Exhibition makes mythical connections

In ancient Chinese myth, human beings were created by the mother goddess Nyuwa, who kneaded a mixture of soil and water until it took the form of a self-resembling doll-like creature. That myth is strikingly similar to one in remote Mesoamerica: in Maya myth, humans were made by a god who used maize dough.

Today, when visiting Mesoamerican countries, people find that maize remains the soul of local people's lives. It appears as the staple in daily meals, and is frequently added to other delicacies. Ceremonies related to maize can also be witnessed throughout the year.

This crop has been a lasting cultural symbol for millennia, as demonstrated by Maize. Gold. Jaguar: A Grand Exhibition of Ancient Maya and Andean Civilizations, which is currently on view at the Capital Museum in Beijing.

For over 3,000 years, from around 2000 BC to the 16th century AD, the Maya civilization flourished in present-day Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador, renowned for its advanced writing system, astronomy and monumental pyramid-temples. Andean civilization, which thrived in South America's Andes Mountains from around 3000 BC to the 16th century AD, was also remarkable, known for its achievements in architecture, metallurgy and pottery production.

With about 800 artifacts from more than 20 cultural heritage institutes in Mexico and Peru, the exhibition, as the largest in the museum's history, showcases a historical lineage of more than 3,000 years through three cultural symbols — maize, gold and the jaguar — systematically demonstrating the productive foundations, spiritual symbols and power systems of Maya and Andean civilizations.

"Maize was the origin of life in ancient Mesoamerica," says Tan Xiaoling, deputy director of the Capital Museum. "Gold, in Andean civilization, was the sweat of the sun, representing the supreme authorities of divine and royal power. The jaguar, however, was the king of the forest and a symbolic totem connecting the human world with the divine realm. Together, they form a complete spiritual spectrum of ancient American people from survival to faith and then power."

Cosmic chapter

The first chapter draws visitors into the Maya world, displaying how ancient people from that remote area created outstanding achievements, including farming, hieroglyphic, and the astronomical calendar, during its classical era from 200 to 900, roughly the same time as China's Three Kingdoms (220-280) to the Tang Dynasty (618-907), says Shao Xinxin, curator of this section of the exhibition.

He highlights a sandstone head statue on display from 600-900, adorned with a cosmic tree headdress with geometrics, animal and deity patterns. It is speculated that this figure played an important role in ancient Maya sacrificial or other ceremonial activities.

Behind this artifact lies the Mayan worldview and the cosmos. Shao says they believed the world had three realms — the upper realm for the sun, the moon and the stars; the middle realm was where humans thrived; and the bottom realm was where the dead paused before rebirth. Linking the three realms is the cosmic tree, which holds the universe together.

Horizontally, with the tree at the center, Mayans divided the earthly realm into five directions, each associated with a symbolic color: the east, red; the north, white; the west, black; the south, yellow; and the center, green.

Shao says such ideas, whether the world is three realms or the five directions of different colors, can also be traced in traditional Chinese culture. The Chinese also used five colors to denote the same five directions, though the color assignments differed.

Another fascinating parallel appears in the representation of the moon. The display showcases a limestone stele from 900 to 1521 depicting the Maya moon goddess Ixchel. She holds a rabbit in her arms. In Maya belief, the rabbit symbolizes the moon and is an important partner of the goddess.

"This is highly similar to the moon goddess Chang'e and her rabbit in traditional Chinese myth," says Shao. "It is generally guessed that Maya and Chinese people both believed the shadow they witnessed on the moon was a rabbit. Connecting the rabbit to the moon is rare in world civilizations elsewhere."

While the exhibition's first section focuses on the Maya civilization, the second section shifts the viewer's attention southward into the Andes Mountains. Here, the organizing symbol is gold.