The Year of the Dragon is here. The dragon is a traditional belief totem of the Chinese nation, representing strength, wisdom and wealth, and is often used to represent the unity and prosperity of the country. The image of the dragon also symbolizes good fortune, good harvest, and good luck. In addition, the dragon is also regarded as a sacred animal that guards and brings good luck, and has magical effects such as dispelling disasters and warding off evil spirits, attracting wealth and warding off evil spirits.The cities and towns through which the Grand Canal flows contain artifacts, architecture, folklore and ...... related to dragonsIt embodies the close connection between the canal city and the dragon culture, and shows the unique charm and profound heritage of Chinese culture.
Therefore, finding the connection between the canal and the dragon, and the openness, tolerance and mystery hidden in Chinese culture, is also part of our yearning and pursuit of a better life.
Look at the dragon culture in the vast land, which is collected in the museums of the city, active in the towns and villages, and jumps in the daily life of the people......
Ming Xuande Blue and White Seawater White Dragon Pattern Plate Source: Suzhou MuseumKaifeng Museum: Listen to the "Dragon Story" and enjoy the "Dragon Culture".
Offline cultural relics gathered, online "Jilong He Chun". In the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon, Kaifeng Museum dug deep into the connotation of dragon culture, carefully planned a series of exhibition activities, and made concerted efforts to "offline + online" to present a wonderful feast of Chinese "dragon culture" for tourists and netizens.
The 34 pieces (sets) of cultural relics on display offline show the rich and profound connotation of dragons in Chinese culture, reflecting the spiritual beliefs, aesthetic pursuits, and craftsmanship levels of Chinese people in various historical periods. One of the most eye-catching is the treasure of the town hall, the Da Shengyi bell. The upper part of the bell has a double kui handover knob, the head of the dragon is decorated with a ticket grain pattern, and the dragon body is decorated with a back pattern. At present, there are very few Dasheng bells, which are very precious and can be called national treasures.
In addition, there are precious cultural relics such as the white-glazed double dragon in the Han and Tang dynasties, the green jade carved lion and dragon pattern box in the Song and Yuan dynasties, and the gilded dragon and phoenix pattern copper smoker in the Ming Dynasty, each of which is a witness to history.
Zhejiang Natural Museum, together with a number of museums, launched an exhibition of the Year of the Dragon
This year is the thirteenth year that the Zhejiang Natural Museum has launched the Zodiac New Year Exhibition, and it is also the "Zodiac New Year Exhibition 2" of the InstituteVersion 0". The exhibition is jointly launched by Zhejiang Natural Museum, Lishui Museum, Jiaxing Museum, Haiyan County Museum and Ouhai Museum, and will be exhibited in Hall C of the Hangzhou Pavilion of Zhejiang Natural Museum from February 2 to May 6.
The exhibition is divided into three units: "The Inheritance of Dragon Rhyme", "The Change of Form and God" and "Auspicious Dragon Ruicai", and tells the evolution of dragon culture with a number of dragon-related specimens and historical relics. The "Dragon Rhyme" unit is divided into three perspectives: origin, culture, and mythology, and popularizes the origin of dragon culture to the audience. Li Shizhen recorded the statement of the Eastern Han Dynasty scholar Wang Fu in the "Compendium of Materia Medica": the head is like a camel, the horns are like a deer, the eyes are like a rabbit, the ears are like a cow, the neck is like a snake, the belly is like a mirage, the scales are like a carp, the claws are like an eagle, and the palm is like a tiger. Spectators can make comparisons based on taxidermy. At the same time, this unit also shows the changes in the image of dragons in different eras. The "Xianglong Ruicai" unit introduces the development of dragon culture in contemporary times, as a cultural symbol, the dragon is still active in various folk stages and folk life.
Luoyang Museum: Through the millennium, perceiving the "dragon" vein
Tracing the Chinese Dragon - Luoyang Unearthed Dragon Cultural Relics Special Exhibition", Luoyang Museum, Longmen Grottoes Research Institute, Yanshi Museum selected more than 20 pieces of dragon elements in different periods and different forms of cultural relics were unveiled.
The turquoise dragon vessel unearthed at the Erlitou site is known as the "first dragon in China", and it is generally considered by the academic community to be the most direct and orthodox root of the dragon totem. "Dragon Flag Yangyang and Lingyangyang" focuses on the turquoise dragon-shaped ware unearthed from the Erlitou site and the dragon image on the Erlitou pottery.
The exhibition section of "Kui Long Tongtian Tibetan Ritual in Vessels" displays artifacts related to dragons in the Shang and Zhou dynasties. During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, bronze and jade were closely related to politics, and "Tibetan rites in vessels" was a prominent cultural feature of this period. Luoyang's Yanshi ** ruins, the North Kiln Western Zhou Dynasty large bronze ruins, the aristocratic cemetery and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty royal city ruins, etc., unearthed a large number of exquisite ritual vessels, there is no lack of dragon patterns and images. From the bronze bronze pattern of the dragon pattern of the Western Zhou Dynasty on display to the vortex jade dragon and dragon-shaped jade pendant of the Warring States Period, it can be found that the image of the dragon has changed from hideous and mysterious to gentle and quiet, which also means that its function has evolved from "connecting heaven and earth" to "auspicious spirit animal".
During the Qin and Han dynasties, the country was unified, the territory expanded, and the cultures of various ethnic groups and regions were unprecedentedly integrated. "Canglong Seven Residences Blessing to ward off evil spirits" mainly displays the "dragon cultural relics" of the Han Dynasty unearthed in Luoyang. During this period, the dragon pattern became more mature and more widely used, appearing in a large number of tomb murals, portrait bricks, bronze mirrors and various utensils.
"The supremacy of the red lin, the yellow dragon" shows the image of dragon cultural relics in the Tang and Song dynasties. During this period, the image of the dragon was more widely used, appearing in tomb murals, inscriptions, etc., and its identity was dominated by Tongtian divine beasts; Appears in the use of utensils, building components, and paintings, and the identity is dominated by auspicious beasts. The "dragon" pattern gradually became a symbol of imperial power after the Two Song Dynasty.
Tianjin Museum: 135 pieces (sets) of dragon cultural relics were unveiled
In February, at the beginning of spring, the Tianjin Museum specially launched the "Dragon Travel: Special Exhibition of Hidden Dragon Cultural Relics in the Tianjin Museum in the Year of the Dragon", bringing cultural relics with dragon elements in many periods of Chinese civilization to the audience.
The exhibition is divided into four units: "Dragon Rite Nature", "Dragon Walking World", "Dragon Yao China" and "Dragon Residence Auspicious", a total of 135 pieces (sets) of fine dragon cultural relics collected by Tianjin Museum, including jade, bronze, porcelain, gold and silverware, textiles, calligraphy and painting, modern folk handicrafts, etc., and more dragon claw-shaped jade pendant (Warring States), Chenghua blue and white green color double dragon play bead pattern plate (Ming), nine claw pattern jade bi (Qing) and other "treasures of the town hall", showing the characteristics and development of dragon ornaments on cultural relics in various historical periods in ancient China.
It is reported that the exhibits in the exhibition involve the development of dragon culture in many historical periods in China, from the cultural relics of the Hongshan cultural period thousands of years ago to the modern cultural relics. The rich and diverse dragon element cultural relics prove that the dragon ornament has a very long history in the development of Chinese civilization.
Due to the large number of cultural relics with dragon elements in the collection of Tianjin Museum, and many treasures have been exhibited in other exhibition halls, the exhibition has designed a linkage activity called "Nine Treasures Searching for the Dragon" to increase the interaction between the various exhibition halls.
Dragon artifacts excavated in Henan archaeology
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the dragon shape on the bronze ware was more vivid. There are various forms of dragons on the Baolian Crane square pot of the Henan Museum, not only the dragon and phoenix ornaments carved by the Yin line, but also a few winding and flying dragons on the abdomen, which are slowly moving upward. There are two dragons under the foot of the circle, and the dragon supporting the body of the pot and the dragon and beast attached to the body of the pot climb upward, echo each other, giving people a light sense of movement visually. The moire bronze forbidden in the Henan Museum is a bronze ware in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, there are 12 dragon-shaped monsters around, the beast has big horns, opens its mouth and sticks out its tongue, holds its chest and raises its tail, climbs on the wall of the vessel, and has a sense of joy and desire.
The dragon element cultural relics of the Tang Dynasty are more characteristic of the dragon-shaped handle porcelain statue and the cloud dragon pattern bronze mirror. The white-glazed double-dragon porcelain statue of the Tang Dynasty unearthed from the Gongyi kiln in the collection of Zhengzhou Museum has two symmetrical dragon-headed ear attached to the mouth and shoulder of the statue, and the dragon's head stretches out to the mouth of the statue to make a drinking water shape, which is full of fun. The cloud dragon pattern is a common auspicious theme in the ancient traditional patterns of our country, and the cloud dragon pattern bronze mirror is collected and exhibited in many museums.
The main hall of the first ancestral nunnery of Shaolin Temple is the building of the Song Dynasty, there is a flying dragon figure in the stone carving, the two dragons fly opposite each other, the former looks back at each other, the latter gallops forward, and the end echoes.
Henan Museum collects the Ming Dynasty blue and white cloud dragon pattern jade pot spring bottle, unearthed in Xingyang Jiayu Town, Chu Village, Ming Zhou Hui King Tomb, the dragon head is high, the dragon head and the dragon tail correspond, winding the body, showing the wind wanton flying, fierce and mighty.
A number of museums in Jiangsu have launched "Dragon Exhibitions".
2024 is the Year of the Dragon. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, some museums in Jiangsu launched a distinctive "Dragon Exhibition", presenting the "dragon story" in the Jiangsu Museum, the "dragon cultural relics" unearthed in Jiangsu, and the historical relationship between Jiangsu and the dragon.
赑屃 (bì xì) like a turtle with teeth, like to bear weight, infinite force, can carry three mountains and five mountains in the rivers, lakes and seas to make waves, once in Dayu to help dredge the river, set up a lot of contributions. In order to set up a stele for the emperor and sage, the ancients used a huge stone stele to stand on the body of the emperor, hoping to rely on his divine power to endure for a long time.
This is the holy decree of the Ming copper plate collected by the Nantong Museum, which was donated by Ms. Zhang Rouwu, the granddaughter of Mr. Zhang Jian, in 1958. The overall shape is the stele, the base is grinning, the tiger's eyes are round, the antlers are shrugged forward, the head is struggling to move forward, the four legs are half bent, the four claws are open, desperately supporting the ground, the turtle carries the stele on its back, and the tail fin is helplessly upturned due to heavy pressure. The back of the stele is plain without words, the stele forehead is cast in the middle of the yang side of the "holy decree", and the stele body casts the holy decree. The holy decree of the copper plate is promulgated and cast by the emperor Zhu Di in order to magnify Confucianism during the Yongle period of Ming Chengzu, the shape is thick, simple and majestic, the casting is exquisite, and the inscription is vigorous and beautiful.
A beautiful model of a dragon boat was also on display. This wood-carved dragon boat is carved in the shape of a dragon, with a dragon's head at the bow and a dragon's tail at the stern, and the hull is covered with dragon scales. The dragon's head eyes are prominent, blazing. The mouth was open, and the dragon's roar seemed to echo in his ears. The double horns extend and tower, majestic. The dragon's tail resembles a flame and is divided into five wisps, which are smooth and natural, full of life. The dragon's head and tail are raised high, and the scales of the dragon's body are slightly open, as if they are chopping waves in the water, swimming forward.
Yangzhou Museum, together with Yangzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Baoying Museum and Gaoyou Museum, jointly held the "Longhui Ancient and Modern - Yangzhou Museum Year of the Dragon Zodiac Art Exhibition", showing the various postures and elegance of the dragon images of the past dynasties through nearly 100 pieces of dragon element decorative utensils.
Sui green glazed chicken head dragon handle pot Source: Yangzhou Museum.
This is a blue glazed chicken head dragon handle pot of the Sui Dynasty, which is in the collection of Yangzhou Museum. The chicken head pot is named because the spout is in the shape of a chicken head. The chicken head pot of the two Jin Dynasty periods, the body of the pot is flat and round, and the body is thick and short. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the body of the chicken head pot began to become slender, and in the Sui Dynasty, the handle evolved into a dragon head shape, and the dragon's mouth either held the edge of the pot spout or extended into the spout.
The head of the chicken, which leads the neck to overlook, and the dragon handle that bows down to the mouth, one high and one low, echoes each other from afar, which is not only vivid and interesting, but also increases the flexibility of the shape curve. The "chicken" of the chicken head pot is homophonic with "auspicious", and is connected with the "dragon", implying auspiciousness.
Changzhou Museum has the collection of the Northern and Southern Dynasties period of the "dragon pattern portrait brick", unearthed in March 1976 in the southern suburbs of Changzhou Chashan Qijia Village Southern Dynasty tomb, by 7 single bricks mosaic, using the side of the way of molding, forming a three-dimensional pattern of bas-relief, the shape is vivid, the momentum is extraordinary.
The body of the dragon is slender and vigorous, with a pair of long horns like a deer on its head, the tips of the horns are rolled inward, the mouth is opened, the tongue is protruded, the teeth are bared, the body is born with wings, and the limbs are straddling and walking, showing the momentum of flying in the air, giving people a feeling of vitality.
The glazed pottery Qinglong of the sixth year of the Northern Song Dynasty Yuanyou is in the collection of Zhenjiang Museum, and was unearthed in February 1978 in the tomb of the sixth year of the Northern Song Dynasty Yuanyou of the Zhongmei Brigade of Liyang Zhugong Commune. The green dragon is the god of the East. This dragon has an angry mouth, thick and powerful limbs, five claws, a tail upward, fins on the feet and behind the ears, and a dragon body engraved with armor. The first green glazed glaze and the yellow glaze of the ridge fin may be a product of Yixing kiln.
The blue and white seawater white dragon plate of the Ming Dynasty in the collection of the Suzhou Museum. Blue and white porcelain is underglaze colored porcelain, its blue pattern is painted on the porcelain body with cobalt material, and then on a transparent shaft, the next firing at a high temperature of 1270 degrees. Blue and white porcelain began to be fired in the Tang Dynasty and became the mainstream of Chinese porcelain during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
This blue and white porcelain plate has a dark five-toed white dragon in the center, and two small dragons on the outer wall in a chasing and playing posture. The dragon is the largest sacred object in China, and the ancients believed it to be the highest auspicious rear. Therefore, the dragon pattern is only used in the court and sacrifices, and cannot be abused by the people. This porcelain plate is one of the typical official kiln masterpieces of the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty.
The jade pendant of the dragon and phoenix pattern of the Warring States period is now in the Wuxi Museum. The jade pendant is in the shape of "S", and the two sides are open-carved conjoined dragons and phoenixes. One end is made to look back at the dragon shape, the dragon body is curved, and the back is pierced with a hole. The other end is the phoenix pattern, the beak is connected to the chest, the phoenix crown is upturned, the neck feathers are plump, and the wings are fluttering and want to fly. This kind of openwork dragon and phoenix pattern jade mainly adopts the technique of Yin carving and openwork, its ornamentation is basically curved, the knife method is condensed, the lines are smooth, calm and natural.
The dragon pattern and the phoenix pattern have appeared in ancient times, and in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the dragon and phoenix patterns have been used for jade decoration, and the tomb of the Yinxu woman has been found. Since the Warring States Period, the dragon and phoenix pattern has changed from the rigid image before the Spring and Autumn Period to a lively image with a curved body looking back and a smooth curve. This dragon and phoenix jade pendant in the collection of Wuxi Museum presents the style of the Warring States Period. (Xu Rong, Li Yanchen, Zhu Guiyan, Shen Xuewei).
(Grand Canal News**: 18611735190).
Produced by Cao Yu.
Edited by Yan Chen, Xu Rong.
First trial: Gui Yan Zhang Li.
Second instance Xiao Dong.
Third trial Hui Jun.
Internship Shen Xuewei.