- Pig dragon
A pig dragon or zhulong (Chinese 猪龍) is a type of
jade artifact fromneolithic China . Zhulong are zoomorphic forms with a piglike head and elongated limbless body coiled around to the head in the manner of anouroboros . Early pig dragons are thick and stubby; later examples have more graceful, snakelike bodies.Pig dragons were produced by the
Hongshan culture , and often featured as grave goods. [Howard, Angela Falco, et al. (2006). "Chinese Sculpture", pp. 21-22. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300100655.] For example see [http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/chbro_preh.shtm] . Pig bones have been found interred alongside humans at Hongshan burial sites, suggesting that the animal had some ritual significance.There is some speculation that the pig dragon is the first representation of the
Chinese dragon . The character for "dragon" in the earliest Chinese writing has a similar coiled form, as do later jade dragon amulets from theShang period. [Salviati, Filippo (2002). "The Language of Adornment: Chinese Ornaments of Jade, Crystal, Amber and Glass", Fig. 17. Ten Speed Press. ISBN 1580085873.]References
External links
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hongshan/ Discussion and Images of Pig Dragons]
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