A staff member of the Shanghai Museum is busy preparing for the upcoming exhibition Legends of Dragon: The Ancient Civilization of Hongshan Culture on June 20. [Photo by Gao Erqiang/chinadaily.com.cn]
The Shanghai Museum will open a new exhibition featuring the ancient Chinese civilization of Hongshan Culture.
Going on at the Shanghai Museum East from June 26 to Oct 8, Legends of Dragon will be the fourth installment in the institution's serial exhibitions entitled The Essence of China.
Staff members of the Shanghai Museum are busy preparing for the upcoming exhibition Legends of Dragon: The Ancient Civilization of Hongshan Culture on June 20. [Photo by Gao Erqiang/chinadaily.com.cn]
The exhibition will bring together more than 300 artifacts from 20 museums and archaeological institutions around China, to showcase findings of the archaeological exploration of the Hongshan Culture through the past century.
The Hongshan Culture is an important Neolithic archaeological culture in Northern China, dating back to about 6,500-5,000 years ago. It covers an area of around 200,000 square kilometers, including today's western Liaoning province, southeastern Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and northern Hebei province.
Staff members of the Shanghai Museum are busy preparing for the upcoming exhibition Legends of Dragon: The Ancient Civilization of Hongshan Culture on June 20. [Photo by Gao Erqiang/chinadaily.com.cn]
Located at Hongshan (meaning "red mountain" in Chinese) in Chifeng city, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, the Hongshanhou site is a significant discovery site of the Hongshan Culture and the place after which the culture is named.
Around 5,500 years ago, the culture developed a ritual structure represented by "altars, temples, and burial mounds" and a jade ritual system symbolized by the jade dragon, entering a phase of the sophistication of social structure and the institutionalization of spirit and beliefs. As an archaeological culture, it represents the very first ancient state in China. As one of the important sources of Chinese civilization, it is hailed as the "taproot system" of Chinese culture.
Staff members of the Shanghai Museum are busy preparing for the upcoming exhibition Legends of Dragon: The Ancient Civilization of Hongshan Culture on June 20. [Photo by Gao Erqiang/chinadaily.com.cn]
The archaeological discoveries at the ancient state of the Hongshan Culture bear strong testimony to the fact that Chinese civilization is a highly inclusive continuum with a distinct identity.
