Data chart: Researcher Zhu Naicheng exhibited the opening press conference of the special exhibition of Yin Shang cultural relics excavated from the Tomb of Women's Good at the National Palace in Taipei. Courtesy of Zhu Naicheng
Beijing, February 2 (China News Network) (Reporter Sun Zifa) Jade tiger and jade dragon are important connotations and forms of expression in the development of Chinese jade culture. How did the Jade Tiger evolve into the Jade Dragon? These topics are attracting attention at the dawn of the traditional Chinese zodiac year of the tiger.
Zhu Naicheng, a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and president of the Prehistoric Culture Research Branch of the Chinese Yanhuang Culture Research Association, was recently interviewed by a reporter from China News Agency, interpreting his latest completion of the "Jade Tiger Research in the Xia Shang Period", saying that the Xia Shang Period was an important period of jade tiger epidemic and had an important impact on the evolution of the jade tiger shape system in the Western Zhou Dynasty and beyond. At the same time, the evolution of the jade tiger to the jade dragon, an important cultural phenomenon in ancient Chinese jade culture, also occurred during the Xia and Shang dynasties.
A chart of the Jade Tigers of the Xia and Shang Dynasties. Courtesy of Zhu Naicheng
A chart of jade tigers in the Xia and Shang dynasties (continued). Courtesy of Zhu Naicheng
During the Xia and Shang dynasties, the Jade Tiger went through four stages
Zhu Naicheng said that according to the archaeological data currently released, the jade tiger of the Xia and Shang dynasties can be roughly divided into four stages: the jade tiger of the late Shijiahe culture, the jade tiger of the Erlitou culture, the jade tiger of the middle Shang Dynasty, and the jade tiger of the late Shang Dynasty. Among them, the late Shijiahe culture is roughly between 2200 BC and 1800 BC, and may have experienced a development process of about 400 years before and after, and its early period exceeds the earliest age of the Xia period by about 100 years, but the jade tigers of the late Shijiahe culture that have been discovered are mostly within the scope of the Xia Dynasty.
The jade tiger of the late Shijiahe culture has been found in the Tanjialing site of the Shijiahe ruins group in Tianmen, Hubei Province, and many decorations of tiger heads or tiger head patterns have also been found. The existence of many jade tiger heads, tiger head decorative jade, deformed tiger heads, and the existence of important jade objects such as tiger heads and gods and human heads unearthed in the late Shijiahe culture should be the products of the social background of reverence for tigers and popular jade tigers in the late Shijiahe culture.
At present, only the ornamentation of the tiger's head has been found, such as the animal face featured in the end of the jade handle-shaped vessel as the tiger's head. However, based on the discovery of jade tigers in the late Shijiahe culture, which is earlier than the Erlitou culture, and after the Erlitou culture, it is speculated that there may have been jade tigers in the Erlitou culture period, which has yet to be discovered.
The woman is a good tomb jade tiger, making a very low and flat creeping shape. Courtesy of Zhu Naicheng
The number of jade tigers found in the middle of the Shang Dynasty is relatively small, including the Huang-shaped jade tiger in the Baijiazhuang cemetery in Zhengzhou, and the two pieces of carved jade tigers excavated in the Xiaotun tombs excavated in the early excavations of Yin Ruins, of which the tiger body image of the Xiaotun Jade Tiger (large) is more vivid, which is closer to the jade tiger of the early Shang Dynasty, but the ornamentation is reduced to the Yang pattern, which is very different from the double-hook yin carved Yang line decoration of the jade tiger in the early Shang Dynasty, so the Xiaotun Jade Tiger (large) can be used as a typical specimen of the jade tiger in the middle of the Shang Dynasty. And it can be inferred that the double hook yin carved yang pattern on the jade carving process did indeed occur after the middle of the Shang Dynasty.
The jade tigers of the late Shang Dynasty were concentrated in the Yin Ruins of Anyang, Henan, such as 9 pieces of jade tigers excavated from the Tomb of The Lady of Yin Ruins (4 pieces of round carved jade tigers and 5 pieces of flaky two-sided carved jade tigers), as well as 1 piece of turquoise stone tigers, 1 piece of round carved malachite tigers, 2 pieces of flaky two-sided carved stone tigers, 1 piece of copper-headed jade body tigers, and jade tigers were also found in tombs and sites such as Northwest Gang, Liujiazhuang and Guojiazhuang in Yin Ruins. In addition, a small number of jade tigers have also been found in sites such as Lingshi Jingjie Village in Shanxi Province, Yidu Subu Tun in Shandong Province, and Qianzhaoda in Tengzhou.
Zhu Naicheng pointed out that these different types, different shapes, different styles, and different decorative patterns of various jade tigers and stone tigers in the late Shang Dynasty can also be further distinguished between morning and evening. Among them, various jade tigers and stone tigers in the tombs of women can be used as representatives of the works of the early Shang Dynasty, and Liujiazhuang, Xin'anzhuang, Lingshi Jingjie Village, Yidu Subu Tun and Tengzhou Qianzhao Da yuhu can be used as representatives of the works of the late Shang Dynasty.
A jade tiger was excavated from tomb No. 2 in Yidu, Shandong, which is a flaky two-sided carved jade tiger for foraging. Courtesy of Zhu Naicheng
The Jade Tiger Producers reached their peak in the early stages of the late period
Zhu Naicheng said that according to the four stages of the development of the jade tiger in the Xia and Shang periods, it can be analyzed that the evolution of the jade tiger in the Xia And Shang period has four characteristics:
In terms of the shape of the jade tiger, from the late Shijiahe culture to the early shang dynasty, it developed from small to large; from the early shang dynasty to the late shang dynasty, it developed from large to small.
In terms of the shape of the jade tiger, from the late Shijiahe culture to the early period of the late Shang Dynasty, it was roughly developed from a single arc-shaped sheet shape system to a multi-shape system; from the early period of the late Shang Dynasty to the late Shang Dynasty, the shape of the jade tiger gradually decreased, and a mutated jade tiger shape system appeared. For example, in the late Shijiahe culture, the jade tiger only had one kind of running and walking tiger with its head and tail upwards in an arc; in the early period of the late Shang Dynasty, there were volt-like tigers, creeping tigers, foraging tigers, walking tigers, running and walking tigers, galloping swooping tigers, semi-lying tigers, etc., and there were also jade tiger carving knives; in the later period of the late Shang Dynasty, there were mainly foraging tigers, and there were also individual creeping tigers and running tigers, and special-shaped jade tigers appeared, and new sleeping tigers and crouching tigers appeared.
The jade tiger of the tomb of the woman is like running and walking, and the two sides are engraved with double hooks and yin carved yang line ornaments, with their heads held high and their mouths exposed. Courtesy of Zhu Naicheng
In terms of the carving process of the jade tiger, from the late Shijiahe culture to the early stage of the late Shang Dynasty, the carving process of the jade tiger is roughly developed from the rough simple arc-shaped piece carving process to the fine complex piece carving process, and there are complicated round carving craft works; from the early period of the late Shang Dynasty to the late late Shang Dynasty, the carving process of the jade tiger tends to be simplified, and the round carving works are rare.
In terms of the decorative pattern of the jade tiger, from the late Shijiahe culture to the early period of the late Shang Dynasty, it was roughly developed from the plain to the carved pattern decoration. In the middle of the Shang Dynasty, there was a land-reducing Yang pattern decoration, and in the early period of the late Shang Dynasty, a complicated double hook yin carved Yang line decorative pattern was formed; from the early shang dynasty to the late Shang dynasty, the pattern decoration of the jade tiger gradually weakened, and the decorative pattern of the double hook yin carved yang line was relatively rough, the ornament pattern was simplified, and the plain jade tiger appeared back to pu.
The tomb of the woman was excavated from the jade tiger (semi-finished product). Courtesy of Zhu Naicheng
Zhu Naicheng believes that the main characteristics of the evolution of jade tigers in the Xia and Shang dynasties show that the production of jade tigers reached its peak in the early period of the late Shang Dynasty. In the early period of the Late Shang Dynasty, the materials for making tiger works were diverse, the shape of the jade tiger was diverse, and the image was vivid, each with its own style, the development of carving technology, the implementation of a variety of carving techniques, fine engraving, the pursuit of beauty, and the hand-carved technique reached the level of pure fire. This should be related to the social fashion of advocating the use of jade and revering tigers and popular tiger works at that time.
In addition, there may also be a pairing phenomenon among the jade tigers excavated from the tomb of The Lady, which reflects what kind of consciousness concept in society at that time needs to be further studied, "but it does reflect an important phenomenon of the popular use of tiger works in the upper echelons of society at that time."
A malachite tiger was unearthed from the tomb of The Lady. Courtesy of Zhu Naicheng
There are three phenomena in the evolution of the jade tiger to the jade dragon in the late Shang Dynasty
Zhu Naicheng said that the jade dragon appeared roughly around 2000 BC, the earliest archaeological excavation of the earliest jade dragon, is the late Shijiahe culture Xiaojia roof ridge site excavated jade pan dragon, the shape of this jade pan dragon is more primitive, the dragon head and its facial features are not obvious, its appearance in the Jianghan region may be related to the cultural influence of the Central Plains on the Jianghan region, "but at present in the Central Plains has not found the jade dragon around 2000 BC, we look forward to the discovery."
At present, the jade dragons found after the late Shijiahe culture are mainly found in the late Shang Dynasty, such as many jade dragons excavated from Yin Ruins, including round carved jade dragons, semi-circular carved jade dragons, flaky two-sided carved jade dragons, Huang-shaped jade dragons, Jue-shaped jade dragons, ring-shaped jade dragons, etc.
In the ancient Chinese jade culture, the shape of the jade dragon in the late Shang Dynasty has a direct evolutionary relationship with the jade dragon of the Two Zhou, Qin and Han Dynasties and later. However, the shape and form of the jade dragon that has been discovered around 2000 BC, such as the "C" shaped jade dragon in western Liaoning and the jade pan dragon in the late Shijiahe culture, are quite different from the shape and form of the jade dragon in the late Shang Dynasty, and there seems to be no relationship between the early and late evolution of the form.
Based on current archaeological findings, Zhu Naicheng speculates that the jade dragon probably evolved from the jade tiger in the late Shang Dynasty, which is because there were three aspects of the evolution of the jade tiger to the jade dragon in the late Shang Dynasty.
Infographic: Researcher Naicheng Zhu was invited to give a lecture at a lecture. Courtesy of Zhu Naicheng
First, the shape of the jade dragon in the late Shang Dynasty is close to that of the jade tiger. At present, the late Shang Dynasty jade dragons, such as round carved jade dragons, semi-circular carved jade dragons, flaky two-sided carved jade dragons, Huang-shaped jade dragons and Jue-shaped jade dragons, etc., all have tiger head forms, most of the horns are treasure bottle shapes, there are also mushroom-shaped or pointed tiger ears, the body is curly dragon shape, and some bodies show the characteristics of tigers. This jade dragon can be called the tiger head jade dragon, which is a form formed by the evolution of the jade tiger to the jade dragon.
Second, the jade tiger of the late Shang Dynasty had the characteristics of a jade dragon. Although the phenomenon of embodying the characteristics of dragon horns on jade tigers in the late Shang Dynasty is relatively rare, it reflects that in the jade carving works of the late Shang Dynasty, the characteristics of tigers and dragons borrowed from each other. This may also be a phenomenon in which the jade tiger evolves into a jade dragon.
Third, the jade dragon of the late Shang Dynasty and the latter period continues the shape of the tiger head jade dragon in the early Shang Dynasty. The shape of the jade dragon in the late Shang Dynasty and the shape of the jade dragon in the late Shang Dynasty are compared, the shape, body, and decorative pattern are different, and there are many plain faces, but the first form is the same, all are tiger heads, all can belong to the tiger head jade dragon, these phenomena show that the late Shang Dynasty and the late Shang Dynasty And the jade dragon continues the shape of the jade dragon in the late Shang Dynasty, which is also a tiger head jade dragon.
Zhu Naicheng said that these three phenomena show that there is a close relationship between the tiger head jade dragon in the late Shang Dynasty and the jade tiger in the late Shang Dynasty, and the former evolved from the latter. (End)