Puyang Dragon Township of Chinese Dragon Culture Festival

Puyang, the dragon town of China, can be traced back to Xishuipo site in the southwest corner of Puyang Old Town. In May, 1987, in order to solve the problem of industrial and urban residents' water use, Puyang City was discovered in the excavation of the Yellow River diversion and water supply regulation project. The west and south sides of the site are magnificent ancient city walls built in the back beam of the Five Dynasties. Scientific excavation began in June of the same year after being reported to the Ministry of Culture for approval according to law. The cultural layers of the site, from top to bottom, are Song, Five Dynasties, Tang, Jin, Han and Yellow River siltation layers, Eastern Zhou, Shang culture layers, Longshan culture layers and Yangshao culture layers. Yangshao culture can be divided into three layers: upper, middle and lower. The excavation of Xishuipo site has cleared up many relics, such as ash pits, pits, house foundations, kiln sites, ditches, adult tombs, children's urn coffins, burial pits for the dead soldiers of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, a large number of pottery, bones, stones, mussels and other relics, as well as rich animal remains. More importantly, after scientific excavation by national cultural relics archaeologists, four groups of animal patterns such as dragons and tigers piled up in batches with mussels and snails were discovered and unearthed under the fourth floor of Yangshao culture.

In p>1987, the "Yi Long in China" was discovered at Yangshao Cultural Site in Shuipo, the west of Puyang County, Henan Province. On the left and right sides of the skeleton of a mature man in the middle of a tomb, there are dragon and tiger patterns carefully sculpted by mussel shells. The dragon pattern is 1.78 meters long and .67 meters high, with its head held high, its bow bent, its long tail, its front paws raked and its back pawed, and it takes off in a flying shape. The tiger pattern is 1.39 meters long and .63 meters high. The tiger's head is slightly low, its eyes are wide, its mouth is open, its teeth are exposed, its tail is down, and its limbs alternate, like a walking tiger. On both sides of the tomb owner, the dragon and tiger patterns carefully sculpted with clam shells were identified as "the first Yi Long in China" by archaeologists.

In p>1988, it happened in the Year of the Loong, a lunar calendar. This major archaeological discovery immediately caused a sensation in academic circles and the press, and attracted extensive attention overseas. In 1998, the year of the Tiger was the lunar calendar, and the painter Li Yan wrote in the capital newspaper that "the dragon culture in China is quite rich, and the' Yi Long of China' came from Puyang, the hometown of Zhuan Xu, the grandson of our ancestor Huangdi.

"Yi Long in China" is a burial object of Yangshao period (Chinese legend era, the representative figure of this period is "Three Emperors and Five Emperors"). At the same time, there are tigers unearthed. Both dragons and tigers are made of clam shells, and the owner of the tomb is a 1.79-meter-long dense white bone lying between dragons and tigers. What is even more confusing is that the Yellow Emperor "Lapras ascended to heaven", the oldest legend in China, is confirmed by the sculpture of the clam shell "Lapras ascended to heaven" unearthed in this tomb-"Lapras ascended to heaven" is a legend, but it is a true reflection of history.

in p>1987, in order to solve the water demand of chemical industry and urban residents, Puyang city built a regulating pool for water supply from the Yellow River on Xishuipo in the southwest corner of the old city. During the archaeological investigation in coordination with the construction, a site of Yangshao cultural settlement with rich connotation was found in the southwest of the regulating pool. Since June of that year, the cultural relics and archaeologists in Puyang City have made a scientific excavation of the site after being approved by National Cultural Heritage Administration, and gained a lot. The most important and meaningful thing is to clear up four groups of dragon and tiger patterns made of clam shells under the fourth floor of Yangshao culture, which are referred to as clam pictures for short and represented by B1, B2, B3 and B4. B1 is a tomb, numbered M45. On August 17, it was found in the No.137 exploration square (hereinafter referred to as T) that the owner of the tomb was an elderly male with a head south and a foot north, and was 1.84 meters long. On both sides of it are mussel shell dragon and tiger patterns respectively. The dragon and the tiger are facing each other, and the dragon is on the east side, 1.78 meters long; The tiger is on the west side, 1.39 meters long, with its head north and tail south, and there is a clam shell pile in the tomb owner's middle foot north; B2 is 2 meters south of B1, and it was found in T176 on September 1th. Its contents include dragons, tigers, deer, stone axes, etc. The tiger is in the west and the deer is in the east, with their heads facing north. The dragon is in the south of the tiger, opening its mouth and sticking out its tongue, showing its upper and lower teeth, and there is a nearly round pile of mussels in the south of its mouth. The dragon body is stacked under the tiger body. There is a spider-like pattern to the east of the faucet, and a stone axe is placed to the east. B2 is 2.1m long from north to south and 1.33m wide from east to west; B3 is 25 meters south of B2 and was found in T215 on November 23rd. The content is a running tiger, with its head west and its tail east, and its back south and its feet north running like a tail. Back to back with the tiger is Yi Long, with his head in the east and tail in the west, holding his head high and taking off, and riding a dragon on his back; B4 is in the southwest of B3, and its image can't be distinguished because it was broken by two late ash pits.

The three groups of pictures of mussels are unique in shape, large in scale and rich in connotation. They are discovered for the first time in the archaeological history of Yangyun culture. Experts agree that mussels belong to the early relics of Yangyun culture in archaeological dating, and they are the authentic ancestors of various dragons in the Forbidden City in Beijing in form. Subsequently, the laboratory of the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences made a carbon-14 determination of the mussel shell specimen of this relic, dating back to 66 years ago, with an error of no more than 135 years (corrected by tree rings), so experts called the mussel dragon "the first Yi Long in China". "Yi Long in China" caused a sensation at home and abroad. Experts and scholars from many disciplines at home and abroad have conducted comprehensive and in-depth research on it and achieved remarkable results. As the source of dragon culture in Xishuipo, its profound connotation is being revealed, and its practical significance has gone beyond academic research itself.

from may, 1987 to September, 1988, the cultural relics department cooperated with the Yellow River Diversion Pond Engineering Team to excavate three groups of dragon and tiger patterns built by mussels in the Yangshao culture period in Xishuipo, the southwest corner of Puyang County. There is a male skeleton in the No.45 tomb in the first group, which is 1.84 meters long and lies on his back, with his head south and his feet north. On the right, Yi Long is made of mussel shells, with its head facing north and east, its head held high and its back arched, its front paws raked, its hind legs pedaled, and its tail swung, which seemed to roam the sea. On the left, a tiger is made of clam shells, with its head facing north and west, its eyes wide open and its mouth bared, like a tiger descending the mountain. This pattern is consistent with black dragon in the East Palace and White Tiger in the West Palace in the four ancient astronomical phenomena. A young man was buried in the three small niches in the east, west and north of this tomb. The human bone in the west niche was 1.15m long, like a woman, about twelve years old, with a head wound. He was very dead, like a martyr.

In the second group of crypts, 2 meters away from the south of Tomb No.45, patterns of dragons, tigers, deer and spiders are built with clam shells. The dragons and tigers are conjoined with opposite ends, while the deer lies on the back of the tiger, and the spider is located on the head of the tiger. There is a refined stone axe between the deer and the spider. The third group, 25 meters south, is a gray pit, which is northeast to southwest, and there are people riding dragons and tigers in it. This is consistent with the legend that "the Yellow Emperor ascended to heaven by riding a dragon" and "Zhuan Xu and Lapras traveled all over the world". In addition, birds, mussels and scattered mussels are scattered among them, like the stars in the sun, moon and galaxy. Its people gallop in the air by dragon and tiger, which is very vivid and has high aesthetic value. In addition, around the three groups of mussel patterns, the foundation of Yangshao period and a large number of tombs, utensils and carved stone portraits have been excavated, which are very rich.

China is the hometown of the dragon, which embodies the history of the Chinese nation and represents the great unity, unity and enterprising spirit of the Chinese nation. The earliest dragon image of China was unearthed in the archaeological excavation of Xishuipo site in Puyang City, Henan Province. The legend of the dragon has a long history, and it is a totem composed of many animal features worshipped by ancient people. For thousands of years, people have regarded it as a symbol of power and majesty, carved on beams and columns, molded on walls, and embroidered into dragon robes, which has become a unity of truth, goodness and beauty. Therefore, it has many titles, such as "the real dragon son", "the son-in-law" and "the son-in-law who wants to become a dragon", which embodies the ideals, aspirations and pursuits of China people. In 1987, the dragon and tiger pattern unearthed in Xishuipo, Puyang County is the earliest among the dragon patterns discovered in China. According to scientific determination, it was 646 135 years ago, so it was praised by experts as "the first Yi Long in China". This major discovery has caused a sensation in the national press and historians. In 1988, People's Pictorial was published in 19 editions in 12 countries. The major newspapers in China, People's Daily, Guangming Daily, China Heritage Newspaper, Cultural Relics, huaxia archaeology, etc., have made reports successively.

In October p>1995, the Chinese Yanhuang Culture Research Association, the Henan Yanhuang Culture Research Association and the Puyang Municipal People's Government jointly held an academic seminar on "Long Culture and the Chinese Nation" in Puyang. Experts and scholars from all over the world attended the grand meeting, which achieved a lot of research results. At the closing ceremony, the Chinese Yanhuang Culture Research Association officially named Puyang as "Dragon Township", and the executive vice president Feng Zheng presented the bronze medal engraved with the word "Dragon Township" to Puyang City.

The discovery of the Xishuipo site in Puyang is of great significance for exploring the origin of China civilization, the origin of dragons and studying the ancient history, aesthetic history, religious history and astronomical calendar of China. Archaeologist Zou Heng wrote an inscription: "Chinese civilization has its own origins, dragons and tigers are everywhere, and irrefutable evidence is like a mountain", which spoke highly of it. In mid-October, 1995, an academic seminar on "Dragon Culture and the Chinese Nation" was held in Pu. At this meeting, Puyang City was named "Dragon Township", and the Chinese Yanhuang Culture Research Association presented a bronze plaque engraved with the word "Dragon Township" to Puyang City. Since then, "Longxiang" has become a synonym for Puyang.