China News Service, Beijing, February 13 (Reporter Sun Zifa) On the occasion of the New Year in the Year of the Dragon, archaeological research on dragon culture has attracted much attention. Zhu Naicheng, a researcher at the Institute of Archeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that based on the dragon form of the late Liangzhu Culture, the painted dragons in Taosi Temple further evolved and developed. Later, through the inheritance and evolution of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties to the Qin and Han Dynasties, different forms of dragons were formed in the Central Plains region. The main image of the Chinese dragon culture that develops intermittently and continuously. Therefore, Liangzhuosaurus is a major source of Chinese dragons.
Zhu Naicheng said in an interview with reporters that the series of important evidence of the Liangzhu Civilization revealed by archaeological discoveries so far is empirical data that fully demonstrates the main characteristics of the five thousand years of Chinese civilization history. Among them, Liangzhu dragon and its relationship with Chinese dragon are also one of the important contents. As one of the spiritual and cultural symbols of Liangzhu civilization, Liangzhu dragons are currently found in large numbers including jade dragons and dragon patterns engraved on pottery.
Liangzhu jade dragon carvings mainly include dragon head jade bracelets, dragon head jade beads, dragon head jade huangs, dragon head jade plaques, etc. The dragon-headed jade bracelet unearthed from Tomb No. M1 of Yaoshan, Yuhang has four protruding arc surfaces equidistantly distributed on the arc surface, on which are carved dragon heads with the same direction and shape respectively; Yuhang Guanjingtou The dragon-headed jade bead unearthed from Tomb No. M47 is very small in shape, with a dragon head carved on one side of the jade bead. The dragon-headed jade huang unearthed from Tomb No. M11 in Yaoshan has equidistantly distributed, There are four protruding dragon heads with the same direction. The shape of the dragon head is basically the same as that of the dragon head jade bracelet from Tomb M1 in Yaoshan. The jade medallion with dragon head unearthed from Tomb M22 in Fanshan has carved figures with the same direction on one side. The shape of the two dragon heads is close to that of the dragon head jade bracelet in Tomb No. M1 of Yaoshan.
Jade dragon carvings from Taihu area. Zhu Naicheng/Photo provided
Many examples of dragon patterns on Liangzhu pottery have been discovered. Some only have part of the dragon head, some have only part of the dragon tail, and some have only part of the dragon body. Only two complete examples have been found so far: one is Tomb No. M12 in Longtan Port, Haiyan. The unearthed wide-handled pottery cup has two dragon patterns juxtaposed above and below engraved around the belly of the wide-handled pottery cup. The head has prominent features, sharp teeth, and wide eyes; the second is the Grape Farm Site in the Liangzhu Site Group in Yuhang. The unearthed pottery tablet has a dragon pattern carved on its belly. The dragon's body features are weakened, and the features of the dragon's head with sharp teeth, wide eyes and a tapered inwardly curling tail are highlighted. It is also similar to the Longtan Port M12 The head and tail features of the dragon pattern on the belly of the wide-handled pottery cup from Tomb No. 1 are basically the same, but the dragon head feature is more eye-catching. In addition, a dragon pattern carved on pottery shards found in the Liangzhu ruins group is missing the dragon head, but the body and tail of the dragon are roughly complete. The body of the dragon is coiled, and it is a pan dragon.
Zhu Naicheng pointed out that according to the stage study of Liangzhu Culture, the jade dragons belong to the early and middle Liangzhu Culture, and the pottery dragon patterns belong to the late Liangzhu Culture, indicating that the pottery dragon patterns may be a further development of the jade dragon image. According to current discoveries, the jade dragon carvings from the early Liangzhu Culture can be traced back to the late Songze Culture.
Dragon head jade tiara (left) and dragon head jade bracelet. Zhu Naicheng/Photo provided
Five jade dragon carvings from the late Songze Culture have been discovered so far. Among them, the dragon head jade bead from Tomb No. M17 of Pu'an Bridge, which was about 5,300 years ago, is the oldest. The dragon head jade bead is small and irregular in ring shape. A dragon head is carved on the side. Comparing this dragon-headed jade bead with the dragon-headed jade bead from Tomb No. 47 of Guanjingtou in the early Liangzhu Culture, it can be seen that the jade-carved dragons in the early Liangzhu Culture evolved from the jade-carved dragons in the late Songze Culture. An important feature of the dragon's head is that the eye patterns on the dragon's head evolve from single-circle eye patterns to double-circle eye patterns.
As the predecessor of Liangzhu Culture, Songze Culture is mainly distributed in the Taihu Lake Basin. The discovery of jade beads with dragon heads in Tomb No. M17 of Pu'an Bridge not only shows that the jade dragon carvings of the Liangzhu Culture were developed from the jade dragon carvings of the late Songze Culture, but also shows that the jade dragon carvings of the Taihu region were produced 5,300 years ago. Combined with the jade dragon carvings and dragon patterns on late pottery from the early and middle Liangzhu Culture, it further shows that the jade dragon carvings and their dragon shapes were produced in the Taihu area 5,300 years ago and were popular in the area until 4,300 years ago.
Zhu Naicheng said that the Liangzhu Culture entered the stage of civilized development around 5,000 years ago and had an important impact on surrounding areas. Its scope of influence reached the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the Lingnan region, and brought advanced production technology and technology to these areas. Complex ideas of consciousness.
A wide-handled pottery cup with a dragon pattern (left) and a pottery bowl with a dragon pattern. Zhu Naicheng/Photo provided
Among them, the remains of the Liangzhu culture have been found in many sites in the Central Plains, and the image of the Liangzhu dragon has also affected the hinterland of the Central Plains. For example, the dragon pattern on the inner wall of the painted pottery plate unearthed from the M3072 tomb in Taosi, Shanxi around 4300 years ago is in the shape of a coil, which is a coiled dragon. In terms of age, the dragons of the late Liangzhu Culture and the dragons of the early Taosi Culture are adjacent to each other; in terms of dragon morphological characteristics, the dragon head of the Taosi Panlong prominently displays two rows of sharp teeth, bright round eyes, and a body It is in the shape of a coil, which is similar to the characteristics of the dragon head on the belly of the Grape Garden pottery tablets of the late Liangzhu Culture and the characteristics of the coiled dragon body on the Liangzhu pottery pieces.
"This series of phenomena shows that Liangzhuosaurus is a major source of Chinese dragons." Zhu Naicheng concluded. (over)