BRM1A: 237 Jade Dragon
Length 8.5, width 1.6, thickness 1.3 cm
Green and white jade, partially qined, with attachments. The perforation is a two-way drill for cheng drilling. This piece of jade was excavated on the east side of the coffin lid, although the ornamentation is not very clear, but it was originally a jade dragon of the late Shang Dynasty, and most of the ornaments were polished and removed, becoming the appearance seen now. If you compare it with the jade dragon left over from the previous piece BRM1A: 37 late Shang, you can find the remaining production traces of this vessel, which can be roughly recognized as the contour line of the jade dragon's foot, and the separation line between the tail and the last part of the jade, so this artifact is actually a regenerated jade after re-polishing. As for the era when the original ornaments were smoothed out, it is estimated that the possibility of the Western Zhou Dynasty should be higher, and it is difficult to confirm whether to continue processing and rebranding into other utensils. For a discussion of recycled jade, please refer to the article in this book.
Discovery and Preliminary Study of Early Ancient City Sites in the Central Plains
Yang Zhaoqing, "Collected Essays commemorating the 35th Anniversary of the Founding of the Archaeology Major of Sichuan University", pp. 76-86, Sichuan University Press, 1998
This article introduces the archaeological findings of the early ancient city sites in the Central Plains and studies them. The ancient city of the late Yangshao cultural era is currently only found in Xishan, Zhengzhou, Henan. During the Longshan cultural period in Henan, there were Dengfeng Wangchenggang Ancient City, Huaiyang Pingliangtai Ancient City, Haojiatai Ancient City, Huixian Mengzhuang Ancient City, and Anyang Hougang Ruins. The main characteristics of the early ancient cities in the Central Plains are: the scale is not large, the shape is relatively regular, the city walls are all made of rammed earth, and there are roads and drainage facilities in the city. The emergence of the early ancient cities in the Central Plains was the inevitable result of the social-historical development and needs of the social productive forces when they developed to a certain extent. The ancient city site of Xishan in Zhengzhou is dating from about 5300 to 4800 years ago, and was built in the early QinWangzhai culture and abandoned in the late period of this culture.
After about 5300 years ago, the Miaodigou culture diverged, and developed into the Qinwangzhai culture, the Dasikong culture, the Xiwangcun culture, the late Banpo culture, and the Majiayao culture. At this time, due to the increase in social property and the increasingly uneven distribution, a small number of people used their power to occupy social wealth, and a new aristocratic class emerged, and the majority became poor and even became the domestic slaves of others. The various social groups wage frequent wars to expand their power and seize the land and wealth of the neighboring social groups. In order to protect the interests of the Group, castle walls and moats for defensive purposes were created. By the time of Longshan, the Central Plains formed the Longshan culture of Henan and the Longshan culture of Shaanxi. Social productivity has increased considerably, with a small number of powerful people devouring social wealth and the majority falling into poverty. At this time classes have emerged, class oppression has taken shape. In order to maintain this situation, the social organization and political system were gradually established, and the primitive clan system began to disintegrate, and it appeared as a central city that ruled one or the other. The social attribute of the ancient city of Xishan in Zhengzhou is a defensive city site, not the capital of a country. Its main function is to defend against the plunder and invasion of external hostile social groups, not against the resistance of the oppressed within the social group. Most scholars believe that the ancient cities of Henan Longshan culture already have the attributes of slavery in terms of social nature, and believe that these ancient cities are one of the signs of the late primitive society of the mainland entering the early slave society. These ancient cities of Longshan, which are within a distance of tens of kilometers to a hundred kilometers, are the capitals of the "Fang Kingdom".
The source of the text is "Research Outline of the Origin of Chinese Civilization", published by Cultural Relics Publishing House in December 2003
Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Research Center for Ancient Civilizations, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed
The pictures and illustrations are from the book "National Jade", edited by the Aurora Civilization Research Center of Peking University, and published in 2010