Liangzhu continued this social hierarchy, because jade articles of their time could only be found in the graves and graves of the rich. If there is, ceramics are the graves of the poor. The jade articles of Liangzhu culture are characterized by exquisite craftsmanship and attention to detail, which endows them with vitality that was lacking in early culture, and it did not reappear until Shang Dynasty (1600- 1046 BC).
An example of Liangzhu art is the Correa Dog, which is privately owned by Alfred Correa in southwest England and almost certainly dates back to this period. Liangzhu jade is considered as one of the best jade articles in the world, and the development of jade articles is largely attributed to this culturally perfect technology.
Liangzhu Culture
Liangzhu cultural people live in Taihu Lake as the center, passing through Jiangsu Province, south to Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, and east to Shanghai. The largest site in this period is Jiao Mo, Zhejiang, covering an area of 2.9 million square miles, and the second largest site is Sidun, Jiangsu, covering an area of 900,000 square miles. Funeral and funerary objects prove that this culture is hierarchical and social stratum is hierarchical.
Scholar Elizabeth Childs-Johnson commented on this social structure and the importance of jade in distinguishing a person's social status:
Liangzhu culture is divided into three stages in chronological order: early, middle and late. Later, it experienced large-scale site construction, stepped altar cemetery and the manufacture of classic Liangzhu jade. In society, Liangzhu culture is characterized by a series of large and small city-states or chiefdoms, ruled by power rulers represented by symbolic jade, and its types range from weapons, tools, body ornaments to ritual vessels. (Presumption, 8)
The best Liangzhu culture jade is considered to come from this late period, when the artist's nephrite operation technology was perfect. Liangzhu people like to build houses near waterways, and archaeological evidence proves that they are good at boating and fishing. They grow rice, use diamond tools on jade articles and raise domestic dogs and pigs.
Liangzhu culture jade is characterized by exquisite craftsmanship and attention to detail.
The residential areas excavated so far show that many houses are overhead, probably to resist floods, but some scholars (such as Tresman) insist that this architectural style-and ditches around many villages-has the same effect as raising pigs. Pigs at home will live under the house, and ditches can prevent pigs from wandering around and becoming prey of wild animals.
Liangzhu developed a highly complex culture, but suddenly disappeared. In 2250 BC. This may be because the flood destroyed people's homes and cities, but it also helped to protect culture. Many jades produced in this era are still in the original state, because they are buried in the mud flooded by lakes or riverbeds, while other jades are preserved as funerary objects.
Development of jade articles
People in China have long attached importance to jade. By the post-Li cultural period, stones had been processed into shapes used as amulets and amulets. Professor Gina L. Barnes of the University of London pointed out that today's "jade" refers to a specific type of rock, which is actually a misnomer, and how early China people recognized that many different types of rocks and minerals might be "jade":
[English word' jade'] is often used to translate the Chinese word' yu', which traditionally means that' beautiful stone' is worth shaping into ritual articles and personal decorations. ( 1)
Even so, Barnes pointed out that China people in the Neolithic Age could distinguish the real jade (defined as nephrite-composed of tremolite, actinolite and jadeite) from other stones, and how the jade in Liangzhu culture was 65,438+000% nephrite. Liangzhu craftsmen developed their skills in the overlapping of Hongshan Culture, but broadened the diversity of subjects and provided people with more choices.
The main characters in Hongshan Culture are pig dragon, bird, horseshoe, cloud disk, fish, cicada and turtle. Liangzhu has developed many other disciplines, including dogs and pigs, as well as famous jars and dishes, whose significance is still under debate.
Elizabeth Childs-Johnson and other scholars support the theory that "slave" and "ratio" have universal significance, and "slave" represents the earth and "ratio" represents the sky. Although this theory is of great significance, it will never be generally accepted. But obviously, jade has an important symbolic significance. In the "real jade" of nephrite, it seems that the carefully selected theme is worth showing. Barnes pointed out:
Nephrite is endowed with [great] social and cosmological significance. Jade is valued in China for several reasons: symbolic status, power, morality, wealth and immortality. (4)
Jade is also highly valued because it is difficult to process and it takes a long time to make an ornament. Nephrite must be cut from the cliff with a hand saw, possibly made of slate, and then cut into smaller pieces from the original slate. Scholar Judith M. Treistman described this process:
Jade processing is not carving, because it is too difficult to chisel and peel. It must be ground and polished with sub-gloss in wet or oily media. Bamboo, wood or [other] tools carrying abrasives will not leave any traces on jade. Suppose quartz sand is used first, then garnet is crushed, and finally corundum is used. Bamboo is widely used to drill through Neolithic round bracelets and double plates. (94)
By the time of Liangzhu culture, these technologies had developed for thousands of years. Therefore, it is not surprising that the best Neolithic jade products were produced in this period.
Liangzhu culture jadeware
As mentioned above, the most famous jade articles in Liangzhu culture are cong, cong, tube and dish, but scholars have different meanings for these articles. Obviously, no matter what they mean to Liangzhu people, they are very important, because they are found in large numbers as funerary objects of the upper class. As argued by Childs-Johnson and others, they probably really represent heaven and earth, because ancient China people thought that the earth was flat and its four corners were under a circular canopy. Square and circle are respective symbols.
However, this theory has been challenged because there is no literature in Liangzhu culture that directly links objects with the concept of heaven and earth. The theme of the earth and heaven is thought to have developed in the late Shang Dynasty. Those who questioned Yan and Bi's cosmological explanation pointed out that the Neolithic artworks could not be explained from the perspective of the late Shang Dynasty.
Ink stone and jade are exquisite jade articles, which have been carefully decorated and patterned. These cultural relics vary in size, but they always keep the same shape: Yan is a square with a round opening and interior, while Bi is a disk. Therefore, the cosmological explanation of objects is attractive, but not decisive. It is entirely possible that people in Liangzhu culture have completely different understandings of the circle and the square.
Besides these works, Liangzhu also created many other exquisite jade articles, including axes, tools, jewels, statues, jars and amulets. Some of these works are decorated with gluttonous patterns, which some scholars interpret as animal masks. Although the design of gluttony is related to the works of art in Shang Dynasty, it can be clearly seen in Liangzhu's works.
One of the most interesting jades is Xun Yu, a serrated jade plate with a hole in the middle, which is used as a template for the stars. During the Liangzhu period, there was no Polaris. In order to determine the true north, Yu Xun's hole should be aimed at the Big Dipper, and an aiming tube (Yuheng) should be inserted in the hole, so that people can't see the true north. Only true north is certain, but the seasons are calculated according to the stars, and the solstice is certain. As Childs-Johnson pointed out, Yufu is a prestigious object, and it may be a mystery. Moreover, it is only useful for astronomy and astrology educators from the upper class.
Amulets worn on clothes or on ropes hanging around the neck are also produced in large quantities. Although clear religious beliefs and customs were not fully developed or compiled until Shang Dynasty, Neolithic culture recognized that there were invisible entities stronger than individuals and wore amulets to prevent harmful souls from turning to useful people. Dogs that protect people from ghosts and other supernatural threats are a powerful symbol of protection and one of the themes depicted in Liangzhu jade articles.
Correa dog
Dogs are the oldest domestic animals in China. Although it is used as a food source, grazing, hunting and transporting game back to the village, it is also regarded as a link between the mortal world and the spiritual world. Although the dog is domesticated and famous for its loyalty, it is still connected with nature and acts according to instinct; Therefore, it is a part of the human world and a part of the barbaric field that people can't control. Therefore, people think that dogs can resist entities from other fields.
In order to protect on the road or on business trips, people will wear amulets. A good example of this artifact is the Correa dog. The size of this work is 63. 1x 19.9 x 20.8 mm (2.4 x 0.78 x 0.8 1 inch), and the weight is 42.92 g ... The laboratory test of Gemo Logical Certification Services in London confirmed that this cultural relic belongs to amphibole, and its variety is natural amphibole and white soft. The group, shape and shape of amulets are consistent with the jade of Liangzhu culture, and of course with the early society. For example, Hongshan also uses real jade.
Although the age of Correa dog has not yet been determined, it is very suitable to be interpreted as Liangzhu's works from the perspective of style and theme. Hongshan people are not famous for their dog shapes, and their painting style is not as exquisite as that of Liangzhu later. In contrast, the attention to detail and fluency of this work are obviously different from those of a Hongshan artifact. Hongshan amulet does not show all the features seen in Liangzhu's works, and the complex technology is obvious in Correa dogs.
The hole of the rope (with some ancient textile colored threads) is inconspicuously placed between the dog's paws, and the animal's expression is calm, as if it were sleeping. When worn, the amulet leans on its owner like a sleeping dog. It has two possible symbolic meanings: peace and protection. The sleeping dog is calm, but when the threat appears, it will wake up and take action to protect itself.
Decline and revival
Correa obviously takes artists a long time to make, because it has to be rubbed repeatedly to form a shape, and rope or diamond tools are used to make details. The report of GCS laboratory shows that there is no indication that heat is used to soften stones, so this work is completely processed by artists in the natural state of nephrite.
There are many other amulets in Liangzhu culture, all of which follow the same meticulous expression and elegant artistic paradigm. Evidence of the same technology can also be seen in other Liangzhu jade articles, but after the disappearance of culture in 2250 BC, this method continued until the Shang Dynasty. During the Shang Dynasty, jade articles were updated and many exquisite chimes were produced, so the processing method of Liangzhu jade articles must have been handed down.
Yuling is considered to enlighten wisdom and is one of the five inherent virtues of stone. The writer Xu Shen (2nd century BC) listed the outstanding virtues of jade in Shuowen: its luster symbolizes charity; Its wisdom; Its hard courage; Its smoothness; Its translucent integrity (Barnes, 4). Jade was still valued as much in Shang Dynasty as in Liangzhu era.
Throughout the Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period (65438 BC+0046 BC-476 BC), jade production declined. During the Warring States Period (476-22 BC1), this pattern continued until the stability was established in the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), and jade production really resumed.
Throughout the Han Dynasty, jade was still a popular ornament, amulet and even a stone for clothes. It continued to play an important role in the religious and cultural life of China people. Emperor Zongshen of the Song Dynasty (960- 1279) claimed to have got an illusion from a god he called the Jade Emperor, which is an example of the connection between the famous jade and divinity and power.
Although it is generally believed that Zongshen created this god for his own political purposes, the jade emperor became the supreme god in many myths and legends mainly because of his name. In the Song Dynasty, jade has become an indispensable part of China culture. It is a guarantee that people accept the idea of martial arts and imperial power. Just like in the Liangzhu era, jade is the stone of the elite, with the awe and respect of the emperor-or god.