Abstract: In the late Liangzhu culture, high-grade pottery with finely carved images prevailed, and the most important theme of these images was the variety of bird patterns. Some of them have bird tattoos such as curved hooks, and even loops are curled up and attached to the head of the bird, which can be called "curled bird pattern". Based on previous research, this paper makes a preliminary discussion on the type, connotation and source of such images, and believes that its theme is the breeding and birth of birds in aquatic snake-like animals. The emergence of such curled bird patterns is the result of liangzhu culture inheriting local traditions, fusing the miaodigou type and the hongshan culture related factors, and innovating them. Such a fusion is the only way to complete the construction of Liangzhu's early state ideology, which shows the broad vision and broad mind of the leaders of Liangzhu society.
Keywords: Liangzhu culture; bird pattern; temple bottom ditch type; Hemudu culture; prehistoric images
In the late Liangzhu culture, high-grade pottery with elaborately carved images prevailed, and the most important theme of these images was the variety of bird patterns. Some of them have tattoos such as curved hooks, or even loops curled up and attached to the head of the bird, which is called by different academics. In 1936, Shi Xingen's first liangzhu archaeological report[1] depicted a curled body on a pottery piece, omitting the attached bird's head, known as the "spiral pattern". The 1986 bulletin on the excavation of the Fuquan Mountain site referred to the images as "a delicately carved circular swirl pattern, a stacked line pattern, etc." [2]. Xiang Ming made a seminal study of such images, noting the image of the bird's head in it, called the "bird snake-like combination pattern" [3], believing that it originated from the traditions of the Hemudu culture and the Songze culture, and speculating about its connotations. In subsequent studies, Zhu Naicheng called such images "snake stripes", did not pay attention to the bird's head factor, and referred to the swirling images attached to the outside and inside of the curled body as "cirrus clouds", believing that the cirrus in the body represented snake skin [4].
Since then, there have been more and more relevant discoveries, and the Bian Jia Shan site in the Yuhang Liangzhu site group is particularly rich, and excavators have called such images "bird-headed snake body" patterns.[5] However, in recent studies, Xiang Ming has revised the interpretation of the image to "bird shape and bird simplified spiral body plus small pointed beak structure" and believes that it is "most likely derived from the image motif of the large eyes of the animal face" [6]. Some scholars still call it spiral patterns, and speculate on their connotations such as cloud thunder, dragon snakes, and even heavenly eyes.[7]
In fact, the association between such images and birds is very clear, whether the looped curled body is a snake is still difficult to determine, this article is temporarily called "curled bird pattern", it is intended to be based on previous research, its type, connotation and source to further explore.
One
The G1:6 long-necked pot at the Bian Jia Shan site has a complex and relatively complete and realistic bird pattern on the neck, which we first restored as a reference for interpreting more abstract images (Figure 1, 1). The artifact is patterned with fine small squares and parallel lines, leaving blank space and depicting bird patterns. The neck should have roughly two identical sets of bird stripes, both half-crippled, but fortunately can be pieced together to restore (Fig. 1, 5). Each group of images consists of three curled bird stripes, the lower left bird, upright, short neck looking back, with a spiral ring, protruding pointed beak and pointed crown feathers; the body is curved like a bow, and the tail is long broom-shaped and raised upwards. The body is filled with fine parallel lines, and there are 4 spiral heavy rings at the intersection of the neck and the middle of the body and tail. The arched back has a pair of pointed-beaked bird heads, and at the intersection of the tails there is a pointed-beaked bird's head (Fig. 1, 2). The bird on the right is inverted, with its head and body joined together, hook-shaped, with a long hook tip as its beak, a spiral ring as its order, and a tail like a long broom. The body is filled with fine parallel lines, with a total of 6 spiral heavy rings on the body and tail, a pair of pointed beaked bird heads on the top of the head, neck junction and outside the body, and a pointed beaked bird head above and below the body and tail junction (Fig. 1, 4). Between the two birds, there is an inverted hook-body bird, with a large spiral ring as its eye, with a pointed beak, and the hook-like tail forms a hook with the long pointed beak of the upper right bird. Although the bird is small, it is also densely covered with parallel lines and has 2 spiral heavy rings (Fig. 1, 3).
From this realistic image, it can be seen that the important characteristics of the curled bird pattern include: the curled body, the spiral heavy ring order, the hook-like pointed beak, the broom-shaped or hooked tail, the parallel line pattern and the spiral heavy ring pattern in the body, and the pointed beaked bird head attached outside the body. These features can be used as a reference for us to identify the pattern of the curled bird.
The hooked bird in the G1:6 image of Bian Jiashan often appears alone. M3:39 double-nosed pot in front of the temple, the long neck part is divided into 4 rows by 3 parallel convex edges, each row has a fish-like reticule, each with 5 blanks, the inner carved simplified hook body bird pattern, the body filled with short lines. There are 11 similar patterns on the abdomen, also like the simplified hooked bird, with its head to the left, a pointed beak, and a parallel line in the body. Eight similar patterns are depicted on the hoop foot, such as the bird pattern of the body in the shape of a spiral heavy ring, and the two arcs thrown out at the end of the spiral, one for the head and one for the tail (Fig. 2). Each part of the motif is bird-themed.
The individual spiral heavy ring bird pattern is a common gesture of the curled body bird pattern. The G1:3 bean handle of Bian Jia Shan is composed of dense, slightly square, tiny spiral heavy ring patterns and parallel polyline patterns, and on the ground pattern at the bottom of the bean plate and bean handle, a curled bird pattern is depicted (Fig. 3, 1). The body is spiraling in a heavy ring shape, the head is in the center of the spiral, there is a hook beak, the neck is connected to the body, the body rotates counterclockwise outward, and the tail is outside, in the shape of a broom. There are 6 groups of spiral heavy rings and vertical, transverse parallel lines (heavy rings close to the hook beak can be regarded as bird's eye). There are 7 spiral heavy rings outside the body (Figure 3, 2). Bian Jia Shan G1:408 is very similar to this, except that the bird's body rotates clockwise outward (Figures 3, 3). The G2B:29 bean handle of Bian Jia Shan is composed of long ovate elements to form a fine mesh stripe, and the bottom mesh belt has a counterclockwise external rotation of the body bird pattern similar to the above specimen (Fig. 3, 4).
On the G1:330 bean handle of Bian Jia Shan, there are four rows of two consecutive spiral bird patterns, including slightly larger and slightly smaller, all of which are heads on the inside, the body is rotated counterclockwise, and the tail is on the outside, in the shape of a broom. There are parallel horizontal lines, parallel vertical lines and spiral heavy ring lines in the body, and there are pointed beaked bird heads on the outside of the body (Fig. 3, 5). In larger cases, the pointed beak of the head has a short line like a feather, some do not have a pointed beak, and the tail is crossed with a pointed hook (Fig. 3, 6). In smaller cases, the pointed beak of the head is inconspicuous and the caudal end is wider. G1:110 bean plate is densely covered with similar bird patterns (Fig. 3, 7), which seems to be interpreted as a spiral body with the head inside and the tail outside, rotating counterclockwise, but the head has a short line in front of the pointed beak, and the tail is like a pointed hook. There are parallel horizontal lines, parallel vertical lines, and spiral heavy ring lines inside the body, and a pointed beaked bird's head outside the body (Fig. 3, 8).
The "spiral pattern" that Shi Xin found is a simplified form of this type of curled bird pattern, with the bird's head in the center, a pointed beak, a clockwise rotation of the body, and a tail on the outside, which is wider. In vivo filler lines, omitting in vivo and extracorporeal spiral heavy ring patterns (Figure 4, 3). On the long neck of the Bian Jiashan G1:88 double-nosed pot, the reticulation is expressed in parallel twists and turns, and the single-line counterclockwise external spiral pattern in the gap of the reticulate should be a more simplified form of this kind of curled bird pattern. The upper edge of the drum belly has an arc-edged triangle simplifying the bird pattern, reinforcing the bird theme (Fig. 4, 4) [8]. The long neck of the burial double-nosed pot at the temple site is covered with finer single-line spiral patterns, which should also be the same simplified curled bird pattern (Fig. 4, 1, 2) [9].
A bird pattern of a pair of spiral heavy rings depicted on the M65:1 double-nosed pot of FukuzumiYama. The bird pattern is very similar to That of Bian Jia Shan G1:408, the body rotates counterclockwise, and the two bird pattern tails are stacked together to form a pair of birds, and the whole is horizontal S-shaped (Figure 5, 1). On the fragment of Bian Jia shan G1:428, there are similar pairs of spiral birds, with a pointed hook beak on the inside, a small spiral heavy ring on the top of the head, the body rotates counterclockwise, and the tail is docked into one, and the whole is horizontal S-shaped. There are parallel vertical and transverse arc lines in the body, and the two s-shaped tips outside the body have a pointed beaked spiral heavy ring bird head, and at the junction of the tail, that is, the middle of the horizontal S shape, there is a pair of pointed beaked bird heads on top and bottom (Fig. 5, 2).
On the fragment of the abdomen of the two-nosed potting T0304:26, there is another form of paired spiral curled bird pattern, the two birds are exactly the same, the outer end is a pointed-beaked spiral heavy ring bird head, and protruding a short line. The body rotates one downward and one upward, counterclockwise, forming an oval center with an oval circle inside. Two birds and an oval circle of objects, filled with horizontal and vertical parallel arcs and spiral heavy rings. The two birds have a spiral heavy ring in the middle. On the right side, there are two pairs of pointed-beaked bird heads, and on the left bird's body, there are a pair of pointed-beaked bird heads and a large spiral heavy ring pointed beaked bird head (Figure 5, 3).
The H2:50 ear-piercing pot body of the temple site has two sets of essentially identical carved images (Fig. 5, 4). The central image can be interpreted as a pair of spiral curled bird patterns inside the head of the pointed beak, the body rotates clockwise outward, the whole is spiral heavy ring, the bird body is filled with fine reticulated vertical bands and ovate circles, and there are also ovate circles between the two birds. If the image is rotated 180°, the two sides of the image appear to be a basically symmetrical bird pattern (Fig. 5, 4 at the bottom), and in the upper two forks, the outer side is shorter, like a pointed beaked bird head, and the inner side is longer, which seems to be a bird's tail, and the lower part or express bird wings. The bird has a fine reticulated band within the outline of the bird' body, and an oval circle pattern inside and between the body and the middle of the bird's body. At the joint of the wing heads, there is a pair of pointed-beaked bird heads, reinforcing the theme of the bird. Viewed holistically, the compositional elements and themes are quite similar to the above three spiral curled bird images.
The combination of large and small birds represented by the Bian Jiashan G1:6 also often appears in a simplified form.
On the fragment of G1:125 in front of the temple, there is a blank space in the middle of the fine grid pattern, that is, a large and a small pair of curled bird patterns. The head of the large bird is inside, the beak is like a hook, the body is rotated clockwise, the tail is cocked like a broom, slightly broken; there are parallel lines and 10 spiral heavy rings in the body. The body of the bird is like a hook, and the tail is hooked, which echoes the pointed beak of the large bird. The head has a pointed beak. There are parallel lines and 3 spiral heavy rings on the body, and a pointed beaked bird's head on the top of the head (Fig. 6, 1).
On the T0606:21 bean plate in front of the temple, a pair of curled bird patterns of one large and one small body remain (Fig. 6, 2). The head of the large bird is inside, the beak is like a hook, the body is rotated clockwise, and the tail is like a broom. There are transverse and vertical parallel arcs and 3 spiral heavy rings on the body, two spiral heavy rings like spreading wings outside the body, and two pointed-beaked spiral heavy rings (Fig. 6, 3). The bird also appears to be recognized as a curled bird with a beaked beak, and also has a double-winged spiral ring on its tail (Figures 6, 4).
Bian Jia shan G2B:42 is a clay pot fragment, only about 5 cm long and wide, depicting a small hook body with a small hook like a miniature carving, and there can be 12 pairs within a range of 2 cm square (Figure 6, 5). Among the simpler pairs of birds, the larger bird body such as a curved hook, the pointed beak, omitting the order of the bird, the tail is connected to the head of the bird; there are parallel vertical and horizontal lines in the body, there is a pointed beaked bird head on the back of the body, and a pair of spiral heavy rings near the tail, which seems to be a simplification of the head of the pointed beaked bird. The bird has a curved hook body, a hook tip on its tail, a small spiral ring on its head, and a pointed beak, and a short line such as a feather outside the body (Figure 6, 6). Among the more complex pairs of bird patterns, there are more small spiral rings outside the body of large birds, and small birds have pointed beaked bird heads outside the head, and the vertical lines of the feathers are denser and longer (Fig. 6, 7).
Bian Jia Shan G1:434 bean plate has a continuous combination of curled bird patterns (Figure 6, 8), each group can be interpreted as a large and a small two birds. On the right is a large bird with a head in the center, a pointed hook beak, a body that rotates counterclockwise outwards, a fine parallel vertical line and a small spiral heavy ring in the body, and a small spiral heavy ring pattern and a short columnar pattern filled with parallel lines inside the body. On the left is a small bird with a pointed beak on its head, a clockwise rotation of its body, a tail opposite the tail of the large bird, and a small circle spaced in the middle (Figure 6, 9). Fuquan mountain M74:166 double-nosed pot body is covered with curled body bird patterns, some of which are similar to Bian Jiashan G1:408 and other single spiral type (see Figure 3), and some are large and small, such as the lower row of bird patterns in the long neck, all similar to the above G1:434 bean plate bird pattern, except that the big bird is on the left and the small bird is on the right side (Figure 6, 10).
The Fuquan Mountain M65:90 with a cover shows a richer and more complex form of the Bird Pattern of the Liangzhu Culture (Figure 7, 1). The lower part of the body is a combination of two consecutively unfolding bird patterns, each group seems to be composed of a total of three bird patterns, one large and two small. On the right is a large bird with a head in the center, a pointed hook beak, the body rotates counterclockwise outwards, and the tail part is forked, forming two hooked birdlets, slightly larger above, with a clockwise inner hook on the head, with a pointed beak; slightly smaller below, the head is counterclockwise back hooked, with a pointed beak. Each bird is filled with fine parallel vertical lines, and there are spiral heavy rings and a pointed beak spiral heavy ring head outside the body (Figure 7, 3).
Above the lid, the bird pattern is more elaborate (Fig. 7, 2). On the central axis of the cover twist, it is an upper and lower spiral curled up against the bird, the head is in the center of the spiral, there is a hook beak, the upper bird body rotates counterclockwise downward, the lower bird body rotates counterclockwise upwards, and the tail is combined into one, the whole is S-shaped, similar to the main bird pattern of the pottery piece collected by Bian Jia Shan (see Figure 5, 2). On each side of the S-shaped, there is a small bird with a hooked body. On the twisted sides of the lid, a similar S-shaped pair of bird patterns are symmetrically depicted. The other covered bird pattern is depicted in two circles. The inner ring consists of six groups of almost identical bird pattern combinations, two of which are slightly smaller. Each group can be interpreted as a combination of two large and two small curled-up birds. Both birds are spiral-shaped, with an inner head, a pointed hook beak, a clockwise external rotation of the body, a counterclockwise external rotation, and the tail intersects, forming sharp or obtuse angles. There is a small bird outside the horn, with a hook beak, the bird's body is hooked, and the tail end is connected to the apex of the horn. The inner part of the horn also seems to represent a small bird, the body is curved or polyline-shaped, and the turning part is pointed, such as the beak of a bird. Viewed as a whole, this image resembles a bird with wings spread, two large birds with wings, a bird with a hooked body outside the horn as a tail, and a bird with an arc body inside the horn as a head with a pointed beak. The outer ring of the lid has 7 similar four-bird combinations, varying in size and spacing. There is also an S-shaped curled up against the bird. Between the inner and outer circles, there is a four-bird combination image, but the bird outside the horn is not a small hooked bird, but the same as the bird with a spiral curled body on both sides.
There are the same hollow images on the three legs of this ding, both of which are two sets of round holes and hook arcs, which are very similar to the dots and hook arcs of the Yangshao culture temple bottom ditch type of bird patterns,[11] reinforcing the bird pattern theme of the artifact images.
The image of the outer wall of the M101:90 bean plate on Fuquan Mountain presents another four-bird combination (Figure 8). The image on the left is a spiral curl against a bird pattern that is very similar to the M65:1 of Fukusenzan (see Figure 5, 1). In the middle image, there is a large spiral curled bird on the left and right, the head is in the center, there is a hook beak, the left side of the body is rotated clockwise, the long tail is hooked; the right side of the body is rotated counterclockwise. Between the two large birds, for two small curled-up birds. The image on the right is like a realistic illustration of the combination of four birds in the middle, with a large bird on the left and a large bird on the left and a simplified bird in the middle.
The long neck of the Fukuzumiyama M74:66 double-nosed pot is covered with a thin web of small single-line spirals, and the blank space depicts another combined curled bird pattern, with a large and a small curled bird in the center. The large bird is spiral-shaped, with a pointed hook beak on the inside, and the tail of the body is rotated counterclockwise to connect with the head of the bird. The bird is hooked, the tail is hooked, and the head has a pointed beak (some of the pointed beak is not clear, and the bird at the bottom left of the detail diagram is relatively complete and clear, similar to Bian Jiashan G1:6). On the outside of the body, this pair of birds protrudes from 5 long-necked birds, with spiral rings and a pointed beak, and the shape of the top of the head resembles a feather fluttering backwards. Between such a subject image, there is also a simplified bird pattern with a single line (Figure 9).
Two
The source of the bird pattern of the Liangzhu culture needs to be explored in a wide range of time and space.
In the Yangtze River Basin, on the pottery of the Gaomiao culture dating back more than 7,000 years, complex bird pattern images have appeared, and the bird body is often represented in a hook-shaped shape. T2G1:69 high-necked jar neck at Qianjiaping Site in Guiyang, Hunan Province, the main body is decorated with two hook-beaked god birds with wings outstretched, and below is a simplified side view of birds, all of which are represented by hook arcs (Fig. 10, 1) [12]. During the Hemudu culture period of the Ningshao Plain, bird patterns flourished, and birds were a common form of expression, and heavy ring patterns were important compositional elements. In the late Songze culture, the curved bird pattern of the body was popular. At the bottom of the foot of the T23:602 bean circle at the site of ZhaoLing Mountain, around the center of the circle, two circles of bird patterns are depicted, each with 5 birds of arc connected to each other, all of which are aimed at spiral heavy rings, and two concave triangles, which can be interpreted as pointed beaks and crown feathers on the top of the head (Fig. 10, 2).
In the western Liaoning region, before the Hongshan culture, the image of birds was not common. On the statues excavated from the Ao Han Banner Hill site in Inner Mongolia, there are exquisitely carved images showing the deified images of birds, pigs and deer, in which the bird body and tail are in a state of whirling (Fig. 11, 1) [13]. During the Hongshan culture period, the image of birds began to be enriched. The second place of Niuheliang N2Z1M23:3 Bird Beast Jade Pei (known to scholars as The Dragon Phoenix Jade Pei), on the right side is a bird, with a long hook beak, a round eye, and a short diagonal decoration on the top of the head, like a crown feather, an open feather on the back, and an abstract body in the shape of a curly hook. On the left is a pig dragon, and its body is abstracted into a curly hook. It is worth noting that the National Palace Museum in Taipei has a very wonderful Hongshan cultural cloud-shaped device [15], which the author has interpreted as follows[16]: On the left side of the picture is a biaural erection, its right side has a pointed long snout upwards, and the rear has a hyena hooked uplifted simplified pig dragon head, which is quite similar to the above-mentioned pig dragon structure of the bird and beast jade pendant; the lower left of this pig dragon is a pig dragon with two ears and no hyena; and then below, it is a head with a downward head similar to that of a hyena dragon, but the long snout is hooked downwards, like a bird's beak. It may be the bird's head, the vertical ears and the mane can be interpreted as the feathers on the top of the bird's head and the back of the head, which is the same as the basic structure of the bird's head in the bird's beast jade pendant, opposite which is a hyenaless dragon with a head down; on the right side of the artifact, is a bird's head with a long beak under the hook and the feathers on the top of the head are erect, with two feathers rolled up behind it (Figure 11, 3). This piece of jade is placed in the center of the curled body, and the bird capital born from the mother is a factor similar to the bird pattern of the Liangzhu culture.
[18] Images of fish and birds combined appeared in the late Banpo type of Yangshao culture, and bird patterns were prevalent in the faience pottery of the Miaodigou type,[17] and mostly in the form of fish and birds combinations.
[19] The black color pattern of the upper abdominal stripe of the upper abdomen of the Temple Bottom Ditch site H59:29 is a typical representative of the complex fish-bird combination image that includes multiple units. Two long parallel curves divide the pattern strip into two parts. The left end of the narrower part is an arc-edge triangle + dot bird pattern, and its right side is a fish pattern with bird patterns in the body: the long hook-like arc-edge "Gong" glyph constitutes the main outline of the fish head, which has a straight line + hook arc + dot bird pattern, and the dot is like a fish order; the right side of the "Gong" glyph and a curved hook pattern form an upper unsealed near-circular blank, with double horizontal lines + double dots to the bird pattern; the end is the arc-edged triangular fishtail. The fish with the wider band has an additional bird pattern composed of 4 arc lines + dots, and the other parts are exactly the same (Figure 12, 1). The H86:24 image of Izumi Village is more simplified[20], and there are two hook arcs after the arc triangle + dot bird pattern, which is a bird body, and there is a dot in the middle, which is the head of the bird shared by the two birds. The back is an arc-edge triangle and a double arc + dot bird pattern. For the simplified fish body and the bird inside the body. Viewed as a whole, the double arc pattern can also be regarded as the fish head part, and the arc triangle is the fish tail part (Figure 12, 2).
The so-called "Xiyin pattern" in the miaodigou type of faience pottery is actually a simplified expression of the fish and bird theme (Figure 12, 5), and its curved blank is a typical figure in the fish body or in the fish head, of which the arc triangle + dot, arc + dot and arc + dot are all patterned expressions of bird patterns. Blanks such as rounded squares (Fig. 12, 4), circles, and semicircles (Fig. 12, 3) formed by elements such as arc triangles also represent the interior of the fish body, in which the bird pattern is filled in, which also represents the theme of the combination of fish and birds.[21]
The author has proposed that such images show the scene of the same oviparous bird completing the gestation and growth in the fish body and then flying out of the fish, which may have the auspicious connotation of breeding and growth. The state of birds flying out of cracked ovates is depicted on the site of Nandian Village in Xi'an[22] on a faience bowl (Fig. 13, 1), and this cracked oval pattern is also commonly found in the fish body of the combined image of fish and bird. Atomic head H84:3 faience pottery bowl has a multi-unit patterned fish-bird combination image, in each unit is a bird pattern composed of arc triangles and dots, and the right side is a simplified fish pattern composed of arc triangles and crack ovates (Figure 13, 2), showing that the bird has completed its birth from the fish body. The atomic head H100:1 is a faience pattern for the arc edge "I" glyph connected to each other into a circular blank two-sided continuous unfolding, should be the abstract patterned representation of the inside of the fish body, some of the blank is a crack ovate pattern, some are half black and half white ovate pattern (Figure 13, 3).
The above-mentioned combined images of fish and birds, whether it is more complete or a simplified one of the two-way continuous unfolding, actually show the scene of the birds being conceived and flying together at the same time. In addition, in the faience pottery of the temple bottom ditch type, there are also images that dilute the fish pattern factor and directly show the scene of a single body, a bird or a flock of birds flying together. On the fragment of the H1052:01 pot in Izumi Village, the depiction of a realistic hook beaked large bird followed by a small bird with a dot as its head and three forks (Fig. 14, 1). On the H1052:02 pot in the same ash pit, there are dots + double arc birds and dots + three arc birds (Figure 14, 2). The H22:01 pot of the same site depicts a flock of birds flying together, and the part of the picture has two large birds with dots + double hook arc and dot + three hook arc, and another dot + double hook arc bird (Figure 14, 3).
As some scholars have said, the so-called "petals" of the miaodigou type of faience pottery should be a blank space formed by the bird pattern [23]. Miaodigou H408:41 faience pottery bowl is a typical manifestation of this patterned form. There are four sets of patterns on the ornamental belt, all of which are of the same shape of the arc side triangle docking to form an oval petal-shaped blank, filled with parallel horizontal lines and double dots that represent the bird pattern, which can be seen as a combination of two large birds with the arc triangle as the body and the dot as the head, and two small birds with the horizontal line and the dot as the head. At the upper end of each set of main body patterns, there is an inverted arc-edge triangle, which shares a dot with the oval tip to form a bird pattern. Between each of the two sets of patterns, there are two sets of upper and lower shapes of the same arc triangle docking to form a petal-shaped blank and two dot patterns (Figure 14, 4). As a whole, the entire ornamentation band seems to be composed of six-petaled flowers and five-petaled flowers, but such flower-shaped patterns should represent the omitted combination of fish and birds, showing the splendid scene of birds flying in the sky after they have completed their pregnancy. It is worth noting that the late faience of the temple bottom ditch type appeared a combination of grid pattern and bird pattern. The temple bottom ditch site T37H114:25 bowls remain two sets of reticulated patterns, with an oval blank in the middle, and a parallel line + double dots on the bird pattern (Figure 14, 5). Similar combinations developed in the Majiayao culture, with some scholars believing that the grid pattern is a symbol of the fish body.
According to the review, the various elements of the Liangzhu culture have a long tradition of the Yangtze River Basin, and the form of the spiral curled body attached to the bird's head and various complex combinations should be its originality, but the possibility of external influences cannot be ignored. In addition to the possible reference relationship with the Hongshan culture reflected in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei (see Figure 11, 3), the similarity with the Miaodigou type of faience pottery is particularly noteworthy. These similarities include: the combination of two birds, three birds and four birds composed of large birds and small birds, the scene of birds flying together, and the bird pattern in the blank space of the grid pattern, etc., all hinting at the connection between the bird pattern theme of the Liangzhu pottery carving image and the temple bottom ditch type faience pottery image.
The cup of the M12:32 wide handle cup at the Longtan gang site in Haiyan depicts two snake-bodied animals, the body is represented in a fine parallel line, coiled around, the head is like a fish, there are jagged sharp teeth in the mouth, and there are small oval circles in the body, and a thin hook tail. The neck resembles a double-headed snake-like animal, and the body is also represented by a fine parallel line, circling the neck, and the double head is facing each other under a wide stream, which is quite similar to the bird's head (Fig. 15). Fish shapes, birds, and eggs in the body are also the core elements of the combined image of the temple bottom ditch type of faience fish and birds. The spiral heavy rings and circles commonly found inside and outside the curled bird's body are actually in the form of eggs, attached to the head of the bird outside the curled body, and are also the pending state of pregnancy. The various simplified bird patterns on the site of the temple, M3:39 (see Figure 2), also seem to be in a state of inconception. From this, we speculate that the Liangzhu culture curled bird pattern represents the theme of the breeding and birth of birds in the body of aquatic snake-bodied animals.
Some images of fish also appear in the Hemudu culture. The images of two pairs of animals on the clay pot of T29(4):46 in the first phase of the Hemudu site, the excavation report believes that it is a bird pattern, which is recognized by some scholars, but some scholars believe that it is a fish pattern. This animal form is indeed between fish and birds (Figure 16, 1). T231(4B):309 of the first phase of the site is a realistic wooden fish (Fig. 16, 2). It is worth noting that there are ovate recesses on the head and body of the fish, and there may have been inlays. The large concave fossa of the head should be fish eyes, and the concave fossa of the body is similar to the spiral heavy ring and ovate circle on the bird pattern of the Liangzhu curled body. T231(4A) of the first issue: 303 is the upper part of a wooden staff, and the top of the staff is a realistic fish (Figure 16, 5). T242(3B):68 of the second phase of the site is a fish-shaped ceramic fragment with an ovate depression on the body (Fig. 16, 3). On a piece of pottery fragment at the Tianluoshan site, there is a realistic image of a fish and a bird. The head is a hooked beaked bird's head, the body is a fish body with one dorsal fin and two ventral fins, and the end is a forked fish tail (Fig. 16, 4).
Because of the lack of information, it is difficult to conclude that the Hemudu culture had formed a belief in the transformation of fish and birds before the late Banpo type, and it was difficult to discuss the exchange between the two places. However, the above information makes us realize that the image theme of aquatic animals pregnant birds that appeared in the Liangzhu culture may not only be influenced by the type of temple bottom ditch, but also may have local traditions.
At present, the bird pattern of the Liangzhu culture is mainly in its late stage, and there is a certain time difference with the type of temple bottom ditch. The swirling ground patterns on the jade of the Liangzhu culture in the early and middle periods, Xiang Ming suggested that it may be bird patterns,[28] and an in-depth discussion of such ornaments should provide more clues to the connection between the Liangzhu culture and the miaodigou type. Considering that the Liangzhu culture is very different from the social development path of the Miaodigou type[29], the belief that birds are incarnated in aquatic animals should have different meanings for the two societies. The Miaodigou type of faience pottery is mostly found in the background of daily life, while the Bird Pattern of the Liangzhu culture is depicted on exquisite polished black pottery, mostly found in the core area of the Liangzhu Ruins Group and in the high-grade tombs in the eastern taihu Lake area, which is obviously more closely related to the upper class of society and ritual activities.
It can be seen that the bird pattern of Liangzhu culture is the common result of inheritance, exchange and innovation. We have discussed that the formation of high-level social organizations such as the early Liangzhu state was the result of the conscious "fusion" of social development achievements in various places by leaders with political ambitions [30]. This kind of fusion is not only completed by the "Central Plains" society that is located in the geographical center and has the convenience of geographical location, and the above preliminary analysis of the bird pattern of the curled body can make us further realize that the leaders of the Liangzhu society have a broad vision and a broad mind.
P.S. This research has been funded by the National Key Research and Development Program "Chinese Civilization Source Exploration Research Project" and Project 8 "Holistic Research on the Origin Process of Chinese Civilization", Project No. 2020YFC1521608. At the same time, it belongs to the research project of Li Xinwei Scholar Studio of the Chinese Academy of History.
(Author: Li Xinwei, Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.) In addition, the annotation is omitted here, for the full version, please check "Jianghan Archaeology", No. 6, 2021)
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