| The earliest relic of Zhejiang fine arts
was the recently found Kuahuqiao site, which had been formed over 8,000
years before. On the excavated pottery wares, there were such decorative
patterns like rope veins, scored veins, engraved veins, pressed and
printed veins. And on some painted potteries were linear veins, curved
veins, crisscross veins and sun-shaped veins. The painted potteries and
reed-woven wares were the headstream of Zhejiang's industrial arts found
up to now. |
| Among
the excavations of the Hemudu Culture Site, there were many ornaments like
beads, tubes made of jade or luster stones and necklaces, bracelets made
of animal teeth and fish bones, which reflected the unvarnished taste of
the ancients. The ancients also created lot of primitive artworks like
earthen pigs, earthen head portrait, earthen fish, earthen sheep, earthen
boats and wooden fish . a percussion instrument that were simple but
lifelike. The decorative patterns of the Hemudu wares were mainly animal
and plant figures, for example, Earthen Plate With the Rice Spike Vein
reflected the rice-planting culture then. The Pig Patterned Earthen Bowl
displayed a savage pig figure with long mouth and long legs and was the
epitome of the primitive stockbreeding. The Ivory Sculpture With Two Birds
Flying Towards the Sun was delicate in burnishing. It looked rather
romantic with the image of the rising sun surrounded by two birds which
reflected the ancient's worship to the sun. The Ivory Bird Shaped Dagger
was engraved with a single line and concave carving skills so that the
still raptor looked simple and vivid. The Hemudu potteries were mainly
decorated by the rope-pressed veins and some by engraved veins of such
figures like bird, pig, fish and rice leaves. The shape and decorations of
the kettles were most various, for example, the Eighteen Angled Pottery
Kettle With Engraved Veins was plump in shape and carved with the
interlinking veins of rice leaves. It reflected the pure, straightforward
characteristics of the ancients. The research on the Wooden Structure
Banister Building Site of the Hemudu Culture, which was regarded as the
origin of Zhejiang architecture, provided precious materials for the study
of Chinese ancient architecture history and the world's architecture
history. The Red-painted Wooden Padding Bowl was the earliest lacquer of
the world, which proved the Chinese lacquer history could be dated back
about several thousands years earlier than we had expected. |
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|
The Pig Patterned Earthen
Bowl |
| During the
excavations of the Luojiajiao Site (early stage) of the Majiabang Culture,
archeologists found some white pottery fragments. Gray or light yellow in
color, uniform in structure, normative in processing and more importantly,
with white pottery coatings on surface, they were the earliest white
pottery works of China. The white potteries of the Luojiajiao Site (late
stage) were solid in quality, a result of being baked in the temperature
range of 950c-1000c. About 5000 years before, the Majiabang Culture
developed into the Songze Culture. The Human-figured Vase was the
masterpiece of the Songze ancients. It was very precious because such
human figures were scarcely used in the pottery sculpting in ancient
times. |
|
The Liangzhu Culture is famous for its jade
products like cong (rectangular jade with round holes), bi (a round flat
piece of jade with a hole in it) and tomahawk which were large in number
and fine in craft. The processing skills of Liangzhu jade products were
complicated and various. The skills like concave engraving, protruding
engraving, embossment, penetrating engraving and round engraving were
jointly used. The skilled craftsmen even could engrave 4 to 5 paralleled
thin lines within a range of 1mm. The lines were thin but straight, so
extraordinary as if done by the spirits. The jade cong was a rectangular
jade with a round hole in the center. They were usually engraved with
simple or complicated patterns of beast-faced god-man. The making of cong
was quite standardized with embossment technique for the god-man's beast
face to emphasize the mighty power and concave engraving technique for the
god-man's body, arms, hands and the beast's forelimbs to add in a taste of
mystery. It became the typical decorative technique of the New Stone Age,
and was very influential. It was said to have some relationship with the
Taotie (a mythical ferocious animal) Veins of the Bronze Age. The Liangzhu
potteries were mainly dark potteries made of clay and were processed by
wheels. They were delicate and glittered with a black shine after firing.
The decorative veins were mainly string, twist, rope and wave shapes. The
representative decorative patterns of Liangzhou Black Pottery were
additive pile veins, bamboo gnarl veins and holes of various shapes. The
Link-eared Dark Pot and The Dark Round-Mouthed Food Vessel With Handles
were typical Liangzhu wares which gave out black shines after coated with
black coatings and polished by animal skin.
| Among the
excavations of the Qianshanyang Site of the Liangzhu Culture, there
were some tabby flax fragments which were as densely woven as
today's fine flax. The thin silk fragments were made of raised
silkworms. They were about 48 lines per square centimeters in
density and were regarded as the earliest silk products of the
world. There were lots of basketworks made of bamboo or bulrush
strips. The processing skills were of quite high level then, such as
the skills to make herringbone, rhomb, crisscross patterns, plum
flower shaped holes and pigtails. |
|
The fine jade products, the engraved
black potteries, the basketworks, the silk and hemp products
excavated in Liangzhu Culture Site displayed the development level
of the material and industrial arts. They by far enriched the fine
arts collections of the New Stone Age in Zhejiang Province.
Liangzhu Jade Cong-> |
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