Feel the original aesthetic

At present, the oldest pottery ding has been discovered The red pottery ding with a nipple pattern unearthed at the site of Xinzhengpei Ligang in Henan, 22 cm high and 23 cm in diameter, is now in the Henan Museum. The nipple pattern red pottery ding body is a deep abdominal pelvic shape, and the mouth edge is full of coarse breast nails, which not only increases the beauty, but also plays a role in strengthening the body. As a practical cooker, Tao Ding mostly uses sand-filled pottery to enhance its heat resistance. (Image source: Henan Museum website)

Among the remains of pottery, bronze, iron, jade and textiles unearthed by archaeology, only pottery and jade can survive for the longest time, and the historical information preserved is more accurate and representative; The profound cultural heritage also inspires us to constantly generate new reverie...

Chinese civilization has a long history.

Not long ago, I went to Xinzheng, Henan. History says that the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan was born 5,000 years ago in Xuanyuan Hill, Xinzhengbeiguan. The local scenic spot with the theme of "Roots of the Chinese Nation" was built in the hometown of the Yellow Emperor. Some scholars believe that the era in which the Yellow Emperor lived roughly corresponds to the middle and late Yangshao culture in archaeology. When people think of the 5,000-year history of civilization of the Chinese nation, they will think of this.

One more thing is even more remarkable. The 8,000-year-old Pei Ligang site is also located in Xinzheng. I stood at the site of the excavation site, and the sunlight shone on this ancient yellow land that had been excavated into rows of exploration squares. The cultural relics restoration base of the archaeological site is an ordinary farmhouse, but when you step into the courtyard, you will feel a soul-shaking baptism of prehistoric civilization.

In the spring of 1977, archaeologists discovered the early Neolithic site in Xinzhengpei Ligang, and unearthed various utensils, with a unique cultural appearance. This independent archaeological culture belonging to the middle Neolithic period was named "Pei Ligang culture" by the archaeological community.

The pottery unearthed at the Pei Ligang site is the most impressive, showing that the human living environment in Pei Ligang has transitioned to settlement. The relatively stable food supply gave rise to multiple needs for cooking utensils among the ancestors. Among the unearthed artifacts, a large number of grinding stone tools such as millstones, grinding rods, shovels, sickles and so on appeared. At the site of the site, I saw serrated stone sickles, slightly thicker in the middle and tapering on the sides, with a curved back and a thin straight serrated blade. Pei Ligang Xianmin made sand red pottery, and the firing temperature was 900 °C to 960 °C. The coarse sand grains added to the pottery will loosen the texture, increase air permeability, and reduce chipping at high temperatures. Among the clay pots, pottery dings and pottery bowls I saw, many of them had clear traces of handmade clay strips, all of which showed that the pottery process at that time had reached a certain stage of maturity.

The survival needs of human beings are the driving force behind the formation of primitive aesthetics. In the long primitive social stage, the means of tool production changed from beating to grinding, which is not only a sign of the progress of productive forces, but also provides an important platform for the emergence of aesthetic concepts. In addition to the means of production, the pottery unearthed by Pei Ligang is even more stunning. Three-legged bowls, deep-belly jars, and amphora pots are all popular styles in Pei-Ligang culture. An archaeologist at the site shows an unearthed amphora red clay pot with two symmetrical ears attached to the upper part of its abdomen and perforated ears; The whole body is flat, simple in shape, simple and generous. The concept of symmetry, the means of maintaining stability and the simple and bright form convey the primitive beauty of human infancy and have presented multiple elements of aesthetics. As a coppersmith, I have a special affection for and reverence for the potters thousands of years ago. When I look at the smooth and delicate, rounded red clay clay pot, I still feel the temperature of the craftsman's palm, and I can't help but exclaim: What is the difference between this and the devices we make with contemporary technology?

As the foundation of intangible cultural heritage, the development and evolution of aesthetics has gone through a long process. From the beginning of human beings entering the stage of civilization, important aesthetic features and elements in different stages have been continuously discovered and connected through archaeological excavations. Pei Ligang, who represents the original pottery culture, unearthed clay pots, pottery pipes, pottery bowls and pottery dings, which outline a gorgeous picture of social production and life at that time; Even in contemporary times, the design concept of Pei Ligang cultural ancestors has also attracted people's admiration of "beauty". This also caused artists to think about tracing and thinking. Our understanding and expression of beauty, aesthetic identity, social continuity and re-creation today, our footprints begin here?

Houmu Pending, Mao Gongding, Dake Ding, etc. are all well-known national treasure bronzes. "Say Wen Xie Zi" said: "Three legs and two ears, and the treasure of five flavors." "In the Bronze Age, the ding was regarded as a heirloom and represented supreme power. But how did Ding, a common and mysterious instrument, appear? I saw the earliest and oldest ding unearthed by Pei Ligang in Zhengzhou - the red pottery ding with nipple nail pattern. The rows of breast nails on the ding body are rough and neatly arranged, the bottom is three conical small feet skimmed, just the right proportion, stable triangular support ancient and simple style, so that I deal with copper every day, used to seeing bronze ding, I can't help exclaiming: "God!" Isn't this kind of milk nails with beautiful structure and decoration on the pottery ding, which is the standard for most bronze dingmei decorations in later generations? It can be said that these pottery of Pei Ligang culture is almost exactly the same as the plastic art of bronze ding in the future, and it has both gods and shapes. After a long time, Tao Ding's vivid, simple and vigorous beauty gushed out, stirring people's hearts. The "Shiji Feng Chanshu" recorded: "The Yellow Emperor mined the copper of the first mountain and cast it under the Jing Mountain". Legend has it that the Yellow Emperor cast the three bronze dings of heaven, earth and man. Pei Ligang's clay craftsman himself did not realize that the clay forms repeatedly poured on his hands would become a symbol of power and status, and even a symbol of the state, by the Bronze Age. The Chinese Ding culture came in great strides and continues to this day.

In October 2021, among the "100 Great Archaeological Discoveries in 100 Years" announced at the 3rd China Archaeology Conference, there were 33 Neolithic archaeological discoveries comparable to the Xinzhengpei Ligang site in Henan. Archaeologists believe that the Peiligang culture began on average 5,000 years ago, and the earliest even as far as 8,000 years ago, with a wide distribution and long duration. In 2023, the ruins of Yangshao Village in Yuchi, Henan, the ruins of Erlitou in Henan, and the ruins of Zhengzhou Shangcheng in Henan around Pei Ligang have all been newly listed in the fourth batch of national archaeological site parks. These sites are either similar to the Pei-Ligang cultural era, or have evolved from top to bottom. In the new cultural context, contemporary public archaeology and the dissemination of Chinese culture should pay more attention to a common topic of tangible cultural heritage and "intangible cultural heritage": the continuous evolution of Pei-Ligang culture provides a way to explore the source of original aesthetics; The Yellow Emperor's "land of bears", Xinzheng, can already be called an important birthplace of traditional Chinese aesthetics.

From the analysis of the connotation of the cultural relics unearthed, archaeologists believe that the Pei Ligang people had broken away from the primitive state of "slash and burn" 8,000 years ago and began the hoeing agricultural civilization, laying the foundation for entering the heyday of Yangshao culture.

Previous excavations have also found symbolic primitive writing engraved on tortoise shells, bone tools and stone tools, which provide clues for the study of early Chinese writing.

(Source: Henan Department of Culture and Tourism website)

(The author is a master of Chinese arts and crafts, a member of the Cultural Relics Restoration Committee of the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics)