The earliest dragon in China in the Year of the Dragon: the astronomical meaning and farming culture of Zhou Yiqian's hexagram "seeing the dragon in the field".

Dragon worship has a very ancient historical base in prehistory, and one evidence of this is that there were dragon beliefs and images in ancient America, which is likely the result of prehistoric hunters in Northeast Asia bringing dragon culture and ideas to the Americas before the end of the last ice age.

Zhang Guangzhi believes that ancient Native Americans and East Asian cultures have a common origin and bottom layer from the Upper Paleolithic period, and therefore have a similar cosmology and artistic style (Zhang Guangzhi, "The Bottom of the Pacific Rim of Ancient Chinese Civilization", from Collected Papers on Chinese Archaeology, Joint Publishing House, Beijing, 1999, pp. 357-369). In the religious and ceremonial architecture and art of the Mayan civilization in ancient Mesoamerica, there are images of dragons that closely resemble those found in Chinese art (Michael D. Coe: The Maya, New York: Thames & Hudson, 2002, p126, p137, p171). However, archaeological excavations in mainland China do not appear to have direct evidence that an image of a dragon has appeared in the remains of the Upper Paleolithic period.

The image of the dragon was first derived from astronomy and astronomy

Of course, we can guess that the people who lived in East Asia or the Chinese part of East Asia in the Paleolithic Age already had the concept of dragons, and we can even guess that in their knowledge of the astronomical calendar, there may have been the original concept of the Oriental Canglong Qisu, and the image of the mussel dragon and tiger in the No. 45 tomb of Puyang Xishuipo of Yangshao culture may have a more ancient cultural origin. Mr. Feng Shi pointed out that the image of the dragon was first derived from astronomy and astronomy (Feng Shi, Chinese Astronomical Archaeology, China Social Sciences Press, 2010, p. 411). At present, the earliest image of the dragon that can be seen in China is neither the C-shaped jade dragon of the Hongshan culture, nor the dragon and tiger clam shell sculptures of Puyang Xishuipo, but the piles of some dragons from 8,000 years ago.

In 1994, a large dragon-shaped pile was found in the central square of the Chahai site settlement in Fuxin, Liaoning, with the dragon head and torso stones stacked tightly and the tail loose. The dragon's head is raised and its mouth is open, its back is hunched, and it snaits to the ground. The dragon's head faces southwest, the tail faces northeast, the total length is 19.7 meters, the body width is nearly 2 meters, and the south side of the dragon's belly is a sacrificial pit (Xin Yan: "The excavation of Chahai site has achieved major results again", in the front page of "China Cultural Relics News" on March 19, 1995). The Neolithic site of Jiaodun, Baihu Township, Huangmei, Hubei Province, belongs to the Daxi culture period five or six thousand years ago, and is made of pebbles (Chen Shuxiang: "Huangmei Discovers Neolithic Pebbles to Shape the Dragon", in the front page of China Cultural Relics News, August 22, 1993). Professor Feng Shi believes that the ancient host star of time, Mars, is Antares α Scorpio. Above the position of the dragon-shaped mound of Antares in Huangmei Jiaodun, a constellation of three stars is also sculpted with stones, which is obviously the three stars of Antares that the ancients used to measure the time (Feng Shi, Chinese Astronomical Archaeology, pp. 417-418). It shows that the Huangmei Jiaodun people in the Daxi culture period have made full use of the observation and knowledge of Canglong Qisu to master the calendar and serve agricultural activities.

The C-shaped jade dragon of Hongshan culture

The more famous of the Neolithic sites is, of course, the image represented by the C-shaped jade dragon of the Hongshan culture. Discovered in the spring of 1971 in Sanxingtala Village, Wengniute Banner, Inner Mongolia, the "Sanxing Tala Jade Dragon" can be described as a typical representative of the C-shaped jade dragon of Hongshan and has become the symbol of modern Huaxia Bank. The C-shaped dragon of Hongshan, represented by the three-star Tara jade dragon, evolved from the small curiran of the jade pig, and the pig head of the small curiran dragon is regarded as an important feature of this type of jade. As a classic shape, the styling characteristics of this small curly dragon have a long influence and are still being made in the Shang Dynasty. Mr. Sun Ji believes that this classic curly C-shaped jade dragon is the image of "Kanglong has regrets" (Sun Ji: "Curled Jade Dragon", in Cultural Relics, No. 3, 2001). In the M54 of the garden Zhuang Dongdi in the Yinxu period, several similar C-shaped small curly dragons were also unearthed, which were also found in the Lingjiatan site of the Neolithic Age, as well as the Qianzhangda site of the early Western Zhou Dynasty, the cemetery of the Western Zhou Dynasty in Zhangjiapo, and the cemetery of Yuguo in Sanmenxia. Huaxia Bank is marked by the C-shaped jade dragon of Hongshan culture.

In addition to the red mountain jade dragon, the Puyang clam shell pile plastic dragon is also quite famous. In 1987, the Yangshao Tomb at No. 45 Xishuipo, Puyang, Henan Province, found three groups of animal patterns made of mussel shells, which were more than 5,000 years ago. The owner of the tomb is a man in the prime of life, with a tiger shape of mussel shells on the left (west side), and a dragon shape on the right (east side) of mussel shells, with the dragon's head facing north (Puyang Xishuipo Site Archaeological Team: "1988 Henan Puyang Xishuipo Site Excavation Briefing", Archaeology, 1989, 12). As for the meaning of this dragon, archaeologist Zhang Guangzhi believes that it was the shamanic companion of the tomb owner, helping the tomb owner ascend to heaven and earth, as well as communicating with ghosts and gods. Feng Shi believes that these mussel shell dragon sculptures can only be understood from an astronomical point of view, that is, the elephant of the seven nights of the dragon. The Spring and Autumn equinox is very accurate, and it coincides with the record of the Zhou Ji, showing the origin of the concept of the 28 constellations.

Xia royal family and dragons

After entering the Xia Dynasty, the relationship between the Xia royal family and the dragon was closer, and there are many records of the relationship between the Xia king and the dragon in the literature: "The Classic of Mountains and Seas: The Great Wilderness of the West": "Someone has two green snakes, multiplying two dragons, and the name is Xia Hou Kai (Qi)". "The Classic of Mountains and Seas, Overseas Western Longitude": "After the summer, I started here for nine generations, taking two dragons and covering three layers of clouds." "The Classic of Mountains and Seas, The Classic of the Sea" Guo Pu quoted "Kaixiao": "The cang's death is not rotten at the age of three, and it is dissected with a Wu knife and turned into a yellow dragon." Volume 929 of the "Taiping Yulan" quotes the text of "Returning to Tibet": "Ming Yi said: After the summer of the past, Qizheng rode the flying dragon and ascended to the sky." Xia Qi's grandfather Kun turned into a yellow dragon, and Xia Qi himself ascended to heaven on a dragon and learned witchcraft dances.

In addition, the "Zuo Chuan: 29th Year of Zhao Gong" records that Liu Lei helped King Kong Jia of Xia raise male and female dragons, and made the female dragons into meat sauce as food for King Xia. The Chinese Zheng Yu records that in the late Xia Dynasty, two divine dragons landed in the royal court of Xia, and how King Xia treated these two dragons. "On Heng and Chaos Dragon" also recorded: "In the court of the summer queen, the two dragons are always there. The season is declining in summer, and the two dragons are low".

The close relationship between the Xia Dynasty, China's first dynasty, and the dragon can also be corroborated by the archaeological excavations at the Erlitou site (of course, there are also opinions that this site is inconclusive in Xia, and this paper takes the mainstream view of the domestic archaeological community). As early as the sixties of the last century, pottery fragments with dragon patterns were found in the Erlitou ruins. In the fragment, there are two dragon patterns. The remains of the first three phases of Erli also found dragon pattern pottery shards with claws. The dragon pattern of this pottery shard is carved in yin lines, only half of the head remains, the body is curved, the long tail floats up, and the body is under the foot. The dragon also has a mane (Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: "Yanshi Erlitou: Archaeological Excavation Report from 1959 to 1978", Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, 1999, pp. 197, 199).

In the spring of 2002, a noble tomb 02 V M3 of Erlitou Phase II was discovered in the south courtyard of Erlitou No. 3 foundation site, in which large turquoise tools were found. By the summer and autumn of 2004, the turquoise tool had been cleared out and was a 64.5-centimeter-long turquoise dragon. The turquoise dragon is placed on the skeleton of the tomb owner, from the shoulder to the hip bone, the head of the dragon is facing northwest, the tail is facing southeast, and there is a copper bell next to it. The whole dragon body is composed of more than 2,000 pieces of turquoise of various shapes (Erlitou Working Group, Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: "New Archaeological Discoveries in the Central Area of Erlitou Ruins, Yanshi City, Henan", Archaeology, No. 7, 2005). A large number of archaeological materials about dragons have been unearthed in Erlitou, showing that the first dynasty of China was accompanied by the common origin and development of dragon culture.

Agriculture and the meteorological seasons represented by the dragon

Ancient China was founded on agriculture, and the meteorological seasons represented by dragons were very important. "Zuo Chuan: The Five Years of Huan Gong" recorded: "All rituals, open and sting, the dragon sees and the goose, the first kill and taste, the sting and the sting, and the book." "Serve the pious note: "Big pheasant, the name of the summer sacrifice." Pheasant, far away, far for the hundred grains to seek anointing rain. The dragon saw it. Dragons, horns, and hyper. It is said that in April, the dragon star body sees, all things are prosperous, and the rain is big, so the pheasant sacrifice is also for rain. "After the early spring sting, a suburban festival is held, and when the dragon star appears on the eastern horizon, a pheasant festival is held. The commentary on the obligation clearly explains that when the horns and throats of the dragon appear above the horizon and the body of the dragon is revealed in April, the crops are most in need of rainfall, so a pheasant sacrifice must be held to pray for rain. It can confirm the significance of the so-called "spring equinox" of the dragon recorded in the "Shuowen".

Wen Yiduo was the first to discover that the dragon mentioned in the Qiangua was the dragon body observed by the stars. "Seeing the dragon in the field" means seeing the left corner of the dragon, and "or jumping in the abyss" means that the dragon body begins to enter the abyss of spring water at the time of the autumn equinox. The so-called dragon in the Book of Songs and Shuowen, if it is curled upward, it is the dragon at the spring equinox, and if it curls downward, it is the dragon at the autumn equinox (Wen Yiduo: "Zhou Yiyi Evidence Compilation", from the tenth volume of "Wen Yiduo's Complete Works", Hubei People's Publishing House, 1993, pp. 231-232).

In the ancient Chinese farming culture, in addition to the precise time of the agricultural vernal equinox, the seasonal law of the agricultural cycle of the four seasons also corresponds to the symbolic meaning of the dragon's horn. Dragons in the Yin and Zhou dynasties generally had horns. The word "horn mother" is similar to the meaning of "dragon mother" in the original edition of the oracle bone material "Collection" 670 and 671, which is similar to the meaning of "dragon mother", and is regarded by scholars as evidence that the Yin people Canglong star constellation has "horn". In addition, the hexagram "Zhou Yi Qian" has "see the dragon in the field", which is the record of the dragon's left corner being exposed, and can also be used as a clear proof that the dragon had horns in the Yin Zhou Dynasty.

This is also reflected in the fact that among the dragon stars that the Yin people observe the celestial phenomena, there are also huge dragon horns. After the early spring sting, the dragon's body rose into the air, and people first observed the dragon's large left horn. Alan pointed out that this image of dragon antlers, which resembles the first sprouting antlers, is an imitation of young antlers, as if the antlers have fallen off and have not yet regrown. The antlers shed each year and the snake shed its skin every spring, both symbols of rebirth, and the deer and the snake were often associated in early Siberian art (Ailan, The Mystery of the Turtle: A Study of Mythology, Sacrifice, Art, and Cosmology in the Shang Dynasty, trans. Wang Tao, Sichuan People's Publishing House, 1992, p. 186). Yin Zhou's emphasis on the seasonal occurrence cycle of Longxing is also closely related to the cyclical demand for water by agricultural plants. In this sense, the dragon's horn is used as a cyclical symbol of continuous circulation, falling and regeneration.

From the source of early Chinese civilization, the belief and concept of dragons have a very ancient origin. The concept of the dragon has an astronomical background and corresponds to the spring equinox and other time seasons, which have important meanings for the life of agricultural civilization and are also symbols of a good life.

Therefore, in the legends of China's first dynasties, those kings often had various magical connections with dragons. The worship of the dragon by the ancient Chinese not only manifested it as a pile of sculptures, jade, and turquoise, but also internalized it as a symbol of the cultural and psychological structure of a nation's collective memory. Embodied in the communication of modern civilization, it is the jade dragon of Hongshan culture, which is regarded as the symbol of modern Huaxia Bank. This symbol connecting the ancient and the modern, through the symbol of the "dragon", runs through time and space, connecting the ancient and the modern.

• (This article is the author's personal opinion and does not represent the position of this newspaper)

Li Jingheng

Editor-in-charge: Chen Bin