Abstract: Painted pottery is an important symbol of the cultural hierarchy of Tao Temple. In the cemetery of the Tao Temple site, the dragon pattern plate is only found in the first type of tomb, and the painted pottery with more complex patterns is only found in the A and B types of tombs of the first and second types of tombs. However, at present, there is no in-depth study of the complex images on pots, bottles, folded belly basins and other utensils excavated from the Tao Temple cemetery. This paper proposes that the themes of these images are various forms of bird patterns, and their forms can be traced back to the Hongshan culture, the Yangshao culture temple bottom ditch type and the Songze culture. The Tao temple bird pattern inherits the tradition of the Miaodigou type, and is also influenced by the Liangzhu culture, the late Dawenkou culture and the Majiayao culture mid-mountain type.
Painted pottery is an important symbol of hierarchical status in the culture of tao temples. The dragon pattern plate in the tomb of the Tao Temple site is only found in the first type of tomb, and the painted pottery with more complex images is only found in the A and B types of tombs in the first and second types of tombs. Scholars have discussed the origin and connotation of the panlong disk, but the complex color drawings on pots, bottles, folded abdomen basins and other utensils have only been objectively described in the excavation report, and the relevant discussions are also less, and this article tries to make preliminary speculations about its connotation.
One
Tao Temple M2001: 49 bottles of shoulders and above wearing red pottery coats, the neck is painted with parallel lines, broad bands and dots in white, and the shoulders are painted in white colors to draw complex images, the report says "approximate vortex or cirrus", which should actually be a more realistic four curled bird (Figure 1: 1). Expanded figure (Fig. 1:2) The lower bird near the middle 1 has pointed crown feathers, a long neck, a looking back, a double wing, and a tail hook, which is quite realistic (Fig. 1:3). The bird on its right side has no crown feathers, the head is hooked, the long neck is curved, the body is approximately curved triangular, and the single wing is finely drawn (Fig. 1:5). Bird 3, which is separated in the unfolded figure, is in a roughly symmetrical position with Bird 1, and the morphology is also quite similar, also has pointed crown feathers, looking back, long neck, and also shows double wings, hooked tails, and tails are connected with the right wing (Fig. 1:4). Bird 4 on the left side of Bird 1 is symmetrical with Bird 2, also without crown feathers, with a neck parallel to the edge, looking back, and with larger wings spacing (Fig. 1:6).
The M3009:1 bottle format is similar, with more complex images drawn in white color in red color (Fig. 2: 1, 2). The lower and lower lip bands at the shoulders leave a reddish pattern in the shape of an animal's head, which is reported to be "crocodile head shape". The neck pattern reports "6 groups of geometric hook patterns of autobiographic units". From the unfolded figure, the pattern has about 5 units, of which four units are basically the same, from one of the units we extracted, it can be seen that it should be a patterned representation of the bird 4 on M2001:49, drawing a triangular bird head in white color, the neck and the lower edge of the pattern belt parallel, continuing to form a nearly trapezoidal wing outline, the red ground pattern vacated in the outline shows the wing details, and the pattern is rotated clockwise 90 degrees, and the image of the bird is clearer (Figure 2: 3). The pattern centered in the unfolded figure, the trapezoidal part on the right is similar to other units and should also be winged, the lower part on the left side seems to be a curled neck and head, and the upper part is represented or a crown feather.
The pattern of the abdomen of the utensil also has 5 curled bird patterns, of which 4 form 2 groups of positive and negative combinations, and 1 is a separate positive direction. As can be seen from the two units we extracted, the bird is a pointed beak, has crown feathers and neck feathers, a curved neck looking back, and its left upper curl part can be understood as wings (Figure II: 4. Figure 2: 5 is a reverse bird pattern flipped 180 degrees). The individual positive bird pattern does not have clear crown and neck feathers.
M3015:35 The white color ornamentation of 3 units remaining on the handle of the wooden bucket, reported as the "echo pattern", should also be a curled bird pattern. The unit on the far right is the bird pattern, the right is the pointed beak and long neck of the bird looking back, the rectangular multiple echo pattern is the bird body, and the other two units are the bird with exactly the same composition (Fig. 2:6).
The pattern reports on the many painted folded belly basins are called "zigzag geometric hooks", which is actually a more abstract and patterned expression of the curled bird. M2035:1 The double folded abdominal basin is red, white and green with two elaborate stripes of the same composition on the upper and lower abdomen (Fig. 3: 1, 2). As can be seen from the image units we extracted, the pattern bands are actually composed of roughly the same bird patterns, each of which is outlined in red lines, showing the head and curled body in green, the bird's head is quite realistic, with a pointed beak; the white inverted "concave" glyph filled with red represents the wings (Figure 3:3), and the upper and lower abdomen pattern bands have 10 and 8 such bird patterns, respectively. M2168:3 The same bird pattern is drawn in red and white with a double folded abdominal basin upper abdomen pattern (Fig. 3: 4, 5), a total of 10 of which are outlined in red, filled with white, with a pointed beak on the head and a white inverted "concave" glyph (Fig. 3: 6). It is worth noting that this strip is seen squarely and backward as the same effect. The lower abdomen strip is a two-sided continuous "four-petaled flower" pattern formed in three colors: red, white, and black (actually a clustered bird pattern, see Note 30).
M2172:4 is a single folded belly basin, drawing a pattern band in red and white (Figure 3: 7, 8), although not regular, but still recognizable by the same curled bird pattern as M2035:1, but with slender lines (Figure 3: 9). The whole pattern belt is composed of 6 bird pattern units, which are also the same as the positive and backward viewing effects. M2027:2 is a bifinched abdominal basin, and the upper and lower abdomen are painted with the same pattern bands in red and white, respectively, also composed of bird patterns (Fig. 3: 10, 11). The body part of the bird is basically the same as the above specimen, also inverted "concave" glyph, but the head is more difficult to identify, only half exposed from the edge of the pattern band, the short pointed beak, depicting half of the bird's eye in white color, with inverted bull-shaped crown feathers (Fig. 3:12). There are 7 and 5 such bird patterns on the upper and lower abdomen bands, respectively, and the orthopedic and inverted gaze show the same effect.
Several other pottery faience drawings of the temple represent consecutive reverse bird pattern combinations in different ways. M3073: 28 Fold belly basin has a black pottery coat, the upper abdomen is painted with red painted 5 pairs of one positive and one inverted double bird pattern, the double birds are filled with green, and the black pottery clothes are retained between different groups, forming a three-color exquisite pattern belt (Fig. 4: 1, 2). The bird's head is small triangular, with a long straight neck, the tail of the wings is pointed, the tail is folded, and the legs and claws are simplified to the shape of the "and" glyph, which is quite realistic overall (Fig. 4:3). Evenly adjusted to an upright posture). The IIM32-2 folded abdomen amphora has the same dough case on the neck and upper abdomen. Draw a bird pattern inside a rectangular cell (Figure 5:1). The head of the bird is triangular, and the end of the body is in the shape of a two-step step, which is slightly similar to the bird pattern M3078:24, but the foot is omitted (Fig. 5:2). There are 2 units between the front and back ears of the neck and upper abdomen. The M1111:1 folded belly basin painted band seems to consist of 7 groups of pairs of bird patterns that are vertically assembled against each other (Fig. 4: 4, 5), each of which paints a nearly triangular head and straight neck in red, and the lower end of the neck is incomplete due to the limitation of the edge of the painted band. The main body of the bird is a white color "concave" glyph, which is filled with red color (Fig. 5:6, the viewing angle is adjusted by about 45 degrees).
Two
In addition to the above bird patterns, which are mostly expressed in zigzag straight lines, there are also bird patterns expressed in curves on the painted pottery of the tao temple.
In M3015, a pair of folded belly pots are buried, and there are painted bands with the same pattern on the shoulders, and the report says that "the swirl pattern is painted in red and yellow", which is actually 8 curved bird patterns that are interlocked. The body of the bird is painted in yellowish white color, roughly S-shaped, with red dots as bird's eyes. The red hook at the front of the head outlines the shape of the bird's head, which extends to the upper left like a raised crown feather, while the red hook at the back of the head resembles a rolled neck feather, forming the crown feather of the bird on the right (Fig. 6:1-5). M2079:5 Pot reports that "the upper abdomen is painted with red dots and arcs of the paisley pattern", which is actually a simplified bird pattern, the dot is the order, the red curve and white blank on the right side are crown feathers, and the red curve and white blank on the left outline the shape of the bird's head and neck (Fig. 6:6). M3072:11 There is a complex pattern in the lower part of the long neck of the pottery drum, which is reported as follows: "With a string pattern, a scratch pattern and a thorny concave dot pattern to form a number of curls but do not distinguish the head and tail snake torso scale pattern", in fact, it should be 2 similar bird patterns. The round part is the bird's head, with a ribbon-like pattern spiraling out around it, the lower one or the bird's body, and the upper and posterior ones showing the crown feathers and neck feathers respectively (Fig. 6: 7-9).
Tao Temple M3016:1 pot upper abdomen pattern reported as "vortex", in fact, this type of ornamentation should be a simplified form of curved bird pattern, only in red painted around the pot mouth of the four birds interlocking in abstract form. The body of each bird is a thin and thick S-shaped curve with a dot at the end of the bird's eye, and the tail end and the right end are combined to outline the shape of the bird's head (Figure 7:1). M2001: 42 pot painting is more patterned, the bird pattern is simplified to an S-shaped curve, there are fine arcs outlined above and below, 6 such bird patterns are hooked with each other, forming a closed circle, the pattern has a jagged boundary on the belt and bottom, and the serrations are facing the connection between the two birds. If you look backwards, the same effect will be presented. So the whole image is a simplified bird pattern of six sets of up and down checks (Figure 7:2). The high-necked drum belly pot M2001:41 of the same tomb has a very similar painting, except that the bird body is expressed in the double-thin curve on the inside and the double-thick curve on the outside, and the border of the pattern belt is a parallel straight line (Figure 7:3); the other artifact of the same tomb, M2001:71, the bean foot bird pattern is the same as the above two pieces, which is a 5-bird ring (Figure 7:4).
A pair of folded belly pots in the Tao Temple M3002 have a similar pattern, which is reported to be "like a hammer pattern", but it is more likely to be a curved bird pattern. M3002:49 Four birds are painted in red, with a "B" shape on the body, a hollow rounded square (one is a dot) on the head, a small convexity that represents a crown on the top of the head, and a hook on the tail with dots on it. It is not impossible to interpret it as two siamese birds (Fig. 8:1, 2). M3002:50 has almost the same pattern, it is worth noting that if you look at the case belt in reverse, you can see the bird pattern drawn by the double hook line, the form is almost the same as the red colored bird pattern, but the head is hooked, around the bird order, and the top of the head also has a small convex showing the crown (Fig. 8: 3, 4. 4 is a set of bird patterns upside down).
The report states that the M2103:2 pattern is "composed of four patterns of red dots, red diamond-like patterns and white hook leaf patterns" with white hook leaf patterns" and may actually be another style of curved bird patterns, and its painted belt is composed of 5 groups of bird patterns. The red dots in each group are the bird's head, the green and white spiral bands around the dots represent the crown feathers and other feathers on the bird's head, and the rectangular stripes protruding from the red pointed corners and the red lines on the sides may represent the bird's body (Figure 9:1-4). The M2063:4 image is very similar, except that the bird's head is to the left (Figure 9:4-6).
The painted pottery M22:15 of the large tomb M22 of the middle period of the temple contains three bird pattern forms at the same time. The upper part has a complex pattern of the whole near bull horn drawn in white and black colors, the corner tip is set to the left, a group is to the right (Figure 10: 1), if the left is rotated counterclockwise, the right one is rotated clockwise ninety degrees, the form is like a bird with a curled body, and the outline of the bird's body is outlined in white and black, that is, the detail, the head is small, the wings are like echoes, and the lower edge seems to show the claws of the hook (Figure 10: 2). The lower abdomen pattern is the same as IIM32:2 (Fig. 5), which is a rectangle of several inverted double birds (Fig. 10:3). The circle foot is a curved bird pattern, the oval red blank formed by the intersection of the two sets of curves is the outline of the bird's head, and the triangular palindrome with white and black colors on the upper left and lower right, respectively, shows the crown feathers and the bird's body; the S-shaped curve is the neck feathers draped behind the head, and at the same time can be interpreted as the crown feathers of the right bird, and the positive and backward viewing effects are the same.
Three
Bird patterns are one of the most important and popular images of prehistoric China, and have been delicately represented on high-grade white pottery since the Gaomiao cultural period of about 7800 years ago, and its expression has continued to develop in various regions since then. From 6000 to 5300 years ago, the splendid transition period of China's prehistoric era, the prehistoric society in various regions has generally developed by leaps and bounds, and the new social upper echelons generally use the creation and control of new primitive religions as the "leadership strategy" to obtain and maintain power. During the Liangzhu culture period, which dates from 5300 to 4300 years ago, the worship of sacred birds continued to develop, and the image of the bird became one of the core themes of the images carved on jade and delicate pottery. The disintegration of Liangzhu's early state society did not cause the interruption of its core civilization factors, and the cultures of the Longshan era, dating back to 4300 to 3800, generally inherited the worship of sacred birds. The origin and connotation of the tao temple bird pattern should be understood in such a time and space context.
Hongshan Culture Niuheliang N16M4:1 Jade Bird long-necked hook beak, looking back at the curled body, the body part depicts a very realistic wing feathers and tail feathers (Fig. 11: 1), M2001: 49 Winged Retrograde Curved Bird is very similar to it (Fig. 11: 2). Lingjiatan 87M10:7 jade comb back Some scholars believe that it is a simplified performance of such a bird looking back. The bird patterns of the Liangzhu culture period are greatly enriched, including similar birdbacks, such as the G1:100 wide cup decoration depicted in the middle and late Liangzhu culture, with a pointed beak and crown feathers in the center of the mouth, curled back, and the tail is cocked (Fig. 11:3). The pottery temple curled bird pattern should be the inheritance of this tradition. The post-Shijiahe culture, which coincided with the Taosi culture, was located at the Luojiabailing site of the Tianmen Shijiahe site T32A:99 The jade bird also looks back at the form of the curled body, which is also the inheritance of the Liangzhu tradition (Figure 11:4).
Liangzhu bird pattern has many simplified forms. Bian Jia shan G1:51 wide cup bird pattern nearly triangular, the pointed beak sometimes reduced to a short straight line, the body in a swirl pattern, these elements can be found in the simplified pattern of the Tao Temple curled bird (Fig. 12:1). The bird patterns of the three Pottery Temple specimens in Figure 5 are all triangular heads and long necks, which is particularly similar to this Liangzhu specimen. The overall layout of this specimen ornament is to arrange a week of bird patterns in strips separated by parallel lines, and most of the painted bird pattern pottery of the pottery temple uses the same layout. Bian Jia Shan G2B:42 bird pattern pottery pieces are covered with horizontal and vertical simplified bird patterns (Figure 12: 2), Bian Jia Shan G1: 408 bean plate is also densely covered with flying birds, the bird head is simplified, but the sharp beak can still be seen. The bird's head is arranged in a row of unconventional staggered rows, and the sides of the head have parallel straight lines of basically the same length when the direction is different, which should be a representation of the bird's body or wings, and the whole forms a grid-like pattern (Figure 12:3). Such an intensive expression of bird patterns has already appeared in the Miaodigou period, and the "petal pattern" of the Temple Bottom Ditch site H408:41 is actually the intersection of birds with the arc triangle as the body and the dot as the head (Fig. 12:4). Although the Tao Temple culture is in the miaodigou type of the homeland, the tight bird pattern composition of the folded belly basin in Figures 3 and 4 should be more absorbed of the concept of Liangzhu culture.
The use of curves to express bird patterns is the tradition of the temple bottom ditch type of faience pottery, and the types are very rich, some are realistic (Figure 13:4), and some are patterned. One form of patterned bird pattern is a dot plus a double arc, which has the basic elements of the tao temple curved bird pattern (Fig. 13:1). Around 5300 years ago, in the transition stage from the Miaodigou type to the late Yangshao period, a new curved bird pattern form evolved, with the arc triangle as the bird body, the circle with dots as the bird's head, and the arc group with the spiral around the bird's head to represent the bird's crown feathers and neck feathers, which are the most popular in the remnants of the late Yangshao period in Longdong and Longxi (or "shilingxia type"). Wushan Fujiamen site H2:22 faience clay pot belly ornament is a typical representative (Figure 13: 2), Tao Temple M3072:11 pottery drum belly carving pattern is similar to this. The H2:22 neck pattern is a simplified form of this bird pattern, with elongated crown feathers and neck feathers in multiple arcs. In the Guanzhong area, the shoulders of the late H123:1 small-mouth pointed bottom bottle in Yangshao, Baoji Fulinbao, have simplified bird patterns represented by three groups of S-shaped arcs and arc triangles that are hooked to each other and have a circle at the junction (Fig. 13:3). Since then, the decline of faience pottery in the Guanzhong area, in the Majiayao culture in the Ganqing area, this type of bird pattern continued to develop, until the late Mid-Levels type was simplified to a single thick arc of the form of interlinking each other, Qinghai Ledu Liuwan site M432:4 is a typical representative, the central hook arc line up and down there are parallel thick arcs, together forming a simplified curve bird pattern with the circle of the junction as the bird's head (Figure 13:5), which is very similar to the Bird Pattern of the Tao Temple Culture Curve in figure 4. Qingchagang Site This bird pattern and its variants last until the latest period of the Mid-Levels type, dating back to about 4300 years ago, in conjunction with the Tao Temple cultural era.
The earliest specimen of such a curved bird pattern appeared around 5300 years ago during the transition period of songze culture and Liangzhu culture, which was quite popular in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in Haining, Zhejiang M53: Dou Gai drew 4 curved bird patterns, rotating around the geinu painted with heavy ring patterns (Fig. 14: 1). M44:1 Bean Cover shows six bird motifs in a loop (Fig. 14:2). Zhao Lingshan T23:602 The bottom of the bean circle foot represents the same style of curved bird pattern in a depicted manner, with two layers inside and outside, each with 5 bird patterns, showing the sharp beak of the bird in a small triangle (Figure 14:3). However, such bird patterns seem to lack local traditions, and their relationship with the temple bottom ditch type deserves to be explored in depth. In the subsequent Liangzhu period, although the expression of bird patterns was very rich, no such curved bird patterns were seen.
At the same time as the Miaodigou period, the early and late Dawenkou culture and the early middle period of the Miaodigou style faience pottery appeared, in which birds intersected such as the Ruins of Miaodigou H408:41 to leave a petal-like blank pattern (Figure 12:4). The tombs at the Zhangqiu Jiaojia site belong to the middle and late Dawenkou culture, and excavators believe that the age is 5300-4600 years ago. M57:20 The back of the pot has a painted shoulder, which is looked down as a curved bird pattern with the same pattern as the bean lid pattern in the small pocket, which is a four-bird ring (Fig. 15:3), which may also be around 5300 years ago. Jiaojia M158:1 circle foot cup (Fig. 15:1) and Jiaoxian Sanlihe site M2110:46 single can (Fig. 15:4) have the same painted curved bird pattern, the era may be slightly later. The M10:57 pot shoulder painting at the Dawenkou site should also be curved bird pattern, with a dot as the bird's eye, and a spiraling arc around it outlines the shape of the bird's head, and represents the crown feathers and neck feathers (Figure 15:5), which is the late middle period of Dawenkou. The fourth period of the Dahe Village Site (aged 4700-4400 years ago) T25:21 The shoulder of the pot is painted with two sets of curved and intersecting bird patterns (Fig. 15:2), but this kind of ornamentation is not the mainstream in the fourth period of the Dahe Village.
In summary, the Miaodigou period formed a curved bird pattern faience pottery tradition, and after the disintegration of the Miaodigou society, it continued to develop in the late Yangshao culture and Majiayao culture in the Ganqing area, and continued until the late Mid-Levels type, which dates back to about 4300 years ago. In the early days, the arcs that may represent feathers flew around the round bird's head, and in the late years, they became abstract curves interlocking. The tao temple is in the core area of the miaodigou type, and its curved bird pattern is supposed to be a continuation of this tradition. However, the faience pottery culture in the late Yangshao culture in the region has declined, and the Miaodigou Phase II cultural period has been almost interrupted. The revival of bird patterns at tao temples, judging from the pattern style, may have benefited from the exchange with the Mid-Levels type, but the details of the inheritance between them have yet to be supplemented by new information.
At the same time, in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Haidai area, which corresponds to the remnants of the Miaodigou period, curved bird patterns are quite popular. In the Haidai area, this expression continued to develop into the middle and late period of the Dawenkou culture. Considering the close connection between the Tao Temple culture and the Dawenkou culture and the similarity of the curved bird patterns between the two places, the development of the Tao Temple curved bird patterns may also benefit from the influence of the Dawenkou culture, but according to the current understanding, there is still a gap in the chronology.
Four
The reading of bird patterns on the painted pottery of the Tao Temple has deepened our understanding of the culture of the Tao Temple and the development of the Tao Temple society in two aspects.
First of all, reading provides new evidence for the "fusion" of the Tao Temple to the surrounding culture. Su Bingqi has long pointed out that the tao temple "the main cultural factors such as painted dragon patterns, three-bag pedestals are related to the north and south of Yanshan mountain and the hequ area, as well as the back pot of the Dawenkou culture and the knife trick of the Liangzhu culture, which is another civilization spark produced by the fusion of various cultures." The identification of bird patterns adds new content to the connection of the Taosi culture with the Mid-Levels of the Upper Yellow River and the Dawenkou culture of the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and what attracts more attention is the special association with the Liangzhu culture it exhibits.
Second, it highlights the importance of shamanic religion in the Tau society. The theme of the faience pottery of the temple bottom ditch type is the birth of a sacred bird in the body of a fish, which is a typical shamanic transformation. Although the function of the divine bird after birth is not clear, it undoubtedly occupies an important place in shamanic religion. In the prehistoric religions of the Xiliao River Basin and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the divine bird entrusted the heavenly pole and played an important role in maintaining the operation of the universe. The most important theme of the jade expression of Liangzhu culture is the theme of the upper echelons of society that hold religious power in a shamanic state to communicate with the sacred bird and entrust the heavenly pole divine beast. The disintegration of liangzhu society around 4300 years ago had a profound impact, opening up a powerful process for the formation of early Chinese dynasties about 500 years later. Shandong Longshan cultural jade, Houshijiahe cultural jade and Shijia site stone carvings all show the continuation and development of Liangzhu religious themes.
The social development of Tao Temple culture has always been regarded as a representative of the "simple" Central Plains model, emphasizing "royal power" and "military power", which is in stark contrast to the Liangzhu society that emphasizes "divine power". In fact, the high-level tombs of Tao Temple have typical articles of Liangzhu religion such as Chun and Bi, and IIM32 in addition to the burial of Zhen and Bi, there are also hollow animal face plates and short Huang in the style of Houshijiahe culture; more scholars have pointed out that the painted dragon disk images only found in the tao temple and the origin of Liangzhu culture. The identification of bird patterns on the high-grade painted pottery of the Tao Temple and its special connection to the Liangzhu culture once again reminds us that the development of the Tao Temple society is also part of the broad influence of the decline of Liangzhu and that the position of religion and theocracy in the Tao Temple society needs to be rethought.