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Milestones of Millennia Eries Demonstrate Thursday , July 25, 2019 | 21 LIFE CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION n 1748, the 37­year­old Emper­ of attention not just due to its size, or Qianlong of the Qing but for its solemn character. A tiny Dynasty (1644­1911) wrote an relief of a Liangzhu motif on one cor­ ode extolling the exquisite ner of the axe looks like the earliest Ibeauty of a fan­shaped jade artifact example of a “logo” marked on a Chi­ he owned, huang, after it was pre­ nese product. sented to him at the royal palace, the In the graves of female nobles, Forbidden City. disc­shaped jades called bi are com­ In his poem, the emperor attribut­ monly praised for their elegance. ed the antique to the Han Dynasty Threads of tubular jade pieces, (206 BC­AD 220), but its exact age beads and bracelets at the exhibition remained a mystery to him. In the also show the splendor and intricacy following decades, many similar of the jewelry at the time. jade pieces were presented to him, “This uniform ceremonial system and the emperor was so fond of hold­ using jade shows a united belief and ing them that they developed their strong cohesion in society,” Liu says. own unique patina. He even added “Compared with previous times, gold and enamel to the pieces for jade from the Liangzhu period had embellishment. made a huge leap in terms of num­ Nevertheless, the question of age ber, size and quality. This boom kept bothering him. In 1778, he accompanied the rise in kingship.” wrote another poem suggesting that these “Han objects” might belong to Abundant legacies an earlier time. The reasons why the Liangzhu But, as we know today, these state faded into obscurity are still objects are far older than the emper­ unknown. Although speculation or could have realized. suggests that flooding might have The Qing ruler may not have been played a part, Li Boqian, an archae­ able to imagine that he was having a ology professor at Peking University, dialogue with an object dating back thinks that the jade itself might have 5,000 years. However, modern­day been one reason for its downfall. visitors to the Forbidden City in Bei­ “So much wealth and so many jing, which is also known as the Pal­ resources were put into jade produc­ ace Museum, can experience a tion,” he says. “Once they were panoramic view of the brilliant jade exhausted, the stability of society civilization of Liangzhu Culture, (could have) collapsed.” which was based in what is today’s Nevertheless, Gao adds that Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. Liangzhu Culture did not “die”. On July 6, the Archaeological Liu Bin (center), director of the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, speaks to the media about a major highlight of the “We would rather describe it as Ruins of Liangzhu City in Hangzhou ongoing exhibition at the Palace Museum, a 5,300­year jade article from Liangzhu Culture, called the “king of cong”. PHOTOS BY JIANG DONG / CHINA DAILY having blended into other cultures,” were inscribed onto the UNESCO he says. World Heritage list, which recogniz­ Gao explains that jade from the es the significance of the site as an Liangzhu Culture was once widely indicator of the early stages of Chi­ found across half of what is now nese civilization. The city was inhab­ modern­day China, reaching as far ited for a millennium from 3300 to as Shaanxi, Sichuan and Guangdong 2300 BC, according to archaeologi­ provinces, as archaeological discov­ cal research. Milestones of millennia eries demonstrate. Just 10 days later, the exhibition “We still need further research to Ancient China: A 5,000­year Civili­ say whether it spread due to trade or zation Demonstrated by Jade as simply as trophies of war,” he says. opened at the Palace Museum, just in A new exhibition at the Palace Museum provides a panoramic view of the role “However, their popularity reflects time to feed public curiosity and the huge influence that Liangzhu unveil the charm of this realm of dei­ played by jade in 5,000 years of Chinese culture, Wang Kaihao reports. Culture had at that time. ties and kings. Nearly 260 objects, “Jade is the main contribution including Emperor Qianlong’s pre­ made by Liangzhu Culture on Chi­ cious jade collection, gathered from The remains of ancient Liangzhu “They were only discovered in the nese civilization,” Gao says. “Its lega­ 17 museums and research institutes city is the largest complex of all these graves of the highest echelons of cy lasted throughout Chinese nationwide, have gone on display at sites. Its inner section covers 2.8 Liangzhu society,” Liu says. “That is history until the Qing Dynasty.” the Hall of Martial Valor at the Palace square kilometers, roughly five to say only nobles, who were also Original examples of Liangzhu Museum for this major occasion. The times the area of the Forbidden City. religious chiefs, had the right to own jade like cong continued to be made exhibition will run through Oct 20. Its outer section is spread across 6.3 cong. So, these items may have been in later historical periods. Cong arti­ “Almost accidentally, Qianlong sq km. The sophisticated burial used by the tomb occupants during cles were made and used for ceremo­ was probably the first researcher into grounds and a complex water­con­ their lifetime. nial occasions up until the Han Liangzhu jades,” says Gao Menghe, servancy system also suggest that “Perhaps they once wore cong like Dynasty. People from the Song chief curator of the exhibition and an the city was a capital of an ancient people wear Christian crosses or Dynasty (960­1279) also made porce­ archaeology professor at Shanghai’s regional state, Liu says. Buddhist beads today,” he adds. lain replicas of cong as art pieces, Fudan University, half­jokingly. The emblem, a human­shaped However, the biggest cong ever according to Xu Lin, a researcher at “As Liangzhu was one of the earli­ deity riding on an animal, is a ubiq­ found, a 6.5­kg article commonly the Palace Museum. Some of these est known palatial cities in China, uitous motif on the jade pieces made referred to as the “king of cong” due Song replicas are also on display at and the Forbidden City is the last during the Liangzhu era. to its size, is probably too heavy to be the exhibition. royal palace of Chinese imperial “Worship of this deity never worn. This highlight of the ongoing As traces of cong gradually times, we can feel an interesting stopped in its 1,000­year history,” Liu exhibition was unearthed by Liu in became obscured by history, people chemistry running through time in says. “The supreme ruler of 1986 in Fanshan cemetery among after the Song Dynasty mainly this space,” he says. Liangzhu was no longer a tribal lead­ the ruins of Liangzhu. More than learned about them from historical er. He was the king and honored as 1,000 jade articles were found in the documents, due to a lack of physical Systematic use the incarnation of god.” cemetery. objects as reference. However, Liangzhu Culture was first Cong, a jade item that forms a tube Gao explains that while previous answers can now be found in Qian­ noticed by archaeologists in 1936, with a circular inner section and a exhibitions of Liangzhu jade mainly long’s legacy. when some examples of Neolithic square outer section, is the most typ­ focused on the most important Of the 56 jade articles of Liangzhu black pottery were unearthed in ical among items of Liangzhu Cul­ items, the intention of this show is to Culture currently housed in the Pal­ Liangzhu, a town in Hangzhou. Its ture. Its unconventional shape made present a panorama. ace Museum, 43 were collected by highly­developed systematic use of Emperor Qianlong think it was used “We selected whole sets of jade Qing emperors, Xu says. jade was discovered over the follow­ as a decoration on poles carrying found in cemeteries and put them “The mindset of Chinese people, ing decades. palanquins. on display at the same time,” he says. their sense of aesthetics and lifestyle More than 1,000 sites related to While contemporary archaeolo­ “That way, people can gain a more are largely determined by their taste Liangzhu Culture have been gists generally believe cong were complete view of the ritual systems for jade,” Gao says. “By learning unearthed in Zhejiang, Jiangsu used for religious rituals, their spe­ back then.” more about Liangzhu, people will provinces, and in Shanghai around cific use remains a mystery. One the­ Axe­shaped artifacts called yue — also gain a better understanding of Taihu Lake, according to Liu Bin, ory suggests it was used during Clockwise from above: A Liangzhu Culture cong unearthed from common symbols of power — were the Chinese spirit.” director of the Zhejiang Provincial sacrifice rituals, while another expla­ the Sidun site in Changzhou, Jiangsu province; a jade bi article found in Liangzhu. When the “king Institute of Cultural Relics and nation might indicate it was merely inscribed with a handwritten poem by Emperor Qianlong; jade of yue”, the largest item of its kind is Contact the writer at Archaeology. a burial object. huang, a thread of tubes; and a bracelet with a dragon­shaped totem. put on display, it attracts a great deal [email protected] French musical leaves mark on Shanghai By ZHANG KUN in Shanghai musicals, the production has seen the general manager of the SAIC into their performances, says Coc­ [email protected] more than 5,000 performances glo­ Shanghai Culture Square.
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