Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- How many hidden dragons are there in the land of China?
Xinhua News Agency reporter.
Dragons, born in imagination, are full of mystery, but in the long history of China, traces of "dragons" can be found between pitches.
Bow your head high, front paws, back paws, like flying in the air. It is a dragon from about 6,500 years ago, and people have made it out of clam shells and placed it next to the deceased. In 1987, when archaeologists opened a tomb at the Xishuipo site in Puyang City, Henan Province, the mussel-shaped dragon was rediscovered.
The mussel sculpture dragon unearthed from the M45 tomb at the Xishuipo site in Puyang, Henan Province (courtesy of the Qicheng Museum in Puyang City).
This dragon is currently "settled" in the National Museum of China and is 178 meters, 067 meters, the shape is similar to the modern dragon, it is the earliest clam dragon shape found so far, and the dragon totem worship of the Chinese nation can be traced back to the middle and late Neolithic Age.
The "Chinese dragon" of different eras and forms is attached to all kinds of exquisite cultural relics, carved in jade, cast in bronze, painted in calligraphy and painting, made in ceramics, or majestic and vigorous, or elegant and agile, or exquisite and magnificent, or simple and lovely.
Walking into the North 4 Exhibition Hall of the National Museum of China, the Neolithic Hongshan Cultural Jade Dragon in the middle of the display cabinet immediately greeted the audience's eyes, where the Jiachen Year of the Dragon New Year Cultural Exhibition is on display.
The National Museum exhibits the jade dragon of the Neolithic Hongshan culture (photo courtesy of the National Museum of China).
The dragon has no horns, no limbs, no claws, but it is extremely dynamic—with a long snout, a flying mane, a powerful curly tail, and its entire body forming an anti-"C" shape, as if it is about to fly away. It is 26 centimeters high and weighs 1 kilogram, making it the earliest, largest and most well-made dragon-shaped jade found in China.
The Jade Dragon of the Red Mountain Culture in the Neolithic Age (Photo courtesy of the National Museum of China).
In August 1971, Zhang Fengxiang, a villager from Saiqin Tara Village, Wengniute Banner, Inner Mongolia, dug up this jade dragon in the farmland, which shone with a turquoise luster in the sun. Some scholars believe that the "C" shaped jasper dragon was used in the sacrificial activities of the Hongshan culture, and the ancestors may hang the jade dragon on their bodies and hold it in their hands for ritual activities.
Jade and dragon are both important parts of Chinese culture, with profound connotations and beautiful meanings. The unearthing of the Hongshan dragon-shaped jade carving series is the physical witness of the ancestors of Hongshan culture, "Chongyu Shanglong". Today, spanning more than 5,000 years, this "C" shaped jasper dragon is still in high spirits and spirits. Its image has been made into a variety of cultural and creative products, appearing on stamps, commemorative coins of the central bank, and the prototype of the pattern of China's lunar exploration project.
From Saiqin Tara Village, Wengniute Banner, Inner Mongolia all the way to the south, almost at the same time, more than 1,500 kilometers away in Hanshan County, Anhui Province, another jade dragon is like a volley, adding a wonderful footnote to the civilized spirit of "pluralism and unity" behind the dragon totem worship.
Walking into the Hanshan County Museum in Anhui Province, this long trail is 44 cm, short diameter 39 cm, thickness 0The 2 cm jade dragon lies quietly in the display case, with tremolite as the main material, polished throughout, concise in shape, and looks solemn and majestic.
The Lingjiatan jade dragon unearthed from the Lingjiatan site in Hanshan, Anhui Province (courtesy of the Propaganda Department of the Hanshan County Party Committee of the Communist Party of China).
In October 1998, the archaeological team was excavating the Lingjiatan site for the third time, and the appearance of a jade dragon in the No. 16 tomb pit on the east side of the cemetery area of the site surprised everyone at the scene. The jade dragon is flat and oval, with two horns on the top of the head, and the mouth, nose, folds, and whiskers are carved out with yin lines, and the arc on the back represents the body, and the 17 yin oblique lines resemble dragon scales.
There is a jade dragon in a group of necklaces unearthed, and its image is very similar to the image of the traditional dragon of the Chinese nation, with round eyes, two corners slightly upturned, the snout is prominent, the head and tail are connected, and the back is decorated with symmetrical yin lines. Drill a round hole near the tail, which seems to be used for tethering. Zhang Jingguo, the first leader of the Lingjiatan archaeological team, described it in his published archaeological excavation report.
There are Niuheliang ruins in the north and Lingjiatan ruins in the south, all of which flourished around 5,500 years ago, and both had the idea of dragon worship and jade as precious, which proves that the early Chinese cultural circle was formed long before the Xia and Shang dynasties. Wang Wei, a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.
Thousands of years have passed, as the spiritual totem of the Chinese nation, the dragon has always been with the mountains and rivers, and travels with history. In the ancient Shu region, the ancestors of Sanxingdui more than 3,000 years ago also continued this totem worship.
In the eyes of Xu Danyang, deputy director of the Sanxingdui Site Workstation of the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, it is the dragon on the Sanxingdui No. 1 Bronze God Tree.
Sanxingdui No. 1 Bronze Sacred Tree Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xue Chen.
The bronze sacred tree is displayed in the last exhibition hall of the new Sanxingdui Museum**, under the specially arranged starry sky dome, with a height of 3The 96-meter-tall bronze sacred tree stands tall and tall, with the potential of direct heaven. On one side of the sacred tree, a horned head, head up and chest of the "dragon", with round eyes the size of copper bells, grinning teeth, the edge of the tree scurrying down, the front foot on the mountain base of the sacred tree, the twisted torso turned backwards attached to the main trunk of the sacred tree, the torso stretched out like a human palm slender and slender hind feet, the whole dragon shape is elegant, agile and strange and treacherous, inexplicable.
The dragon head on the Sanxingdui No. 1 bronze god tree Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xue Chen.
Xu Danyang believes that the sacred tree had the sacrificial function of communicating heaven and earth at that time, and the dragon on the sacred tree symbolized the messenger of communication between man and god, which descended from the sky and descended to the world.
In the course of thousands of years of history, the 'dragon' has appeared in various forms and ways, symbolizing strength, tranquility, auspiciousness, and beautiful dragon totems, and dragon beliefs have long transcended the limitations of blood and geography, and have become important spiritual and cultural symbols of the Chinese nation. Zhao Haitao, an associate researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.
*: Xinhuanet).