Fully a month has passed since I took in Sanxingdui, yet, to be honest, the potential magnitude of that I saw is still sinking in. But then, I’m a believer…
进入三星堆已经过去了整整一个月，但说实话，我所看到的潜在的规模仍然在不断加深。但是，我是一个信徒……
The Nanjinger’s recent visit to Chengdu for business happily afforded also a day and a half of tourism, during which we checked out a pedestrian street with every shape and form of cute and cuddly panda imaginable, plus a former residence of the man regarded as China’s #2 poet Du Fu (Li Bai is #1).
这位南京人最近愉快地到成都出差，也花了一天半的时间游览，期间我们参观了一条步行街，里面有各种可爱的熊猫，还有中国第二大诗人杜甫（第一李白）的故居。
Perhaps in stark contrast to the former, the latter is more or less required viewing, especially for those with a literary bent, for this is the place where Chinese poetry can finally become at least partly accessible to foreign eyes. It also reveals just how much Du had in common with his poetic counterparts of the West; the skills which made him a true master.
也许与前者形成鲜明对比的是，后者或多或少是需要观看的，尤其是对于那些有文学倾向的人来说，因为这是中国诗歌最终至少可以部分地被外国人所接受的地方。它还揭示了杜甫与西方诗坛同行有多少共同点。使他成为真正大师的技能。
To follow, masters from the world of archeology, specifically China’s two most significant finds from the 20th Century, it can be argued. And yes, they are both in Chengdu.
接下来，考古界的大师们，特别是中国20世纪最重要的两个发现，可以争论一下。是的，他们都在成都。
The Jinsha Site Museum, built in 2007, is listed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Tentative List and Major Sites Protected at the National Level.
金沙遗址博物馆建于2007年，被列入联合国教科文组织世界文化遗产预备名录和国家级重点文物保护单位。
A showcase of the ancient Shu civilisation, dating back 3,000 years to the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the Jinsha Site was discovered in 2001. Today, its Museum features over 6,000 relics, including the world’s most concentrated collection of ancient ivory.
金沙遗址于 2001 年被发现，是距今 3000 年前商周时期古蜀文明的展示。如今，金沙遗址博物馆收藏有 6000 多件文物，其中包括世界上最集中的古代象牙藏品。
It’s also your only chance to be up close and personal with the national symbol that is the Sun & Immortal Bird Gold Ornament.
这也是您近距离接触国家象征太阳神鸟金饰的唯一机会。
With that, there was no else to go next and little doubt that we would end the trip on a high. With the crown jewels of course, at Sanxingdui. And to think I’d never heard of it until then.
有了这个，接下来就没有其他可去了，毫无疑问我们会在高潮中结束这次旅行。当然是三星堆的皇冠上的宝石。想想直到那时我才听说过它。
Oddly (perhaps suggestive of a little conspiracy), and despite finding precious little online regarding any possible alien influence over the artefacts herein, there is little doubt that a suspicion thereof is the reason for them arriving in droves. Even the packing for the attraction’s branded t-shirt makes the most of it, for it would not have been out of place in an episode of 1990s cult TV drama series “The X Files”.
奇怪的是（也许暗示着一点阴谋），尽管在网上几乎找不到关于外星人对这里的文物可能产生影响的信息，但毫无疑问，对这些文物的怀疑是它们成群结队抵达的原因。就连该景点的品牌 T 恤的包装也充分利用了这一点，因为它在 20 世纪 90 年代邪教电视剧《X 档案》的一集中不会显得格格不入。
And bizarrely, comparisons with science fiction are apt. For this is historical reality.
奇怪的是，与科幻小说进行比较是恰当的。因为这是历史的现实。
It’s an odd name for a town in the middle of nowhere with supposedly off-world associations (but then, what should such a place be called?). The fact though remains, Sanxingdui is indeed a town, of the one-horse variety, through which its only thoroughfare is jammed by perputual and long convoys of visitors in their buses and cars; the road on either side a mish mash of vendors and diners offering a final bite to eat before those close encounters begin.
对于一个偏僻的小镇来说，这是一个奇怪的名字，据说与外星世界有联系（但是，这样一个地方应该叫什么名字呢？）。但事实是，三星堆确实是一个单马镇，它唯一的道路上永远挤满了乘坐公共汽车和汽车的长队游客；道路两边挤满了小贩和食客，在亲密接触开始之前提供最后一口食物。
It’s all decidedly reminiscent of “Contact” actually; that movie with Jodie Foster in which believers and wackos alike convene in the desert upon reports of intelligent transmissions coming from another constellation.
实际上，这一切都明显让人想起“接触”；朱迪·福斯特主演的那部电影中，信徒和疯子都聚集在沙漠中，接到来自另一个星座的智能传输的报告。
But perhaps that has already happened, 4 thousand years ago, in Sichuan. And on this day, we were here to witness the evidence thereof for ourselves.
但也许四千年前的四川就已经发生过这种情况。在这一天，我们在这里亲眼见证了这一点。
But unfortunately, the fact is we simply don’t know.
但不幸的是，事实是我们根本不知道。
The Sanxingdui site, discovered in the late 1920s, is considered the largest ancient city and kingdom with the longest history in the entire southwestern region of China.
三星堆遗址发现于1920年代末，被认为是中国整个西南地区最大、历史最悠久的古城和王国。
Nearly a century of archaeological excavations and research has revealed that the Sanxingdui site developed into a large settlement from the late New Stone Age until the Xia Dynasty (2205-1766 BCE).
经过近一个世纪的考古发掘和研究表明，三星堆遗址从新石器时代晚期到夏代（公元前2205-1766年）发展成为大型聚落。
They were the glory days; by the early Shang Dynasty, city walls and large-scale buildings abounded, while skilled techniques such as metallurgy, jade carving, and silk weaving techniques reached their zenith.
那是辉煌的岁月；到商代初期，城墙和大型建筑大量涌现，冶金、玉雕、丝织等技艺达到鼎盛。
In 1986 and 2019, eight sacrificial pits were discovered at Sanxingdui, from which were unearthed nearly 20,000 precious cultural relics. These include grand bronze statues of human figures, mythical bronze trees, bronze altars, bronze masks with protruding eyes, gold masks and a golden scepter, as well as other extraordinary treasures.
1986年和2019年，三星堆共发现8个祭祀坑，出土珍贵文物近2万件。其中包括宏伟的青铜人物雕像、神话般的青铜树、青铜祭坛、青铜凸眼面具、金面具和金权杖等奇珍异宝。
Now recognised as one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in modern times, that coming out of Sanxingdui also serves as compelling evidence for the Chengdu Plain being the centre of civilisation in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
三星堆的考古发现被认为是近代最伟大的考古发现之一，也是成都平原成为长江上游文明中心的有力证据。
So as to whether or not there was extra-terrestrial influence over the artefacts of Sanxingdui, the jury is out. But let us not forget that is exactly what keeps the crowds come flocking.
至于三星堆的文物是否受到外星影响，目前尚无定论。但我们不要忘记，这正是人们蜂拥而至的原因。
Back with popular culture, how did Fox Mulder’s poster in The X Files go again?; “I Want to Believe”. You better believe it. And you will, at Sanxingdui.
回到流行文化，福克斯·穆德在《X档案》中的海报又如何了？ “我想相信”。你最好相信它。你会的，在三星堆。