Neolithic dragon jade decoration is the earliest dragon in Nanjing

With the approaching of the Year of the Dragon, people are paying more attention to the topic of "Dragon." Chinese people have always had special feelings towards dragons. It is a symbol of Auspicious, represents a kind of faith, a kind of spirit and a kind of power, so we Chinese people love it very much. But it has always been above and above, "Dragon did not see the end of the first", then how can we get their blessing? In fact, Long has always been with us, especially in Nanjing, a place known as the “Tiger Dragonfly”. As long as you observe it carefully, you will find many dragons, and many dragons have their own special stories...

The reporter of Long Yushi, the earliest Long Neolithic Age in Nanjing, visited the streets, cultural relics and historic sites in Nanjing. He discovered that the oldest dragon in Nanjing was exhibited in the Nanjing Museum of Chaotian Palace. These two dragons came from the Neolithic Age and are from the site of the Yingpan Mountain in Pukou, Nanjing. They are two dragon-shaped jade ornaments. One of these two dragons is "Lifting the Dragon". The neck is lifted upwards. The other is "Heading Dragon". The dragon head is bent down.

Wang Zhigao, a researcher at the Nanjing Museum, said that these two dragon-shaped jade ornaments were unearthed in the 1980s. The Yingpan Mountain culture belongs to the Liangzhu Culture, which is the culture of 5,000 years ago. Well, that is to say, in the four or five thousand years ago, dragon culture had appeared here in Nanjing.

The reporter read some books about the dragon and discovered that the earliest dragon shape in China was discovered only about 6,000 years ago in the tomb of the Yangshao Cultural Area in Xishuipo, Puyang, Henan Province. It is a dragon image piled up in a clam shell. The earliest dragon appearing in the jade ware should be a C-shaped jade dragon found in the 5,000-year-old Hongshan culture. As such, the Yulong unearthed in Yingpanshan, Pukou, Nanjing, should be considered an earlier dragon.

The dragon's position is supreme in most people's eyes. Most of the time it represents the royal family. However, in the Wei and Jin period, the status of the dragon did not seem very high, because generally Saying that the dragon is a "partner" with the Phoenix, embodying the good intentions of a dragon and a phoenix, but at the Nanjing Museum, the reporter saw a peculiar combination of dragons and chickens.

In a group of porcelain from the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the reporter saw several celadon artifacts called chicken dragon pots.

The spouts of these pots are shaped like chicken heads, and the handles of the pots are made with the image of a dragon. The mix of chicken and dragon is too strange. Wang Zhigao said that he did not know why he was popular with chicken pots at that time. However, besides using the chicken head as the spout, there were pots with the image of the sheep's head, dog's head, etc., which may be related to the 12th Chinese zodiac. The 12 Zodiacs also originated from the period of the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties. These animals are very much alive, so they are used in everyday life.

Not only is the shape of the potting peculiar, Wang Zhigao said that there are controversies about the use of these chicken head pots. Some people think that these pots are used to make hip flasks, but others believe that they are used to boil water. The arguments are different, and what their purpose is, only their masters know.

No one has ever seen but the most mighty dragon spotted his eyes and flew back to the story of dragons in Nanjing. There is a dragon that is called the real “Dragon head but no end”, and no one has ever seen it, but it The impact is far-reaching, that is, the legendary dragon.

As we all know, the dragon is a fictional image. Therefore, since the dragon was "born", its appearance has not been fixed. In the Song Dynasty, a man named Luo Yuan produced a "standard image" for the dragon - the angle resembles a deer, the head is like a camel, the eye is like a rabbit, the item resembles a snake, the scaly fish, the claws like an eagle, the palm like a tiger, and the ear Like cattle. Regardless of "standard", the dragon is a kind of animal that does not exist in real life. However, according to historical records, the painter of the Southern Dynasties, Zhang Hao, painted the original non-existent dragon. This magical legend happened in Nanjing 1500 years ago.

Zhang Jian is a member of Wuzhong (now Suzhou) in the Southern Dynasties. He is good at painting dragons. He is the court painter of Liang Wudi. The people he had seen and the people he had seen in the dragon's evaluation were "various and varied." It is said that at the time of the Anle Temple in Nanjing (known as Jiankang), there was a painted wall with two dragons on each side, two on each side. These mighty dragons are bold and prosperous, and they seem to take off at any time. However, after looking closely, they found that none of the four dragons had eyes. So someone asked Zhang Yan, why don't you give the dragon some of his eyes. Zhang Hao replied: If you put your eyes on, I'm afraid the dragon will fly into space. It is ridiculous for others to listen. In desperation, Zhang Hao raised the pen and opened his eyes to the two dragons on the wall. That night, thunderstorms made a big splash. The two dragons that had crossed their eyes blew up in the thunderstorm and flew to heaven. The next morning, people were surprised to find that on the other side, the two dragons that did not have their eyes still remained.

This magical story is recorded in Zhang Yanyuan's The Famous Paintings of Ancient Dynasties. According to Shi Xizai, An Le Temple in the "Qinhuai Water North", there are experts believe that An Le Temple is located in the vicinity of the Confucius Temple today. Temples are nowhere to be found now. What's more shameful is that Zhang Jian’s dragon paintings had already been lost in the Song Dynasty. Only this wonderful legend of “finishing the finishing touches” has left us with endless memories.

The most expensive and gorgeous dragon accessories on the belt of the founding father of the Ming Dynasty Nanjing was the capital of the Ming Dynasty, and the image of the dragon has gradually matured and gradually became a symbol of the emperor's house, so the dragon that appeared in Nanjing at this time is also very many. Among the numerous cultural relics in the Ming Dynasty, there are a group of dragons whose status is special. They are kept in the high-profile exhibition hall of the “Yutang Jiaju” of the Nanjing Museum. This is a group of dragons on ancient belt accessories. What's so strange about a belt accessory? But this belt accessory is not something that ordinary people can have, but the emperor gives it to the hero.

When mentioning the founding heroes of the Ming Dynasty, many friends talked about it. Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Tang He, Li Wenzhong, and Liu Ji... The story about them was passed on from ear to ear. However, among these heroic figures, Wang Xingzu may not be well-known, but one of the artifacts unearthed in his tomb may be “obvious”. This is the “Jintuo Yunlong jade ribbon plate”.

Song Yan, a staff member of the Nanjing Museum, told the reporter that in October 1970, the group's jade strips were excavated from the tombs of a Ming Dynasty outside the Central Gate of Nanjing. According to the records of Ming History, Wang Xingzu is a member of the county of Chuzhou (now Hefei, Anhui Province). When he was a teenager, Wang Xingzu was the adopted son of Zhang Desheng who was a member of the Zhu Yuanzhang and changed his name to Zhang. In the 20th year of Zheng Zheng (1360), Zhang Desheng and Chen Youliang died in front of the battle in a battle of quarrying. Wang Xingzu inherited his father’s office and followed Zhu Yuanzhang’s Southern Campaign for more than a decade in the North’s war, setting a lot of exploits for the Ming Dynasty’s unification. During the four years of Hong Wu’s four years when Wang Xingzu and Fu Youde attacked Sichuan, Zhong Feishi was killed and Dong Shenghou was sealed up. His son was given a commemorative ticket and the generation enjoyed privilege.

This set of 14 jade belts is carved with pure and moisturizing white hetian jade, and the bottom is gilded. The main strips are decorated with drill-and-sculpture carvings, which show the upper and lower bodies of the dragon body in overlapping layers. Longshou's carvings are particularly exquisite and show the dignity of the dragon. This is a masterpiece of ancient Chinese jade carving techniques.

The reporter saw in the museum that this group of jade ribbon plates is indeed exquisite and unusual, but it is very curious how it is used, because the group has as many as 14 pieces, gold and jade itself is quite heavy, are all decorated on the waist? Song Yan said that in fact, the number of 14 blocks is still incomplete. According to Zhang Zilie's "Zheng Zi Tong" in the Ming Dynasty, a complete jade belt was recorded by the Santai, Yuantao, Paifang, Fishtail, and Fuyu. It is composed of a total of 20 pieces. The set of jade strips unearthed by Wang Xingzu’s tomb may be stolen. It may be that the imperial court had not established a system yet, allowing the existence of less than 20 jade belts. Everything is still a mystery.

In any case, this group of jade belt plates are noble and gorgeous symbols. According to the records of Ming Shi Lu, during the early Ming Dynasty, the use of leather belts had extremely strict regulations. Wenwu officials used different textures and leather belts for each of the nine official titles: Yipin jade belt, Erpinhuaxiu belt, and Sanpinjinhualian belt. , Four-fingered gold ribbon, five silver enamel flowers, six products, seven elements of silver, eight products, nine products wujiao. In major festivals, ministers are required to wear dark suits with different leather belts to show different levels of status. So ordinary people want to wear it yet.

Inside the museum, a set of glittering gold ribbon plates are displayed next to the jade ribbon plate. There are twenty pieces of this ribbon plate. Both of them are made of hammer dragonflies. The dragons are four claws, hence the name “蟒”. Dragon. Long mouth spit clouds, powerful and powerful. No tombstone or epitaph was found in the tomb where the gold belt was unearthed. However, from the same high-grade cultural relics as the amber belt, jade cup and jade disk that were unearthed, the identity and status of the tomb should be quite high.

The most depressing dragons are eaten by infertile women because the dragons are auspicious creatures in mythology and are able to get sick. So we all like them, respect them, and some people even wanted to “eat” them.

The two posts on the doorway of Nanjing Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum were "destroyed" because of the entanglement of Yunlong. Ming Xiaoling's archeologist Lu Yong told reporters that the two pillars at the entrance of Ming Xiaoling's Mausoleum were still relatively intact, but by the end of the Qing dynasty, they did not know which rivers and lakes were out of whim, saying that it was an infertile woman who had eaten. Look at the pillar of stone powder, you can live a dragon phoenix. Many superstitious women listened to rumours and rushed to excavate the stones on the pillars. They went back to grinding powder and drank them. As a result, there is now a hole in the column.

When the reporter visited the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, he found that there were indeed a lot of potholes on the surface of the column, especially on the side facing the gate. The original pattern was basically unclear. Pattern. At the beginning, the reporter thought that the pits had been worn out for years and then it became like this. There was a story like this.

Lu Yong said that the pair of pillars of the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum opened a new carving style. Prior to this, the top of the Shinto pillars since the Tang and Song dynasties were all made into a lotus-style style, but since the beginning of Zhu Yuanzhang, these Shinto columns have been Changed to the top of the cylindrical dragon pattern, but also highlights the feeling of royal authority. However, Zhu Yuanzhang did not expect that this new style of grandeur and manners would bring such a consequence to Wang Zhuo. Because there is a dragon pattern on the column and the shape is more masculine, he was used by a few rivers and lakes and he thought that infertile women ate like Positive things can be pregnant.

The most legged dragon legs in the park

Should a dragon have several legs? According to today's point of view, it should be four legs. Of course, in ancient times, there was a single-legged dragon called "Yao." But have you seen the dragon with five or six legs? In Xia Ma Fang Park, there are more than four legs in the dragon. You can find five or six legs.

When the reporter went to Xia Ma Fang Park, he found a dragon stone wall erected here, about five or six meters long. Both front and back were engraved with a dragon. It was an imposing manner. Unfortunately, this dragon was divided into three sections. . If you look closely, you will find that there are many legs in this dragon, but because the stone is incomplete, the specific legs are not very clear. The whole body only shows a dragon. Lu Ling told reporters that in fact, this dragon wall is not a whole, it is pieced together. At the time of excavation of the site, a few stone walls were found, but they were all incomplete. There may be more than one such wall, but in order to save a memorial, archeologists put together a few blocks of rock that they could fit together and put them there. For people to visit. At the time, there were a few such dragon walls that were still unclear and the specific uses were unknown. However, from the point of view of the carving, it is true that the Ming Dynasty sculpture is no doubt. It still looks beautiful and delicate today.

Lu Yong said that not only the wall of Xia Ma Fang was patchwork, but also the dragon wall at the entrance to the park at Midnight was patched together. At that time, the Forbidden City (microblogging) was supposed to have such cliffs in various places. However, because of the destruction of war, these cliffs were scattered everywhere. Then, in order to recover, they restored several pieces that could be put together.

The status of the treasure Dragon Dragon in the most ambiguous Dragon King Palace was elevated during the Ming and Qing Dynasties and became a symbol of the emperor's house. However, in the era of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the status of the dragon has changed again, and there is still an unknown story.

At the corner of the Heavenly Kingdom’s Heavenly King’s Mansion (Presidential Office), at the corner of Xijia Garden Xijia Tower, there is a five-pronged dragon wall on the north facing wall. This dragon wall is carved out of nine ink blue bricks. The dragon heads on the top of the dragon's face are sturdy and powerful, but they are not deterrence; clouds are lingering and the tide is light.

However, what makes people wonder is that the dragon is a symbol of the emperor, should have been upright, why does the dragon sit south to the north and huddles in the shade? The Minister of the Exhibition and Exhibition Department of the Presidential Office told reporters that there is an interesting story. Hong Xiuquan only believed in "God" and did not believe in "evil god." The Dragon King and Hong Xiuquan, both believed by the Chinese since ancient times, believe it is "Dragon Demons." The Taiping army, who has acquired dragon shape in the war, is called "demon dragon" and must use long arrows to shoot longans.

After setting the capital to Tianjing, Hong Xiuquan transformed the Qingjiang Liangjiang General Office of the Qing Dynasty into the Heavenly King's Mansion and created the Golden Dragon Palace. After emulating the emperors in all aspects of clothing, etiquette and other aspects, he gradually accepted the dragon culture. In order to give Long Zhengming, soon after, Hong Xiuquan noticed everyone. He met Heavenly Father and Tianxiong in Heaven, and also met Kong Mou (Confucius) and Guanyin. The brother-in-law told him that Guanyin is "a sister." As for Kong Mou, "Ben in heaven, fled under the mortal world and turned the demon people, so the Heavenly Father was furious. He caught the high heavens and punished him for gardening." Someone asked Wang of Hong Tian, ​​since the dragon is the demon, Tian Wang Fu. Why do you want to make a golden dragon temple? Hong Xiuquan replied that he saw Heavenly Father with Jinlong Temple in heaven, so he also made Jinlong Hall. According to the rumors of Heavenly Father, he also set the following "The dragon that is engraved in the Heavenly Kingdom of Heaven. It is a treasure dragon, and he does not shoot his eyes."

After the palace was created, dragons were carved everywhere, not only the Golden Dragon Palace but also the Golden Dragon City.

Today, we saw the five-claw dragon on the wall of the Xijia Building, which was the product of the dragon's ban on the dragon. Compared with other "demon dragons" whose reversal and retrieving scales are sharp, this "baby dragon" looks extraordinarily good.

Some areas use “Pangolin” instead of “Dragon”

The upcoming Lunar New Year in 2012 is a year of the dragon. People will say goodbye to the cute rabbits and look at the majestic dragon. However, in some areas, people do not necessarily “remember the dragon” because their zodiac culture is different from the Han nationality.

In the book “Tengfeilong: 2012 Dragon Year Exhibition” compiled by the Nanjing Museum, the reporter saw that the names and order of the zodiac signs of the Yi people in Ailaoshan, Yunnan, China are: tigers, rabbits, pangolins, snakes, horses, sheep, and monkeys. , chickens, dogs, pigs, rats, sheep. The tiger ranked first and the dragon was replaced by pangolins. However, with the spread of the dragon culture, it is said that there are now dragons to replace pangolins. The zodiac signs of the Dong people in Guixi include not only dragons but also phoenies. The order is: dragons, phoenixes, horses, ants, people, chickens, dogs, pigs, crows, cows, tigers and snakes. The Zodiac in most areas of the Li nationality is the same as the Han nationality, while the Maodao Li people use the "worm" to replace the "tiger", the "cat" to replace the "rabbit", the "fish" to replace the snake, and the "meat" to replace the "horse". To "human" on behalf of "sheep."

In addition to China, many countries also have a zodiac sign. For example, in Vietnam, the zodiac is almost the same as China, except that “cats” are used instead of “rabbits”. The Chinese zodiac signs are: rats, cows, lions, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, golden-winged birds, dogs, pigs. In Greece and Egypt, the zodiac is ranked as follows: cows, goats, lions, donkeys, crabs, snakes, dogs, cats, crocodilians, flamingos, dragonflies, and eagles.

woven lanyard

China Jacquard Lanyard, China Woven Lanyard, Simple Logo Lanyard

Silkscreen Printed Lanyards,Sublimation / Heat-transfer Lanyards Co., Ltd. , http://www.chpolyesterlanyards.com