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The Liangzhu Culture: Its Discovery and its Jades

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2015

Sun Zhixin
Sun Zhixin*
Affiliation:
34 Linden Lane Princeton, New Jersey 08540
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Extract

The discovery of neolithic remains in 1936 at a place called Liangzhu near Hangzhou was the first evidence of a culture which in recent decades has revolutionized the prehistory of the lower Yangzi region. The great antiquity of sites in this region was established in the late 1960s by radiocarbon dating, which overthrew the prevailing theory that the agricultural way of life originated at a single center of innovation in the Yellow River valley and diffused to the east coast only in historic times. Subsequent archaeological work not only established the local sequence of neolithic cultures but also, at a series of major Liangzhu sites, revealed extravagantly furnished burials whose wealth raises puzzling question about the structure of Liangzhu society. Chief among the furnishings of these graves are large numbers of jades — objects remarkable for their strange shapes and designs and even more remarkable for their superlative workmanship. The first section of this essay reviews the history of Liangzhu archaeology, connecting it with the changes of thinking that Chinese neolithic archaeology has undergone in the past half century. The second section discusses a few of the issues raised by Liangzhu jades: material sources, the origin of the bi and cong shapes, and the relation between Liangzhu jades and Shang jades.

Type
Research Article
Information
Early China , Volume 18 , 1993 , pp. 1 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © Society for the Study of Early China 1993

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References

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93. See Baojun, Guo , “Guyu Xinquan” , Guoli zhongyang yanjiu-yuan lishi yuyan yanjiusuo jikan 20 (1948), v. 2,41 Google Scholar; see also Zunguo, Wang. “Liangzhu wenhua yulianzang shulüe” , Wenwu 1984.2, 25.Google Scholar For a survey of bi in prehistoric cultures, see Shuping, Deng , “Gugong bowuyuan suocang xinshiqi shidai yuqi yanjiu zhiyi, bi yu yabi” , Guoli gugong bowuyuan xueshu jikan 5.1 (Autumn 1987), 1–56.Google Scholar

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95. Shanghai shi wenwu baoguan weiyuanhui, Songze, 14, 37.

96. Mou Yongkang expresses a similar view, contending that the bi “may have to do with the concept of wealth.” See, Mou Yongkang, preface to Liangzhu wenhua yuqi, p. vii.

97. Archaeologists have recently found at Zhaolingshan , Jiangsu, that the tomb occupant wore cong on his arms; Feng, Qiang , “Zhaolingshan yizhi fajue huo zhongda chengguo” , Zhongguo wenwubao 2 August 1992, 1.Google Scholar Some earlier studies noted an association between cong and bracelets; see Minao, Hayashi , “Chūgoku kōdai no saigyoku, zuigyoku” , Tōhō gakuhō 40 (1969), 290–91.Google Scholar

98. Yang Jianfang and Liu Bin have also noted the relationship between the shape and the face motif of the cong. Yang suggests that the cong has a square outer perimeter because it is easier to divide a circle into even-numbered parts than odd-numbered, and four quarters seem to be the optimum proportion for the decorative motifs; Jianfang, Yang, “Yucong zhi yanjiu” , Kaogu yu wenwu 1990.2, 62–63.Google Scholar Liu Bin agrees that the cong developed the square shape along with the increasing emphasis on the face motif, but he argues that the cong did not derive from the bracelet. He believes that Liangzhu craftsmen modelled the cong on something like the American Indian totem pole; Bin, Liu, “Liangzhu wenhua yucong chutan” Wenwu 1990.2, 32.Google Scholar At this time, however, there is neither archaeological nor textual evidence of the existence of similar totem poles in any known Chinese culture. Moreover, the evidence that Liu uses for his argument, cong with an extremely small central perforation, amounts to an insignificant percentage of the excavated samples, and represents a borderline case.

99. For an illustration, see Zhejiang sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo, Liangzhu wenhua yuqi, 6, fig. 6.

100. Many scholars interpret the two clawed legs as belonging to the mask and thus describe the mask as an animal in a squatting posture. A close examination seems to exclude this interpretation. The mask is not proportional to the legs as the human form is. It is only superimposed upon the legs and does not join them at all. It does not even have a face or a neck. In fact, the mask never goes beyond eyes, a nose, and/or a mouth, though it occasionally occurs with either the upper or the lower part of the half human figure in the same composition.

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107. Long rectangular blades with a beveled edge, traditionally designated as gui, have been otherwise referred to as chan (spade), ben (adze), and fu (axe). Although evidence suggests that the gui derived from the axe, it eventually became a distinct type. I prefer the traditional term here because it has long been associated with the type and is more precise than other descriptive terms. The English term “blade,” used by some writers, risks confusing it with other types, such as long narrow knives.

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112. shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo, Zhongguo, Yinxu Fu Hao mu (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1980), pl. 132.Google Scholar

113. Qiong, Su , “Zhaolingshan chutu de liangjian yuqi” , Zhongguo wenwubao 2 August 1992, 1.Google Scholar

114. These lines are not exactly the same as the thread relief on bronze vessels which were raised above a uniformly level background. They are actually flush with most of the surface because the carvers removed only a small part of the surface that was adjacent to the lines.

115. For earlier studies, see Dohrenwend, Doris, “Jade Demonic Images from Early China,” Ars Orientalis 10 (1975), 55–78 Google Scholar; Dunyuan, Liu , “Ji Liangchengzhen faxian de liangjian shiqi” , Kaogu 1972.4, 56–57 Google Scholar; Hong, Wu , “Yizu zaoqi de yushi diaoke” — , Meishu yanjiu 1979.1, 64–69 Google Scholar. Recent studies include Minao, Hayashi, “Inkyo Sō Kō moku suido no gyokuki jakukan nitai suru chushi” , Tōhō gakuhō 58 (1986), 1–70 Google Scholar; Jianfang, Yang, “Shijiahe wenhua yuqi jiqi xiangguan wenti” , in Zhongguo yishu wenwu taolunhui lunwenji , ed. gugong bowuyuan bian weiyuanhui, Guoli (Taipei: Guoli gugong bowuyuan, 1992)Google Scholar; sHung [Wu Hong], Wu, “Bird Motifs in Eastern Yi Art,” Orientations 1984.10, 30–41.Google Scholar

116. Liu Dunyuan, “Ji Liangchengzhen yizhi faxian de liangjian shiqi,” 56–57.

117. gongzuodui, guojiang shuiku zhihuibu wenwu Shilong, “Hubei Jingshan, Tianmen kaogu fajue jianbao” , Kaogu tongxun 1956, 3, 19 Google Scholar; Dunyuan, Liu, “Ji Liangchengzhen yizhi faxian de liangjian shiqi,” Kaogu 1972, 4, 56–57 Google Scholar; Xinyang diqu wenguanhui, Henan and xian wenguanhui, Guangshan, “Chun-qiu zaoqi Huangjun Meng fufu mu fajue baogao” , Kaogu 1984.4, 302–332 Google Scholar; Changshou, Zhang , “Ji Fengxi xinfaxian de shoumian yushi” , Kaogu 1987.5, 470–473 Google Scholar; diqu bowuguan, Jingzhou, “Hubei Jingmen, Zhongxiang, Jingshan, Tianmen sixian guyizhi diaocha” , Wenwu ziliao congkan 10 (1987), 44–54 Google Scholar; diqu bowuguan, Jingzhou and xian bowuguan, Zhongxiang, “Zhongxiang Liuhe yizhi” , Jiang Han kaogu 1987.2, 1–31 Google Scholar; Xiaoneng, Yang , Zhongguo yuanshi shehui diaosu yishu (Hong Kong: Dadao chuban youxian gongsi, 1988), 48 Google Scholar; sheng bowuguan, Hubei, “Hubei Dangyang Jijiahu xinshiqi shidai yizhi” , Wenwu ziliao congkan 10 (1987), 1–15 Google Scholar; sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo, Anhui, “Anhui Hanshan Lingjiatan xinshiqi shidai mudi fajue jianbao” , Wenwu 1989.4, 1–9 Google Scholar; sheng Xiaoxian bowuguan, Anhui, “Xiaoxian Jinzhaicun faxian yipi xinshiqi shidai yuqi,” Wenwu 1989.4, 18–21 Google Scholar; gongzuodui, Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo Shandong, “Shandong Linju Zhufeng Longshan wenhua muzang” , Kaogu 1990.7, 587–594 Google Scholar; sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo, Jiangxi, sheng Xin'gan xian bowuguan, Jiangxi, “Jiangxi Xin'gan Dayangzhou Shangmu fajue jianbao” , Wenwu 1991.10, 1–21 Google Scholar.

118. A few of these jades found in Zhou contexts suggest that the face motifs probably survived the Shang. One is a small face carved in relief lines which was found in a looter's tunnel to an early Western Zhou tomb. It closely resembles the jade face from a Shang site at Xin'gan , Jiangxi. The two rings from an Eastern Zhou tomb have a peculiar feature. Three of the four faces on the rings were executed in the contemporary bevel cuts, whereas one was done in relief lines, a technique not found on any other known Eastern Zhou jades. For illustrations, see Changshou, Zhang, “Ji Fengxi xin fanxian de shoumian yushi,” Kaogu 1987.5, 470–473 Google Scholar; Xinyang diqu wenguanhui, Henan and xian wenguanhui, Guangshan, “Chunqiu zaoqi Huangjun Meng fufu mu fajue baogao,” Kaogu 1984.4, 302–332 Google Scholar.

119. Archaeologists of Anhui have excavated about ten major sites in the last decade and have discovered several new archaeological cultures. While recognizing their contact with the Xuejiagang culture, they believe these cultures to be relatively autonomous local developments but have not yet named them. See Wenwu bianji weiyuanhui, Wenwu kaogu gongzuo shinian, 128–131.

120. Wenwu bianji weiyuanhui, Wenwu kaogu gongzuo shinian, 128–131; Ren Shinan, “Changjiang Huanghe zhongxiayou xinshiqi wenhua de jiaoliu,” 70–76.

121. Salmony, Alfred, Carved Jade of Ancient China (Berkeley: Gillick Press, 1938), pl. XXXI:2–3 Google Scholar.

122. Rawson, Jessica also attributes these spirals to Liangzhu influence; Jessica Rawson, Ancient China: Art and Archaeology (New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1980), 78 Google Scholar.

123. Salmony, Alfred, Chinese Jade through the Wei Dynasty (New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1963), pl. XII:3 Google Scholar.

124. For an illustration, see meishu quanji bianji weiyuanhui, Zhongguo, Zhongguo meishu quanji, Gongyi meishu bian 9: Yuqi (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1986), 26 Google Scholar, fig. 49. Two scholars have noted the Liangzhu elements on this baton, but they do not associate it with the Jiang-Huai jades; see Wei, Wang , “Shang wenhua yuqi yuanyuan tansuo” , Kaogu 1989.6, 831 Google Scholar; Bin, Liu, “Liangzhu wenhua yucong chutan,” Wenwu 1990.2, 36 Google Scholar. This baton has been used as pivotal evidence linking Liangzhu jades with Shang bronzes. Though its existence at Erlitou argues for the knowledge of face motifs in the early Shang, the designs on early Shang bronzes seem too vague to have been specifically based on such a jade design, and on present evidence it is difficult to argue for more than a rather loose connection between the Liangzhu jade and Shang bronze motifs. For arguments favoring the connection between Liangzhu face motifs and the taotie, see Jessica Rawson, Ancient China: Art and Archaeology, 78; Kesner, Ladislav, “The Taotie Reconsidered: Meanings and Functions of the Shang Theriomorphic Imagery,” Artibus Asiae 51.1/2 (1991), 29–53 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Yang Jianfang by contrast argues that the taotie and Liangzhu face motif are not related because they were modeled on different animals; Yang Jianfang, “Yucong zhi yanjiu,” 60.

125. For illustrations, see Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo, Yinxu Fu Hao mu, pl. 162: 2 (item no. 942); pl. 165: 3 (item no. 1299). Another Jiang-Huai import among Fu Hao's jades is a flat pendant in the form of a bird, often referred to as a pheonix, which Bagley, Robert and Jianfang, Yang have also judged to be from the Hubei area; see The Great Bronze Age of China, ed. Fong, Wen (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1980), 187 Google Scholar; Yang Jianfang, “Shijiahe wenhua yuqi jiqi xiangguan wenti.” For an illustration, see Yinxu Fu Hao mu, color pl. 32:3 (item no. 350).

126. The large diversity and wide time range shown in Fu Hao's jades suggest that Fu Hao acquired the jades from various sources rather than having them all carved during her lifetime. A considerable number of them are unmistakably imports from regional cultures that predated the Anyang period. See below for further detail.

127. For an illustration, see Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo, Yinxu Fu Hao mu, pl. 144:2 (item no. 399). A less obvious example of Shang adaptation of Jiang-Huai jades is an eagle with open wings in Fu Hao's tomb (Yinxu Fu Hao mu, pl. 145:5 [item no. 390]).

128. For examples, see the striation on most of the cong, and also the carving on a cong from Yaoshan, a trapezoidal fitting, and tubular beads from Fanshan, in Liangzhu wenhua yuqi, figs. 17, 112, 172.

129. Shang jade carving had several sources. Some coiled dragons and two other pieces from Fu Hao's tomb, which are undoubtedly imports, point to the influence of Hongshan jades of northeastern China. Compared with that of the eastern coast, however, the influence of Hongshan jades seems to be small. The Hongshan culture was about two thousand years prior to the Shang and its jade carving appears to have left little imprint on the succeeding cultures in northeastern China. To date, discoveries of jades in this region in post-Hongshan cultures have been very rare. Investigation of the relationship between the Shang and Hongshan cultures is, and will remain, difficult until the situation in field archaeology improves. For the two jades in Fu Hao's tomb that I believe to be Hongshan imports, see Yinxu Fu Hao mu, pl. 162:1 (item no. 948) and pl. 164:1 (item no. 964).