This is a leader’s staff with bird pattern carved in wood, excavated at Xinle Site, Shenyang, Liaoning Province in 1978. It is by far the earliest wood carving extant in China, a rare gem in Neolithic archaeological excavation.
This wooden carving was unearthed in the north-eastern corner of Spot No. 2 of Xinle Site. It is an intensely abstract art, vividly representing a peng’s millennial biding to spread its wings and soar into the air.
Scholars have pointed out that this leader’s staff with bird pattern carved in wood belonged to the tribe chief. It was a symbol of authority to give orders and govern tribes. Xinle inhabitants inscribed their reverence and respect of nature in the imagination-evoking leader’s staff.
The bird on the staff calls to mind the deified magnificent peng in the The Happy Excursion by Zhuangzi. It is not only the unique totem of Xinle inhabitants but also the origin of prevalent worship of bird totems by later northern ethnic groups.
The Neolithic history of human activity in Shenyang began a maximum of 7, 200 years ago at Xinle Site.
Xinle Site, located now on the northern tableland of Xinkaihe River in Huanggu District, Shenyang City, is the sacred birthplace of “the Xinle Culture” by Chinese archaeologists.
7, 200 years ago, Xinle ancestors mastered the craft of growing crops. The carbonized grains unearthed here remind the world that it is one of the earliest origins of agriculture in Northern China. The “grains” of Xinle might have spread along the Grassland Silk Road to Central Asia, West Asia, and Europe.
7, 200 years ago, Xinle inhabitants had started to burn coal for warmth. The finely and exquisitely carved jet artifacts date China’s history of using coal back to 5, 000 years earlier.
This leader’s staff with bird pattern carved in wood remains standing at Xinle Site and transforms into a landmark of Shenyang City: the Sunbird Sculpture. It tells stories of the past and present of this ancient city.
Ancient totems, modern beliefs, spread their wings, travel through millennia!
