The Study On The Religion And Myth Of Hongshan Culture

Hongshan culture is a important prehistoric culture which is located in the area of western Liaohe River in northern China. The relic which was discovered in archaeological sites of Hongshan culture is worth researching. This paper is a sub-subject which belongs to the momentous subject of Liaoning Social Science Fund 2006 named"The Integrated Study of the Prehistoric Archaeology and the Origin of Civilization in the upper Liaohe River. And this paper makes a summary of the religion and myth of Hongshan culture. The research consists of two parts, the first one is the worship of goddess, and the second one is the jade article in funerary objects. On the subject of the worship of goddess, compared the goddess statue of western prehistoric culture with the goddess statue of Hongshan culture, several viewpoints are concluded: the worship of procreation goddess, primogenitor and god of field. The jade article of Hongshan culture is considered that it is the idol of the worship of totem and the divine ware which was used in the religion rite due to its particular sculpt and mysterious meaning. The amount of the excavated jade article is tremendous, hence, some scholars hold that Hongshan culture have relation to the legend of the Five Emperors. Furthermore, the scholars presume that there possibly should be a Jade Age between Stone Age and Bronze Age. Besides, the forms of the jade are coincident wonderfully. Therefore, the jade of Hongshan culture had been the rudiment of the ritual wares. At the same time, the writer put forwarded some opinions on the basis of previous research achievements as well.