Hongshan Jade Dragon
Hongshan Jade Dragon, also named as "Sanxing Tala Jade Dragon", is called as the "No. 1 Dragon of China", which was excavated in Hongshan Culture Site in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. With a history of 8,000 years, it is a dragon-shaped jade ware excavated with the longest history in China up to now. The jade art development peak of China's jade in the primitive society is the Hongshan Culture period in North and Liangzhu Culture stage in South with Hongshan Jade Dragon and Liangzhu Jade as the representatives. In addition, fine jade wares are also discovered in Dawenkou Culture and Longshan Culture sites.
Hongshan Jade Dragon is engraved by an entire dark green jade, and the embossment was adopted in the tiny parts. Therefore, the craftwork is quite fine and of high art value. The entire Jade Dragon is in a C shape with a relatively long mouth and an exposed nose, so it has features of the pig head and it can be presumed that it original shape maybe originates from the pig. Therefore, it is also called as a "Pig Dragon". The tail of the dragon is curled inward and rises upwards so that the sculpture is balanced.
There is a round hole in the center of the Jade Dragon back and through which it can be hanged by a rope. At time of hanging, the dragon bone tail is just on a same level. Obviously, the position of the hole is calculated delicately. Considering of the huge jade dragon shape and the special sculpture, it can be presumed that it is not just a common decoration article, but a worship article closely related to the primitive religious worship.
The dragon image imaged by the people in the ancient times can be seen from Hongshan Jade Dragon. The Chinese people always regard itself as the "offspring of dragon", and the origin of dragon is closely related with the shaping of the nationality, history and culture shaping and the beginning of civilized period. Therefore, the study of Hongshan Jade Dragon is very significant to the study of China's primitive religion as well as the development of dragon shape.
