Ancient ceramic pig resembles movie star

Though a few netizens have joked that green piggies originated in China and that The Angry Birds Movie borrowed the image, more of them seemed to show genuine interest in the cultural relics at the Sanxingdui Museum.

The Sanxingdui Ruins were discovered by accident in 1929 by a farmer digging in his field. Since then, more than 10,000 relics have been unearthed.

The discovery of the Sanxingdui Ruins－which is believed to have served as a capital for several kings of Shu, the ancient name for Sichuan－offers strong evidence of the diverse origins of Chinese civilization.

Researchers say ancient China had several cradles－particularly in the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys. Before the Sanxingdui Ruins excavation, it was believed that the Yellow River Valley was the sole point of origin. Sichuan is in the upper reaches of the Yangtze.

Relics from those ruins, including gold, jade and bizarre bronze masks with protruding eyes, are in the Sanxingdui Museum, which opened in 1997.

Liu Bing had visited the Sanxingdui Museum. But the pottery pig rekindled her interest.

"Because of COVID-19, I cannot travel far. The museum is nearby," she said. "It will be my ideal getaway this summer to see the bronze masks with the bulging eyes and the pottery pigs' brothers－the realistic ones I ignored on my previous visit to the museum."