[Splendid Chinese Year].
The legend of the "dragon" in the cultural relics.
Qing Erlong play bead ice crackle porcelain bottle Zhangjiachuan County Museum collection.
Tie Xiaofang. The dragon is the oldest totem worship of the Chinese nation and one of the mythical beasts existing in China's traditional culture. The "dragon" is a sacred and auspicious symbol in Chinese culture, and in the minds of the common people, it is an auspicious sacred object. As early as in the distant antiquity, there is an elaboration of the dragon, "I Ching" has a record about "flying dragon in the sky, dragon leaping in the abyss", "Huainanzi Tai Nationality Training" said: "Fu Jiaolong sleeps in the abyss, and the egg is cut in the tomb." "Dragons are revered and loved, and have a close relationship with the historical process of Chinese civilization.
One of the five emperors, the Yan Emperor Shennong's family, surnamed Jiang", his origin, with an extraordinary mystery, his mother "You Huayang, with the head of the dragon, touched the Yan Emperor" ("Beginner's Record" volume 9 quoted "Imperial Century"). And Yandi Shennong's long "Hongsheng and bull upside, dragon face and big lips", as the dragon son of the Yandi Shennong, and the Yellow Emperor two primitive tribes to compete for survival and activity space, in the Yellow River Basin in Shaanxi for many years of endless war, the tribe people suffer deeply, Yandi Shennong and the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan as later generations of historical records, its light has been shining in the precious classics and pages between the great heroes, in the long-term killing and conquest, and strive to develop and grow at the same time, grateful for the tribe in the barbaric and difficult years has been short of food and clothing, It was not easy to suffer from the threat of wild beast attacks and the shadow of war death, and finally turned the war into a jade silk, and later formed a Yanhuang tribal alliance, and the history books did not record in detail the specific circumstances of their meeting, nor the content of the conversation. However, this historic meeting is destined to be recorded in the history books of later generations of humanities scholars, and the Yan Emperor Shennong and the Yellow Emperor would never have thought that their historic meeting was reconciled, and since then the two have been respected as the common ancestors of the Chinese nation, the Chinese nation has since been called the descendants of Yan and Huang by other nations in the world, and the descendants of later generations are also proud to regard themselves as the descendants of the dragon and the descendants of the dragon.
Warring States Bronze cocoon-shaped pot Zhangjiachuan County Museum Collection (this version** are all data maps) In the 80s of the 20th century, archaeologists found a tomb at the Yangshao cultural site in the west slope of Puyang, Henan. This image is relatively simple, and there is a huge difference between the dragon we see today, is the earliest dragon excavated in China's archaeological circles so far, also known as "the first dragon in China", this discovery proves that as early as 6000 years ago in the ancient Neolithic Age, the dragon as a noble and brave beast, has long been respected by people. In the 50s of the 20th century, the ruins of the capital of China's first slavery Xia Dynasty were found more than 3,000 years ago in Yanshi Erlitou Village, Henan Province. Since the emergence of the Shang and Zhou class societies, ancient cultural relics related to dragons have been unearthed repeatedly, and the images have gradually become more complex, and the list is endless.
The dragon is powerful, fierce, strong, witty and spiritual. In the vast sea of ancient myths and legends and the various classics that have been circulated in later generations, the dragon is divided into a number of species according to their respective characteristics and living habits, the Three Kingdoms Wei people Zhang Yi said in the book "Guangya", the scaly one is the dragon, the winged one is the dragon, the horned one is the dragon, the hornless one is the dragon, the one who is not ** is the dragon, the one who is good water is the clear dragon, the one who is good at fire is the fire dragon, the one who is good at roaring is the dragon, and the one who is aggressive is the dragon dragon. It can be said that the dragon is a brave, combative, righteous and enterprising existence in many living environments, and is an extremely adaptable animal.
The appearance of the dragon is also widely discussed. At present, there is a common view in the academic circles that the dragon is a multi-part combination of multi-ethnic totem worship in ancient times, and is the product of the cultural integration of the Chinese nation. In ancient times, the Chinese people living in the Yellow River Basin, their totem worship object is the snake, in the process of the gradual conquest and integration of other ethnic minorities by the Chinese people, the dragon from the initial simple single snake body was gradually added to the head, antlers, eagle claws, fish scales, phoenix crown ......It includes the characteristics of several major animals in the three major fields of heaven, earth and water, and has the most distinctive characteristics of ordinary animals in nature. Such a complex and diverse variety of characteristics are concentrated in the body of the dragon, which constitutes a dragon that is extremely unique to humans but slightly familiar to humans, and therefore, the dragon is the primate of all beasts, mysterious, unique, majestic and powerful. From the interpretation of the image composition of the Chinese dragon, we can see that its antlers represent social and longevity, the horse's head symbolizes diligence and wisdom, the ox's ears symbolize the leader, the eagle's claws indicate the praise of bravery, and the fish-scale snake body is graceful and fluttering, which symbolizes endless life and prosperity.
Xia turquoise dragon-shaped ware collection of the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (courtesy of Gansu Provincial Museum).
As a symbol of nobility and majesty, the dragon pattern once prevailed in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and was extremely prosperous in the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and was also a unique decoration of ancient bronzes in China. In 2006, as one of the "Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries in China", the excavation of the Warring States Ruins in Majiayuan in Zhangjiachuan County caused a sensation in the archaeological community. Its ** soil in the site of the No. 3 tomb, with the inscription of the bronze cocoon-shaped pot is a national treasure level cultural relics, the only one in the country.
Bronze cocoon-shaped jug with a caliber of 93 cm, maximum abdominal diameter 284 cm, maximum bottom diameter 154 cm, 256 cm, open, corseted, rope-shaped hoop-footed, abdomen transversely oblong-elliptical. The neck is decorated in a ring with 29 delicate shellfish patterns, and the neck and shoulders are decorated with paved heads. The whole body is decorated with tile ribs, every other tile ridge, the interior is crested, and the shape is thick and simple. The cockroach is a kind of hornless dragon in the legend, with an open mouth, a curly tail, and Xu Shen of the Han Dynasty also said: "The cockroach, if the dragon is yellow, the north is the land mole, or the cloud has no horns." "It can be thought that the cocktail is a hornless dragon. Unique to Chinese bronze ornamentation, the Pan Claw pattern was prevalent in the Warring States Period, and its design was usually in the form of a continuous combination, with a head and a tail, forming a coiled and winding effect. This pattern is characterized by intricate and gorgeous, reflecting the exquisite skills of ancient craftsmen and the unremitting pursuit of auspicious meanings, and the bronze cocoon-shaped pot is designated as a national first-class cultural relic, which is now stored in the Zhangjiachuan County Museum in Gansu Province.
Ming jade dragon hook belt Zhangjiachuan County Museum collection.
There is also a jade hook belt unearthed in the Ming Dynasty in the Zhangjiachuan County Museum, which is carved from warm and cool jade, and the hook body is S-shaped and 12 long5 cm, the hook head is the head of the dragon, slightly raised, the forehead is slightly raised, the mouth is wide open, contains a dragon ball, the expression is mysterious and majestic, the dragon neck is narrower, the hook back is carved with a small dragon, it is called the cocktail (there is a dragon nine sons of the dragon in one of the sayings), it is a tendency to take off in the air, and the big dragon prime minister looks at each other, vivid and lively, full of energy, also known as the double dragon hook, and the black dragon on a white background, set off each other, the carving technology is delicate and full, the lines are smooth and flowing water, more luxurious and exquisite, auspicious and wishful. The collection of two dragons playing with pearls ice crack porcelain vase is also worth mentioning with dragon treasures, the Department of Qing Dynasty cultural relics, the bottle height is 59 cm, the diameter is 20 cm, porcelain, petal-shaped flare, the neck is thinner, the round belly is straighter, the circle foot, the shoulder relief two dragons play with beads, the neck and shoulders are convex strings, and the lower part of the abdomen is the ring belt of the beast's head carved by the open fetus. There are two dragons playing with each other at the bottleneck, around a large dragon ball, both dragons are holding their heads open, their eyes are open, their bodies are coiled and twisted, their legs are in the air, they pounce on each other, and they seem to snatch the beads back into their mouths at any time, the scene is vivid and interesting.
In people's minds, the dragon is an auspicious fetish. From the ancient totem, the zodiac, folk worship, power symbols, cultural imprints, etc., there are many dragon-related expressions, China's ancient skilled craftsmen, the dragon elements into the design and production of various handicrafts, interesting, colorful. For thousands of years, the rich and vast dragon image has gradually penetrated into all aspects of people's social life, becoming a kind of cultural cohesion and accumulation of the Chinese nation, and its image has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and has also become the most common cultural symbol in people's daily life.