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A bronze bestiary of birds and beasts

Travel 16:08, 18-Sep-2026

CGTN

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Larger composite beasts combine sturdy bodies, sweeping horns, spiral motifs and interlocking forms into energetic sculptural designs. /CGTN

Close views of long-snouted and horned heads highlight open jaws, rounded eyes and tightly coiled ornamental motifs. /CGTN

Larger composite beasts combine sturdy bodies, sweeping horns, spiral motifs and interlocking forms into energetic sculptural designs. /CGTN

Close views of long-snouted and horned heads highlight open jaws, rounded eyes and tightly coiled ornamental motifs. /CGTN

Crested birds perch within curling and openwork bronze branches, their raised heads and extended beaks creating an alert rhythm. /CGTN

Close views of long-snouted and horned heads highlight open jaws, rounded eyes and tightly coiled ornamental motifs. /CGTN

Sanxingdui's animal imagery is imaginative rather than strictly naturalistic. Birds lift crested heads from curling branches, while other creatures combine long jaws, horns, leaf-shaped ears, muscular bodies and spiral ornamentation. Exaggeration makes each silhouette instantly legible, even when the complete object or original setting has not survived. Such forms are often discussed in relation to sacred trees, ritual display and ancient Shu ideas about communication between different realms. Their exact identities and meanings, however, cannot always be fixed. What remains certain is the inventiveness of the makers: They observed the natural world, selected its most expressive features and recombined them into a visual language of movement, vitality and wonder.