What is the significance of the Jade Pig Dragon of the Hongshan Culture?

It has long been known that the logo of the Huaxia Bank is a jade dragon unearthed in the Red Mountain of Chifeng, but I have never had the opportunity to see

the real jade dragon. Until 99 years to Beijing, to go to the National Day book market, coincided with the Museum of Chinese History held

"Collection of special exhibitions", the exhibits have jade dragon, so I was able to have a feast for the eyes, and for such an exquisite and

and the Chipotle Neolithic jade touched, for this reason, but also moved to the jade dragon to study the idea of some!

And on the spur of the moment, I looked up a lot of information about the Jade Dragon through the Internet and libraries, but they were not organized

.

Later, I had the opportunity to go to Chifeng, and while enjoying the cityscape and savoring the specialties of Inner Mongolia and the extra-continental flavor of the country

, I did not forget to take a trip to Wengniuet Banner, the place where the Jade Dragon was excavated, and I saw a monument to the "China's First Dragon" set up by the Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Archaeology, as well as a visit to the Chifeng Museum, where I saw a lot of colorful pottery and jade jewels2, which made me think about the Jade Dragon. The color ceramics and jade jade 2, and thus further appreciate

slightly to the red mountain culture of the exquisite place, once budding ideas and again rekindled, but because of the laboratory science

research task is more, and ultimately did not come to fruition.

And then it is now, because of the selection of "Chinese art history and masterpiece appreciation", required to submit a

paper on the works of art, have been wanting to do things finally have "motivation", I guess this is

Western so-called "target I guess this is

what is known in the West as the "Targeted Learning Method". So, I revisited the information I had collected in the past and took advantage of the present

Internet to search for information about the Jade Dragon through the Internet, and at the same time, I went to the library to look for related archaeology, philology and literature about art appreciation. Finally, I revisited the Museum of Chinese History and returned with this article.

It is the origin of the name.

Part II Jade Dragon Overview

Back to business, it's time for our hero "Jade Dragon" to appear.

First of all, what is the Jade Dragon?

A lot of colored pottery and jade artifacts have been unearthed at the Hongshan Culture sites, and the Jade Dragon is one of them.

The reason why it is called "a kind of" rather than "a" is that many jade dragons have been found, some of which were acquired by the cultural relics department, some of which were discovered by archaeologists, and some of which are of unknown origin. --In the cultural relics

market, there have been modern imitations of ancient jade dragons, and it is difficult to distinguish the authenticity of the jade dragons, so that the jade dragon's price

gradation in a period of time dropped greatly; however, this is also from another aspect to reflect the ancient Hongshan people to make the jade

dragon of the skill of the high level.

Nowadays, the main jade dragons that have been reported are: the "First Dragon of China" found in Samsungdila Village, Wengniute Banner, Inner Mongolia (hidden in the Museum of Chinese History), as well as several "Dragon of China" found in Jianping County, Liaoning, Niuheliang, Lingyuan County, Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, the western part of Liaosi, and the Houwa Culture Site in Dandong, Liaoning. A number of "Jade Pig Dragons" have been found in the Museum of Chinese History, the Liaoning Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the Bahrain Right Banner Museum, and the National Palace Museum in Taiwan, among other places. These jade dragons are representative of the Hongshan culture of the late Neolithic period.

While visiting history museums and searching for information on jade dragons on the Internet, I found a question

about the description of the place where the jade dragons were excavated, with various reports varying. To "China's first dragon" as an example,

Some say it is Zhaoda League, some say it is Chifeng City, some say it is in Liaoning, and some say it is in the territory of Inner Mongolia

Inside, the vagaries of this report, to a certain extent, causing cognitive dissonance, but also not conducive to the value of this

A precious cultural relics and

A unified statement to the outside world. External "uniform tone" of the report. In fact, this situation is because of the current Inner Mongolia

Ancient Chifeng City, the jurisdiction and establishment of the evolution. 1955 December Jehol Province abolished, Chifeng County,

Ningcheng County, Aohan Banner, Karachiqin Banner, Wengniuet Banner to the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and the north of the five flags

County merged with the Zhaowudah League. 1969, the Zhaowudah League was transferred to Liaoning Province. 1979, and back to the Inner Mongolia

The precious relics of the preservation of the value and foreign "uniform reporting". In 1979, it was returned to the Inner Mongolia

Gu Autonomous Region, and on October 10, 1983, it was abolished and established as a city, and now operates under a city-county system.

The Yulong has many different identities, and thus many different perspectives for us to appreciate.

First of all, it is a sculpture, so we can appreciate it from the aesthetic point of view of sculpture; secondly, it is

a piece of jade, so the evaluation and appreciation standard of jade science can be applied to it; at the same time, it is also a

"dragon", so we can't avoid its cultural connotations of being a dragon.

Because it is an important cultural relic, it naturally has a strong historical origin and cultural background; and

because of its long history, it is also of considerable value to conduct horizontal and vertical comparative studies.

This article will follow the order from the outside to the inside, from form to spirit to appreciate it.

Part III: The beauty of modeling - the chord of simplicity and refinement

The first jade dragon I saw was the "First Dragon of China," also known as the "C"-shaped dragon, which is on display at the Museum of History

The "C"-shaped dragon is the first jade dragon I saw. The first jade dragon I saw was the "First Dragon of China", also known as the "C" jade dragon, displayed in the Museum of History. At first sight, I was y touched by this jade object of such a large size. It may be

because I have seen a lot, the first feeling was "big", although I have seen a lot of literature

describing jade, but the real emotional understanding of jade is still confined to the home of the jade bracelet and pendant, those

are small things, and this "Jade dragon", actually in a rather large box still seems a little crowded

crowded, can be seen its "big".

Of course, "big" is only the first impression, if the feeling of it is only "big", then, this article

Chapter is not necessary to write. I remember a professor of the Department of History once said: "Big brings openness",

This "leaping" Jade Dragon also brings the beauty of openness, it is so able to shock your mind,

Let you bow to the ancient ancestors of the creative power, and let you in the heart of the ancient ancestors. It's so powerful that it can shock your mind,

leaving you in awe of the creativity of our ancient ancestors, and allowing you to savor it later on,

and have a ****tone.

Let's take a closer look at this masterpiece of mankind: it is dark green, booth light in the body

flow, from different angles to see the beauty of the crystal clear; the dragon body curled "C" shape, the muzzle of the front

stretch, slightly upward, seems to be in the issuance of a murmur; look, its mouth is closed, the eyes slightly convex, the mouth of the dragon, the eyes of the dragon, and the eyes of the dragon, the eyes are slightly convex, the eyes of the dragon, the eyes of the dragon are slightly convex, the eyes of the dragon are slightly convex, the eyes of the dragon are slightly convex. Look, its mouth is closed, eyes slightly convex, eyes upward,

neck and back of the ridge on the long bristles high, a dragon with its head swimming in front of the eyes of the living; more perfect

is that its tail convergence, the body is curled, appearing to be more robust and powerful back, and to avoid the body of the flat

stretching the trouble of the material, but also to make the whole piece of artwork is a natural integration and a full of dynamism. There is

a round hole on the back of the dragon, and it is reported that if the dragon is hung up, the head and the tail of the dragon will be on the same water

level, which amazes us even more with the skills of the ancients, in the absence of any knowledge of mechanics and balance,

but only rely on experience and continuous trial and error, our ancestors could actually be able to make such a production without any difference

Millimetres!

Millimeters!

The whole dragon just gives you such a sense of unity and movement, and this is mainly due to the smoothness of the lines

. If you really want to look deeper into its beauty, it can be summarized as follows: the beauty of the ancient simplicity and simplicity

refined beauty.

An ancient jade will naturally have a sense of simplicity. Jade in the air for a long time, will produce a

thin layer of oxidized film, this layer of film floating in the jade body, giving a feeling of misty, and the dragon body

layers of "floating clouds", but also more people can produce a variety of associations. Jade dragon body turquoise, but in the green

some places because of the age and the jade quality of the reason slightly brownish-yellow, so that there is a sense of gurgling flow, but also to

people to the vicissitudes of history shock. The simplicity is also reflected in the production, undeniably, the jade dragon is the product of the new era of the era

, in that era of grinding stoneware dominance, jade is also polished, neither

modern high technology, nor advanced tools, so in the workmanship is still relatively simple. However,

it is this kind of simplicity that brings people the enjoyment of gravity. Imagine that a piece of 26-centimeter-long, 21-centimeter-wide

simple craftwork is placed in front of you, won't you be moved by the creativity of the ancient times and applaud this

primitive, simple sculpture?

Primitive man's power of expression is limited, to the Neolithic era, abstract works of art have already appeared,

But at this time the "abstract" is still in the childhood stage, to a large extent it is a kind of "image"

shortened. It is also this kind of image but not cumbersome, abstract but not artifice art style, make the jade dragon has

a kind of "simple" beauty. Sculpture is a work of simplicity, and what it can present is only a scene of a specific moment

So, it is necessary to integrate complex events and rich emotions into the simple sculpture

Through a high degree of condensation and condensation, simplicity overcomes complexity, the few overcomes the many, and static is movement, and static is sought in the midst of movement,

so that the limited spatial image is full of rich content. The jade dragon is exactly the same, through the jade stone

processing, carved out its kiss, mane, head and body, so that people in the appreciation at the same time, produce a variety of

associations, it is how to come? What was it used for? Who is its author? Who is its owner?

Why did it sleep for thousands of years in obscurity, but once unearthed for the world to know? All the questions and answers

are embedded in it, which is not "concise"?

Some scholars categorize the "First Dragon of China" as a "Horse-type proto-dragon" on the grounds that it has a "horse's head and snake's body",

while others argue that it is also a "Pig-type proto-dragon",

and that it is also a "Pig-type proto-dragon". is also a variant of the "pig-type proto-dragon", but unfortunately, this

this kind of "horse-type proto-dragon" has only been found so far a piece of similar products, and from the hands of a farmer,

lack of circumstantial evidence, all kinds of arguments will be The Jade Dragon's shape alone, however, is not the only thing that makes a difference. However, judging from the shape of the jade dragon alone,

it still resembles a horse, as can be seen from the comparison of the "Pig Dragon" described below.

The so-called "pig dragon", as its name implies, is a dragon with a "pig's head and snake's body", and a large number of "pig dragons" have been excavated at the sites of the Hongshan culture,

the most famous of which is the one found at the site of the Hongshan culture.

The most famous of them are the two unearthed in Chifeng's Bahrain Right Banner and Niheliang

. Compared with the "China's first dragon", they have obvious characteristics - "pig" features:

Pig dragons are generally smaller, and flat round and heavy, giving a kind of "chubby". "chubby" feeling; from the texture

look, they have the same as the pig's large ears, round nostrils and ring pattern, some have boar tusks

tusks, these features, are "China's first dragon" do not have; At the same time, in the whole shape, in addition to

are "C" type, "pig dragon" and "China's first dragon" there is also a considerable gap:

The pig dragon has a large hole on its back, the head and tail are nearly closed, and the workmanship is slightly rough, and the materials used are not exquisite.

While there are pig dragons in the Museum of History, but unfortunately, have not had the opportunity to see, so the pig dragon

artistic features and related pictures are obtained from the literature, in order to avoid the suspicion of "copying the book", just

to introduce the general shape of them, the rest of the content of the omitted!

But there is one thing that can not be omitted, that is, "China's first dragon" and "pig dragon" in the end the origin and relationship

How? Why they are the same period of products, and the same excavated in the site of the Hongshan culture, but the difference

was so big? Some experimental answers will be given later in Part VI of this paper.

Part IV: The Beauty of Jade--Modern Artistic Interpretation of Jade Dragons

Nowadays, we appreciate jade dragons mainly from the cultural and social background in which we live.

The creation of a work of art requires a combination of factors. A stable social environment will provide

opportunities for creation, socio-economic and cultural development will enable craftsmen and artists to obtain better

sources of creativity and creative impetus, and as for the direct creators of works of art, the artists, they all have

their own cultural knowledge background and beliefs.

But when a work of art comes out of the hands of its creator and into the hands of society, it no longer belongs to the creator alone, and in a sense, it no longer belongs to the society in which it was created; it belongs to all of mankind - to the people who have gone before, the people who have been before, the people who have been before, the people who have been before, and the people who will be after. people.

It belongs to the people who came before it, because in the work of art the skills and culture of the people who came before it are integrated

, and in it there are inevitably traces of cultural inheritance, and inevitably the embodiment of the cultural deposits of what came before it

-if the work of art is indeed immortal; it belongs to the The people of the time, which can be known from the motive of creation

and the social background and cultural environment in which the artwork was created also belongs to its time,

In this sense, the people who can best speak of the artwork's artistic charms and appreciate its cultural connotations should

be the people of the same time as it; it also belongs to the people of the future when the artwork is born and becomes the property of the society.

When a work of art is born and becomes the wealth of the society,

people will give it more and more connotations, and its symbolic meaning and artistic qualities will continue to accumulate with the

passage of time, and this accumulation is the reason why the immortal work of art is "immortal"

in, although these connotations and culture do not belong to the creator of the work of art. belong to the creator of the artwork.

We can't escape the same logic when we admire the Jade Dragon now. It is true that the ancient people of the Red Mountain who created it are so far removed from us that no one can say whether they have any direct lineage or

blood relationship with them. However, if we look at the Jade Dragon as a work of art, then our appreciation is

based on thousands of years of jade culture. Over the millennia, people have given jade infinite connotations, which

were not necessarily present in the prehistoric Hongshan culture-or, more precisely, were certainly

absent-but this does not in any way detract from the fact that our appreciation of jade and its culture is based on the fact that it is a work of art, not a work of art. appreciate this work of art from the perspective of jade and jade culture.

The Chinese principle of appreciation is to give the object a personalized meaning, and then to appreciate the object to clarify and

inspire.

There are many ways to start appreciating jade artifacts, and in general, there are no more than the functions of design art, milling

art, writing, moral symbols, ceremonial objects, religious offerings, economic value, and adornment.

If categorized, they can be divided into their own value and functional value.3 The so-called own value is the attribute of jade itself, such as the art of design, etc., while the functional value is often based on the use of jade,

such as religious ceremonial objects, etc. The functional value of jade dragons will be discussed in detail in the following paragraphs. The functional value of the jade dragon will be introduced in other subsections, but in this section only its own value will be analyzed, that is, the quality of the jade, the carving process, and its cultural connotations as a piece of jade.

First of all, the jade dragon is a piece of jade that has been used for a long time.

First of all, the Jade Dragon is made of Xiuyan Jade from Liaoning Province, which was recently identified by three experts, including Beijing University professor Wang Shiji, after a field trip, physical analysis, and technical appraisal in 2001.4 Xiuyan Jade is a serpentine-type iron-bearing silicate rock that is known for its pure, warm and moist jade, its crystalline quality, and its colorful, colorful temperament. Its purity, warmth, crystalline brilliance, and colorful hues make it a favorite of the people. The colors of Cui Jade vary from light green, yellowish green, grayish green, grayish white, yellow, yellowish yellow, grayish green, etc., and the Jade Dragon

is made in one of the more valuable grayish greens.

The Jade Dragon is made from local materials, and those who know the distribution of jade in China will know that the Chifeng area has a tradition of "loving

jade and ruling jade", and the local area also produces a large number of good jade, which is especially Bahrain

Right Banner produces "Bahrain stone" 5 as a representative.

Right Banner of Bahrain produced "Bahrain stone" 5 as a representative of the Bahrain stone, and Bahrain stone, but also to "chicken blood stone" for the best. If

In Chifeng city walk around, you will find almost every artery on the bloodstone and Bahrain stone special

Sell small stores, visible "jade" in this small town outside the developed. The fact that it is locally sourced is also very much in keeping with

the premise that transportation was not easy in ancient times. However, because the formation of jade requires a very long time, so

To thousands of years of time and can not give the jade to the qualitative difference, which also brought some unnecessary

The heritage market trouble. Now, Chifeng area also "unearthed" a lot of pseudo-Hongshan culture jade dragon, once caused

Jade dragon a lot of depreciation, and even now, unless there are experts to identify or special famous, general jade dragon is one

Blanked into the "fakes"! The first is that the jade dragon is a fake, and the second is that the jade dragon is a fake.

Secondly, it is the technique of jade treatment. As the saying goes, "the stone of another mountain can attack jade", which also tells us that the main method of jade treatment is through the grinding of stone tools, in other words, in the Neolithic era, which was dominated by the grinding of stone tools, the conditions for the emergence of jade dragons were fully in place.

This is the first time that a jade dragon was found in the Neolithic era. Moreover, although thousands of years have passed, there has not been much difference in the

development of the jade faceting process.6 This also brings us a new opportunity to see in the Jade Dragon

the techniques employed by the ancient Hongshan people in carving it.

Jade-making techniques originated from making stone tools. Cutting, dicing, faceting and grinding are the craft procedures used in jade and stoneware.7

If we analyze the "First Chinese Dragon" carefully, we will discover some of the typical craftsmanship used to make it.

The jade dragon's body surface is polished and refined. The jade dragon's body surface is polished, and the craftsmanship is neat, which is the traditional "round carving" technique. If we look closely at the spots and lip lines on the jade dragon's body, we can find that the craft used is the "negative line carving" technique, which was perfectly feasible in the Stone Age when the stone was ground

. This is perfectly feasible in the polished stone age, but if we use the process of "Yang line carving", it seems to be a bit out of touch with the

period. If we take a closer look, it is not difficult to find that the eyes of the jade dragon are carved with fine

yin lines, which are even and fine, neatly modeled and beautiful. It can be seen that even in the 6,000 years ago

milled stone age, the carving technology of the Hongshan culture had already reached a very high level. This can't help but

make us marvel!

Lastly, let's savor the cultural connotation of "jade" itself. According to the traditional Confucian way of thinking, "a gentleman is more virtuous than jade", it can be said that jade was personified a long time ago, and in ancient times,

jade symbolized the noble character in the concept of ethics and morality. In Xu Shen's "Shuo Wen Jie Zi" of the Eastern Han Dynasty, "Jade, the beauty of stone

has five virtues." He summarized the "five virtues" as: "moist to warm", "gills from the outside, can know the center",

"its voice Shu Yang, special to hear from afar!

"Its sound is soothing, and it can be heard far and wide", "it does not flex but folds", "it is sharp and clean but does not branch". From a modern point of view,

The five virtues of jade can be summed up in the five words of "benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, courage, and cleanliness The five virtues of jade can be summarized by the words "benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, courage, and cleanliness" from a modern point of view. In addition to the objective aspects of the Jade Dragon's techniques and materials, even if we look at the symbolism of Jade itself, and use the traditional Chinese method of "comparing virtues to Jade" to appreciate the Jade Dragon, we will still be able to enjoy and enjoy the beauty of the Jade Dragon. The Jade Dragon is a symbol of the Chinese tradition of "comparing virtue with jade".

Part V. The Dragon's Divine Charm: The Historical Origins of Dragon Culture

To appreciate the Jade Dragon, in addition to its "jade" aspect, the "dragon" aspect is also important. The "dragon" side is also worth savoring.

Every Chinese person is proud to claim to be a "descendant of the dragon". In the "I Ching" there are

"Flying dragon in the sky", "submerged dragons do not use" and so on, visible its long history; and in the unwritten

Neolithic era, also left the "jade dragon".

And in the Neolithic era, there were also jade artifacts such as the "Jade Dragon", which pushed the history of the "Chinese Dragon" forward

by thousands of years.

Ancestor worship and origin worship are unavoidable for every nation. In the West, there is the legend of "Genesis," and in China, there are myths of "Pangu opening up the heavens" and "Nuwa creating man. Similarly, the Chinese people, who call themselves the heirs of the dragon, have not ceased to ponder over the archetypes of the dragon, the nature of the dragon and the cultural connotations of the dragon for thousands of years. "The cultural connotation of the dragon" and a series of questions to explore. The answers and explanations given are also different

Colorful. However, in the discussion of these issues, there is no way to avoid the "China's first

a series of jade dragons" mentioned in this paper, jade dragons also play an important role in archaeology and dragon culture.

First of all, let's take a look at the "prototype dragon", which we call the "original dragon".

The "Jade Dragon" from ancient times is naturally useful again, since we want to explore the origin. Now, the "animal archetype theory" has been a few

almost get people's **** knowledge, but, in the end, the dragon originated from what animals, but has always been a topic of debate.

From the shape of the jade dragon, we can get a view that the dragon may have originated from the "horse" and "pig",

which is also very consistent with the northern Neolithic animal husbandry and farming life. Of course, there are also many claims that dragons originated from snakes and crocodiles

and so on. In the book "The New Discovery of Chinese Dragons" by Prof. Wang Dong of Peking University, the original

proposed the pattern of "six major regions, nine kinds of proto-dragons", and cited a number of bases for discussing the diversity and unity of the dragon's

origin, which is relatively persuasive, among them The "Hongshan Culture" is one of the

"six regional systems", and the "horse-type proto-dragon" and "pig-type proto-dragon The "Horse-type Protoceratops" and "Pig-type Protoceratops" are two of the earliest and most representative of the "Nine Protoceratops"

.

Next is the question of the nature of dragons. Were dragons creatures, or were they gods? Now, from the conclusions of archaeology

and biology, we know that dragons appeared as a kind of heavenly deity. Then,

The second question is, what is the use of "dragon"? From the jade dragons of the Hongshan Culture, we can find that

dragons were once widely used in religious and sacrificial activities. In the northern ethnic minority areas, dragons were worshipped as water

gods, which coincided with the image of the "pig dragon". Because the pig also represents the water

god in ancient China. In the "Taiping Guangji" and other historical documents, there are pigs "water" said. Of course, the Hongshan Wen

hua Jade Dragon can only represent the dragons in the northeast of China, but it at least gives us some

empirical references for exploring the nature of dragons.

The last question, and probably the fundamental purpose of our exploration of dragon culture, is what

cultural connotations dragons actually have. We know that culture is constantly evolving, and dragons are constantly being given

new connotations in the process of development. It is conceivable that the ancient Hongshan people worshiped the jade dragon for pure purposes

such as clan totem or to express some good wishes; however, with the economic and cultural

progress, the meaning of the dragon gradually changed, on the one hand, and the king's right to be linked to the evolution of the last into a

"royal" symbol, on the other hand, the dragon was given new connotations. "On the other hand, it has been given a more universal cultural connotation, becoming a symbol of the entire Chinese nation

. But discussing these issues seems to be beyond the scope of this article.

It can be seen that the Jade Dragon, as a representative artifact of the Hongshan culture, and as a representative of the ancient Chinese "dragon"

, also occupies a very important position in the history of "dragon culture". Next, we will discuss the era and culture of the

Jade Dragon, the "Hongshan Culture".

Part VI: The Red Mountain Traceability - The Red Mountain Culture Revealed by the Jade Dragon

It can be said that the "Red Mountain Culture" is a culture that has been unearthed. The ancient history has been gradually forgotten in the constant mountain and river

movement, ethnic migration and regime change, and some of it has even been buried

deep underground. Fortunately, in the ancient books or myths of the record, for future generations to provide the imagination and

poetry and song material; while more, may be permanently buried underground, waiting for a distant re

saw the light of day.

In this sense, the Red Mountain culture is very lucky. It is virtually unrecorded in ancient texts

and its discovery began only at the beginning of the last century. If we trace the roots of the words, until

1908, the Japanese scholar Torii Ryuzo in Chifeng Hongshan after the first discovery of the remains of the Hongshan culture; 1935

year of the first excavation of the Hongshan culture; 1954 Yin Da in the "Chinese Neolithic" book party officially

designated. The excavation time of Hongshan Culture can be said to be very short. But the development of modern technology and archaeology

has made it possible to outline the life of the ancient Hongshan people in just over 50 years. This quest for

the ancient past has been made possible through the study of excavated artifacts and sites - and the Jade Dragon has clearly played an important role in this

. According to the archaeological data available8 and through the horizontal comparison of excavated artifacts

sites, the characteristics of the Hongshan culture revealed by the Jade Dragon are probably the following three:

Firstly, we can see the level of craftsmanship and interest of the Hongshan people. As a culture, its

representative crafts are mainly jade and colored pottery. Compared with other cultures of the same period - such as the Liangzhu culture -

-, the Hongshan culture was mainly characterized by animal-shaped jade wares and round jade wares. In addition to the typical jade dragon,

there are also jade animal-shaped ornaments and jade hoop-shaped vessels. We can see that the jade craftsmen were able to skillfully utilize the jade material, tailor it to their needs, grasp the characteristics of the object's shape, and with just a few strokes, they could portray the object's

image in a very vivid manner. The pursuit of "divine resemblance", instead of winning by size, can be seen in the artistic pursuit of the ancient Hongshan people--

While these jade artifacts are not "art for art's sake", they are still a good example of a series of jade artifacts that can be used for a variety of purposes, such as to create an art object. Although these jade artifacts are not "art for art's sake", such a series of jade artifacts are enough to show us the way the Hongshan people observed the world, focusing on the things (animals) around them, and preferring roundness to squareness. Using the modern psychological point of view to push a little more, they are very life-oriented, gentle character, mind

thoughtful and exquisite - of course, modern psychological theories may not be applicable to the ancients, but there is a certain

meaning of reference.

Secondly, from the function of the jade dragon, we can also deduce the funerary and religious characteristics of the Hongshan culture,

and we can also find the "jade" worship. It is generally believed that the jade dragon was mainly used for sacrificing to heaven and earth and accompanying burial

corpse; of course, some people also believe that the jade dragon, especially the jade pig dragon, is used to ward off evil spirits and pray for rain. Comparing

excavated tombs of the Hongshan culture, we can find that the main funerary objects are jade,

"only jade for the burial" has become a modern and widely recognized funeral customs of the Hongshan 9, as Morgan in the book "Ancient Society

Society" said: "The objects considered most precious in life became the burial objects of the deceased owner,

for his continued use in the underworld." We can infer that in the conception of the Hongshan people, "jade", a

has always had a very high value, they made jade objects into sacred objects, and in their daily life, they used jade objects

as a symbol of status and wealth, from which it can be seen that the Hongshan people had a universal From all these aspects, it can be seen that the Hongshan people had a general sense of "jade" worship

. Why did they have this idea? In the Neolithic era, Confucianism had not yet emerged, and the idea of "comparing

deity to jade" was also ahead of its time. Was it due to the beauty, hardness, and transparency of jade or was there some other reason?

-This can only be left to anthropologists and archaeologists to explain.

Thirdly, if we classify the Jade Dragons, we can find that there were

pig and horse civilization schools in the Hongshan culture. Among the jade dragons found, the First Chinese Dragon can be said to be unique:

As mentioned in Part III, there are obvious traces of "horse" on the First Chinese Dragon, while

other jade dragons are more characterized by "pig". characteristics. Further analyzing the excavation sites of these dragons,

the excavation site of the "Horse" dragon, Wengniuet Banner, is closer to the Inner Mongolian steppe, while the excavation sites of the "Pig" dragon, such as Niheliang, are mainly in the plains of the Liaohe River Basin, and the excavation site of the "Pig" dragon is in the plains of the Liaohe River Basin. The plains of the Liaohe River basin. We know that the ancient people's creative power is limited, and the dragons they modeled must have traces of animals in their daily lives. Then, it seems that

the following conclusions become watertight: in the Neolithic Hongshan culture area, the western part is close to the Inner

Mongolian steppe, and its culture is close to the nomadic culture, and thus the horse is essential to daily life, and

became the prototype of the dragon; while in the eastern part close to the Liaohe Plain, the dragon is the most important animal in the world, and the dragon is the most important animal in the world. the eastern part of the Liaohe Plain, which is close to the Liaohe Plain, was mainly transformed from a fishing and hunting economy into a farming economy, and the pig was probably the first domesticated livestock, and also served as a symbol of wealth in daily life, which made the pig the prototype of the dragon, the "heavenly beast". -The pig was also the prototype of the dragon.

If this theory holds true, then the now-unearthed jade dragon is a great help.

Part VII: Artistic Appreciation and Beyond

At this point, our appreciation of the "First Dragon of China" and the entire Jade Dragon family can come to an end

.

The process of writing this article has been an effort to convince myself throughout. Is what I have written, really

an appreciation of the Jade Dragon? Undeniably, although the article centers around the Jade Dragon, the surface

is also too wide, from the origin, to the jade, to the dragon, and even the entire Hongshan culture, in the text are involved.

These, considered the jade dragon this "work of art" appreciation? --After all, a lot of it is not really related to art (aesthetics

art)?

Fortunately, with the deepening of the article, the "rationality" of the article also gradually firm up, and

gradually formed about the appreciation of art (fine arts) some of the viewpoints:

First of all, the process of art appreciation, but also the process of artistic creation. "No one is an artist,

and no one is not an artist", Mr. Zhu Qingsheng's words seem to serve as our corroboration. Creators

consolidate their emotions, experiences, and sentiments in their works of art - this is especially true for works of fine art,

where moments can chronicle eternity - but, as mentioned earlier, after the work of art is released

after it is made, it belongs to society as a whole. We can observe the eternal work of art, but we can't directly listen

to the fleeting artist, so that the appreciation of the work of art doesn't remain at the level of its

creator, nor is it excused from that era. A painting, a sculpture, a line of words,

when you see them, it will always cause the inner touch, and even the heart of the **** vibration. This kind of moving, this kind of

*** vibration, in fact, is the process of re-creation.

So what is re-creation?

Interpreting a work of art is a re-creation. A single jade dragon does not tell us how the Hongshan culture is,

nor can it tell us how far-reaching the Chinese dragon is, but through the collation of ancient books and the exploration of dragon culture

, archaeologists and cultural people have painted a picture of the Hongshan culture for us, letting us know the development of

dragon culture, and outlining the development of jade dragons for us, and these is the interpretation of the artwork,

The paper of the general course "Chinese Art History and Masterpieces Appreciation" October 2002

- 13 -

It is also a kind of re-creation.

Taste of allegory is also a kind of re-creation. Chinese traditional appreciation of artwork are with the "object" personification

manner, from the jade "five virtues", to the plum orchids, bamboo and chrysanthemums "four gentlemen", and even the chicken have From the "five virtues" of jade to the "four gentlemen" of plum, orchids, bamboo and chrysanthemums, and even chickens have the five virtues of "culture, martial arts, courage,

reness and faith", it is conceivable that there is a tradition of personification in Chinese Confucian culture, and this

tradition has precisely played a role in the effect of educating the world and cultivating the body and mind in the process of immanentization. When we appreciate the

Jade Dragon, if we can start from this point of view, we are bound to get endless enjoyment and spiritual, human

character sublimation.

Combing is also a kind of re-creation. Thousands of articles about the jade dragon, the official folk about the jade dragon

report also good and bad, what's more, the cultural relics market jade dragon is also mixed up, the authenticity of the difficult to argue. All of this

forces us to comb through this information while appreciating the beauty of the jade dragon. I have only

organized them from an artistic point of view, in a few aspects, but unexpectedly, it is a lot of fun!

Removing the process of re-creation, art appreciation is also in a sense a personal process, a purification and washing of one's heart

spirit, an individual's self-reflection and sorting out, and at the same time, an individual's self-indulgence

process. Appreciation of the Jade Dragon, from archaeology, history, religion, philology and traditional culture and other perspectives,

Because of the limitations of knowledge, so it is also relatively more strenuous, although there is the Internet to assist, but it is also not an easy

thing. However, people need a sense of accomplishment, in organizing a part of the content, this part of the content "re

creation" into the text, looking at the sprinkling of thousands of words, cohesion of sweat and thinking out of the end of the pen, the sense of accomplishment is

generated, and thus the heart of the "happy! "If you start from the point of view of the pleasure of the body and mind, the purpose of art appreciation

has been achieved, not to mention that in the process of learning a lot of knowledge, read a lot of

guru masters of the works of the masters?