The dragon is the totem and unique spiritual symbol of the Chinese nation, which has an extremely important symbolic meaning in traditional Chinese culture, and there are many elements related to the dragon in the transportation relics. The dragon travels the world and the sea, and the blessing is to all families in the world. Let's walk into the dragon culture and have a spiritual exchange through time and space with the treasure of transportation.
Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty dragon boat
Ninety-five, the flying dragon is in the sky, and it is beneficial to see the adult" ("I Ching"). Traditional Chinese culture regards the dragon as the honor of power and status, therefore, the emperor is also known as the "Ninety-Five Honor" and "True Dragon Son of Heaven", symbolizing the supreme imperial power, and the palaces, costumes, and utensils of the emperor and the royal family also have the tradition of using the dragon as decoration.
In the first year of the Great Cause of the Sui Dynasty (605), Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty dug the Grand Canal connecting the north and south in order to transport the river and the south of the Yangtze River. The Sui-Tang Grand Canal stretches from Zhuojun in the north to Yuhang in the south, winding more than 2,700 kilometers from north to south, connecting the five major water systems of the Qiantang River, the Yangtze River, the Huai River, the Yellow River and the Haihe River, forming a water transport pattern connecting the north and south and communicating the east and west.
Model of the dragon boat of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty. Collection of the Grand Canal Museum, China.
The Grand Canal of the Sui and Tang Dynasties provided convenience for Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty to travel south, and when he traveled along the canal, he drove tens of thousands of dragon boats and boats, and 3,000 palace maids followed, and he was extremely poor and extravagant, which can be followed in Tang poems - "Emperor Yang's dragon boat traveled to this line, and three thousand palace maids picked light" (Xu Ning's "Bianhe Langu"). The spring breeze is the whole country to cut the palace brocade, half of the mud barrier and half of the sail" (Li Shangyin, "Sui Palace").
From the dragon boat model on display at the China Grand Canal Museum in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, it can be seen that the imperial boat of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty is divided into four floors. The top floor was dedicated to the emperor, with both office rooms and resting bedrooms, and the middle two floors had 160 rooms, and the lower floor was the residence of the chamberlains and shipwrights. For detailed records, please refer to the record in the "Miscellaneous Records of the Great Cause": "Its dragon boat is forty-five feet high, forty-five feet wide, and two hundred feet long. Four-fold, the first heavy, there is the main hall, the inner hall, the east and west courts; In the middle of the two, there are one hundred and sixty rooms, all decorated with Dan powder, decorated with gold and vermilion, carved and beautiful, decorated with Liufang, Yubao, Zhusi, and network. ”
Today, the mural "Thousand Autumns of Universiade" under the Gudu archway in Dongguan City, Yangzhou City, and the mural "Emperor Yang of Sui Parade in the South of the Yangtze River" in the Mausoleum Ruins Park of Emperor Yang of Sui all depict the picture of Emperor Yang of Sui taking a dragon boat to Yangzhou. The huge dragon head was raised high, looking ahead, the dragon's mouth was wide open, and on the dragon boat stood Emperor Yang of Sui and the ministers, and the maids ......The late Tang Dynasty poet Pi Rixiu commented that if there was no such extravagant amusement, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty's exploits could be compared with Dayu - "If there is no water palace dragon boat thing, there will be no more ** in Gongyu" ("Two Ancient Songs of the Bianhe River").
Bronze sitting dragon
In 1153, the Jin Dynasty moved the capital from Shangjing to Yanjing (now Beijing) and named it "Zhongdu", and the history of Beijing's capital construction began with this, which has been 871 years so far. A bronze dragon on display in the Grand Canal Museum (East Hall of the Capital Museum) is a treasure that witnesses the history of Beijing's capital.
For thousands of years, dragons have come in a variety of shapes, but seated dragons are rare. In the Jin Dynasty, the bronze dragon was a royal ornament on the royal car to highlight the royal majesty. According to the "Jin Shi Yufu", in December of the sixth year of Jin Shizong's reign (1166), it was stipulated that the Jin chariot "sat on the dragon and changed it to a phoenix" and "the great chariot......Sahasrara Shi Yao Ye, there are anemone lotus, sitting dragon". It can be seen that at that time, the armrests of the golden chariot and the roof chakra of the chariot would be decorated with sitting dragons.
Bronze sitting dragon (gold). According to this newspaper.
The bronze sitting dragon on display at the Grand Canal Museum in Beijing, unearthed in the palace of the ruins of Jinzhongdu, integrates the image and characteristics of dragons, tigers, lions, lins and other animals, the dragon holds its head closed, its front legs stand upright, its bow body sits, its twin strands and tails are upturned, and the overall eyebrows are peaceful and calm, but it lacks some of the mighty state of the bronze dragon in the early Jin Dynasty.
The change in the shape of the bronze dragon in the Jin Dynasty has witnessed the integrated development of Chinese culture with multiple ethnicities, regions and civilizations. The bronze sitting dragon in the collection of the Heilongjiang Provincial Museum was unearthed in Acheng City, Heilongjiang Province in 1956, and is the earliest dragon cultural relics of the Jin Dynasty found in China so far. Acheng Shangjing Huining Mansion is the capital of the early Jin period, this bronze sitting dragon with its head open, shoulders slightly arched forward, front left leg up, claws stepping on Ruiyun, dragon tail upturned, dragon nose shape is also very special, nostrils are facing upward, full of momentum.
The two bronze sitting dragons of different periods, regions and shapes before and after show the integration of Jinyuan culture and Central Plains culture. After the Jin Dynasty, under the influence of ethnic integration and the inheritance of Chinese civilization, the eaves of the Qing Dynasty court buildings and the Huabiao also appeared in the shape of a sitting dragon.
Golden dragon ring
The Chinese worship and love for dragons is not only for the royal family, but also widely exists among the people. Dragons are believed to bring good luck, so they like to name and decorate them.
More than 800 years ago, a merchant ship sailed overseas with thousands of treasures, but it sank unexpectedly. In 2007, the "Nanhai I" from the deep sea caused a sensation in the world as soon as it came out of the water. At present, there are more than 180,000 pieces (sets) of cultural relics out of the water, which is the oldest and most well-preserved ocean-going cargo ship with the most cultural relics stored in China's archaeological discoveries so far, and almost condenses all aspects of life and foreign affairs in the Southern Song Dynasty.
Golden dragon ringCollection of Guangdong Maritime Silk Road Museum.
During the Song and Song dynasties, China's gold and silverware production industry became more and more mature, and gold and silverware gradually became the darling of foreign trade. The golden dragon pattern ring of "Nanhai I" is now the treasure of the Guangdong Maritime Silk Road Museum.
The double dragon ornament carries auspicious wishes, highlighting nobility and wealth. The overall shape of the golden dragon ring is smooth, the surface is a shallow Yin carved ornament, starting from the dragon's head, it can be divided into 5 groups of ornamentation, namely 2 groups of dragon heads, 2 groups of triangular pattern ribbons, ** branches and leaves pattern ribbons. The dragon head and dragon scales are simple and expressive. The rugged and atmospheric design style of this gold dragon pattern ring is obviously different from China's traditional elegant and delicate aesthetics, and experts speculate that it may be exported to Southeast Asia or Central and Western Asia.
Since the Han Dynasty, Guangdong has been an important hub at home and abroad, and after the "Nanhai I" surfaced, we got closer to this seaway. Many of the porcelain on the "Nanhai I" are also different from the traditional domestic ware, which is a manifestation of absorbing foreign culture and adapting to the aesthetics of the export market, which shows that China's overseas industry has been very mature at that time.
Qinglongqiao Station
In 2013, the seventh batch of a total of 1,943 national key cultural relics protection units was approved and announced, and Qinglong Bridge Station was listed. Qinglongqiao Station of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway is located at the foot of the Badaling Great Wall in Yanqing District, Beijing, where the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway has achieved the famous "herringbone" turn.
Qinglongqiao Station is one of the most well-preserved century-old railway stations in China, and it is also the only station on the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway that has maintained its original appearance so far. Therefore, some people say that Qinglongqiao Station is like a living fossil of China's railway industry, with a unique charm, and you can smell a different atmosphere when you walk here, and it is a "living museum".
Qinglongqiao StationAccording to this newspaper.
Qinglongqiao Station is named after Qinglongqiao Village, according to the records of "Gazetteer of Yanqing County, Beijing", the villagers used the bluestone as a bridge for passage, named Qinglongqiao, and renamed Qinglongqiao Village after the name of the bridge. The main street of Qinglongqiao Village is a part of the Guangou Ancient Road, and the merchants from the south to the north pass through it, and the geographical location is relatively superior. The station is located about 1 east of Qinglongqiao Village5 kilometers away, hence the name Qinglongqiao Station. Qinglongqiao Village was originally a mountain village with insufficient arable land, but thanks to the construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, the passenger flow brought by Qinglongqiao Station has become the main economy of the villagers.
Zhan Tianyou Engineering Jinshi Seal. Collection of Zhan Tianyou Memorial Hall.
After the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway was completed and opened to traffic, Zhan Tianyou was awarded the engineering scholar by Xuantong. Zhan Tianyou Memorial Hall treasures the seal of Zhan Tianyou Engineering Jinshi, which is a national first-class cultural relic. Zhan Tianyou's engineering jinshi seal is composed of the "Xuantong Chronicle Special Gift Engineering Jinshi First" chapter and the "Zhan Tianyou seal" seal, which is carved from Shoushan stone, and the seal is a double dragon, and the head of the dragon is opposite, and the shape is vivid. The dragon is the ninth son in the "Legend of the Nine Sons of the Dragon", and the jade wearing the dragon pattern means good and symbolizes the vigorous development of the career.
Warring States characters dragon silk painting
The ancients elevated the love of dragons to the spiritual yearning of feathering and ascending immortals and flying dragons, which can be seen in the creation of art and the creation of cultural relics unearthed from tombs.
The treasure of the Hunan Provincial Museum, the dragon silk painting of the Warring States figures, was unearthed in 1973 in the No. 1 tomb of the bullet depot in Changsha City, Hunan Province. In 1979, the special stamp of "Chinese Painting: Silk Painting of Chu Tomb in Changsha" (T33), a set of 2 pieces, respectively the figure of the dragon silk painting and the figure of the dragon and phoenix silk painting, which shows its high artistic value.
Character dragon silk painting. Collection of Hunan Provincial Museum.
In the middle of the dragon silk painting, a man wearing a high crown, a robe, and a long sword at his waist is the owner of the tomb, and he stands sideways on the dragon's body, with a canopy on his head; The dragon holds its head high and curls its tail, bows into a boat, and the crane (phoenix) stands at the tail of the boat, and there is a carp accompanying it next to the boat. The streamers on the characters' clothes and the hanging tassels of the canopy all indicate the direction of the wind, which is completely a picture of riding a dragon boat and riding the wind and waves.
In the context of China's mythology, the dragon is the mount of the immortals, such as the "Historical Records" wrote: "The sky is like a dragon, and the earth is like a horse", the Yellow Emperor "rides the dragon and the clouds" in the "Great Dai Li Ji", and there are also "Southern Zhurong, the beast face and the human body, riding two dragons" and other writings. On this silk painting, the owner of the tomb holds the reins in his hand, and also deliberately draws the car cover, which is very clear with the meaning of the dragon as a boat (car).
In fact, works on the theme of ancient dragons are not unusual. If the Yellow Emperor said that he rode the dragon ** after casting the tripod, he also left the idiom "the dragon went to Dinghu" to describe the death of the emperor. Li Bai also wrote in "Flying Dragon Introduction": "The Yellow Emperor cast the tripod in Jingshan and refined dansha. Dansha became **, riding a dragon and flying to Taiqing's house, Yun Chou Haisi is amazing".
Eastern Han Dynasty dragon thunder car portrait brick. Collection of Sichuan Museum.
In the cultural relics unearthed from the tombs, there are often scenes of people riding dragons. Sichuan Museum collection of the Eastern Han Dynasty dragon thunder car portrait brick, brick relief 3 dragons drive a car to run in the air, the car rides 2 people, hand in hand driving rope, the wheel is a vortex cloud thunder pattern. The dragon-shaped jade pendant in the collection of Jingzhou Museum was unearthed in the Xiongjia Mound cemetery from the late Spring and Autumn Period to the early Warring States period, and a person stood in the middle of the dragon body, which is a reflection of the thinking of the Chu ancestors to travel the dragon. The Nanjing Museum's collection of "Feather People Playing Dragon" brick murals comes from the tomb of the Southern Dynasty in Wujia Village, Baoshan, Huqiao, Danyang City, Jiangsu Province, which is considered by archaeologists to be a picture of ascending to immortality by riding a dragon. These cultural relics embody the mysterious imagination of the ancients about the unknown world, and also provide an important reference for future generations to study the art of traditional Chinese painting and sculpture.
People ride dragon-shaped jade pendants. Collection of Jingzhou Museum.
The traffic museum accompanies you in the Year of the Dragon
"Longlu Lu" subway train
Photo courtesy of reporter Yang Lifang and correspondent Su Zixuan.
Wuhan Metro Line 1, the first "dragon special train" in China, will run until the Lantern Festival (February 24). 21 cultural relics related to dragons in the collection of the Hubei Provincial Museum jumped on the doors and billboards, making passengers feel happy and knowledgeable at the same time.
China Post Stamp Museum
Jiachen Year" special stamps. Photo courtesy of China Post Group***.
2024 (Jiachen) Year of the Dragon Stamp Exhibition" brings together 62 sets of 76 types of postage stamps for the Year of the Dragon from around the world. Among them, the 2024 China Post will issue a special stamp of "Jiachen Year", a set of two, the first one is called "Tianlong Xingjian" and the second is called "Chenlong Xianrui", the content of which is based on the Nine Dragon Wall of the Forbidden City and the traditional auspicious pattern "Xianglong Gongbi".
Jiaoji Railway Museum
Jiaoji Railway MuseumPhoto by Chen Yuzhou.
Longxiang Huaxia - Ancient Chinese Dragon Bricks Special Exhibition", exhibiting nearly 100 kinds of ancient dragon bricks from the Western Han Dynasty to the Northern and Southern Regions in Shandong, Zhejiang, Henan, Shanxi, Jiangxi, Hebei, Sichuan, Chongqing and other places. With precious words, expressive portraits and exquisite patterns, the ancient bricks are deeply branded with the traces of history and reflect the splendid chapter of Chinese civilization.
China Maritime Museum
China Maritime MuseumAccording to this newspaper.
From the mythical beast that travels in the clouds and rain to the symbol of imperial authority, to the auspicious omen recognized by the people, the Chinese's love for dragons has never diminished. The various silverware, enamells, and porcelain exhibited in "Chenlong Goes to Sea: Spring Festival Exhibition in the Year of the Dragon at the China Maritime Museum" all contain dragon elements, carrying the initial doubts, imagination and worship of the world, as well as the cultural beliefs of compatibility, harmony and universal generosity.
Author丨Reporter Liu Yujing.
Editor-in-charge丨Li Yuanyuan.
Audit丨Lian Meng.
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