Teaching Chinese Archaeology, object 1

Late Prehistoric China | Bronze Age China | Chu and Other Cultures | Early Imperial China

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object 1
Jade coiled dragon
H 10.3 cm
Hongshan Culture (c. 4700-2920 B.C.)
From Tomb 4 (Mound 1, Locality 1) at Niuheliang, Jianping, Liaoning Province
Excavated in 1984
Liaoning Provincial Institute of Archaeology, Shenyang

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Hongshan cultures flourished in the hills of the Manchurian plain, in what is now Liaoning province and Inner Mongolia. Excavations have concentrated on two sites -- Niuheliang and Dongshanzui -- that may have functioned as ceremonial centers. Excavators have uncovered platforms that apparently had a religious function and a number of enigmatic statues and clay figurines of women (perhaps deities) that do not recur in later Chinese cultures. The stone altar areas and figurines suggest that the Hongshan built some of the earliest temple structures in China.

This photograph of Tomb 4 at Niuheliang shows the jade coiled dragons in situ.

This jade object was one of two found on the chest of a buried male. Its position in the grave (right) and the drilled hole suggest that it was suspended on a cord and worn by the dead. Fifteen years of excavations at Niuheliang have produced no other examples, though some have been found in surveys. Although we do not know its exact function, we can assume that the Hongshan culture placed a high value on jade, so this is likely to have been a high-status object reserved for the elite. It probably had religious or ritual significance.

Oracle-bone graphs for dragon (long), from Gugong wenwu yuekan 1988.12, 22.

The coiled body of what may be a dragon is combined with a head resembling that of a bear or pig with a broad, creased snout and tusks. Sometimes these objects are referred to as pig-dragons. Composite animal forms appear throughout Chinese art. Later, in the Shang dynasty, the word for dragon was written using a similarly coiled animal shape. Pig remains have been found throughout Neolithic sites, and probably had a role in cult as well as in the diet of the ancient Chinese. Combining elements of different animals produced a creature with perhaps magical or mythical associations.

More About Jade

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