On June 26, the fourth exhibition of the Shanghai Museum's "Why China" cultural relics and archaeological exhibition series - "Dragon Soaring over China: A Special Exhibition of the Ancient Civilization of Hongshan Culture" was officially opened to the public. The exhibition uses "dragon" as the hidden thread to outline the development of dragon-shaped cultural relics more than 5,000 years ago, forming a "dragon vein" and bringing together the most important archaeological processes and latest discoveries of Hongshan culture.
As the academic consultant of this exhibition, Gao Menghe, professor and doctoral supervisor of the Department of Cultural Relics and Museology at Fudan University, said in an exclusive interview with "The Paper | Ancient Art" that when visiting the exhibition, visitors can understand Hongshan culture from the perspective of understanding the origin of Chinese civilization.
Exhibition View
Gao Menghe, professor and doctoral supervisor of the Department of Cultural Relics and Museology at Fudan University
The Paper: As the academic consultant of this exhibition, can you please introduce the planning ideas behind this exhibition?
Gao Menghe: "Dragon Soaring in China" focuses on the theme of "dragon" in terms of content narrative, and adopts a two-line interweaving method to display it. The main line revolves around the civilization achievements of Hongshan culture, and the element of "dragon" is hidden in the exhibition as a hidden line. The three units are titled "Dragon Out of Liaohe River", "Dragon Travels in Hongshan" and "Dragon Spreads to Nine Provinces". The dragon symbolizes Hongshan culture and establishes a close connection between the prehistoric dragon culture and Hongshan culture in the Liaohe River Basin. The first unit "Dragon Out of Liaohe River" traces the origin and development of Hongshan culture and shows the rise of Hongshan culture; the second unit "Dragon Travels in Hongshan" focuses on the ritual architectural combination of "altar, temple, and tomb" represented by the Niuheliang site, focusing on the characteristics of the ancient Hongshan country; the third unit "Dragon Spreads to Nine Provinces" interprets jade and jade rituals, and pays attention to the inheritance of Hongshan civilization.
Exhibition View
We have also made corresponding arrangements in the organization of exhibits, connecting the C-shaped jade dragon, ring-shaped jade dragon and other cultural relics in the central display cabinet at the entrance through a "civilization axis" in the center of the exhibition hall. The production, development, and spread of dragon-shaped cultural relics in the Liaohe River Basin and the rise, prosperity, and influence of Hongshan culture are compared and displayed.
The Paper: This exhibition uses "dragon" as the hidden thread to outline the development of prehistoric dragon-shaped cultural relics in the northern region. It can be described as a "family portrait" gathering of prehistoric "dragons" in the north. What rare dragon-shaped cultural relics are here?
Gaomeng River: "Dragons come from the source of the Liaohe River" is a high-level summary of the large number of dragon-shaped artifacts unearthed by archaeologists during the Hongshan Culture. Although early dragon-shaped artifacts have also been found in the Central Plains and southern regions, the various prehistoric dragon-shaped artifacts discovered in the Liaohe River Basin are the earliest, most diverse, and most complete in sequence, and belong to the heyday of the origin and development of early jade dragons in prehistoric China.
The dragon-shaped cultural relics on display in this exhibition are mainly unearthed by archaeology, supplemented by collection and solicitation. They bring together collections from four provinces and three cities, including Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Liaoning, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai, covering four types of materials: clam, pottery, stone and jade.
Among them, the stone dragon unearthed from the Zuojiashan site in Jilin, which is about 6,000 years old, may be the earliest stone dragon ever seen in China. This stone dragon was discovered in 1985 in the strata of the Zuojiashan Neolithic site in Nong'an County, Changchun City, Jilin Province, and is now in the collection of the National Museum of China. Its appearance is very similar to the jade pig dragon of the Hongshan culture, but it is more simple and may be the "ancestor" of jade dragons in various places later.
The Zuojiashan Lower Culture (about 7000-6000 years ago) was unearthed from the Zuojiashan site in Nong'an, Jilin Province in 1985. It is collected by the National Museum of China.
In 2023, an unprecedented clam-shaped dragon relic was discovered at the Caitaopo site in Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia. Unlike a jade dragon, its body is stretched out horizontally. It is also the first archaeological discovery of a dragon-shaped artifact from the early and middle stages of the Hongshan culture, providing important clues for us to understand the inheritance and evolution of the dragon image and dragon belief in the Hongshan culture.
Exhibition site A clam-like dragon-shaped relic unearthed from the Caitaopo site in Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia in 2023, with its body stretched out horizontally
16 jade dragons from the Hongshan culture are on display, including 1 C-shaped jade dragon and 15 ring-shaped jade dragons (jade pig dragons). As the most well-known jade artifact of the Hongshan culture, jade dragons can be divided into two types according to their shapes: C-shaped dragons and ring-shaped dragons. The former are mostly collected from ruins, while the latter are mostly unearthed in formal excavations. There is no consensus in the academic community on its prototype, with different opinions such as pig dragons or bear dragons.
Exhibition site "C" shaped dragon Palace Museum collection
There are two jade dragons on the central axis of the exhibition hall, one of which is a C-shaped jade dragon. So far, four jade dragons of this type have been discovered, of which the most well-known is the one in the National Museum of China, known as the "First Dragon of China". Unfortunately, it was not loaned out because it was on display online. The C-shaped jade dragon on display on the central axis of the exhibition is a collection of the Palace Museum, similar in shape to the one in the National Museum of China, but different in the color of the jade.
Exhibition site Hongshan culture ring-shaped jade dragon, collected by Liaoning Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, unearthed in 1984 from Tomb No. 4 of the No. 1 Mound at the second site of Niuheliang Site in Jianping, Liaoning
Another piece on the central axis of the exhibition hall is a jade dragon unearthed from Tomb No. 4 of Mound No. 1 at the second site of the Niuheliang Ruins in 1984. This jade pig dragon is very exquisite and can be said to be one of the most representative visual symbols of Hongshan Culture. Many Hongshan Culture promotional materials and books use it as a logo. This is also the first jade dragon discovered through formal archaeological excavations.
In addition to the above two jade dragons, there are some other important jade dragons that should not be missed. From 2014 to 2016, the jade dragon and stone axe discovered at the Banlashan Stone Mound Site in Chaoyang, Liaoning Province were found in the same tomb, which may symbolize the combination of divine power and military power; the jade dragon discovered at the Zhengjiagou Site in Hebei Province in 2022 may be the latest known jade dragon of the Hongshan Culture, and the lower limit of the age of the Hongshan Culture sites in Hebei Province may exceed previous cognition; in 2024, the largest jade dragon in the shape of a ring unearthed so far was discovered at the Yuanbaoshan Site in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which is 15.8 cm long. The discovery of this cultural relic has enriched our understanding of high-level tombs of the Hongshan Culture in Inner Mongolia.
Exhibition site In 2024, the largest ring-shaped jade dragon unearthed to date was discovered at the Yuanbaoshan site in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
The dragon-shaped cultural relics gathered in the exhibition run through the pre-Hongshan culture and the early, middle to late Hongshan culture, forming a "dragon vein" and presenting the origin and evolution process of prehistoric dragon-shaped cultural relics in the northern region. It reflects that dragon culture originated in western Liaoning and culminated in Hongshan culture.
The Paper: As one of the most distinctive unearthed cultural relics of the Hongshan culture, what is the specific meaning of dragon-shaped jade artifacts? What impact has it had on the image of dragons in later generations?
Gaomenghe: There are many analyses on the origin and specific meaning of the jade dragon. Some scholars believe that it symbolizes the celestial pole and the Big Dipper, while others believe that its creation is related to the origin and development of dry farming in the north. However, the jade dragon is undoubtedly one of the important jade ritual objects of the Hongshan culture. Based on the unearthed and collected objects from archaeological excavations, the distribution range of the jade dragons of the Hongshan culture is quite wide. The production of such objects is standardized and the changes in their shapes are not great, which shows that the Hongshan culture has formed a relatively unified belief and ritual system.
Jade dragon found in the central tomb of Yuanbaoshan stone mound site
In the past, jade dragons were mainly found in stone mounds, but not in the central tombs. The jade dragon found in the central tomb at the Yuanbaoshan site also provides us with new ideas. As an important carrier of the ritual system and beliefs of the Hongshan culture, the jade dragon has a great influence on later generations, even surpassing other types of jade ritual objects of the Hongshan culture.
The Paper: What other important highlights are there in this exhibition?
Gaomeng River: Highlight one, the jade ritual objects of Hongshan culture, including the jade dragon. The exhibition displays nearly 200 pieces (sets) of Hongshan culture jade objects. Hook-cloud-shaped jade objects, oblique-mouthed cylindrical jade objects, jade phoenixes, jade figures and other important objects are all present, reflecting the complex jade ritual system of Hongshan culture. It can be said that it is the origin of the traditional "Six Auspicious" concept of jade ritual objects in later generations.
Exhibition View
Highlight 2: This exhibition brings together 38 pieces (groups) of human-shaped cultural relics, which are physical evidence of ancestor worship in the Liaohe River Basin. The human-shaped cultural relics are centered on the Hongshan culture, spanning 8,000 to 4,000 years ago, from the Xinglongwa culture and Zhaobaogou culture stone figures, to the Hongshan culture pottery, clay, jade, and stone human figures, and to the Xiaoheyan culture human-shaped pottery pots, reflecting that the tradition of ancestor worship has deep roots in this region.
Stone sculptures at the exhibition
Red pottery goddess statue (left) and human-shaped pottery pot (right) at the exhibition
The third attraction is the altars, temples and tombs of the Hongshan culture, which are the representative of the ritual architecture of the Hongshan culture and are also known as the symbol of Chinese culture, with a huge impact on later generations. The exhibition displays a large number of cultural relics directly related to the altars, temples and tombs, and at the same time, with digital and artistic exhibits, it is very helpful for us to understand the important civilization achievements of the Hongshan culture.
The Paper: What other latest archaeological discoveries of Hongshan culture are presented in this exhibition?
Gaomenghe: 2024 marks the 70th anniversary of the naming of Hongshan Culture. Archaeological exploration has never stopped in the past 70 years. The heavyweight discoveries such as the Niuheliang site of Hongshan Culture began in the 1980s. With the continuous improvement of archaeological work, theoretical construction and subject awareness, important discoveries have emerged in an endless stream in the past decade.
In terms of settlement archaeology, large settlement sites such as Weijiawopu, Maanshanqiao and Haminmangha have been discovered, enriching our understanding of the residential sites of the Hongshan culture, especially the distribution, scale and form of its early and middle settlements.
The northern round tomb of the Yuanbaoshan Stone Mound Site (file photo). Xinhua News Agency
In the field of tomb archaeology, we have discovered sites dominated by stone mounds such as Banlashan, Yuanbaoshan, and Zhengjiagou, and unearthed a number of important cultural relics, which have deepened our understanding of the stone mounds of the Hongshan culture and the burial customs and sacrificial behaviors they reflect.
The most eye-catching archaeological discovery was made at the Niuheliang site, the ritual center of the Hongshan culture. At the first point, where the "Goddess Temple" is located, nine large stone platforms were discovered and preliminarily confirmed, with a total area of more than 60,000 square meters. The thickest accumulation can reach 4-5 meters, demonstrating the powerful mobilization and organization capabilities of the Hongshan society. In addition, a central axis symmetrical road and drainage system were discovered on the platform around the "Goddess Temple", which is connected to the "Goddess Temple". This may be the earliest ritual building in China built in a central axis symmetrical way.
Niuheliang Site II
The insights gained from the archaeological work at the above-mentioned sites and the important cultural relics unearthed are basically reflected in this exhibition.
The Paper: Mr. Su Bingqi called Hongshan culture the "taproot" of Chinese culture, and the altars, temples and tombs at the Niuheliang site are praised as "the symbol of the dawn of Chinese civilization." The latest results of the "China Civilization Origin Exploration Project" show that Hongshan culture is one of the representative archaeological cultures of the first stage of the "Ancient State Era." What is the significance of the release of this new theoretical result to the archaeological excavation and research of Hongshan culture over the years?
Gaomeng River: According to the latest results of the Chinese Civilization Origin Exploration Project released by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage in 2023, starting from about 5,800 years ago, various regions on the Chinese mainland have successively seen relatively obvious social differentiation, entering an accelerated stage of the origin of civilization. The Hongshan culture represented by the Niuheliang site in the Xiliaohe River Basin is in the first stage of the ancient country era, about 5,800-5,200 years ago.
As one of the representative archaeological cultures of the first stage of the "Ancient Country Era", Hongshan Culture has greatly enriched our understanding of the origin of Chinese civilization. It can be said that "Hongshan Culture is the earliest civilization form discovered in China. The new archaeological discoveries of Hongshan Culture in Niuheliang have pushed the origin of Chinese civilization forward by five or six hundred years."
Chifeng, Inner Mongolia
In the past, our research on the origin of Chinese civilization was sporadic and isolated. The Chinese Civilization Origins Research Project is equivalent to reintegrating all past archaeological discoveries and research results and placing them in the larger system context of the origin of Chinese civilization. The Hongshan culture represented by the Niuheliang site has greater historical significance and contemporary value.
Therefore, through this exhibition, we not only present the latest archaeological discoveries to the audience, but also present the latest theoretical research results to the audience, providing a "civilization perspective" to the audience to understand the Hongshan culture from the perspective of understanding the origin of Chinese civilization. Last fall, the Hongshan culture represented by the Niuheliang site was written into the first volume of the People's Education Edition of "Chinese History". This is another archaeological material included in the unified textbooks and the origin of Chinese civilization after the Liangzhu site. The distance between Hongshan culture and the public, especially the youth group, has been further shortened.
