Chapter 2 Chapter 1 Primitive Sculpture

The most representative sculptures in the primitive period of China should be the pottery sculptures of the Neolithic Age. (Picture 1) They are made of clay, a soft material, and then fired.The production of pottery in our country will not be later than 10,000 years ago at the latest. Judging from the discovered pottery sculptures, such as the pottery pig unearthed in Peiligang, Xinzheng County, Henan Province in 1977, and the pottery pig unearthed in E〔e〕gou, Mi County, Henan Province in 1978. The pottery sculptures of human heads all belong to the Peiligang culture, and the time can be traced back to 8,000 years ago.From 8,000 years ago to 4,000 years ago at the end of the primitive society, primitive people all over the land of China created countless pottery sculptures. After thousands of years of washing, there are still a considerable number of remains.Some of these pottery sculptures are independent sculptures, such as pottery birds, pottery pigs, and pottery fish; Both practical and beautiful utensils, such as turtle-shaped utensils, pig-shaped utensils and so on.The content expressed by primitive pottery sculptures, like all cultures in primitive society, is remote and mysterious.For example, in the Weihe River Basin and the upper reaches of the Han River in Qinghai, Gansu, and Shaanxi, nearly 10 vases with human heads and caps have been unearthed successively. There are girls' heads and old people's heads. The shapes of the bottles are all big-bellied and flat-bottomed.There are three aspects of this human-head-covered bottle that make people think deeply: one is that there are generally small holes the size of soybean grains on the top of their heads. What kind of container has such a small opening?The second is that some bottlenecks are made of mud sticks to form a winding snake body, which is connected to the human head of the bottle cap. What is the meaning of this representation of a human head and a snake body?The third is that this kind of bottle is very precious in the eyes of primitive people. In this vast area, there are as many as 40,000 to 50,000 pieces of Neolithic relics, and there are only a few pieces of this kind of bottle. There are traces of bonding by primitive people at that time, why did the primitive ancestors cherish it so much?The most popular answer to the above questions is that the bottle contains the bones of the deceased, and the small opening on the top of the bottle is reserved for the soul to enter and exit.This kind of answer can't completely solve the problem. For example, what kind of bones are in the bottle with the human head and snake body?There are many pottery sculptures similar to this eternal mystery.Another example is a Tiliang pot belonging to the Dawenkou Culture unearthed in Sanlihe Village, Jiaoxian County, Shandong Province.The pottery sculptures of Dawenkou culture are mostly animal shapes, and this pot with beams also has this cultural characteristic.The whole utensil is in the shape of a turtle, but the head molded under the upward flow of the pot looks like a glans head or a snake head. The long tail at the back bends forward and merges with the handle.Based on what?Another example is the painted pottery pot unearthed in Liuwan, Ledu County, Qinghai Province. A strange nude figure is embossed on the pot body.This figure has both male breasts and female plump breasts; the genitals have both male and female characteristics.What is the meaning of this portrait of man and woman?The original pottery figures usually have full noses, hollow eyes, and slightly open mouths. However, due to differences in the shape and position of the eyes, the length of the nose, and the size of the opening of the mouth, each statue has its own personality and characteristics.Judging from today's perspective, the facial expressions of these pottery figures are slightly surprised, and the eyes are mostly staring and puzzled.Perhaps, in the face of many incomprehensible natural phenomena and human phenomena, primitive people can only make such expressions.

In addition to pottery sculpture, jade carving (cutting and grinding) is another major category of Neolithic sculpture.Jade was discovered by primitive people and worshiped by primitive people.In the eyes of primitive people, jade is the beauty of stone, and it can communicate with gods, that is, it has the mysterious power to connect the two worlds of gods and humans. If jade is used to make symbolic utensils, this power will be multiplied.Like Cong, its shape is square on the outside and circle on the inside to symbolize the universe, the hollow cylinder symbolizes the pillar of the sky, and the figure carved on the outer wall is the assistant of the wizard Tongtian.The cong made of jade strengthened the aura of witches and witches.Today's field archeology proves that China is not only the first country in the world to use jade (such as the green serpentine stone tools from the Xianrendong site in Haicheng, which is more than 12,000 years old), but also a country that uses jade in large quantities.The jade wares of China's primitive society were unearthed in different cultural layers from the early to the late Neolithic Age, distributed from Taiwan in the east to Xinjiang and Tibet in the west; from Inner Mongolia in the north to Guangdong in the south.Among them, the Xiliao River Basin, the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River are the three regions with the highest density and abundance of unearthed jade articles.Among these three areas, the West Liaohe River Basin and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, one in the north and one in the south, have made the most achievements.The jade wares of the Hongshan Culture in the West Liaohe River Basin are mostly animal shapes. From these animal shapes, it can be traced back to the origin of some admirable objects in Chinese culture.For example, the Yulong in Hongshan culture is called the first dragon in China because it is the earliest three-dimensional dragon image in China.As a witness of history, the era when the jade dragon appeared was the period when the matrilineal clan replaced the patrilineal clan. Therefore, although the dragon has a male and female character in Chinese history, its main image has always been a masculine fetish.However, the jade dragon in the Hongshan culture is far from the fangs and claws of the later dragons, and it is basically a reptile form.One of them is called Zhushoulong (unearthed in Jianping County, Liaoning) curled up like an embryo of an animal.Another black jade dragon (unearthed from Ongniud Banner, Inner Mongolia), although the body of the curled basic prototype has been stretched a lot, the feet and claws have not yet appeared.Sharp teeth (pig-headed dragon) and prototypes of horns (black jade dragon) have begun to appear in these two jade carvings.In the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, which is the present-day Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, from the Hemudu Culture more than 7,000 years ago, through the Majiabang Culture, Songze Culture, Beiyinyangying Culture, and the Liangzhu Culture in the late Neolithic Age, jade articles have been unearthed one after another, and the Liangzhu Culture Jade ware is regarded as the most prominent representative of Chinese Neolithic jade ware because of its large number, variety of categories and exquisite carving.If the jade wares of the Hongshan Culture are made of animal images (dragons, turtles, owls [xiaoxiao], fish, etc.) Exquisite geometric shapes (cong, bi, Yue (yueyue), huang, crown ornaments, etc.), are marked by inherent etiquette characteristics.However, in terms of the rich culture of jade wares, Liangzhu culture jade wares are of course the most important.The reasons are as follows:

(1) In the development history of Chinese jade wares, jade wares of Liangzhu culture play a link between the past and the future. In the Hemudu culture, jade huang and jade bi appear; in the Songze culture, jade huang and jade bi appear; , and added jade cong.Among the "six vessels" of Shang and Zhou ritual vessels, Cangbi, Huangcong, Qinggui, Chizhang, Baihu, and Xuanhuang, the Hemudu culture is the first (Huang), the Songze culture is the second (Huang, Bi), and the Liang Zhu culture has three (Huang, Bi, Cong), and its development is clear at a glance. (2) Liangzhu culture jade is a rich carrier of primitive culture.The cong, huang, bracelet, ax and crown ornaments in Liangzhu culture jades have exquisite patterns. It is the "text" of these images that reveals some information of the past to the present people thousands of years later.For example, the ornamentation on the jade cong, some scholars combined with the literature, believe that it has the connotation of primitive witchcraft.Another example is crown ornaments, which were often called jade pendants in the past. Later, because such ornaments were found to be placed next to the skull of the deceased during archaeological excavations, and there were small holes for binding, they were inferred to be a kind of crown ornaments; carved on the crown ornaments The tall feather crowns of gods and men can be used to infer the specific style of the crown ornaments of tribal leaders in primitive society.In addition, in the Liangzhu jade wares, there are some inscriptions that some scholars today consider to be legible characters.

(3) The jade wares of Liangzhu Culture are monuments of jade carving in primitive society.The relief and openwork carvings of Liangzhu culture jades are exquisite, and the round carvings of small animals are vivid.The outer walls of the jade cong in the Liangzhu Culture are mostly embossed with the faces of gods, humans and animals.This kind of relief is a combination of blocks and lines: the theme decoration is raised in the form of relief; in the theme decoration, various details are carved with Yin lines, and the next plane outside the theme decoration is covered with Yin line carved cloud patterns , arcs, short straight lines, etc.This technique is actually the forerunner of the "three-layered flower" of Shang and Zhou bronzes.After the Shang and Zhou dynasties, this method of combining lines and surfaces was also widely used in the stone reliefs of the Han Dynasty and Buddhist sculptures after the Han Dynasty.The carving method represented by jade cong, as a tradition of Chinese sculpture, has a clear and orderly development process.

Including Liangzhu Culture, Dawenkou Culture, Longshan Culture and Hongshan Culture, many primitive society sites have unearthed many jade decorative objects, and there is still no unified view on the functions of these objects.Based on the primitive people's understanding of the incredible supernatural power of jade, and considering the preciousness of jade as a material and the difficulty in processing, these ornaments cannot be regarded as purely aesthetic ornaments from today's perspective.Why wear it?Who will wear it?You have to contact the power of Yu Neng Tongshen.For example, Liangzhu culture jades were not just for the purpose of artistic creation, and the meticulous production by primitive people must have a more mysterious meaning.Judging from some well-preserved tombs, the jade bi was placed on the chest and abdomen of the deceased, and the jade cong ring was placed around the deceased. This may contain the mysterious functions of jade that can protect the corpse and immortalize the soul.