This 3,000-year-old Chinese civilization had alien masks!

[Music] in this episode of travelogue I'm on the hunt for one of China's greatest mysteries the lost civilization of cents equally [Music] guys are kind of of an ancient civilization big words I know but hear me out in order to uncover the past I'm heading to the present-day capital of southern province Chandal and the nearby city of Guan Han where our story begins [Music] nurtured by the Fertile jungle plains for millennia this area has been a center of human activity but it wasn't until recently that archeologists discovered something incredible here the remains of a hitherto unknown civilization [Music] every story has a humble beginning an arse takes us back to 1929 when a farmer digging a ditch stumbled upon a remarkable cache of jade and stone artifacts experts would identify the site as belonging to a city more than 3,000 years old sensing doing [Music] today only a hillock marks the site where in 1986 archaeologists made another startling discovery inside two sacrificial pits they found a treasure trove of jade bronze and gold they were particularly struck by dozens of cast bronze faces some the size of a small car they've been made that the complexity and style never before seen in China they found the Bronze Age city of San singly [Music] there we go guys and this dancing thing there's a museum over there the David Ayer is the excavation site by they found this mysterious information when they excavated the sacrificial pits they found that many of the items inside had been deliberately burned some beyond recognition which begs the question why [Music] I'm actually kind of nervous oh my god beneath my feet Lee riddles that challenged our understanding of the Bronze Age in China buried here were artifacts that were more refined than anything previously found anywhere in the country but where did the sensing duty people get the resources and the know-how to create them whose were the bronze faces and why did they look so alien to solve this mystery would be to redefine the origin of Chinese civilization north of the excavation site is the museum where I begin my quest proper there we are my kids are mucking all the mysteries they're the oldest archaeological finds in China dates from the Shang Dynasty which came to power in the second millennium BC centered on the Yellow River Valley a thousand kilometres north east of it experts were astonished to discover that another civilization had been flourishing at roughly the same time in this remote part of the country welcome to one of China's greatest mysteries sensing three displayed inside the museum's two exhibition halls our complete collections of the relics unearthed at sensing do they reveal a previously unknown world filled with seemingly strange beliefs and stranger people close to a thousand bronzers have been found that sensing Glee most it appears were used in rituals yet before the discovery of sin singly the only Bronze Age sites in the world that had ever yielded such life-size bronze statues masks and heads were found in Greece and Egypt this was a first for China so who were these enigmatic people and where did they come from ah look at you Wow most say it's the eyes that draw you in those long snail-like windows to the soul this lost civilization what a mysterious face you know this was the largest bronze mask of its time its faces full of mysteries full of secrets how did they make it where is this mask from who made this mask and perhaps most important of all why did they make it [Music] and there are a lot of theories and nobody knows for sure but some experts say that this mask was cast in the likeness of one of the legendary kings of Santa Maria semi-mythical figure who turns on he supposedly had protruding bulging eyes but here the eyes i exaggerated they come out they jut out of the face as if to say I can see everything and the years they grow out from the side of the head as if to say I can hear everything I and the Almighty God or Santini [Music] much of China's most ancient history is grounded in myth but at sensing 3 some facts had been identified behind the fable we know now that it was the capital of the kingdom of Shu a southern rival to the powerful Shang Dynasty in the north it was a time when Stonehenge was going up and Britain when the alphabet was still in its infancy a time coinciding with Homer's Troy once thought legend now confirmed as true coming up next we explore the theme of power and the intimate link in form between sensing doing the Sun [Music] these are not typical of Bronze Age China the much bigger supposedly more powerful Shang Dynasty rarely made masks and when they did it was just for decoration these are the products of belief symbols power ooh I primal and benevolent with eyes that penetrates when they've discovered something greater found close to 60 of these incredible bronze heads over 3,000 years old and yet they're so intricately cast but I think probably the most striking feature of these heads are the eyes and the nurses that it need the Chinese not only look Western some people even say they look alien but probably the most impressive of these bronze heads were the ones that they found covered in gold leaf for the Egyptians gold was the color of the gods the embodiments of the Sun the Greeks thought it indestructible and immutable for gold was a rare resource and only the most important relics were gilded though these heads look similar there are subtle differences a headband here pierced ear lobes there perhaps they represented the ethnic groups that made up sensing Glee society one thing however is safe to assume these heads represented people in the highest echelons of the ruling elite the experts believe that these heads represented the shaman's who held positions of authority in fencing there's the Aquatic Society but interestingly six of them were found with gold leaf plastered over the face the thing is China doesn't really use gold during that time ancient Egypt use gold ancient Greece use gold but so far to this day these are the only gilded bronze masks to be found in China [Music] Wow now this was an important person especially standing down here looking up at him which is how he would have been intended to have been seen back when he was made he was the tallest bronze statue of a human and in his oversized hands some have said he would have held a ritual vessel perhaps an elephant's tusk which means he would have been incredibly important perhaps he was actually the Shaymin and leader of sensing dream and this statue is a testament to his power the great leader of Shu a Shaymin king who could communicate with the gods indeed this was not an uncommon concept for more than 2,000 years the Emperors of China believed they were the sons of heaven has did the god kings of Egypt but who were his gods [Music] what could have been a really big car but what we do know is that this is a bronze Sun rule and during the time of sensing the Sun worship was prevalent across the world because it was at a time when agriculture was becoming the main form of survival for many people and here in sensing the Sun motif can be found on relics such as the bronze Birds the shaman's headdresses and the message is clear humans working together with nature during the Bronze Age the Sun became the most important deity a symbol of life and fertility worshiped by all the great civilizations [Music] [Music] at fencing three intricate bronze odors had been found along with kneeling human figures these probably represents shamans or high-ranking ministers and would have featured in the most important rituals their posture suggests they were giving offerings to the gods or perhaps they themselves were the offerings [Music] that's actually a pretty faithful rendition of one of the relics dug up at fencing day obviously this one's significantly bigger than the original but it gives us a good idea of the atmosphere and the majesty of the rituals that could have taken place at sensing grade many ritual weapons were uncovered from the sacrificial pits but no human remains were found only the charred bones of pigs sheep and oxen interestingly some of the masks were found with traces of cinnabar and black pigment on them the dista guests they were bringing them to life interesting well I wonder what actual rituals were like back in the days of sensing day but this is a pretty good representation I think here's one though what sir their rituals would have looked like what these shaman's I guess would have looked like with their masks on [Music] ha gonna tell you nothing about what a higher initial offers revoir Oh Tigger Tigger would other linkages home essentially lat did I not made cha-dol Hama yeah yeah you need production Tina to be home tonight you had cows a little dog collar should one yeah it'll be the same for monuments 200 hide opiate unless you did on time Eng the word on Danny so now it's a Buddha image Ursula coming up next I explore the ingenuity of sensing to his craftsman and wonder if they had any help on the outside we now know that sanshin 3 was once the biggest city in southern China it was even bigger in scale than bad along the most populous city in the world at the time it was a seat of power rivaling that of the Shang Dynasty zone capital in the Yellow River Valley this was the political commercial and spiritual hub of the kingdom of Shu on the agenda sanika she goes really well Holland indigo second week the ocean one they just Kimba handle salinity do something friendly young man was the northern district of sensing to a city lavatory mantel reading once in care 1,000 faison home for hyacinth on both a new from the question seriously cheeky jewelry you can wash intercultural got Heidi a party got useful London who's Charman you seasoned hunter house of the Russians Allah take danger zone it was here in 1929 that a farmer would stumble upon the lost city of sensing doing collision with you Union J product three the ones in yellow you go Ponyo Ponyo oh I'll take it over yon eternally on sir oh but Sheila Oh who shall I go oh yeah what doesn't be I'll gather intelligible Sanson do you reach the height of its power around the second to first millennium BC however scientists believe the area was populated as far back as 5000 years ago the evidence is in the wall [Music] it is incredibly impressive to see this ancient city war in the flesh it's over 3,000 years old and of course now it just looks like a you know a very high pile of mud and dirt but back in the days they would have required so much effort manpower and and know-how to build something this high earthenware was the hallmark of a developing civilization and on some of it was found primitive scripts the first signs of a written language therefore many it was the bronzes that made sensing very famous but in fact it was Jade that causes place to be found in the first place but for ancient Chinese people Jade wasn't necessarily one kind of safe as long as the stone was precious and beautiful enough it would be called Jade because they thought that it had the ability to communicate with the divine and that sensing 3 they found loads of Jade ritual objects from circular disks to weapons shaped like daggers and blades for sacrificing to the heavens to the mountains to the earth the ancients believed Jade was the universe condensed the discovery of so much Jade close to a thousand pieces suggests sensing Gary was just as sophisticated as the Shang Dynasty sagara-san - aha it's under foreign boy dosa man yeah so our hard disk on Fujian T'Challa pollutants nautical Sheng up about anniversary in Papua take a dive and angle tom daschle er : k ha ha no you when she sign me up for the Honduran burger highway not Eagle hi baby hi candy candy Louise ensue Hindu Angus on highway highway Hanzo senado de la - so Teresa so sad I go sandy Rasta G original na sabi ng Hindu en como le San Joaquin and little Santa so help out uses open kinkajou Jesus photo man Francis of the row a link between scenting Dawei in the West what a tantalizing thought can you guess what this is this was the ultimate symbol of power a gold staff nothing like it had ever been seen before it would have shone like the Sun the detail is so exquisite it's thought it could only be reproduced today using laser etching some people say the staff had more to do with Near East civilizations like Mesopotamia and Egypt than China so was there a connection when experts first found this that an idea what it was they thought it was a gold belt because in China the traditional symbol of authority has always been a bronze vessel called a team staves were things of the west to find such a staff in China as a complete anomaly how they were able to learn such advanced craftsmanship is likely to forever remain a mystery what a masterpiece this is the magnum opus of sensing dream a divine tree at the center of their world on its branches 9 Birds symbols of the Sun this was first found it was shattered into many pieces they took archeologists and an automat amount of time to put back the pieces of this puzzle and when they did they were able to rebuild this the world's oldest and tallest bronze tree it was fencing through his very urn stairway to heaven it was their Tower of Babel the birds and the tree there were a medium Sakina gate with the very gods themselves and the cross worship was so exquisite that's a day standing here I still feel the same kind of all respect and solemnity as I would have felt 3,000 years ago almost every ancient civilization in history had a sacred tree for some it represented life while for others it was their very world a han dynasty text some 2,000 years old refers to a legendary tree on which sat 10 birds each day one would fly into the sky and become the Sun when sensing through his tree was finally put together the top was missing was there once a tenth bird whatever their original intention the meaning is clear statues of human legs with avian feet man merging with nature [Music] the story of sensing 3 is the story of southern China there's was a tale of harmony and coexistence the desire to become one with the goddess [Music] so perhaps sensing 3 wasn't so alien after all in fact it's people may have been quintessentially Chinese their ideals going on to shape later beliefs like Taoism the open-minded cooperative mentality of southern China today the name shoe still lives on as an abbreviated form of the trend problems [Music] you know I was thought that maybe it's not a religion that the land that influenced the way sensing great people work with nature and perhaps continues to influence the lifestyles of Suetonius people today [Music] all right brother thank you [Music] funny sometimes isn't it that some of the world's greatest archaeological discoveries were simply down to serendipity nobody could expect that so many years ago the farmer digging his own irrigation system would uncover a lost civilization that would change the face of Chinese history forever I was simply down so bronze mask [Music] [Music] you

Channel: CGTN

Views: 124,399

Rating: 4.8182864 out of 5

Keywords: CCTV, CGTN, CCTVNews, News, ChinaNews, TravelogueChina, TravelVideos, TraveVlog, TravelChina, ChinaTravel, AlienChina, AcientCivilization, LostCity, MysteryChina, Archaeology

Id: yHpC85p0ZM0

Length: 27min 38sec (1658 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 23 2018