale University, and multiple Chinese schools in the US explored a number of precious cultural relics of the Sanxingdui Museum. With the help of 3D restoration technology, the Bronze Standing Figure, Gold Scepter, Bronze Sacred Tree, Vertical-eyed Bronze Mask, Gold Mask and other cultural relics in Sanxingdui Museum in Guanghan, Sichuan province were presented to the audiences abroad. The display won great admiration from the participants.

Bronze mask with protruding

Bronze standing figure

Later, Xu Danyang, a young archaeologist who graduated from Peking University's School of Archaeology and Museology and in charge of the excavation of sacrificial pit No. 4 in the Sanxingdui site, joined the young American participants for an online dialogue via live-streaming. Xu Danyang introduced the cultural relics' characteristics and historical background, as well as the excavation processat Sanxingdui, and ran an archaeological trivia quiz with the participants.

"What 'secret tech' did archaeologists use?" "What are the surprises in the archaeological process?" "What does the discovery of Sanxingdui mean for China?"... Xu Danyang answered all the questions that the participants eagerly put forward.

A graduate of the University of the Arts London, Cheng Shiyi,currently works as a material artist and accessories designer, and is the founder of Craft Plus international folk art alliance. In her Chengdu lacquer project, young artists drew inspiration from Sanxingdui to create new artworks. At the event, she compared ancient Sanxingdui cultural relics with contemporary art works containing Sanxingdui-inspired elements, analyzing their cultural connotations and aesthetics and sharing the immeasurable creative inspiration that Sanxingdui has brought to modern designers.

During the event, the two guests, host, and other online participants also took part in an online interactive experience based around restoring cultural relics and coloring Sanxingdui cultural relics. In the part of "ColoredSanxingdui—Coloring Sanxingdui Relics" launched by SICC, the participants crafted their own creative works, like the big mask with yellow eyes and blue eyebrows.

"Amazing","exciting", "incredible", "great aesthetic value"……The participants wrote down their exclamations on the message board. Ni Xiaopeng, President of CSAUS called it a wonderful ‘cloud dialogue’ between Chinese and Western young people customized for members of CSAUS. He commented, " taking the chance of cultural digitalization trend and the new discoveries in Sanxingdui, this live-streaming integrated archaeology and art, and employed interacting devices like multimedia, games and white boards.

Liang Xia, the professor in Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures of Washington University in St Louis and the vice president of The Chinese Language Teachers Association, USA, spoke highly of the live-streaming, " it connected the American youth and college students who love and study Chinese culture through the ‘cloud dialogue’. Participants’ questions were collected and their intentions were surveyed on ahead so that they were greatly attracted to the live-streaming. They not only enjoyed the visual feast, but also participated in the communication with archaeologists and artists. It greatly increased their understanding about the culture of Sanxingdui relics. It’s an interesting and interactive lesson with rich knowledge and culture.

The event showcased archaeological achievements with Chinese characteristics and a distinct Chinese style, and shared the charm of China's richly diverse culture with the world. At present, a new round of archaeological excavations at the Sanxingdui site is still in progress, and newly unearthed cultural relics continue to bring new surprises to the world. Not content with just the one live-streaming event? SICC and Chuanguan News will continue cooperating with relevant institutions to launch more surprise activities in the future, so stay tuned!