An exhibition featuring 1,135 jade and stone articles from the Hongshan culture with a history of over 8,000 years was unveiled in Guilin, Guangxi province on April 1. Guilin is the 17th city these jade articles have been to. The well-received itinerant exhibition, which wrapped up on April 20, has been held in cities such as Taipei, Nanjing, Macao and Beijing.

Hongshan Jade Artifacts Exhibition

Dating back over five thousand years, Hongshan culture derives its name from the Hongshan Mountain of Chifeng, inside the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. Archeological studies show that Hongshan culture was developed on the basis of Xinglongwa and Zhaobaogou cultures. A study of these cultures is of great significance to the exploration of the origin of the Chinese civilization.

Hongshan culture is known for its jade items. The jade items on display at the exhibition were excavated and taken away by the Japanese, French and Germans between 1908 and 1945, and have been lost overseas. This unprecedented event came about through cooperation between the deputy curator of the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taiwan, Zeng Yishi, and 104 overseas collectors, who have their collections of Hongshan jade artifacts on display. All the items have a long history, some having been passed down through five generations.

C-shaped Jade Dragon

Made out of high quality raw materials, these Hongshan cultural articles are of excellent workmanship and various shapes, revealing high production technologies. One of the most attractive articles in the exhibition is the C-shaped jade dragon, engraved out of dark green nephrite. It is the first well-preserved image of a dragon ever discovered, thus known as the “No 1 Dragon in China”. The dragon has the head of a swine and the body of a serpent, coiling in a cirrus-like shape.