Advances in Social Science and Culture ISSN 2640-9682 (Print) ISSN 2640-9674 (Online) Vol. 6, No. 2, 2024 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc 90 Original Paper Sanxingdui Archaeology and Cultural Publicity Xilin MOU1, Jiingyan HE1, Zhaoyang JIA1, Qingxin Deng1 & Guohui RAO1* 1 College of Foreign Languages, Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu, 610025, China * Corresponding author, Rao Guohui Received: January 29, 2024 Accepted: March 11, 2024 Online Published: March 22, 2024 doi:10.22158/assc.v6n2p90 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/assc.v6n2p90 Abstract This paper deeply discusses the archaeology and culture of Sanxingdui, and systematically analyzes the importance of the archaeological site from multiple perspectives. Sanxingdui archaeology is one of the most important archaeological discoveries in Chinese history, which shows the unique charm of the ancient Shu civilization through its rich cultural relics and valuable cultural relics. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the external publicity problems of Sanxingdui archaeology and culture, analyze its current situation and challenges, and propose corresponding solutions. Promote Sanxingdui culture through effective Sanxingdui marketing strategies, and attract more tourists to visit Sanxingdui site, so that it can better spread the important value and cultural connotation of Sanxingdui, and enhance its international visibility and influence. Keywords Sanxingdui archaeology, cultural publicity, cultural relics protection 1. Introduction The Sanxingdui archaeological site, located in Sanxingdui Town, Guanghan City, Sichuan Province, China, is one of the earliest large-scale ancient civilization sites discovered in China. Sanxingdui archaeology is an important breakthrough in the field of Chinese archaeology, and its rich cultural heritage provides valuable information for our understanding of the ancient Shu civilization. However, internationally, Sanxingdui’s popularity and influence still need to be improved. Therefore, it is very necessary to carry out targeted cultural outreach. 2. Significant Values and Latest Archaeological Discoveries of Sanxingdui Archaeology 2.1 Significant Values of Sanxingdui Archaeology Sanxingdui archaeology provides us with important clues to study the development of ancient human www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 6 No. 2, 2024 91 Published by SCHOLINK INC. society. In the Sanxingdui site, archaeologists have found a large number of artifacts and relics, including bronze, jade, pottery, and human bones. These cultural relics not only show the production technology and artistic level of ancient humans in Sanxingdui, but more importantly, reveal the state of social organization, religious beliefs and social hierarchy at that time. Through the study of these artifacts and relics, we can gain a deeper understanding of the development trajectory and evolution of ancient human society. Sanxingdui archaeology is of great significance for us to understand the origin and exchange of ancient civilizations. Archaeologists have found a large number of bronzes at the Sanxingdui site, and the production process and pattern style of these bronzes have obvious similarities with other ancient civilizations such as ancient Egypt and ancient Babylon. This shows that there was an exchange and influence between Sanxingdui and other ancient civilizations. Through the study of these bronzes, we can explore the connections between ancient civilizations and further expand our understanding of ancient civilizations. Sanxingdui archaeology is of great significance for the protection and inheritance of human cultural heritage. The discovery and protection of the Sanxingdui site not only provides us with important information to understand the ancient civilization, but more importantly, makes us realize the importance of cultural heritage and the necessity of protection. Through the protection and research of the Sanxingdui site, we can inherit and carry forward the spirit and wisdom of ancient civilization to future generations, and at the same time, we can also guide people to pay more attention to and protect other cultural heritage. 2.2 Latest Archaeological Discoveries of Sanxingdui Archaeology The archaeological excavation of Sanxingdui’s latest site began in 2019 and its extraction began in 2021. The research on newly unearthed cultural relics has not yet started, but many preserved and restored cultural relics and newly unearthed cultural relics were deformed and broken. Experts have collected 3D data, restored the deformed and broken parts by digital simulation technology, and then simulated and showed the original cultural relics by 3D printing technology. There are many fine gold foils, ivory and jade wares in pits 5 and 6 that have not been excavated yet. Now these two pits have been taken back to the Museum of Cultural Relics Protection and Restoration for more detailed excavation. By September, 2022, 15,109 cultural relics and 4,060 nearly complete artifacts had been unearthed from the six sacrificial pits in the new round of archaeological excavation. From 2020 to 2022, Sanxingdui started excavation again. This time, 6 archaeological excavations from No.3 to No.8 were excavated with an area of 1,834 square meters. Nearly 17,000 pieces were unearthed from 6 pits, and more than 4,800 pieces were relatively complete, including half a piece of Golden Mask, a turtle-back-shaped gridded device and a statue of an orc riding on the top. At present, the archaeological excavation and cultural relics protection in Sanxingdui are still in progress. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 6 No. 2, 2024 92 Published by SCHOLINK INC. Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, together with Peking University, analyzed 73 samples of carbon chips from six pits by the method of carbon 14 dating, and preliminarily determined the age distribution interval. The age of K4 pit was most likely from 1199 BC to 1017 BC, that is, about 3200 to 3000 years ago, which confirmed that the newly discovered carbon 14 age interval of No.4 pit belonged to the late Shang Dynasty. The bronze mask unearthed in 2021 is 131cm wide, 71cm high, 66cm deep and weighs 131 Jin. It is the largest and well-preserved large bronze mask unearthed at Sanxingdui site at present. The bronze mask is a typical artifact of Sanxingdui culture, which has been more than 3,000 years since, reflecting the understanding and thinking of ancient Shu ancestors on natural things and the world of man and god. Construction began in March, 2022, and the new Sanxingdui Museum covers an area of 54,400 square meters, which is about five times that of the old museum. It is a new cultural relic built after major archaeology. It will display more than 2,000 precious cultural relics such as bronzes, jade tools, goldware, pottery and bones, and comprehensively and systematically displays the archaeological excavations and latest research results of Sanxingdui. 3. External Publicity of Sanxingdui 3.1 Media Publicity In October 2023, the activity of “China 2023 Beautiful Sichuan Tour for Overseas Chinese Media” held in Guanghan. Forty-one overseas Chinese media from 22 countries and regions including the United States, Canada, Italy and Kazakhstan visited Sanxingdui site. The CEO of Irish New Island Media believes that the excavation and research of Sanxingdui site provides valuable material for the world to understand the ancient civilization of China. She suggested that Sichuan can carry out more cultural exchange activities, better promote Sanxingdui interested overseas to Ireland, and strengthen exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations. The general manager of Canada Souro Media said, “We will continue to pay attention to the excavation progress of Sanxingdui site. I believe that with the joint efforts of overseas Chinese media, the story of Sanxingdui will spread further and more people will understand the profoundness of China’s ancient civilization”. The number of foreign media reports on Sanxingdui peaked in 2021, and the coverage heat will remain unabated until 2022. In this context, China’s media vigorously promote international communication innovation, and through the continuous reporting of Sanxingdui archaeological discoveries, it initially constructed a multi-subject, three-dimensional large-scale external publicity pattern, and created a number of media clusters with international influence. Through the four overseas social media platforms of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, Sanxingdui culture has formed a visual-centered interactive communication pattern. Three Sanxingdui remains were rediscovered, and the number of live broadcasts reached 65 million, and the cumulative number of views exceeded 100 million. The related topic network fermentation continued to reach the top of the hot search list. The whole network published nearly 100,000 graphic and video information, and the reading volume www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 6 No. 2, 2024 93 Published by SCHOLINK INC. exceeded 30 billion. 3.2 Establishment of Sanxingdui Cultural Research Institute On October 27th, 2023, Sanxingdui and Ancient Civilization Research Institute of Sichuan University was formally established to further promote the progress of academic research, cultivate professionals and carry out a series of academic activities. At present, the Institute has an interdisciplinary research team, based on the research foundation and good research environment of the Institute of History and Culture. In addition, the institute also pays attention to the combination of academic research and social services. While devoting itself to exploring the roots of Chinese civilization and explaining its outstanding characteristics, it strengthens exchanges and cooperation with local governments and relevant cultural institutions, and contributes to the creative transformation and innovative development of Chinese excellent traditional culture. The typical changes of cross-cultural communication in the new globalization era are reflected in the cultural pattern and communication technology: at the cultural pattern level, the traditional pattern is being broken, and mankind is experiencing the global communication pattern of “rise of the rest” described by Daya Thussu; In terms of communication technology, the monopoly of traditional media in technology and content in western history is being dissolved by the development of the Internet, and the empowerment of people from different parts of the world by the Internet is changing the production pattern of media culture dominated by the West. The international communication of Sanxingdui culture is an important achievement of mainstream media in China on the road of deepening media integration and transformation, and it is also an innovative reshaping of its content production, news voice, audio-visual narrative form and communication mode in the practice field of major theme reports. 3.3 Future Publicity Strategies The director of Sanxingdui Archaeological Research Institute of Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology said that spread of Sanxingdui culture has received good feedback from the domestic audience. “The reason that Sanxingdui can become the most popular representative archaeological site in China, is different media have effectively publicized and promoted information extracted by archaeologists in diversified ways. He also mentioned that it is very important to strengthen the publicity of archaeological investigation, excavation and research in the process of building archaeology with Chinese characteristics. However, what kind of way to take and what kind of principle to keep are also issues that archaeologists and media people need to think about. He believes that “the spread of archaeology should lower the threshold. Most of the public understand archaeology with an amateur interest, so the products provided to them should be relaxed and diverse. In addition, archaeology is a very rigorous discipline, and media reports need to meet academic needs to a certain extent. “ Nowadays the goal is to build Sanxingdui into a world-class museum and national archaeological site park, a typical example of practicing archaeology with China characteristics, an important symbol of Chinese culture and a world-famous tourist destination. In further, promoting the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 6 No. 2, 2024 94 Published by SCHOLINK INC. development of global cultural tourism integration with Sanxingdui as the core, and build a super IP with China bearing and international image. 4. Present Challenges As the foundation of Sanxingdui culture, ancient Shu civilization plays an important role in people’s understanding of Sanxingdui culture, but the first challenge Sanxingdui faces is the limitation of understanding of ancient Shu civilization at home and abroad. 4.1 The Limitations of the Understanding of the Ancient Shu Civilization at Home and Abroad 4.1.1 The Limitations of the Understanding of the Ancient Shu Civilization in China In the process of continuous exploration, we have gradually unveiled the mystery of the ancient Shu civilization, but there are still many objective and subjective factors that affect the deep understanding and cognition of this civilization, including the complexity of its culture itself, the different interpretations of the ancient Shu civilization by individual differences, and the misleading nature of the media. The ancient Shu civilization has a history of 5,000 years, and the lack of written records of the ancient Shu history has enhanced the difficulty of future generations to explore it. Many questions have smeared a strong mystery on the history and culture of ancient Shu, which has caused various speculations for future generations. This series of questions must rely on archaeology to explore, but the large number of bronzes found from the Sanxingdui site are all “mysterious”, which requires archaeologists to corroborate according to a large number of historical and ancient books, and the time spent is greatly increased. Many tourists who go to the Sanxingdui site or the Jinsha site do not really understand the ancient Shu civilization, and the historical significance and even the use of each bronze. For the uniqueness of the bronze itself, leading to people’s continuous speculation, the bronze longitudinal human face style is too weird, the world has speculated how the ancient Shu people conceived this strange shape, some imaginative people even began to speculate, whether the ancient Shu people had “alien contact”. The vigorous development of mass media also has a certain impact on the understanding of ancient Shu civilization. In order to attract more traffic, some media have exaggerated the titles of Sanxingdui and the ancient Shu civilization, and even some bad media will distort the facts to achieve their click goals. Second, the media and many industries have asked to obtain profits, vigorously promote cultural and creative products, and continue to design and develop diversified cultural and creative products, so as to obtain greater benefits, and people have gradually changed from knowledge-seeking and exploratory tourists to shopping and punch-in tourists, ignoring the value of the ancient Shu civilization itself. 4.1.2 The Limitations of the Understanding of the Ancient Shu Civilization abroad In recent years, with the establishment of Sanxingdui Culture’s overseas media public account and the development of virtual technology, many foreign audiences have gradually established their cognition of the ancient Shu civilization. But now, there are still some factors that affect the spread of the ancient www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 6 No. 2, 2024 95 Published by SCHOLINK INC. Shu civilization. The most important is the cultural differences, followed by the flaws of virtual technology. Culture is the foundation for the survival and development of human society, and in a pluralistic and globalized world, people’s cultures from different countries and backgrounds converge, and this cultural diversity not only enriches the diversity of society, but also has a profound impact on social cognition. Geographical factors and historical background lay the foundation for cultural differences, and there will be certain prejudices if there are cultural differences, which has a great impact on the international spread of ancient Shu civilization, and the limitations of communication thinking lead to rigid and rigid expressions. There are certain differences in the connotation and expression path between propaganda, communication and cross-cultural communication, and cross-cultural communication is not a simple superposition and mechanical integration of propaganda and communication, but a complex system of communication. The symbolization of the content of communication leads to a homogeneous monotony of expressions. The content of cross-cultural communication affects the final effect of communication, and the content of cross-cultural communication in China, on the one hand, mainly shows the content of national strength, which is more serious, and overseas audiences are prone to misunderstanding and resistance, which restricts the communication effect. On the other hand, for the dissemination of traditional cultural content in China, China relies more on classic cultural symbols such as Chinese Kung Fu, Confucius, Giant Panda, and the Great Wall, which are already well known to overseas audiences. 4.2 Lack of External Publicity Resources At present, China’s international communication is not strong enough to excavate, process, process, utilize, share, and integrate not only domestic but also foreign information and cultural resources, and there are also deficiencies in the coordination and distribution of domestic and foreign news, cultural news, economic news, science and technology news, sports news, and so on. In addition, from the perspective of practical practice, China’s international communication work also has insufficient and in-depth interviews in the reporting of international news, and cannot fully grasp the first-hand materials, which leads to the fact that the reports on major international events and hot issues are often superficial, lacking innovation and vividness, etc., thus further affecting the communication, influence and leading power of China’s mainstream media in the world. As far as the main body of international communication is concerned, the main force of China’s current international communication is the government and the media, while enterprises, think tanks, universities, non-governmental organizations, social groups, individual citizens, etc. have a low degree of participation in international communication, the active awareness of participation is not strong, the overall pattern has not been fully opened, the forces of all aspects have not been fully mobilized, and the degree of mutual coordination and cooperation between various subjects is low. The second is about the limitations of technology. Sanxingdui’s international communication mostly adopts international platforms for publicity. The news materials and live broadcast signals of “A New www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 6 No. 2, 2024 96 Published by SCHOLINK INC. Round of Archaeological Excavations in Sanxingdui” released by the International Video News Agency have been cited and reported by 227 TV stations/channels and online new media platforms in 31 countries and regions, including CNN Spanish Channel, ABC, and TV Asahi of Japan. At the same time, Sanxingdui’s international communication platform - “Sanxingdui Culture” was officially launched. The three-dimensional communication system consisting of Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, Instagram accounts, and YouTube accounts has published more than 1,000 articles and tweets since its launch. The display of video and text alone cannot make the international audience understand the ancient Shu civilization more vividly, and more mature VR virtual technology is needed to establish the ancient Shu civilization VR overseas experience hall. 4.3 Lack of Professional Team Building The external promotion of ancient culture is different from that of general festivals, delicacies, and goods. We need more professional teams, from the selection of promotional materials, professional translation, technical support, financial support, media operations, and professional Q&A personnel. But the reality is that very few teams have it all, and the biggest reason for that is lack of funding. At present, Sanxingdui Museum only relies on the financial appropriation of about 1.7 million yuan every year to survive, but the expenditure needs about 2 million yuan, and the daily funds are stretched, and the investment in professional team building is even more limited. Assembling a complete team structure requires sufficient funds to complete personnel recruitment, site visits, and especially technology introduction, which can cost a lot of money. Secondly, the team also lacked professional docents. Sanxingdui Museum has a high comprehensive quality of interpreters is very scarce, the existing interpreters are not professional knowledge enough, most of them only have the level of “tour guide”, the explanation is monotonous, old-fashioned, and generally can only be explained for group tourists, rarely can be explained for professional individual visitors, and there is a lack of foreign language commentators, which greatly affects the development of cultural tourism. Sanxingdui has a rich cultural connotation, and the level of cultural quality of the interpreter largely determines the level of satisfaction of tourists with Sanxingdui tours, and then affects potential tourists, and also plays a vital role in establishing the image of Sanxingdui tourist destination. Sanxingdui cultural relics have been exhibited abroad more than ten times, which has stimulated the research enthusiasm of hundreds of experts at home and abroad, and the visitors are shocked by the “heavenly people”, which is enough to prove that Sanxingdui has a huge market communication value. Therefore, we need to carry out all-round cultural dissemination of ancient Shu civilization, Sanxingdui culture, Sanxingdui ruins, and cultural relics. Professional commentators are indispensable, not only in China, but also abroad when necessary. 5. Solutions The marketing strategy of Sanxingdui is a series of promotional activities designed to promote Sanxingdui culture and attract more tourists to visit the Sanxingdui ruins. The following are the specific www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 6 No. 2, 2024 97 Published by SCHOLINK INC. contents of Samsung’s marketing strategy: 5.1 Brand Promotion: Promote the Transformation of Sanxindui from Brand Building to Super Cultural Symbols Highlight the uniqueness of Sanxingdui and the historical and cultural significance it represents in the promotion. Strengthen the distinctive brand image dissemination, including the unified design and standard production of promotional materials, as well as the unified use of logos. Utilize various media channels to release information related to the Sanxingdui culture and expand its promotional influence. 5.2 Improve the Service Level of Scenic Spots: Establish a Publicity Team to Enhance the Quality of Publicity Strengthen humanized services, provide high-quality tour guide services, equipped with professional commentary equipment and Chinese and English commentators, and provide high-quality tour guide services for tourists. Improve facilities and hardware support, improve the environment and facilities of various scenic spots and places, improve toilet hygiene conditions, and enhance tourist comfort. Implement ticketing telephone booking and online booking services, making it convenient for tourists to purchase tickets. Carry out customer service points within the scenic area to provide convenient consultation and ticket purchasing services for tourists. 5.3 Enriching Cultural Activities: Innovating Promotional Methods and Expanding Promotional Channels Rich and diverse cultural activities are an important way to attract tourists, which can enhance the interaction between tourists and scenic spots, allowing tourists to better understand Sanxingdui culture. Strengthen festival cultural activities, such as holding Spring Festival temple fairs and Dragon Boat races during the Dragon Boat Festival, to attract more tourists and enhance the promotion of Sanxingdui culture. Carry out themed cultural exhibitions, such as the gold and silver artifacts exhibition in Sanxingdui and the cultural and economic development achievements exhibition in Sichuan Province, to help tourists better understand Sanxingdui culture. Carry out traditional cultural sightseeing activities, such as pottery making, weaving clothes, painting, etc., allowing tourists to participate and experience the charm of Sanxingdui culture firsthand. 5.4 Joint Collaboration: Working with Relevant Departments to Strengthen Cultural Protection and Resource Utilization The joint cooperation between multiple scenic spots can lead to a win-win and mutually beneficial effect, promote resource sharing among scenic spots, and improve the overall image of Sanxingdui. Expand cooperation with other scenic spots, jointly promote with surrounding tourist attractions, and carry out joint promotion and tourism promotion activities. Establish close cooperation with transportation departments, travel agencies, etc., jointly promote tourism products and services, and achieve mutually beneficial results. Give full play to the value of cultural peace and harmony in Sanxingdui, actively participate in various cultural, artistic, sports and other activities, and showcase www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 6 No. 2, 2024 98 Published by SCHOLINK INC. the cultural connotations and humanistic spirit of Sanxingdui. Overall, marketing strategies should be developed around brand promotion, improving scenic area service levels, enriching cultural activities, and collaborative efforts, and implement scientific and effective promotion to attract more tourists to visit Sanxingdui and enhance its competitiveness in the tourism market. 6. Conclusion To sum up, the important value of Sanxingdui archaeology is reflected in the study of the development of ancient human society, the exploration of the origin and exchange of ancient civilizations, and the protection and inheritance of human cultural heritage. Through in-depth research and protection of the Sanxingdui site, we can better understand and inherit the achievements of human civilization, and provide an important reference and reference for the development of human society. Acknowledgements This study is supported by the Project “Research on the international communication of Sanxingdui culture in the 5G era” (No. 202210621270) of Chengdu University of Information Technology. References Duan, J. L. (2021). The Dilemma and Optimization Path of Cross-cultural Communication in China People’s Tribune, 2021(14), 3. Duan, J. L. (2021). The Dilemma and Optimization Path of Cross-cultural Communication in China People’s Tribune, 2021(14), 3. Duan, Y. (2021). The Development Stage and Main Achievements of Southern Silk Road Research in Recent Years. Journal of Jinan: Philosophy and Social Science Edition, 2021(43), 25-31. He, J. P. (2021). IP communication strategy of traditional culture based on experience-taking Sanxingdui as an example. Beijing Cultural Creativity, 2021(4), 29-34. Hu, Z. Y. (2022). The comprehensive overseas influence list of national museums is out, Sanxingdui Museum ranks fifth. Deyang Daily, 20220524 Huang, J. H. (2021). From Sanxingdui to Jinsha. Zhong Hua Book Company, 2021(9). Su, C. (2021). “External environment” and “link key”: Thoughts on the short video communication in the 5G era-taking the intangible cultural heritage of the Yi people as an example. Journal of North University for Nationalities (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), 2021(3), 57-63. Yi, Y. B., & Zhao, Q. Q. (2011). A Preliminary Study of Modern Museums and Tourism—Taking Sanxingdui Museum as an Example. Journal of Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine, 0(4), 64-66. Yu, J. H., & Zhang, Y. F. (2017). Design of adventure game based on Sanxingdui culture elements (pp. 556-560). Zhang, X. M. (2019). Analysis of the museum’s foreign cultural activities. Museology, 2019(10), www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 6 No. 2, 2024 99 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 132-133. Zhong, L., & Zhang, J. W. (2022). Language of Civilization: A Semiological Study on International Communication Targeting at The Gen-Z—With The International Communication of Sanxingdui Culture as An Example. Journalism and Mass Communication Monthly, 2022(12), 91-96.