What adjectives will come to your mind when talking about cultural relics in historic museums? “Mysterious”, ”valuable”, “antique”, or “solemn”? Recently, a picture of Xiaoyou(鸮卣), a bronze ware from Shang dynasty preserved in Shanxi Museum, has been posted and forwarded in hype by microbloggers on Sina Weibo. Xiaoyou is called “the cutest antiquity”, for its appearance looks just like the character in popular video game “Angry Bird” by Rovio.
After Sina microblogger “Beijing A Nian” posting this “cutest antiquity” on Weibo, Xiaoyou’s appearance, shape and function have been discussed since.
Retweeted over 5,000 times and commented over 500 times, some microbloggers call it “outer-space creature ”, while others say it’s ancient version “angry bird”. Final explanation is given by “Wenwuchina.com (China Antiquity)” website official Weibo, saying that Xiao (鸮) is an owl, while Xiaoyou was used as a kind of drinking vessel. It’s an exquisite artwork from late Shang Dynasty (1600BC – 1046BC) – more than 3,000 years ago!
Looks more like an Ancient Chinese Linux penguin to me.