Chinese cultural heritage Sunbird and Language Plaza logo

April 23, 2021

The Sunbird was excavated at the Jinsha site on the Chengdu Plain in China in 2001. It is a hollow pure gold gold-foil circle with a diameter of 12.5 cm. When the gold leaf was unearthed, it was in a bunch. After the professionals flattened it out, they found it to be very exquisite, forged by complex craftsmanship. Gold leaf is not decayed and is immortal, not only beautiful and pleasing to the eye, but also unique in image and rich in connotation. It symbolizes the sun and its twelve swirling emitting rays of light, surrounded by four divine birds with head and tail connected. In 2005, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China designated the Sunbird icon as the symbol of Chinese cultural heritage, in October of that year, the Shu Embroidery embroidered with the Sunbird logo was carried into space by the Shenzhou-6 rocket.

Experts believe that the pattern of gold leaf made into the sun should be related to human Sun worship. The ancients thought, how can the sun complete the task of rising east and falling west without wings? They romantically believe that it is the birds that carry the sun to the sky in the morning and then carry the sun down in the evening. There is a record of "Golden Crow Holding Sun" in "Shan Hai Jing" (China's famous historical records). The Golden Crow is the divine bird carrying the Sun. Golden Crow keeps the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, and the sun rest in the evening on a sacred tree. The record in "Shan Hai Jing" says that this sacred tree is "several thousand meters high, 20 people' arm wide, and it grows on the same root in two pairs." The ancients gave it two names: "Fusang" and "Ruomu", so there is the saying "Sunrise Fusang, sunset Ruomu".

According to another legend that, the four birds are the four warriors who dedicated their lives to protect the sun in order to rescue the trapped sun and to ensure the long-term tranquillity of the sun.
The sun bird logo contains the rich connotation of the harmony of Yin and Yang, the changing of the four seasons and the unending progress of unity.

Language Plaza is touched by this real antiques and romantic stories, and developed its own learning icon to promote the aspiration of "freedom, beauty, unity and progress".

荷兰语言广场汉语中心的徽标，源于中国文化遗产的标识：太阳神鸟。
太阳神鸟于 2001 年在中国成都平原的金沙遗址被挖掘出土。它是一个直径为 12.5 厘米的圆形镂空的纯金金箔。金箔出土的时候是团在一起的，专业人士把它展平后，发现它非常精美，是经过多种复杂的工艺锻造而成。金箔不腐不朽，不但亮丽悦目，而且形象独特，内涵丰富。它象征着太阳和它发出的十二道漩涡状的光芒，光芒四周还有首尾相接的四只神鸟。 2005 年中国国家文物局把太阳神鸟定为中国文化遗产的标识，当年的十月份，绣着太阳神鸟的蜀绣就被神州六号火箭载上了太空。
    专家认为，金箔被做成太阳的图案应该跟人类的太阳崇拜有关。古人想，太阳没有翅膀，怎么去完成东升西落的任务呢？他们很浪漫地认为，是鸟早上把太阳背到天上去，晚上再把太阳背下来的。《山海经》中有“金乌负日”的记载，金乌就是背太阳的神鸟。金乌托着太阳东升西落，晚上太阳在一颗神木上休息。《山海经》上记载着，这颗神木“高数千丈，大二十围，两两同根生长”。古人给了它两个名字“扶桑”和“若木”，所以有“日出扶桑，日落若木”的说法。
    也有传奇说，四只鸟是四名勇士为了解救被困的太阳，并为了保证太阳长久的安宁而献身去护卫太阳的。
    太阳神鸟标识蕴含着阴阳相合，四季更迭以及团结共进，生生不息的丰富内涵。

语言广场汉语中心感动于这真实的古件和浪漫的故事，并开发了自己的学习图标，以弘扬“自由，美丽，团结，进步”的宗旨。

Hélán yǔyánguǎngchǎng hànyǔzhòngxīnde huībiāo, yuányú zhōngguó wénhuà yíchǎnde biāozhì: tàiyáng shénniǎo.
Tàiyáng shénniǎo yú 2001 nián zàizhōngguó chéngdūpíngyuánde jīnshāyízhǐ bèi wājuéchūtǔ. Tā shì yígè zhíjìngwèi 12.5 límǐde yuánxíng lòukōngde chúnjīn jīnbó. Jīnbó chūtǔde shíhòu shì tuánzài yīqǐ de, zhuānyè rénshì bǎ tā zhǎn píng hòu, fāxiàn tā fēicháng jīngměi, shì jīngguò duōzhǒng fùzáde gōngyì duànzào ér chéng. Jīnbó bù fǔ bù xiǔ, bùdàn liànglì yuèmù, érqiě xíngxiàng dútè, nèihán fēngfù. Tā xiàngzhēngzhe tàiyáng hé tā fāchūde shí'èr dào xuánwōzhuàngde guāngmáng,
guāngmáng sìzhōu háiyǒu shǒuwěi xiāngjiēde s zhǐ shén niǎo. 2005 nián, zhōngguó guójiā wénwù jú bǎ tàiyáng shén niǎo dìngwéi zhōngguó wénhuà yíchǎnde biāozhì, dāngniánde shí yuèfèn, xiùzhe tàiyáng shénniǎode shǔxiù jiù bèi shénzhōu liùhào huǒjiàn zàishàngle tàikōng.
Zhuānjiā rènwéi, jīnbó bèi zuòchéng tàiyángde tú'àn yīnggāi gēn rénlèide tàiyáng chóngbài yǒuguān. Gǔrén xiǎng, tàiyáng méiyǒu chìbǎng, zěnme qù wánchéng dōngshēng xī luòde rènwù ne? Tāmen hěn làngmànde rènwéi, shì niǎo, zǎoshang bǎ tàiyáng bēidào tiānshàngqù, wǎnshàng zài bǎ tàiyáng bēixiàlái de. “Shānhǎi jīng” zhōng yǒu “jīnwū fù rì” de jìzǎi, jīnwū jiùshì bēi tàiyángde shénniǎo. Jīnwū tuōzhe tàiyáng dōng shēng xī luò, wǎnshàng tàiyáng zài yìkē shénmù shàng xiūxí.
“shānhǎi jīng” shàng jìzǎizhe, zhèkē shénmù “gāo shù qiān zhàng, dà èrshí wéi, liǎng liǎng tónggēn shēngzhǎng“. Gǔrén gěile tā liǎng gè míngzì “fúsāng” hé “ruòmù”, suǒyǐ yǒu “rì chū fúsāng, rìluò ruòmù” de shuōfǎ.
Yěyǒu chuánqí shuō, sì zhǐ niǎo shì sì míng yǒngshì wéi liǎo jiějiù bèikùnde tàiyáng, bìng wèile bǎozhèng tàiyáng chángjiǔde ānníng, ér xiànshēn qù hùwèi tàiyángde. Tàiyáng shén niǎo biāozhì yùnhánzhe yīn-yáng xiànghé, sìjì gēngdié yǐjí tuánjié gòngjìn, shēngshēng bùxī de fēngfù nèihán.

Yǔyán guǎngchǎng hànyǔ zhòngxīn gǎndòngyú zhè zhēnshíde gǔjiàn hé làngmànde gùshì, bìng kāifāle zìjǐde xuéxí túbiāo, yǐ hóngyáng “Zìyóu, Měilì, Tuánjié, Jìnbù” de zōngzhǐ.