This joyous piece of pottery from almost 5000 years ago brings the China civilisation to the upper parts of the Yellow River.
National Treasure 国宝
Painted Pottery Basin with Dancing Figures 舞蹈纹彩陶盆
Pottery | Majiayao Culture (c. 3200-2000 BC) | Unearthed at Shangsunjiazhai, Datong, Qinghai Province, 1973 | National Museum of China Collection. 陶器｜马家窑文化（约公元前3200年 前2000年）｜1973年青海大通上孙家寨出土｜中国国家博物馆藏
This painted pottery basin features a dynamic design of human figures engaged in dance, rendered in bold black pigment on a reddish-brown surface. As an outstanding example of Neolithic Majiayao culture (c.3200-2000BC), the basin reveals early Chinese people’s artistic sensibilities and communal life. 1
Each group of dancers contains five people holding hands, all facing forward and to the right and dancing in step with the rhythm.2 The rhythmic arrangement of the figures suggests ritual or celebratory dancing, reflecting the spiritual and social dimensions of prehistoric society. It stands as one of the earliest visual records of dance in China.
The stick-like objects beneath the dancers have attracted special attention—some believe these are weapons while some others deem them as a symbol of the male reproductive organ. What is interesting is that on another terra cotta basin also excavated in Qinghai a similar dancing scene was painted. The only difference is that all the dancers on the latter relics have a bulging belly, which makes many people believe that this is a revelry of pregnant women. This seems to provide evidence that the dancers on this basin are male.
Over more than three thousand years of development, the Majiayao Culture is divided into four types: Shilingxia, Majiayao, Banshan and Machang. The Majiayao culture 马家窑文化 was a group of Neolithic communities who lived primarily in the upper Yellow River region in eastern Gansu, eastern Qinghai and northern Sichuan, China. The culture existed from 3300 to 2000 BC.3
The most distinctive artefacts of the Majiayao culture are the painted pottery. During the Majiayao phase, potters decorated their wares with designs in black pigment featuring sweeping parallel lines and dots. The Majiayao culture used a wide variety of symbols in its pottery, some of them abstract and geometric, including the well-known Neolithic symbol of the Swastika, some of them figurative, such as frontal and rather realistic anthropomorphic depictions
Now I got you tapping, let’s put some dancing music on.
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.
Footnotes:
- Painted Pottery Basin with Dancing Figures 舞蹈纹彩陶盆
Pottery | Majiayao Culture (c. 3200-2000 BC) | Unearthed at Shangsunjiazhai, Datong, Qinghai Province, 1973 | National Museum of China Collection. 陶器｜马家窑文化（约公元前3200年 前2000年）｜1973年青海大通上孙家寨出土｜中国国家博物馆藏
彩陶盆内壁饰三组舞蹈图，绕盆一周形成圆圈，每组均为五人，手拉着手，似踩着节拍在翩翩起舞。这幅舞蹈图真实生动地展现了先民们在重大活动时群舞的热烈场面。
Museum information card, Nov 2025 ↩︎ - China Modern Contemporary Art Document, https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/basin-with-design-of-dancers-unknown/1QHWUPQU204rfQ?hl=en, accessed 29 Dec 2025 ↩︎
- Majiayao culture
The Majiayao culture benefited from the warm and humid climatic conditions from the Late Glacial to the Middle Holocene, which led to flourishing agricultural production and rapid population growth. These conditions changed with the aridification of the Late Holocene, provoking material and cultural decline.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majiayao_culture, accessed 29 Dec 2025 ↩︎ - Painted Pottery Jar with Spiral Design 涡纹四系彩陶罐
Pottery | Majiayno Culture (c. 3200-2000 BC) | Acquired at Sanping, Yongjing(Jishishan), Gansu Province, 1956 | National Museum of China Collection. 陶器｜马家窑文化（约公元前3200年一前2000年）｜1956年甘肃水靖三坪（现属积石山）征集｜中国国家博物馆藏
此彩陶罐呈敛口鼓版的统状，口沿外侧有四个钩状泥突形成阳系，取部两侧有对称的环状耳，器表饰圈彩。上腹部有提涡纹统器一周，在2个大旋粥纹之间各再给出2个小旋粥纹，旋涡纹带以下有一開水被纹带和强纹带加以禾托。整个画而既像水面被雨滴击起的层层选漪，又伤佛是温急的河水激流涌动面形波的一个个大小挨锅。此陶罐以其纹饰着美成为马家窑文化的代表作，被誉为“彩陶之王”。
Museum information card, Nov 2025 ↩︎ - Painted Pottery Jar with Dual Lugs 彩陶神人纹双耳罐
Pottery | Neolithic Majiayao Culture (ca. 3300-2000 BCE) | The National Museum of China collections
The abstract and geometric “frog” patterns painted in black on the shoulder and belly of the jar are now commonly referred to in academia as “divine anthropomorphic motifs” (it Ex shenren wen). These figures typically feature angular, contorted limbs with claw-like appendages at their extremities.
Blending human and amphibian characteristics, the motif symbolizes early reverence for fertility and water. It is thought to represent a shared ancestral deity worshiped by Neolithic communities in the upper Yellow River region. As such, it vividly illustrates the fusion of ancestor worship and shamanistic beliefs.
罐体肩腹部以黑彩绘制高度抽象化、几何化的蛙纹，今学术界多称之为“神人纹”。神人纹主体呈现为折肢形的身躯，肢体末端绘有爪。
神人纹是一种融合人形与蛙形的复合型纹饰，象征先民对生命繁衍的崇拜和对水资源的崇拜被认为是黄河上游先民共同崇拜的“神祖”。神人纹也是先民的祖先崇拜与巫术信仰的相结合的直接体现。
Museum information card, Nov 2025 ↩︎
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