Masks of the afterlife

Visitors to Jinsha Site Museum in China never fail to be impressed by a gold mask taking pride of place in the exhibition hall on the second floor. It is one of many ancient masks excavated from the Sanxingdui and Jinsha Ruins in Sichuan province. According to Zhu Zhangyi, the deputy curator of the museum in Chengdu, these masks are unique to the area. About 3.7 cm tall and 4.9 cm wide, they are very thin and the gold mask exhibited in the museum is believed to be more than 3,000 years old. "The gold mask was not donned by a living person. Instead, it was affixed to a bronze human head or a wooden human head," Zhu says. Some scholars believe the bronze head represents the soul of a dead ancestor while others hold the opinion that it is the image of a necromancer and the bronze head is probably that of a high-ranking shaman. Despite the diverse views, the certainty is that the bronze heads were worshipped by ancient Sichuan people, who believed that they were channels to higher beings and would afford protection. It was also an indication of the advanced level of witchery and religion during the Shu Kingdom, according to Zhu. Shu is the ancient name for Sichuan. Masks are closely linked with witchery craft. They are widely used by many ethnic groups in sacrificial ceremonies and holiday celebrations or when they pray for a better harvest. As gold masks have been excavated only in Sichuan, some scholars think they might have been influenced by Western Asian civilization. Between 4,000 and 3,000 years ago, a large number of gold ornaments appeared in Egypt and Western Asia. They quickly spread along the Mediterranean Sea to Central Asia and South Asia. It is very likely that gold masks also found their way into the Chengdu Plain through India and Central Asia. - China Daily Published May 20, 2012