In the summer of 1985, an old man from Anhui Province accidentally discovered a "stone" while attending a funeral. After learning the origin of the stone, everyone was shocked! Today happened to be the burial day of his wife. The old man planned to take a look at his wife again.

In the summer of 1985, an old man from Anhui Province went to the fields for a funeral and accidentally discovered a "stone". After learning the origin of this stone, everyone was shocked!

Today happened to be the burial day of his wife. The old man planned to take a look at his wife again. When the villagers were digging the earth, they happened to find a "stone" that rolled down in front of the old man. The more the old man looked at it, the more strange he became. Why did the "stone" look like this? What's strange?

Curiosity drove the old man to pick it up, wipe it dry, and look at it. He found that there were some pictures and patterns on it. The old man felt that this "stone" was definitely not simple, so he immediately called the local cultural relics bureau and sent it for identification. The result was shocking! It turned out to be a prehistoric artifact!

Because of its age, archaeologists were unable to determine what it was for a while, so they contacted the provincial cultural relics bureau for a secondary appraisal. After a while, the inspector came out and said: It refreshes the earliest origin of Chinese civilization!

What is this prehistoric artifact found under the Reclining Buddha? Could it be that another Liangzhu culture was discovered? How valuable is it?

(Lingjiatan Ruins)

Let’s take a look.

1. The major discovery of the Lingjiatan site

The Lingjiatan site is located in Lingjiatan Village, Ma'an City, Anhui Province. This prehistoric cultural relic was discovered here. During subsequent excavations, it was determined that it was a 5,000-year-old site. The cultural relics picked up by the villagers at the large-scale late Neolithic tribal site 20 years ago were jade tablets.

(Overhead view of the Lingjiatan ruins)

The local cultural relics bureau and the Anhui Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology launched a total of eight archaeological excavations. Relics such as red pottery blocks, sacrificial remains, and tomb areas were discovered. Countless cultural relics were unearthed. , including a large number of stone tools, jades, metal products, etc.

The age of the Lingjiatan site is a key node in the origin of Chinese civilization, and it plays a very important role in the study of the origin and historical development of Chinese civilization.

The treasure in Lingjiatan was discovered, thanks to the archaeological team led by Zhang Jingguo.

On May 18, 2007, Zhang Jingguo led the archaeological team to Lingjiatan. He couldn't restrain his excitement. In another year, he will retire. This tomb, which may contain the supreme leader of the prehistoric tribe, will probably bring a beautiful ending to his archaeological career.

Looking around, Zhang Jingguo found a robbery hole that had not been backfilled. His keen archaeological sense told him that this robbery hole might be unusual. He called all the archaeological team members over to carry out focused excavation of this stolen cave.

Under the sweltering work shed, the archaeological team dug out more and more stones, but they have not yet found anything that made their eyes gleam.

Everyone was cleaning up the messy stones excavated in front of them. During the process, they suddenly discovered that there was an unusual stone inside - it seemed to have some carved uneven textures on it.

After Zhang Jingguo heard about this, he immediately came over to inspect the stone. He saw that the stone was oval in shape, and a bunch of protrusions similar to fangs could be seen in the front part. Moving his eyes upward, he saw a bump, which was very similar to the eyes. resemblance. No, this is not seed material, but artificially carved " jade pig "!

This discovery is an important signal - as early as when Zhang Jingguo discovered the first ruins, he discovered one thing. Behind such large funerary objects, there are often incredible tombs.

Zhang Jingguo is almost certain that this tomb will bring him unexpected surprises.

So the archaeological team members continued to dig with excitement and nervousness. Suddenly one day, they found some white rings in the soil, which should be the burial objects of the tomb owner.

Zhang Jingguo became more and more convinced that this was a large tomb, and there was a ladder to the tribal altar nearby, and this tomb was right at the top of the ladder.

As early as the tribal era, the significance of the altar was extraordinary. Only the leader of the tribe was qualified to offer sacrifices to heaven on behalf of the tribe. And the person who can be buried in this place is most likely the supreme leader of this tribe.

With further excavation and sorting of the tomb, everyone finally found the location of the tomb owner. We found the tomb owner not by the bones. The soil here is acidic and the bones of the tomb owner had long been dissolved. We found the tomb owner by the stone tools, jades and pottery placed in human shapes. Especially on the head, there are a large number of jade rings.

The discovery of these jade artifacts can basically prove the identity of the tomb owner. Who else but the tribal leader could be qualified to be buried with so many jade articles?

Among all the tombs unearthed in Lingjiatan, no one has ever been buried wearing such a jade ring. The appearance of these jade rings shows that the tomb owner possessed huge wealth during his lifetime. It is difficult to imagine that 5,300 years ago, Lingjiatan was already divided into rich and poor.

On the chest of the tomb owner, a jade ax and a stone ax were also found. These two are symbols of authority and represent the supreme political power of the tomb owner. From this we can see that our ancestors five thousand years ago paid great attention to funeral rituals and burial objects.

Moreover, the large number of jade articles unearthed here also reflects that the prehistoric residents of Lingjiatan have formed the habit of using jade articles.

From the shape and craftsmanship of the jade, we can see that the level of manufacturing at that time was much higher than we expected. In addition to the previously discovered jade plates, jade turtle, jade dragon, and jade figures were also found among the unearthed cultural relics. and other jade articles, and these jade articles are carefully carved.

(Jade Man)

The originally temperatureless jade articles have left the will of prehistoric humans . The texture pictures on these jade articles have gradually made us familiar with the lifestyle and habits of Lingjiatan at that time, and opened a new door for us to understand them. Open the door. In addition to allowing us to contribute to prehistoric culture, it also allows us to discover more similarities with the development of modern society.

The Anhui Provincial Institute of Archeology tested the local jade materials in Lingjiatan and found that most of them were serpentine-shaped limestone. After identification of the unearthed jade articles, it was found that the jade materials used were local jade materials. The prehistoric ancestors of Lingjiatan used local materials to develop jade culture. Lingjiatan may be the place where jade culture has developed for the longest time.

Lingjiatan Jade Culture, Liangzhu Jade Culture, and Hongshan Jade Culture are called by the industry to be the top three jade cultures in China.

A large number of stone tools have also appeared in the Lingjiatan Jade Site, such as stone shovels, stone axes, etc. Most of the stone tools are tool types , and most of the jade products are practical items for daily life or decorations and funerary objects. At that time, people paid attention to practical stone tools, and jade was naturally not as symbolic of one's identity as stone tools.

(Jade version)

In the prior literature records, there are also relevant contents recorded. Stone tools sometimes become symbols of people's power, and the power represented by jade tools is more reflected in ceremonies.

Some jade wares are classified as ritual vessels , such as jade eagles, jade turtles, jade figures, etc., which are all ritual vessels.

The entire shape of the jade eagle is wide and flat, and its color is gray-white. From the overall view, it is in a flying posture. The eagle's head is tilted in one direction, and the eagle's head and beak are carved very carefully. The eyes are drilled through The holes represent the eagle's eyes, and there are carved pig shapes above the eagle's wings.

(Jade Eagle)

According to archaeologists' speculation, this may be because humans already had the concept of "gods" at that time. They believed in gods because they felt that eagles would be closer to gods when they flew, so they carved pigs between the wings of eagles. They may also want to use this to worship the gods, so that the gods can keep their people safe and have no worries about food and clothing.

The Jade Turtle and the Jade Tablet can be said to be the most exquisite of all cultural relics, and the two cultural relics that invested the most human wisdom at that time. The jade turtle is composed of two parts, the carapace on the back and the carapace on the abdomen. The carapace of the jade turtle has also been carefully carved, and the ridges of the carapace and the patterns on the carapace are also carved out. There are round holes drilled on both sides of the carapace in the direction of the tail, and there is a groove between the two small holes.

Both sides of the turtle's plastron are slightly raised, and two small holes are drilled in the direction of the tail, corresponding to the holes on the carapace. Experts speculate that these four holes may have been drilled and carved to fix the jade turtle.

(Jade Bi)

The jade plate is entirely rectangular in shape, with the back slightly concave inward. There are nine holes on one side and four small holes on the other, facing each other. The top corners are aligned with the four sides of the jade plate, and there are small circles engraved in the large circles. The two circles are divided into eight parts by lines, and each part is engraved with corresponding patterns. There are also carvings in the small circles. Eight-pointed star pattern, these two cultural relics are recorded as funerary objects placed at the waist of the tomb owner. It can be seen that the importance of these two cultural relics is almost as important as the jade ax and stone ax seen before.

Jade figures, a total of six "jades" were unearthed at the Lingjiatan site. Three of them were in squatting postures, and each of them wore a crown on their head, a carved belt on their waist, and a carved belt on their ears. The carved ear holes are also surprising. Could it be that "piercing ears" had already become popular at that time?

The beauty has her legs together, a square face, thick eyebrows and big eyes, and even her double eyelids are carved out. This is also very surprising. It may seem normal now, but this was five thousand years ago. It also reflects that the tribesmen have abundant supplies and no worries about hunger, so they have more time to improve their carving skills, and the details are very well done. The entire beauty's posture seemed to be performing some kind of prayer.

(Jade Man)

2. Lingjiatan Culture and Liangzhu Culture

Some people may think that Lingjiatan Culture is Liangzhu Culture. After all, the two cultural eras are also consistent, and the time when jade culture originated is also Not too different, although similar there are still some differences.

"Liangzhu" means water and land, and the birthplace of Liangzhu culture is in Yuhang City, with Taihu Lake to the north, Qiantang River to the south, Tianmu Mountain to the west, and the East China Sea to the east. , so it was called Liangzhu.

(Liangzhu Jade)

The Liangzhu Culture was first discovered in 1936. Fanshan Cemetery is an important discovery of the Liangzhu Culture. A "pyramid" of nearly 20,000 cubic meters was discovered in the Fanshan site, as well as a large cemetery of "dignitaries".

The largest altar in the history of our country was also discovered in Fanshan ruins. A large number of jade articles were also found in this ruins, including jade bis, jade coins, jade bracelets, jade pendants, jade beasts, etc. There are a variety of jade types, even more than those found at the Lingjiatan site.

It can be seen that the level of jade craftsmanship during the Liangzhu Culture period has been relatively developed, and there are many carving techniques such as wire cutting, pipe drilling, and polishing. And some of them also used tuoji, and each jade vessel had carved patterns on it.

A jade ax was also unearthed, which represents the identity of the owner of the tomb. If the ax, cong, and wall are found together, then the owner of the tomb is a tribal leader who combines divine power, wealth, and military power.

(Lingjiatan jade axe)

What is the difference between Lingjiatan culture and Liangzhu culture? What are the similarities?

First of all, the similarity between the two is that both cultures are rich in jade, and both are well-known for the exquisiteness of jade. There are also many similarities in the craftsmanship of jade.

Like jade jues, the jade jues produced by the two civilizations have small holes on them, so it is speculated that there may have been the custom of wearing decorations at that time; in addition, various kinds of jade jues have been unearthed in Lingjiatan and Liangzhu. Some jade huangs are cut in half, with a hole drilled on each side of the joint, and special grooves to connect them to each other.

Moreover, according to the research of archaeologists, the tiger-headed jade huangs and dragon and phoenix jades produced in Lingjiatan are not ordinary jade huangs. There is a high probability that the tiger-headed jade huangs are military talismans, used to symbolize the deployment of troops and generals. The dragon, phoenix and jade huang represent tokens used for marriage. It can also be seen from this phenomenon that human beings at that time already had the consciousness of marriage and alliance.

(Lingjiatan Jade Dragon)

Jade Bi, Jade Bi represents relatively concentrated military power, and Jade Bi also symbolizes wealth. Just now we also mentioned three objects that prove the leader, and Jade Bi is one of them, used to prove the leader. Have the power to allocate wealth.

Regarding the origin of jade bi, some experts and scholars speculate that jade bi represents human "eyes".

Because its shape resembles an eyeball, and whether humans were hunting or gathering at that time, they first saw through their eyes. Only when they saw it could they pick and hunt. In addition, in daily life, preventing attacks by birds and beasts also required quick eyesight. Find the target to avoid harm, so from these two points, experts and scholars speculate that jade may represent human eyes.

Most of the jade bis in the Lingjiatan Culture are relatively small in shape, and not many are large in shape. However, the production process is the same, and the same polishing and grinding processes are used.

On the other hand, the number of jade bis unearthed from the Liangzhu Culture is relatively large. Most of them were found in large cemeteries, and they were also neatly made, without any decoration, and had to be polished.

Jade axe, axe, and axe are the same type of tools. Initially, the axe was made of stone, and the axe also evolved from an axe, but there are slight differences in shape. There are relevant records in " Shuowen Jiezi " The big one is called a yue, and the small one is called an axe. In both the Lingjiatan and Liangzhu cultures, the yue is not used for fighting, but exists as a symbol of power.

(Lingjiatan Jade Turtle)

The differences between the two cultures are mainly evident in six aspects.

First of all, there are differences in the jade quality and jade materials. Lingjiatan jade is made of tremolite jade, serpentine jade, agate jade, crystal, marble jade and other materials, among which tremolite jade is of the best quality. The color of jade made from tremolite is the purest, most of it does not contain impurities, and its transparency, hardness and luster are all excellent.

Most of the jade materials used in Liangzhu jade wares are tremolite and actinolite . The hardness of the jade material is about 6-6.8, accounting for 2.8-3.2 of nephrite . The internal structure is uneven. , cluster-like and felt-like impurities can also be seen on the surface, and the transparency is relatively poor. Lingjiatan jade is jadeite, and Liangzhu jade is nephrite.

(tremolite)

The second difference is in the jade material. The Liangzhu Culture jade materials were sourced locally, but until 1970, no nephrite deposits were found in the provinces in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Therefore, some experts speculated that the Liangzhu jade materials were transported from Liaoning or Xinjiang, but in More than 5,000 years ago, transportation was inconvenient and races were chaotic. It was unknown how long it would take to come back from such a long journey. Moreover, the mountains were high and the roads were far away. How to transport it back once it was found was also a problem.

But in 1982, the Provincial Geological Bureau of Jiangsu Province discovered a tremolite nephrite deposit in Xiaomeiling, Tianmu Mountain. The jade hardness can reach 5.8-6.2, it is very delicate, comes in two colors, white and turquoise, and has good transparency.

The jade material used in the Liangzhu jade wares is similar. It can almost be concluded that the jade material used in the Liangzhu jade wares was produced locally rather than transported far away.

Later, when the relevant research departments were detecting the local jade raw materials in Lingjiatan, they discovered that the vicinity of the Lingjiatan site was rich in agate, quartz ore, serpentine and other raw materials. Tremolite was not found in the first exploration. It was only after several explorations that tremolite was discovered, which is mainly distributed in the surrounding Taihu Lake, Wanghu Lake, Chaohu Lake and other places.

(serpentine)

The third difference is that both civilizations made something out of jade. According to Liangzhu Culture jade unearthed statistics, utensils only account for less than 3%, and religious and ceremonial uses are the most common. In total, nearly three-quarters of the jade materials are occupied, and only about 20% are used for making. Ornaments. The decorations made in the Lingjiatan civilization accounted for 95%, and only the remaining 5% were used to make ceremonial and religious items.

The fourth difference is that the expected styles are not quite the same. Liangzhu jades are mainly used for etiquette and religion. The shapes of the jades are relatively fair, the composition is rigorous, the patterns on the jades are exquisite, and the overall style is serious and sophisticated, mainly embodying religion and etiquette. Mysterious and serious. Lingjiatan jades are mostly used to make decorations and living utensils, among which a large number of animal images such as jade pigs, jade tigers, jade dragons, jade eagles, jade rabbits, etc. are produced. They are relatively more easy-going, free and free-spirited than Liangzhu. Be more honest.

The fifth difference is mainly reflected in the workmanship. The Liangzhu and Lingjiatan civilizations have a relatively high level of jade production, not only cutting, cutting, drilling, and even intaglio techniques.

Liangzhu Jade The local jade is soft and has high requirements for processing level. Liangzhu people mainly use quartz sand as the medium for cutting and drilling. Some cutting marks can still be seen on some jade articles.

Moreover, it can be seen from the unearthed jade artifacts that Liangzhu jade craftsmen had mastered the technology of drilling holes on both sides at the same time; in addition, another feature is that its assembly and inlay technology are also relatively mature. By assembling different jade artifacts to form new The jade articles include details such as the end of the staff and the handle.

(Jade Pig)

Lingjiatan jades are mainly expressed in shapes and patterns. At that time, the Lingjiatan people already had many skills such as grinding and cutting, hook line engraving, sun line relief, etc., and after careful analysis by archaeologists After research, it was found that the jade products produced still had traces of being polished by grinding wheels and . This technology even surpassed the Liangzhu jade craftsmanship.

The people of Lingjiatan used grinding wheels to grind and polish jade, and it is speculated that a primitive lathe had even been invented at that time. From the perspective of jade experts, the drilling technology and use of grinding wheel tools in Lingjiatan at that time had surpassed the production process level of Hongshan Culture jade .

The sixth aspect is the difference between the place where the jade was produced and the surrounding environment. Judging from Lingjiatan’s jade-using habits, jade types and production techniques, its techniques have been inherited in the Jiangning Town area of ​​my country, and this culture is now also influenced by Hongshan Culture and local culture in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and they complement each other. blend.

Liangzhu culture was mainly inherited by cities near Taihu Lake. Suzhou , Jiaxing , Changzhou , Shanghai, Nanjing, etc. all have the shadow of Liangzhu culture.

In addition to its far-reaching influence on nearby cities, Liangzhu Culture also exerted a great influence on its external expansion, reaching as far north as Jiangsu, westward as far as Jiangxi, Anhui, and even in the southern part of Shanxi. The superior geographical location and climatic conditions also played an important role in the formation and spread of Liangzhu culture.

(Liangzhu Cultural Site)

3. The value created and the influence produced by the Lingjiatan ancestors

In addition to making these exquisite jade articles, the Lingjiatan ancestors also preferred to decorate the jade articles with patterns, giving them unique characteristics. The same mysterious color. These patterns can give people a glimpse into the spiritual principles and inner beliefs advocated by early human society. By comparing other early cultural sites, later archaeological excavations, and literature research, found that the patterns of Lingjiatan jade have strong social functional attributes and usage norms, and are signs of the emergence of early social relationships.

The social development of the Neolithic Age was still in an environment dominated by the natural relationship between heaven and man. How to obtain the will of heaven as a human being, and use this to decide many issues ranging from clan alliance conquests to individual safety. Action became the key to the development of clan society at that time. The harsh living environment made the spiritual world of the ancestors full of yearning for mysterious nature, and the materialized gods or gods' will were attached to the things around them in the form of objects, patterns, patterns, etc.

(Jade Rabbit)

In the long historical development, it has gradually formed belief forms such as nature worship, totem worship, ancestor worship, fertility worship, hero worship and soul worship.The ancestors of Lingjiatan had already carried out early religious worship rituals. After studying jade and jade patterns, they found that the objects of their worship had changed, and there was a phenomenon of overlap between worships.

It can be seen from the patterns of Lingjiatan jade that Lingjiatan people have a variety of spiritual worship activities. The nature worship activities of celestial bodies, mountains and rivers occupied a major position in the early Lingjiatan people’s spiritual communication and dialogue with gods. , and use graphics, lines, holes, etc. to record after thinking.

The social productivity of the Lingjiatan people was underdeveloped in the era. It was impossible for everyone to dress like the jade lady, wearing a crown on their head, Chinese clothes, a belt around their waist and decorated with jade objects. The unearthed image of the jade lady reflected the jade The person represented by the person is likely to be the tribal leader, the holder of central power or the ancestor with outstanding talents at that time. After his death, the image of was carved and appeared as the image of the patron saint for people to use to worship or pay tribute to. , is the best expression of "things die like things live, things die like things exist".

The ancestors of Lingjiatan were not only able to make exquisite jade artifacts, but also started rice farming, raising or hunting pigs, deer, birds and other animals for a rich diet. In the archaeological discoveries, there were traces of carbonized rice husks in the braised soil, rice seeds were floated out of the soil, and many animal bones such as birds, pigs, and deer were found.

(Statue of Lingjiatan Ancestors)

The growth of the population has sharply increased the demand for food. The Lingjiatan ancestors grew rice as food, which required large-scale field work and reclamation of cultivated land. Agriculture has become the main economic sector, which requires planning for production areas. The determination of the eight directions and four dimensions on the jade tablet may also be used for planting, production and reclamation planning.

The patterns of Lingjiatan jadeware reflect the Lingjiatan ancestors’ understanding and cognition of the natural world, labor creation and social relations. They imbue the concepts of tribal sacrifice, worship and understanding of social relations in jadeware with symbolic and totemic artistic techniques. This gives the pattern a strong social functional attribute, reflecting the ideology of the early ancestors in spiritual worship, political orientation, and production management. This is also what shocked the archaeological community the most.