⑨bronze sun wheel

This one has been recognized as the most modern cultural relic in Sanxingdui Museum, which is of disc-shape and easily makes people remind of the steering wheel of car. Therefore, once the bronze sun wheel was unearthed, it has been shrouded in mystery.

There were six in total wheel-shaped artifacts unearthed from the No. 2 sacrificial pit of Sanxingdui, they are all with a diameter about 85 cm. There has been many speculations about the purpose of this bronze sun wheel. Some people hold the opinion that it is a wheel on a ancient bronze car, others believe that it is an ornament on a shield. The academic circles generally consider it as a ritual vessel symbolizing the pattern of the sun.

From the appearance, The bronze sun wheel is of round shape, and the bulge in the center is regarded as the sun. (the diameter of the whole wheel is 85 cm, and the diameter of the “sun” is 28 cm). The five radial lines represent the rays of sunshine, and the outer circle represents the halo of the sun.

In the way of producing, the people of ancient Shu adopted the segmented casting technology to separately produce the center of the sun, the five radial rays, and the outer aperture. The regular round shape and it was evenly divided into five equal parts, such exquisite craftsmanship shows that the ancient Shu people at that time had mastered certain knowledge of geometry and mathematics.

In detailed way, there is a round hole in the center of the bronze sun wheel, likewise other 5 round holes equally spaced on the outer circle. Experts guess that this device was possibly nailed to some object at that time, as a symbol of the sun to accept people's adoration.

The sun has been a reference for the ancient people to know more about the universe and life, many artifacts unearthed from Sanxingdui are with various sun patterns, but this bronze sun wheel is more special comparing to others, which is the first one discovered that directly portrays the image of the sun. Ancient people believed that everything grows by the sun, the ancient Shu people has shown their reverence for the sun by using various totems , it could be recognized as their most pious expression of yearning for a better life.

Nowadays, the people of Chengdu still love the sun, and there is a local dialect: “every sunny day is a festival, it is a betrayal of life once missed a sunny day.” Three thousand years passed by, but this adoration for the sun among people still lasts on the land of Bashu.