Influencer wows netizens with his golden touch for replicas
The influencer Caiqian with his replica of the gold mask from Sanxingdui Ruins.
An influencer on China's popular video-sharing site Bilibili has impressed thousands of netizens by using gold to replicate two signature cultural relics, a mask and a rod, uncovered from the Sanxingdui Ruins in Sichuan Province.
Caiqian, the influencer who uses the screen name 才疏学浅的才浅, uploaded a video in April of him using 500 grams of gold over 15 days to make a replica of the famous incomplete gold mask discovered in January in the No. 5 pit at Sanxingdui Ruins in Guanghan, southwest China's Sichuan Province.
The Sanxingdui Ruins are dubbed as one of mankind's greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century. The site was accidentally discovered by a farmer when he was digging a ditch in the 1920s.
Covering 12 square kilometers, the ruins are located in the city of Guanghan, about 60 kilometers from the provincial capital Chengdu.
They are believed to be the remnants of the Shu Kingdom, which lasted for over 2,000 years and dates back at least 4,800 years.
Caiqian's replica of the gold mask from Sanxingdui Ruins
Caiqian shot to fame when netizens became stunned by his near-perfect replication. The video has been viewed 10.45 million times, received 2 million likes, and is ranked first in its category.
It earned compliments from Henan Museum and the National Cultural Heritage Administration which invited Caiqian to repair culture relics.
After his work on the mask went viral, many netizens encouraged him to make a replica of the gold rod also unearthed from Sanxingdui, a much more difficult task.
The patterns on the replica of the gold rod
Caiqian took the challenge and wowed people again in August when he released a second video in which he used 600 grams of gold, worth around 250,000 yuan (US$38,582), to build the 1.4-meter-long golden rod.
The rod, a symbol of power in the ancient Shu Kingdom, was used as a sacrificial tool about 3,000 years ago.
To re-engrave the patterns on the rod, Caiqian practiced drawing on a thin copper plate for a full month, just to make sure he didn't make any mistakes.
The second video has been viewed 5.3 million times and garnered 1.11 million likes.
Caiqian has 3.2 million followers on Bilibili.
The replica of the 1.4-meter gold rod used in sacrifices during the Shu Kingdom some 3,000 years ago.
