Liangzhu culture 良渚文化 is also known as the Jade culture and dates from c.3000 BC. And these congs are used as a ceremonial jade object (cylinder) in worshipping the Earth, according to ancient belief that the Heaven is round, and the Earth is square (“天圆地方”). This Royal Jade Cong 玉琮王 excavated in 1986 is so far the heaviest discovered.
National Treasure 国宝
Royal Jade Cong 玉琮王
Jade | Neolithic Liangzhu Culture (c.3400-c.2250 BC) | Dimensions – H:9.5cm, Upper Width:17.1-17.6cm, Lower Width:16.5-17.5cm, D (Hole): 3.8cm, Wt:6.5kg | Zhejiang Provincial Museum Collection, Unearthed from Tomb M12 Fanshan Site, Yuhang, Zhejiang. 玉器｜新石器時代 良渚文化（公元前3400年-2280年）｜ 通高8.9厘米、上射径17.1厘米至17.6厘米、下射径16.5厘米至17.5厘米、孔内径3.8厘米、重6500公克｜浙江省博物院藏，浙江余杭反山遗址12号墓出土
Jade Cong 玉琮 was discovered only in the elite burials. This special jade Cong unearthed on 31 May 1986 from Tomb M12, the first of many royal tombs discovered in Fanshan 反山 near the city centre of the ancient ruins of Liangzhu 良渚遗址, weighs 6.5 kg and is nominated as the “King of Congs“. Cong is an important ritual object used by the Liangzhu community to connect the heaven and earth, and to worship the gods and spirits.
Jade Cong 玉琮 is an important carrier of sacred human-animal motif. The shape of Cong is characterised by the circular hollow section in the centre and the square outer contour with four sets of identical patterns symmetrically carved in four corners and longitudinal grooves on four walls, representing four directions of the earth.
There are four straight grooves on each side of the cong, each with a figurative image of a deity or an animal face carved on the upper and lower parts. The deity wears a feathered headdress and rides on a divine animal, and the pattern is carved using shallow relief and line engraving techniques.
On the rectangular convex surface of the corner, every two sections are carved with abstract images of deities or animal faces, which unfold on both sides along the turning point as the axis. This combination of human and animal structures at the corners is a basic feature of Liangzhu jade cong decoration. There are also mildly raised bird patterns on both sides of the animal faces. The function of the cong is uncertain, but it may symbolise both divine and royal powers.
Liangzhu Culture 良渚文化 (c.3400-c.2250 BC)
良渚古城和外围水利系统
The Liangzhu culture 良渚文化 was a late Neolithic civilisation that flourished in the Yangtze River Delta from c.3300–2250 BC. The culture was highly stratified, with elite burials containing jade, silk, ivory, and lacquer artefacts, while pottery was more common in poorer burials. The Liangzhu culture was influential in the region, and its sphere of influence extended from Shanxi to Guangdong.
The Liangzhu culture is named after the Liangzhu ancient city ruins 良渚遗址 in Yuhang District 余杭 in Hangzhou, which was investigated by Shi Xingeng 施昕更 (1912-1939) in 1936. Marked by large scale engineering projects, such as sophisticated irrigation and organised agriculture, and a social hierarchy system that was represented by a complex jade system 用玉制度 to reflect social status, the Liangzhu culture is regarded as the most overwhelming and prominent regional civilisation in China dating back five millennia.
It was highly developed, and the oldest archaeological evidence of an early state form in China. Later Zhou and Han texts refer to the ritual use of cong and bi representing the earth and the heavens, but we can’t assume this was their original meaning.
Fanshan Royal Cemetery 反山王陵
Fanshan is an artificial rectangular earthen mound with a stacking thickness of 4-6 m. It is about 120 m long from east to west, about 80 m wide from south to north, and 12.4 m above sea level with a relative height of about 5-6 m. Since Fanshan Cemetery was the royal tomb area inside Liangzhu City, a huge quantity of manpower and material resources were required in the site selection, design, construction and burial of Fanshan Cemetery.
The burial objects unearthed from Fanshan cemetery are rarely seen in other archaeological sites of Liangzhu in terms of quantity, level and workmanship, making it the highest-level tomb of Liangzhu culture discovered so far. It is speculated that Fanshan ruins could be a king’s mausoleum.
Fanshan Tomb M12 反山12号墓
On 31 May 1986, archaeologists discovered a jade inlaid lacquer cup 嵌玉漆杯 and a jade cong 玉琮 in succession and confirmed the first tomb of Fanshan Cemetery. This was later known as Tomb M12. Five smaller cong were found near the arms of this male, and his grave contained 641 jades of other types, with addition to numerous beads and flakes. It is the richest of nine shaft burials in the Fanshan cemetery.
Tomb M12 is located in the centre of cemetery, surrounding by other royal tombs. It has the largest number of burial objects of all varieties, totalling 658 in single large pieces (excluding numerous smaller jade fragments and beads). The complete emblems displaying a mythical creature with the head of a beast, have been unearthed from this tomb.
Royal jade cong 玉琮王 was discovered from this tomb, together with the royal jade yue 玉钺王 (we will do another post about this National Treasure) and multiple jade columns 玉柱形器, it was deduced to be the tomb of the “King” of the Liangzhu state.
Jade cong 玉琮
Jade | Neolithic Liangzhu Culture (c.3400-c.2250 BC) | Yuhang Museum Collection, Unearthed from Tomb M12 Fanshan Site, Yuhang, Zhejiang. 玉器｜新石器時代 良渚文化（公元前3400年-2280年）｜ 杭州市余杭博物馆藏，浙江余杭反山遗址12号墓出土
Uniquely, however, royal jade congs have a more complicated design on the sides, midway between corners. This design has only been found in Tombs M12 and M22, which are commonly interpreted as the burials of a ruler of the city and his wife.
Repeated twice on each side, this semi-human animal image consists of a trapezoidal human face with a feathered headdress, wide flat nose and circular eyes whose arms turn inward to touch a pair of spectacled eyes belonging to a beast. The beast, with wide nose and mouth with four tusks, seems to be resting its head on its clawed forelegs. Moreover, on each corner of the cong, beginning at the top, we see a pair of small circular eyes with horizontal prongs, then big spectacled eyes, then the circular eyes again, then the spectacled eyes.
Jade cong with sacred human-animal motif 神人兽面纹玉琮
Jade | Neolithic Liangzhu Culture (c.3400-c.2250 BC) | Liangzhu Museum Collection, Unearthed from Tomb M17 Fanshan Site, Yuhang, Zhejiang. 玉器｜新石器時代 良渚文化（公元前3400年-2280年）｜ 良渚博物院藏，浙江余杭反山遗址17号墓出土
Jade cong with multisection of sacred human motif 神人纹多节玉琮
Jade | Neolithic Liangzhu Culture (c.3400-c.2250 BC) | Hangzhou Linping Museum Collection, Collected at Wujiabu Site, Yuhang, Zhejiang. 玉器｜新石器時代 良渚文化（公元前3400年-2280年）｜杭州市临平博物馆藏，浙江余杭吴家埠遗址采集
I have included another jade cong from a minor tomb excavated in Wujiabu site for contrast. While the motifs are the same, the size and quality are entirely different.
In 2002 the royal jade cong was listed by State Administration of Cultural Heritage as one of sixty-four first-grade cultural relics that are forbidden to be taken out of mainland China for exhibition.
About Chinese National Treasure Series
中華國寶系列 Chinese National Treasure series feature specific artefacts and relics from museums all around the world that are historically significant to be considered a National Treasure. The series covers the 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation from Neolithic periods before the Xia dynasty (c. 2070-1600 BC) to modern day.
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