China News Service, Beijing, February 11 (Reporter Sun Zifa) 2024 is the traditional Year of the Dragon for the Chinese nation, and issues related to dragon culture have attracted much attention. According to Han Jianye, an archaeologist and professor at Renmin University of China, the essence of Chinese dragon culture is "respect for heaven and ancestors", that is, awe of heaven, heaven, nature, and natural laws, and the inheritance and imitation of the ancestors' foundations and traditions, which are also excellent Chinese traditions. core component of culture.
Han Jianye said in an interview with the media on the occasion of the New Year of the Year of the Dragon that the image and concept of the dragon have continued from seven to eight thousand years ago to the present day, embodying many outstanding characteristics of Chinese civilization: the dragon totem has been continuously passed down from prehistoric and historical periods to the present. , embodying the outstanding continuity of Chinese civilization; dragon worship is often associated with astronomy, observation and timing, embodying the outstanding innovation of Chinese civilization; dragon images and concepts are spread across the land of China, and are similar throughout the country, embodying the outstanding unity of Chinese civilization and inclusive; the Chinese dragon is closely related to sacred things such as the saints of heaven and earth, and is very different from the fire-breathing dragon, reflecting the outstanding peace of Chinese civilization.
He interpreted from an archaeological perspective that the earliest dragon images in China are the large-mouthed fanged dragon on the white pottery of the Gaomiao in Hongjiang, Hunan, more than 7,000 years ago, the dragon with large mouth and fangs on the stone plaque in Tachixigou, Fuxin, Liaoning, and the nearly 20-meter-long stone dragon in Chahai, Fuxin. A dragon built from blocks. Among the dragon images that date back more than 6,000 years, the clam-shaped dragon that resembles an alligator on the west slope of Puyang, Henan is the most eye-catching. Various fish patterns are popular in the Banpo type of the Yangshao Culture, which may symbolize dragons in the minds of the ancients. There are also dragon images on the pottery statues of the Zhaobaogou Culture. More than 5,000 years ago, jade dragons were unearthed from the Hongshan Culture and Lingjiatan Culture. The salamander patterns on pottery vases in Wushan, Gangu and other places in Gansu may also be an image of a dragon. The so-called divine and animal facial patterns popular on jade congs from the Liangzhu Culture are actually divine dragon patterns in which gods (deified ancestors) ascended to heaven on dragons.
Around the Xia Dynasty, more than 4,000 years ago, images of dragons can be seen in sites such as Taosi in Shanxi, Shimao in Shaanxi, Shijiahe in Hubei, and Xinzhai in Henan. In the late Xia Dynasty, 3800 years ago, until after the Shang and Zhou dynasties, more dragon images were discovered in archaeological discoveries. Many of the so-called Taotie patterns on bronzes during the Shang and Zhou dynasties were changed dragon images.
Han Jianye pointed out that the archaeological discoveries of dragon images at the Gaomiao site and the Tachixigou site indicate that as early as seven or eight thousand years ago, images of heaven and dragons may have appeared widely in a vast area ranging from Hunan in the south to western Liaoning in the north. The reverent belief is an important physical evidence of the existence of the "monistic" cosmology in early China.
He emphasized that the dragon is a sacred object that can communicate with heaven and earth in the beliefs of ancient Chinese ancestors. Although it is often presented in the fusion of certain animal forms, it cannot be simply understood as one animal. There are many legends related to dragons in China. Confucius once compared Laozi, whom he admired, to a dragon. Precisely because the Chinese consider themselves to be the sons and grandsons of the dragon, they are the "descendants of the dragon."
"Today we should strengthen the protection of material and intangible cultural heritage related to dragon culture, deeply explore and interpret the connotation of dragon culture, clarify its development and evolution, inherit the outstanding characteristics of Chinese civilization contained in dragon culture, and the 'respect for heaven' method Cultural genes such as ancestors have allowed the Chinese nation to soar across the world like a dragon." Han Jianye said. (over)