Dawn of ritual

Underlying the use of jade dragons was a sophisticated ritual system developed by Hongshan society.

According to Jia Xiaobing, researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Archaeology who leads the excavation of the Niuheliang site, high-level Hongshan tombs were buried with only jade ware. The identity, social status and occupation of the tomb owners can be inferred from the size and quality of the jade used, as well as the combination and arrangement of them in the tombs.

In Guo's observation, there seems to be a tendency in Hongshan tombs that important artifacts were placed on the right side of the tomb owners, with the most important ones put beside the head.

A variety of jade artifacts featuring animal designs, such as the various jade owls, turtles, silkworms and cicadas, have been unearthed from multiple Hongshan sites. Yet, the widespread appearance of jade dragons as ritual objects indicates that a unified social belief system had been widely accepted within and beyond the realm of Hongshan culture, Guo says.

However, jade dragons have never been discovered in the highest-ranking tombs of Hongshan. According to Jia, a possible explanation could be that jade dragons were relatively easy to recognize. "Just like today's chopsticks, it was because they were so common that people could accept and use them, recognizing them as a symbol of identity."

Jia says, no later than 5,700 years ago, Hongshan residents began building largescale ritual centers. While the Niuheliang site became a super-large ceremonial center, secondary regional ceremonial centers in the surrounding area, such as the Dongshanzui, Hutougou and Banlashan sites, emerged.

Ritual artifacts reflecting household ceremonial activities specific to these settlements were also unearthed in residential areas across several sites.

At Niuheliang, Hongshan residents constructed nine platforms using layers of earth and crushed stones to hold public ritual ceremonies. Spanning around 200 years, they built from the lower parts of the hill upward, with evidence indicating a comprehensive design of the layout in advance.

It was on these platforms that various constructions were built, including ramps, symmetrical water-retaining curved walls and drainage ditches, as well as the well-known goddess temple, a milestone discovery of Hongshan studies.

There, a life-size head clay sculpture of a fit and gentle goddess was excavated in 1983, with straight fringe and sideburns, high cheekbones, a wide mouth and round right ear. The left ear was missing. Her sparkling eyes were made from lucent round stones. The face, originally painted red, had faded.