Representative Artifacts of Liangzhu Culture

Among the jade artifacts of Liangzhu culture, jade cong is the most prominent. The jade cong is in the shape of a four-sided column with a round hole in the center and a decorative pattern around the outer circumference. It is recorded in the Rites of Zhou that the Jade Cong is a sacrificial vessel for the earth. In ancient China, there was a saying that "the sky is round and the earth is square". Therefore, the Jade Cong was listed as one of the "six vessels" of the traditional Chinese jade ritual.

Liangzhu culture, the latest but the largest number of jade cong, the largest, diverse forms, almost every piece has a pattern, the production is extremely exquisite, known for the Neolithic era jade cong in the form of the most complete, the most exquisite craftsmanship works. In addition, the combination of jade string ornaments is also very rich, with novel and chic shapes. Generally strung by the jade tube, jade Juan for the pendant, decorated with the emblem of God pattern, obviously is a high-grade ornaments, the owner should be the clan chief or nobility, there is a peculiar jade crown-shaped ware, shaped like the feathered crown on the head of the godman pattern, the lower end of the tenon and perforation, some decorated with the godman pattern, should also belong to the totem or religious significance of ceremonial vessels. Neolithic Liangzhu culture, 31cm in height, 7.5 x 7.5cm on the large end and 6.5 x 6.4cm on the small end.

The jade cong is originally greenish green, with mottled jade and later percolated to dark brown and dark red. It is decorated with 12 sections of simplified human face motifs, each centered on a prong, and engraved with simplified god and human motifs, with simplified crowns and mouths, and most of the eye motifs have been blurred. The two ends of the jade badge are drilled in pairs, in the shape of a distinct flared mouth, with the tube drilled through the holes. A symbol is carved in the center portion of the large end projectile.

The jade cong is a typical jade artifact of the Liangzhu culture, and it is said in later times that "Cang Bi rites the sky, and Huang Cong rites the earth", believing that the jade cong symbolizes the circle of the sky and the earth, and it is a very important ritual artifact for sacrifices.

The Liangzhu culture jade artifacts engraved with symbols are mainly jade biks and jade cong, but the number is not large. Some people think that these symbols may be related to the primitive writing, and some people think that there is some connection with the primitive religion. Collection of the Palace Museum. Height 8.8 centimeters Outer diameter 17.6 centimeters Unearthed in 1986 from Tomb No. 12 at the Anti-san site in Yuhang, Zhejiang Province, now in the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Zhejiang Province. The largest jade cong in the Liangzhu culture, known as the "king of the cong". The decoration is a composite image of human face and animal face, which is a typical pattern on Liangzhu culture jade, reflecting the highly developed religious belief system of Liangzhu people.