Liangzhu Pottery: Introversion and Resplendence (Liangzhu Civilization) 9811571457, 9789811571459

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Liangzhu Civilization

Ye Zhao

Liangzhu Pottery Introversion and Resplendence

Liangzhu Civilization Series Editor Bin Liu, Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Hangzhou, China

The Liangzhu Civilization series consists of 11 volumes, namely: Realm of King and God: Liangzhu City; Fanshan Royal Cemetery: Pyramid of the East; Liangzhu Jade Artifacts: Legal Instrument and Royalty; Liangzhu Pottery: Introversion and Resplendence; Engineering and Tools: The Stone Story of Liangzhu; Painting and Symbol: Primitive Characters of Liangzhu; The Paleoenvironment, Plants and Animals of Liangzhu; China and the World in the Liangzhu Era; Eighty Years of Archaeology at Liangzhu; What Liangzhu Was Like; and One Dig for Five Millennia: Liangzhu in the Eyes of an Archaeological Journalist. Representing the combined efforts of archaeologists from the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Zhejiang Province who have been exploring Liangzhu for over 30 years, the series boasts a wealth of significant findings made at Liangzhu, shares the archaeologists’ valuable experience, and includes abundant pictures of the excavation site. Accordingly, it will help readers develop a deeper understanding of Liangzhu Civilization and reveal the evolutionary course of Chinese civilization, characterized by ‘unity in diversity.’ Both the publication of the Liangzhu Civilization Series and the ‘Liangzhu Civilization Towards the World’ exhibition are expected to serve as a bridge to the public, thereby further disseminating Liangzhu Civilization and promoting an interest in traditional Chinese culture.

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/16612

Ye Zhao

Liangzhu Pottery Introversion and Resplendence

123

Ye Zhao Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology Hangzhou, China Translated by Luoying Zheng School of Software Technology Zhejiang University Hangzhou, China

ISSN 2730-6097 ISSN 2730-6100 (electronic) Liangzhu Civilization ISBN 978-981-15-7145-9 ISBN 978-981-15-7146-6 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7146-6 Jointly published with Zhejiang University Press The print edition is not for sale in China Mainland. Customers from China Mainland please order the print book from Zhejiang University Press. Translation from the Simplified Chinese language edition: 内敛与华丽: 良渚陶器 by Ye Zhao, © Zhejaing University Press Co., Ltd. 2019. Published by Zhejiang University Press Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved. © Zhejiang University Press 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publishers, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publishers, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publishers nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publishers remain neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Foreword: Liangzhu and Five Thousand Years of Chinese Civilization

The combination of time and space is marvelous. When we look up at the starry sky and see the immense universe, the twinkling stars seem to be permanently embedded in the canopy of the heavens. However, we know from modern science that the light-year is a unit of distance, and the light of stars from the depths of the universe was emitted in the distant past—the travel across time and space happens in the mere blink of an eye. Archeology is also a discipline about travel across time and space. Through the door of time opened by our own hands, we can go back to different moments in human history, and 5000 years ago was a special one. Globally speaking, the period 5000 years ago was a great era in which civilization was born. Coincidentally, early civilizations all grew up in the world’s major river basins, such as the ancient Egyptian civilization in the Nile River Basin, the Sumerian civilization in the Tigris–Euphrates River Basin and the Harappan civilization in the Indus River Basin. How about Chinese civilization 5000 years ago? This issue has baffled scholars for quite a long time. They have examined ancient China’s cities, characters, bronzeware, etc., according to the international standards of civilization and found that the ancient Chinese civilization could date back to no earlier than the Shang dynasty when oracle bone script appeared. The history before the emergence of characters was called “prehistory” in archeology. During China’s prehistoric times, different geographical units in the vast territory have given birth to cultural sequences with various characteristics since 10,000 years ago, which is figuratively called “the sky dotted with stars” in archeology. China’s prehistory, however, has long been underestimated. We always take the Xia and Shang dynasties as the origin of the Chinese civilization and take the Yellow River civilization as its core, which unconsciously downplays the historic significance of high-level ruins and high-grade relics in surrounding areas, such as those from the Hongshan culture in Western Liaoning, the Shijiahe culture around the Yangtze River and the Han River, the Liangzhu culture in the Taihu Basin, the Taosi culture in Southern Shanxi and the Shimao site in Northern Shaanxi. As we explore the origin of the Chinese culture, we come to realize that

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Foreword: Liangzhu and Five Thousand Years of Chinese Civilization

some cultures like “stars dotting the sky” sparkled the first sign of civilization, and the Liangzhu culture is a particular one among them. The Liangzhu culture, an archeological culture of jade worship, suddenly came into existence in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River approximately 5300 years ago. Despite the fact that jade had already been widely admired, it was not until that period that jade worship reached an unprecedented climax. Different from ornamental jade ware many people love, Liangzhu people’s jade ware was made not only for aesthetic purposes. Represented by cong,1 which belonged to the ritual jade ware system besides yue,2 huang,3 bi,4 crown-shaped ornaments, three-pronged jade artifacts, awl-shaped jade artifacts, tablets and tubes, Liangzhu people’s jade ware symbolized their status, power or wealth. Various jade ware buried in earth mounds alongside the people with supreme power showed the dignity of the deceased, and the divine emblem often engraved on the jade ware demonstrated Liangzhu people’s unified belief. The owners of the jade ware were Liangzhu’s ruling class who believed they could exercise the god’s will as the embodiment of the god. The types and quantities of the jade ware buried with them imply their social status and responsibility. It seems that the Liangzhu culture was once divided into multiple centers and covered a great number of small states, because extremely high-level tomb groups were found at the sites of Fanshan and Yaoshan in Yuhang District, Hangzhou, the site of Sidun in Wujin District, Changzhou, the site of Gaochengdun in Jiangyin, and the site of Fuquanshan in Shanghai. Fortunately, history gave Yuhang an opportunity: More and more sites of the Liangzhu culture were found around the site of Fanshan, and the good protection of these centrally distributed sites allowed archeological work to be carried out smoothly in the area. In retrospect, it provided a foundation for the rediscovery of the Liangzhu culture. Otherwise, no one would have realized that the scattered sites are different parts of the ancient capital city Liangzhu. We now can see that the Liangzhu City, composed of the imperial city, the inner city and the outer city, covers 6.3 km2, around eight times the size of the Forbidden City. It boasts palaces, royal tombs, city walls, moats, a water transportation system inside the city and a water conservancy system outside the city. It was a proper capital city in terms of its scale and layout, and the Liangzhu culture could reach the standards of civilization except for characters and bronzeware. Nevertheless, with our minds open, we may find that the general standards of civilization should not be applied rigidly when determining whether a culture has entered a civilized society or not. The significance of etiquette manifested by bronzeware in other civilized societies is reflected in jade ware in the Liangzhu culture. Despite the lack of the character system through which languages can be recorded and thoughts and cultures can be passed down, the symbols incised on ritual jade ware could unify people’s thoughts to a great extent, and the impressive organizational and 1

Cong (琮): a straight tube with a circular bore and square outer section with convex sides. Yue (钺): axe. 3 Huang (璜): semi-circular jade artifact. 4 Bi (璧): flat jade disc with a circular hole in the centre. 2

Foreword: Liangzhu and Five Thousand Years of Chinese Civilization

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managerial capabilities of Liangzhu society reflected in large construction projects also suggest that there must have been a certain method for information transmission similar to the character system. For these reasons, the discovery of the Liangzhu City established the existence of the Liangzhu civilization. The archeological studies of Liangzhu have lasted for more than eight decades. In 1936, Shi Xingeng first discovered black-surfaced pottery and stone tools, and today we have defined the Liangzhu culture as the first regional culture in ancient China that formed an early kingdom; in 1959, Xia Nai put forward the designation of “the Liangzhu culture” and scholars came to know the characteristics of this culture, and today we carry out multifield and all-dimensional archeological research on the Liangzhu civilization, and the state form of Liangzhu becomes clearer and clearer to us. This book series, written by young and middle-aged scholars who are devoted to the archeological work of Liangzhu, focuses on recent archeological findings and studies of the ruins of the Liangzhu City in Pingyao Town, Yuhang District, Hangzhou, and contains a huge amount of information, including different aspects of the site that people hope to know, the history of the archeological studies of Liangzhu, the palaeoenvironment, plants and animals of Liangzhu, Fanshan royal cemetery which is the highest level of cemetery in the Liangzhu culture, high-grade jade ware of Liangzhu often discussed by people and a wide range of pottery used in Liangzhu people’s daily life. On top of that, Liangzhu is also compared with other ancient civilizations in the world, and an intriguing series of news reports on Liangzhu is commented on by media professionals. We hope this book series can arouse readers’ interest in the Liangzhu civilization, so more people can be inspired to explore our history. Perhaps many people would ask about the relationship between the Liangzhu civilization and the Chinese civilization because Chinese people are called the descendants of Huaxia5 in modern history but few people have heard of Liangzhu. This is understandable: We believe the Chinese civilization is a unified civilization of a state with its political power in the Yellow River Basin; it has survived from the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang dynasties and is still thriving today. However, the archeologists have launched the “In Search of the Origins of Chinese Civilization” project to gain some insights into the earliest cultural form of Chinese civilization, so we should not have too many presuppositions for the earliest civilized society. Since we have found a 5000-year-old regional civilization, the Liangzhu civilization, we may also find the Hongshan civilization in Northern Liaoning and the Shijiahe civilization in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, though we are not able to confirm the existence of these civilizations at this stage due to limited archeological findings. While the Liangzhu civilization started declining gradually 4300 years ago, the elements of the civilization have been well inherited because of Liangzhu’s jade, and its influence has spread all over the country—regional civilizations actually have a nationwide and even universal influence. 5 Huaxia refers to a confederation of tribes—living along the Yellow River—who were the ancestors of what later became the Han ethnic group in China. Source https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Huaxia.

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Foreword: Liangzhu and Five Thousand Years of Chinese Civilization

Human migration and communication have never ceased since the Paleolithic era. Population movement of different scales, degrees and forms has facilitated collisions, exchanges and integration between cultures, and the development of regional civilization is also a dynamic process. The one thousand years following the Liangzhu civilization—the earliest Chinese civilization we can confirm as of today—witnessed the successive prosperity of Taosi, Shimao and Erlitou, and the center of regional civilization changed from time to time. In this process, the elements of civilization, such as etiquette, hierarchical society and city structures, were inherited and integrated till the beginning of the Xia and Shang dynasties. In fact, the Xia and Shang cultures evolved in their respective regions, and the change of the dynasties reflects the dominance of Xia was replaced by the dominance of the other regional civilization—the regions were much larger this time and the civilizations fought against each other during that period for the control over the territory. It was not until the Qin dynasty that a state unified by centralized political power appeared in China. In this regard, the period from Liangzhu to the Shang and Zhou dynasties saw the Chinese civilization’s continued evolution from a regional civilization to a unified one, so this period can by no means be separated apart. Written in Liangzhu May 2019

Bin Liu

Preface: A Glimpse of Liangzhu Pottery

Liangzhu is the name of a place. It refers to an ancient town of Yuhang District, located in the northern suburbs of Hangzhou and first established in the Qing dynasty. Liangzhu is an archeological culture. The Liangzhu culture covers the Taihu Basin, which is located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. It was named after Liangzhu Town where it was first discovered. Liangzhu is large-scale ruins. The hundreds of sites discovered in Liangzhu form an organic whole, which is called the Archeological Ruins of Liangzhu City. Liangzhu is an ancient city. High city walls stand in the center of the Archeological Ruins of Liangzhu City that covers an area of 6.3 km2. Liangzhu was an ancient kingdom. The ancient city of the triple structure was its capital as well as the center of power and belief. Liangzhu was an ancient civilization. The Liangzhu civilization gave birth to a kingdom, society and myriads of cultural elements. With so many meanings, the term “Liangzhu” has a rich culture background. The prehistoric Liangzhu culture was highly civilized with a clear state form. It had a powerful political system with abundant resources and wealth and boasted a magnificent capital city as well as exquisite ritual jade ware. Liangzhu was a secular society. The daily life of the aristocracy and the populace showcased the society of Liangzhu. As food is the first necessity of the people, pottery vessels were Liangzhu people’s indispensable utensils which they used to have meals, eat soup, drink wine and store food in their daily life. Pottery was even buried with Liangzhu people after their death so they could enjoy food in their afterlife. Liangzhu people had a preference for black pottery. With the wheel-throwing technique commonly used, pottery is symmetric, elegant and understated—this is the restraint of Liangzhu pottery. Some fine works, engraved with patterns all over their black shiny surfaces, are impressive and exquisite—this is the resplendence of Liangzhu pottery. Red pottery is a distinctive type, full of energy and passion in contrast to black utensils. On top of that, Liangzhu potters occasionally made pottery with strange shapes that were funny or charming. ix

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Preface: A Glimpse of Liangzhu Pottery

Silent as the pottery is, it has undergone the wedging of clay, the throwing on the potter’s wheel, the decoration of the body, the burnishing of the surface and the firing of the finished ware. The types, shapes, decoration and color of the pottery can show ancient people’s techniques, aesthetics and artistic gifts, and the sources of clay, production processes, decorative styles, color preference and the uses of utensils are inherently associated with material resources, social development, cultural traditions and beliefs. We can find out Liangzhu people’s lifestyles, tastes and attitudes toward life through their pottery. An object is a world—we can explore the wonderful world of Liangzhu through its pottery. Hangzhou, China

Ye Zhao

Contents

1 Excavation Sites of Pottery . 1.1 Tombs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 Traces of Life . . . . . . . 1.3 Fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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2 Types of Pottery . . . . . . 2.1 Cooking Vessels . . . 2.2 Food Vessels . . . . . 2.3 Wine/Water Vessels 2.4 Storage Vessels . . .

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3 Craftsmanship of Pottery . . 3.1 Lids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Handles . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 Elements of Animals . . 3.4 Special-Shaped Vessels .

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4 Color and Luster of Pottery . . . . . 4.1 Preference for Black . . . . . . . . 4.2 Pottery in Red Color Spectrum 4.3 Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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5 Decorations of Pottery 5.1 String Patterns and 5.2 Openwork Designs 5.3 Engraved Designs . 5.4 Pricked Designs . . 5.5 Painted Patterns . .

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6 Evolution of Pottery . . . . . . . . . . 6.1 Ding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 Dou . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3 Pots with Two Loop Handles

Contents

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Appendix: References and Sources of Some Figures (Archaeological Reports and Catalogues) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Chapter 1

Excavation Sites of Pottery

Abstract As a main type of artifact in prehistoric times and the most often used kind of utensil in our ancestors’ daily life, pottery is the most common object found in archaeological excavations of prehistoric cultures. Pottery artifacts constitute the majority of unearthed objects whether in strata, in ruins or in tombs. In view of its fragility and high replacement rate, pottery is also the main focus of archaeological research through which archaeologists can delve into ancient societies and their development. Keywords Pottery artifacts · Archaeological excavations · Prehistoric culture · Tomb · Utensils · Fill As a main type of artifact in prehistoric times and the most often used kind of utensil in our ancestors’ daily life, pottery is the most common object found in archaeological excavations of prehistoric cultures. Pottery artifacts constitute the majority of unearthed objects whether in strata, in ruins or in tombs. In view of its fragility and high replacement rate, pottery is also the main focus of archaeological research through which archaeologists can delve into ancient societies and their development. The archaeologists in Jiangshu, Shanghai and Zhejiang have excavated a considerable number of sites of the Liangzhu culture (the culture was named in 1959) since Shi Xingeng discovered the ruins of the Liangzhu City in 1936, enriching the Liangzhu culture to a large extent. The number of excavated sites has exceeded one hundred. The sites in Zhejiang mainly include the Liangzhu City in Yuhang, the Fanshan site, the Yaoshan site, the Huiguanshan site, the Miaoqian site, the Wenjiashan site, the Bianjiashan site, the Jiangjiashan site, the Zhongjiagang site, the Meirendi site, the Hengshan site, the Maoshan site, the Yujiashan site, the Nanhu site, the Xindili site in Tongxiang, the Puanqiao site, the Yaojiashan site, the Heyedi site in Haining, the Dazemiao site, the Xiaodouli site, the Huangfentou site, the Longtangang site in Haiyan, the Zhoujiabang site and the Zhuangqiaofen site in Pinghu. Those in Jiangsu include, inter alia, the Caoxieshan site in Wu County,1 the Zhaolingshan site 1 Wu County, revoked in 1995, is currently known as Wuzhong District of Suzhou. The former name

“Wu County” is used in this book. © Zhejiang University Press 2020 Y. Zhao, Liangzhu Pottery, Liangzhu Civilization, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7146-6_1

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in Kunshan, the Shaoqingshan site, the Longnan site in Wujiang, the Sidun site in Wujin, the Gaochengdun site in Jiangyin and the Qiuchengdun site in Wuxi. Those in Shanghai mainly include the Fuquanshan site in Qingpu, the Maqiao site in Minhang, the Guangfulin site in Songjiang and the Tinglin site in Jinshan. Pottery artifacts are main objects unearthed from these sites besides exquisite jade artifacts, relatively common stone artifacts and a small number of lacquer, wooden, bone and tooth artifacts. In the archaeological excavations, most of the pottery unearthed from the strata, dwellings, pits, ditches, wells and other ruins of the sites was broken into shards and became garbage. The pottery unearthed from the banks of rivers and gullies where it was discarded was relatively complete and easy to repair. Most pottery was stored in tombs, in which pottery was often found intact and likely to be repaired even if it was broken. Well-protected pottery could also be found in the cellars that were occasionally discovered in the excavations.

1.1 Tombs Sets of pottery artifacts were usually found in prehistoric tombs, and most of them were well preserved if tombs were not damaged. Thanks to enough room in coffins, some pottery artifacts filled with soil could stand upright without distortion in their shapes. Admittedly, the pottery artifacts that had been placed in order could fall, be moved or be broken due to the decay and collapse of coffins or the squeeze of soil, but they could be repaired in most cases if not damaged by people in later ages. For example, 208 of the 229 pottery artifacts discovered in 66 tombs of Bianjiashan Cemetery could be restored or have recognizable shapes after repair. Besides, among 732 pottery artifacts buried in 140 tombs of Xindili Cemetery, 601 of them were restored and 57 of them had identifiable shapes after repair. The Zhuangqiaofen site in Pinghu has the most fruitful discovery of tombs in the Liangzhu culture. There were 271 tombs excavated in total. While it was not a high-level cemetery, a good number of well-preserved pottery artifacts were buried in it. Many of them were intact, and a high percentage of them could be restored or repaired. A group of tombs excavated at the Zhuangqiaofen site is shown in Fig. 1.1. We can see that the sizes of the tombs and the numbers of grave goods were different. Pottery artifacts and other buried items were well preserved, and the contours of human skeletons were still clear. Tomb M46 at the Bianjiashan site (Fig. 1.2) was properly preserved. It was 2.3 m long, 0.7–0.75 m wide and 0.6 m deep. The coffin had almost rotted away with the texture of wood visible in some places. The human skeleton had decayed into fragments, but the skull and some limb bones were somewhat identifiable. There were thirteen grave goods in the tomb, including seven pottery artifacts. Six of the

1.1 Tombs

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Fig. 1.1 A group of tombs at the Zhuangqiaofen site

pottery artifacts were near the feet of the tomb owner, namely a ding,2 a dou,3 a jar, two basins and a spinning wheel. The other pottery artifact, a basin, was placed beside the skull. The ding, the dou and the jar had fallen down when unearthed, but the shapes of all the pottery artifacts in the tomb were basically complete. As shown in Fig. 1.3, the human skeleton and the coffin in the remnants of Tomb M72 at the Xindili site had rotted away. Among the eleven items that remained, six of them were pottery artifacts: a ding, a jar with annular base, a pot with two loop handles, a plate, a three-legged guˇı4 and a spinning wheel. The ding and the guˇı still stood upright; the jar and the pot had fallen down; the plate was upside down; and the spinning wheel was in good condition. Tomb M29 at the Xiaodouli site (Fig. 1.4) was a small tomb, with a length of 1.65 m and a width of 0.45 m. The bones of the tomb owner were badly preserved, and only some fragments of skull could be seen at the southern end of the tomb. There were only five pottery artifacts, all of which were put in the northern part of the tomb. Most of these pottery artifacts were around the location of feet and basically 2 Ding

(鼎): cauldron, set on three legs. (豆): standing cup. 4 Guˇı (簋): bowl-shaped ritual vessel. The phonetic symbols of guˇı (簋) and gu¯ı (鬶) are marked in this book to show difference between the two types of artifacts. 3 Dou

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1 Excavation Sites of Pottery

Fig. 1.2 Tomb M46 at the Bianjiashan site

remained intact in shape. The artifact near the knees was an upside-down basin. As for the artifacts around the feet, a jar was slightly tilted, and a gedangding,5 a pot with two loop handles and a guˇı all stood upright. The bones in Tomb M25 at the Xiaodouli site was well preserved (Fig. 1.5). Although the skeleton had come loose, it was basically intact. Pottery artifacts in this tomb were a bit broken. A pot with two loop handles and two basins could be seen near the head, and a ding, a dou, a pot and a basin could be seen on the feet side. Tomb M6 at the Xiaodouli site was a high-level tomb (Fig. 1.6). It was large and had many grave goods in it. Some jade artifacts such as a bracelet, a crown-shaped comb top and a long tube were unearthed from the tomb. The pit of the tomb was 5A

ding with a ring of bamboo grate holder inside its body to be used as a food steamer.

1.1 Tombs

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Fig. 1.3 Tomb M72 at the Xindili site

3.2 m long, 1.5–1.65 m wide and 0.6 m deep. There were 47 pieces/sets of grave goods in total: 27 pieces/sets of pottery ware, 7 pieces of stone ware, 12 pieces/sets of jade ware, and a set of tooth ware. After careful cleaning, the archeologists came to a conclusion that a single-log concave-bottomed inner coffin with a rectangular outer coffin was once inside the tomb. Most of the grave goods were put inside the inner coffin, and some of them were placed on the top of the inner coffin. Archaeologists drew a restored diagram of locations of coffins and grave goods (Fig. 1.7). Since there were two coffins and the space between them was quite large, many pottery artifacts in the tomb were smashed. Archaeologists even restored the processes of falling and breaking of a ding, a dou and a wide-handled cup unearthed from Tomb M5 at the Xiaodouli site, the scale and burial form of which were similar to those of Tomb M6. The process of breaking of a wide-handled cup is shown in Fig. 1.8. Some pottery artifacts at archaeological sites were badly crushed and broken, but most of them could be restored after careful repair by craftsmen. For example, there were three badly broken pottery artifacts unearthed from the feet side of Tomb M58 at the Bianjiashan site, and all of them were basically restored to their original shapes (Fig. 1.9).

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1 Excavation Sites of Pottery

Fig. 1.4 Tomb M29 at the Xiaodouli site

1.2 Traces of Life Traces of life include dwellings, piers, wells, cellars and pits. Many pottery artifacts in archaeological sites have broken into fragments except those stored in particular cellars, those dropping into wells and those covered up in rooms because their owners were unable to bring them away. However, many shards are easy to match up, and some of them can even be pieced together into a complete artifact. 88F1 at the Longnan site in Jiangsu Province was a rectangular semi-subterranean dwelling roughly covering an area of 20 m2 . An entrance was in the southwest of the dwelling, and on the right side of the entrance was a cellar (88H23), in which there were broken pottery artifacts like ding, jars, yan,6 basins, plates and lids. As we can see, being a site of the Liangzhu culture with well-preserved furnishings so far, this dwelling had a specific cellar for collecting pottery artifacts. Besides, a rectangular cattail mat with a length of 2.4 m and a width of 1.55 m could be found in 6 Yan

(甗): Steamer.

1.2 Traces of Life

7

Fig. 1.5 Tomb M25 at the Xiaodouli site

the northwest of the dwelling, and on the mat were ding, dou, lids, spinning wheels and other pottery artifacts. On top of that, a pottery basin, four pottery cups and some pottery shards could be seen in the north of the dwelling, and fat was found through chemical examination in the soup remaining in the basin. Since there was meat in the basin, four cups might well be used for drinking beverages, which also suggests that there were at least four people in the room. According to such information, we can imagine a small family sitting on the floor and having a meal (Fig. 1.10). A cellar on the left of east water gate on the north wall of ancient Liangzhu City is shown in Fig. 1.11. The trace of its hash-shaped wooden frame remained there, and the pots, jars and other pottery artifacts within the frame were basically complete in shape. As shown in Fig. 1.12, a square cellar (J1) discovered in the first and second excavations of the Miaoqian site was 1.5–1.6 m in length, and it shrank into a square pit with each side one meter long at the depth of 0.45 m or so. The square pit was

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1 Excavation Sites of Pottery

Fig. 1.6 Tomb M6 at the Xiaodouli site

0.2 m in depth. Among 17 potter artifacts discovered at the bottom of the cellar, 9 of them were complete, including a jar, a zun,7 a cup, a pot and a wide-handled cup. Two wells with hash-shaped wooden frames were also discovered at the Miaoqian site. A great number of pottery objects were unearthed from one of the wells, coded H2 in the first and second excavations of the site (Figs. 1.13 and 1.14). A hash-shaped wooden frame with tenon and mortise joints could be seen at the bottom of the pit of the well, and sandy loess was used to fill the space between the pit and the wooden frame. More than 60 artifacts were unearthed within the frame, with pottery artifacts accounting for the largest proportion. Twenty-one complete or basically complete

7 Zun

(尊): a type of wine vessel with a round or square vase-like form, sometimes in the shape of an animal.

1.2 Traces of Life

9

Fig. 1.7 A restored diagram of locations of coffins and grave goods in Tomb M6 at the Xiaodouli site

pottery artifacts included jars, zun, pots with two pierced handles, pots with two loop handles, single-handled cups, solid-legged he,8 weng,9 wide-handled cups, ding and yan (Fig. 1.15).

1.3 Fill Pottery shards have often been found in fill dirt that Liangzhu people used for construction, in silt deposited in river channels and in Liangzhu people’s living areas or on roads around their houses. Such pottery shards have been stirred up, moved, stamped or slapped after being thrown away when artifacts broke or have been mixed up with soil for a long time, so they are mostly fragmented, becoming 8 He

(盉): a vessel to mix wine and water. (瓮): round mouthed and round bellied jar with no foot for holding water or wine.

9 Weng

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1 Excavation Sites of Pottery

the fall and collapse of a wide-handled cup

half of the bottom was up half of the bottom and the handle were up the inner side of the spout was up the inner side of the lid was up

Fig. 1.8 The process of breaking of a wide-handled cup unearthed from Tomb M5 at the Xiaodouli site

virtually impossible to be restored or pieced together. As shown in Fig. 1.16, the pottery shards near houses at the Dazemiao site in Haining were concentrated on the surface, but there were too many small fragments, so it was rather difficult to piece them together into complete artifacts. As shown in Fig. 1.17, many pottery shards could be seen on an interlayer of Platform I at the Xiaodouli site (artifacts could be smashed and laid on the layer), and the possibility of restoration was very low. Household wastes were often thrown on slopes or in rivers near archaeological sites where organic matters have now rotted away, only leaving some rocks, burnt earth clods, broken pottery and other discarded objects there. While pottery shards have been mixed with other garbage, they may well be pieced together if they have not been moved too many times. Wastes near a river of the Hengxuli site in Yuhang District, Hangzhou, are shown in Figs. 1.18 and 1.19, in which we can see many pottery dou with thin stems. It seems that there was a pottery workshop mainly producing pottery dou in the vicinity.

1.3 Fill

11

Fig. 1.9 Tomb M58 at the Bianjiashan site and the pottery artifacts in it

Silt in river channels or on riverbanks provides an excellent environment for the preservation of artifacts. First, it is not easy for artifacts to be oxidized in a saturated environment below the water table. Second, artifacts are not likely to be damaged because silt is fine and soft. For these reasons, pottery artifacts may be left intact in silt, and some relics made from organic materials, such as lacquer, wooden and bamboo artifacts, may even be found in it. As shown in Fig. 1.20, several pottery vessels were discovered in silt of river channels located in the north area of the Zhongjiagang site. These vessels were complete, with their black surfaces and gloss well preserved. Some broken pottery artifacts were also unearthed from this area (Fig. 1.21). With their bodies sturdy and surfaces well preserved, most of them could be restored.

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1 Excavation Sites of Pottery

electrical pole

cattail mat

Fig. 1.10 88F1 at the Longnan site

Fig. 1.11 Well cellar on the north wall of ancient Liangzhu City

1.3 Fill

Fig. 1.12 Cellar J1 at the Miaoqian site Fig. 1.13 Top view of H2 at the Miaoqian site

13

14

Fig. 1.14 Hash-shaped wooden frame of H2 at the Miaoqian site

Fig. 1.15 Objects of H2 at the Miaoqian site

1 Excavation Sites of Pottery

1.3 Fill

Fig. 1.15 (continued)

Fig. 1.16 A layer of pottery shards at the Dazemiao site

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1 Excavation Sites of Pottery

Fig. 1.17 A layer of pottery shards on Platform I at the Xiaodouli site

1.3 Fill

Fig. 1.18 Pottery shards at the Hengxuli site in Yuhang District, Hangzhou

Fig. 1.19 A pile of pottery dous at the Hengxuli site

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1 Excavation Sites of Pottery

Fig. 1.20 Intact pottery artifacts in the north area of the Zhongjiagang site

Fig. 1.21 Broken pottery artifacts in the north area of the Zhongjiagang site

Chapter 2

Types of Pottery

Abstract Most pottery artifacts produced in prehistoric times are vessels, and it is true with Liangzhu pottery artifacts: Most of them belong to vessels apart from spinning wheels, net weights, holders, clay figures and other specific pottery objects. Many of pottery artifacts used in Liangzhu people’s daily life can also be categorized into cooking vessels, food vessels, wine/water vessels and storage vessels according to their purposes while the funerary objects are symbolic artifacts smaller than daily used ones. Keywords Type · Food vessel · Cooking vessel · Storage vessel · Wine/water vessel Most pottery artifacts produced in prehistoric times are vessels, and it is true with Liangzhu pottery artifacts: Most of them belong to vessels apart from spinning wheels, net weights, holders, clay figures and other specific pottery objects. Functionally, most pottery artifacts were used in Liangzhu people’s daily life. Some were used as funerary objects, and others belonged to ritual vessels. Daily used objects have various sizes as per their particular purposes, and they are normally of regular shapes. Funerary objects were symbolic artifacts smaller than daily used ones. They were roughly produced with ordinary materials. A small number of miniature ding and yan discovered in tombs of Wujiabu and Miaoqian sites in Yuhang as well as the Dazemiao site in Haining, which are sites of the early Liangzhu culture, were not suitable for practical purposes, so they should be funerary objects (Figs. 2.1 and 2.2). On the whole, most pottery artifacts unearthed from Liangzhu people’s tombs were practical objects, which might or might not be used before they were buried. As shown in Figs. 2.3 and 2.4, the traces of being used are evident on the bodies of a ding and a jar unearthed from Tomb M21 at the Bianjiashan site. Ritual vessels were finely made and elaborately decorated objects used in rituals and sometimes buried with high-level aristocrats. In a group of blacksurfaced pottery artifacts unearthed from M198 at the Caoxieshan site in Wu County, Jiangsu Province, an exquisite ding and two well-made pots with two loop handles have intricate patterns engraved on their bodies (the pattern can even be seen on the lid of the ding), so they must be ritual vessels (Figs. 2.5, 2.6 and 2.7). © Zhejiang University Press 2020 Y. Zhao, Liangzhu Pottery, Liangzhu Civilization, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7146-6_2

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Fig. 2.1 Two ding from M3 of the Miaoqian site

Fig. 2.2 A ding from M32 of the Dazemiao site

Fig. 2.3 A ding of M21 at the Bianjiashan site

Liangzhu pottery artifacts can be divided into over 20 types, including ding, dou, zun, guˇı, yan, weng, yi,1 bowls, cups, basins, filters, triple-legged he, flat-bottomed 1 Yi

(匜): bowl or ewer with a spout.

2 Types of Pottery Fig. 2.4 A jar of M21 at the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 2.5 A ding from M198 at the Caoxieshan site

Fig. 2.6 A pot with two loop handles from M198 at the Caoxieshan site

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Fig. 2.7 A pot with two loop handles from M198 at the Caoxieshan site

jars, round-bottomed vats, plates with annular bases, triple-legged plates, widehandled cups, gu¯ı2 with pocket-shaped legs, pots with two loop handles and pots with two pierced handles. Not all of these types existed in each site and in each period of time. The Liangzhu culture appeared roughly 5300 years ago and disappeared around 1000 years later. It mainly spanned today’s North Zhejiang, South Suzhou and West Shanghai, developing around the Taihu Lake and covering an area of approximately 36,500 km2 . With such a long time and such a vast area, Liangzhu culture certainly varied in different periods and places, and customs, lifestyles and daily used objects were more or less different from place to place. According to existing archaeological literature, the area of the Liangzhu culture can be divided into four sub-areas, respectively, located in Hangzhou on the south of the Taihu Lake, in Jiaxing on the southeast of the Taihu Lake, in Suzhou and West Shanghai on the east of the Taihu Lake, and in Wuxi and Changzhou on the north of the Taihu Lake. Some pottery types may be found in a specific sub-area or time period. While some types could be fairly popular in some regions, the popularization of most types was pretty much the same in general. Pottery artifacts can also be categorized into cooking vessels, food vessels, wine/water vessels and storage vessels according to their purposes. Ding, yan, triplelegged he and gu¯ı with pocket-shaped legs, which all have three legs, belong to cooking vessels for cooking or heating food. Dou, guˇı, basins, bowls, plates with annular bases and triple-legged plates, used as today’s bowls and dishes, belong to food vessels. Yi, pots, filters, cups, pots with two loop handles and wide-handled cups, used to drink wine/water or to filter wine, belong to wine/water vessels. Jars, zun, weng, pots and plates with annular bases, large enough to store grain, dried fruit and wine, belong to storage vessels. 2 Gu¯ı (鬶):

ding-like cooking vessel with a spout, a handle and three hollow legs.

2 Types of Pottery

23

Fig. 2.8 The T3 ➃ sand-mixed vat at the Fuquanshan site

On top of that, some pottery artifacts, such as sand-mixed vats and large-mouthed zun, cannot fall into any of the four preceding categories. Some scholars believe that sand-mixed vats, with sturdy bodies, may well be vessels for husking rice (Fig. 2.8). However, the purposes of large-mouthed zun, made from sand-mixed clay, with a straight flared mouth, a small annular base and engraved design or basket-strip pattern on the outside, are hard to determine (Figs. 2.9 and 2.10).

2.1 Cooking Vessels Cooking vessels are used to cook food over fire, and the earliest cooking vessel is fu.3 During the time of the Liangzhu culture, cooking vessels were set on three legs, which normally used sand-, clamshell- or coal-mixed clay for fire-resistant and anti-cracking purposes. The most commonly seen and widely used cooking vessel was ding, which was used for cooking rice and soup. Ding can be classified into fu-shaped, jar-shaped and basin-shaped ones. Fu-shaped ding have rounded bottoms, whereas the other types of ding have near-flat bottoms. Jar-shaped ding have curved, flared mouths and deep bellies, and some of them have long necks. Basin-shaped ding have straight flared 3 Fu

(釜): Cauldron with a rounded bottom and no foot.

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2 Types of Pottery

Fig. 2.9 Large-mouthed zun from M28 at the Longtangang site

Fig. 2.10 Large-mouthed zun from G1 at the Bianjiashan site

mouths and shallow-angled bellies, and some of them have son-mother mouths.4 Ding also have various sizes. The diameter of a ding is normally 10–20 cm, and such ding were often used in small families. Some ding have diameters over 20 cm and even 30 cm (the diameters of a few ding can exceed 40 cm), and they were used in large families or big events. Ding of different shapes were used for different cooking purposes. For example, amounts of animal fatty acids were detected in some basinshaped ding with large mouths and shallow bellies, so such ding could be used for cooking meet. After all, it was convenient for stirring with large mouths and shallow bellies. On top of that, the legs of ding also have many shapes, mainly including fin-shaped legs, T-shaped legs, conic legs, concave legs and squashed legs. Set on different shapes of legs, pottery ding had more diverse uses (Figs. 2.11, 2.12, 2.13 and 2.14). 4 A son–mother mouth is a mouth with dual rims of different sizes, so as to fix the lid into the mouth

of the vessel.

2.1 Cooking Vessels Fig. 2.11 A ding with fin-shaped legs at the Nanhu site

Fig. 2.12 A ding with T-shaped legs at the Meirendi site

Fig. 2.13 A ding with conic legs and a long neck from G1 at the Bianjiashan site

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2 Types of Pottery

Fig. 2.14 A ding with concave legs and a son-mother mouth from G2 at the Bianjiashan site

There are two types of yan. One is ding-like yan, also known as gedangding. A ring of bamboo grate holder is designed inside its body, and a hole can be seen below the holder (Figs. 2.15 and 2.16). In ancient times, food used to be placed on a bamboo grate, and water would be poured into the vessel through the hole in case of insufficient steam. According to sampling results, animal and plant fatty acids were found on the inner surface and the holder of the gedangding, suggesting that it was

Fig. 2.15 A gedangding from M136 at the Fuquanshan site

2.1 Cooking Vessels

27

Fig. 2.16 A diagram of a gedangding from M136 at the Fuquanshan site

used to steam food. The other type of yan is the combination of zeng5 and ding. The food in the zeng would be steamed with the boiled water in the ding (Figs. 2.17 and 2.18). A triple-legged he looks similar to a gu¯ı with pocket-shaped legs. Nevertheless, the former has solid legs and a tube-shaped mouth, while the latter has hollow legs and a tapering mouth. Given that soot has often been found on their legs, they might be used for heating wine, water and other liquid. Particularly, liquid in pocket-shaped legs of gu¯ı could be heated with fairly high thermal efficiency due to large volume of the legs (Figs. 2.19, 2.20, 2.21 and 2.22).

2.2 Food Vessels Food vessels belong to tableware, including dou, basins, plates with annular bases and gu¯ı. Not only do they look different, but each of them has a wide range of shapes. As the commonest food vessels, dou have long stems and shallow bellies, which is convenient for putting food in and taking food out of it. Generally speaking, dou have short thick or long thin stems as well as angled or curved bellies (Figs. 2.23, 2.24 and 2.25). Basins have straight or curved flared mouths and deep or shallow bellies (Figs. 2.26, 2.27, 2.28 and 2.29). Plates with annular bases and triple-legged plates both have shallow bellies and relatively big sizes, so they are basically short dou. 5 Zeng

(甑): Food steamer with holes at the bottom.

28 Fig. 2.17 A yan from the Yaojiashan site

Fig. 2.18 A yan from the Gaochengdun site

2 Types of Pottery

2.2 Food Vessels

29

Fig. 2.19 A triple-legged he from the west slope of the Mojiaoshan site

Fig. 2.20 A triple-legged he from G2 of the Bianjiashan site

String patterns can often be seen on plates with annular bases, and all the three legs of triple-legged plates are tile-shaped and normally have vertical and/or horizontal cuts on the legs (Figs. 2.30, 2.31, 2.32, 2.33 and 2.34). Guˇı usually have son-mother mouths and three loop handles. Their bellies can be shallow or deep, and they are normally covered with lids (Figs. 2.35, 2.36 and 2.37).

30 Fig. 2.21 A gu¯ı with pocket-shaped legs from H1 at the Xindili site

Fig. 2.22 A gu¯ı with pocket-shaped legs from M1 at the Tinglin site

2 Types of Pottery

2.2 Food Vessels Fig. 2.23 A dou from G2 at the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 2.24 A dou from M2 at the Daimudun site

Fig. 2.25 A dou from M23 at the Longtangang site

Fig. 2.26 A plate from M33 at the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 2.27 A plate from M36 at the Bianjiashan site

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2 Types of Pottery

Fig. 2.28 A plate from M47 at the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 2.29 A plate from M1 at the Daimudun site

Fig. 2.30 A plate with annular base from Platform I at the Bianjiashan site

In terms of their shapes, these vessels seem to have relatively fixed purposes, such as serving main dishes or side dishes. According to common sense, tall dou, relatively tall plates with annular bases and triple-legged plates and other shallowbellied vessels might be used to serve dry food, fruit or vegetables, while basins, guˇı and other deep-bellied vessels were likely to be used to serve soup or food with

2.2 Food Vessels

33

Fig. 2.31 A plate with annular base from H4 at the Miaoqian site

Fig. 2.32 A triple-legged plate from T4 at the Maoanli site

Fig. 2.33 A triple-legged plate from M76 at the Xindili site

juices. Especially, most guˇı have lids on them, suggesting their thermal insulation and spill-proof features.

34 Fig. 2.34 A triple-legged plate from M28 at the Longtangang site

Fig. 2.35 A guˇı from M75 at the Zhuangqiaofen site

Fig. 2.36 A guˇı from M52 at the Xindili site

2 Types of Pottery

2.3 Wine/Water Vessels

35

Fig. 2.37 A guˇı from M73 at the Xindili site

2.3 Wine/Water Vessels Pots, cups, yi and filters are all wine/water vessels, and archaeologists have not determined whether they were used as water vessels, wine vessels or both. In terms of their shapes and volumes, cups and pots with two loop handles could be used to drink water or wine. The silhouettes of pots with two loop handles are relatively fixed: They each has a body, an annular base and two loop handles on the neck. The sizes of the three parts are different, and their necks are longer than their annular bases in most cases (Figs. 2.38 and 2.39). Different from other larger pots with long necks and two handles, the pot with two loop handles is special in the Liangzhu culture (Fig. 2.40). As another typical type of artifact in the Liangzhu culture, the pot with two pierced handles has a flat bottom or an annular base, a drum-shaped belly, a pair of pierced handles on its shoulder and a ring of ridge on its neck (Fig. 2.41). Gourd-shaped pots are somewhat rare (especially intact ones), and a complete gourd-shaped pot has been found at the Miaoqian site (Fig. 2.42). Cups also have a wide range of shapes: flat-bottomed or annular-based, short or tall, those with constricted mouths or with flared mouths, those with cylinder-shaped bellies or with drum-shaped bellies, those with handles or without handles, those with two loop handles or lids, etc. Also, they are different in size as well (Figs. 2.43, 2.44, 2.45, 2.46, 2.47, 2.48, 2.49 and 2.50). Wide-handled cups are a particular type of vessel, which can be short or tall, with or without patterns, and some even resemble sections of bamboo (Figs. 2.51, 2.52 and 2.53). Yi were made from sand-mixed clay or muddy clay. Soot and other traces of being burnt can be found on sand-mixed yi, because they are flat bottomed or triple legged and could be used for heating over fire (Fig. 2.54). Handles of yi are normally wide, and even as wide as those of wide-handled cups in some cases (Fig. 2.55). A

36 Fig. 2.38 A pot with two loop handles from M54 at the Xindili site

Fig. 2.39 A pot with two loop handles from G1 at the Bianjiashan site

2 Types of Pottery

2.3 Wine/Water Vessels

37

Fig. 2.40 A pot from M2 at the Xindili site

Fig. 2.41 A pot with two pierced handles from the Quemuqiao site

yi with two facing wide handles was excavated from M207 of the Wujiachang site, which was extremely rare. It is noteworthy that yi and wide-handled cups both have spouts on the same line of their handles, so they are not suitable for drinking and should be used as liquid dividers. As two distinct types of liquid dividers, yi and wide-handled cups might well be used by different kinds of users. By coincidence, triple-legged he and gu¯ı with pocket-shaped legs were both used for heating liquid, so they might have different users as well. Such vessels are often associated with tea and wine banquets with ceremonial significance. In pottery artifacts of the Liangzhu culture, a triple-legged he, a yi and cups could be used as a set of tea ware: The triple-legged he could

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2 Types of Pottery

Fig. 2.42 A pot with gourd-shaped belly from M6 at the Miaoqian site

Fig. 2.43 A cup from M36 at the Bianjiashan site

be used to boiling water or tea; the yi could be used to divide tea; and cups could be used to drink tea. Similarly, a gu¯ı with pocket-shaped legs, a wide-handled cup and pots with two loop handles could be used as a set of wine ware: the gu¯ı with pocket-shaped legs could be used to heat wine; the wide-handled cup could be used to divide wine; and pots with two loop handles could be used to drink wine. Besides, gu¯ı with pocket-shaped legs and elaborate patterns as well as wide-handled cups and loop-handled pots engraved with motifs might be used in significant ceremonial or

2.3 Wine/Water Vessels

39

Fig. 2.44 A cup from G3 at the Miaoqian site

Fig. 2.45 A cup with annular base from G3 at the Miaoqian site

sacrificial events. As a matter of fact, loop-handled pots and wide-handled cups have relatively fixed shapes and were originally covered with lids, so they were very likely to be used as wine ware, since lids could be used to keep wine warm and prevent it from being volatilized. Nevertheless, the volumes of loop-handled pots and widehandled cups are very similar, so the latter might be used for drinking instead of dividing wine.

40 Fig. 2.46 A cup with multiple ridges from G1 at the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 2.47 A gu-shaped cup [Gu (觚): Tall wine cup with no handles, with its mouth larger than its base] from M13 at the Longtangang site

2 Types of Pottery

2.3 Wine/Water Vessels

41

Fig. 2.48 A cup with two loop handles from G1 at the Miaoqian site

Fig. 2.49 A handled cup from T2 at the Miaoqian site

The silhouette of a filter is rather strange: a pottery bowl with a taller funnel-shaped bowl on one side (Figs. 2.56 and 2.57). A partition was found inside the lower bowl of a filter unearthed from H3 of the Wujiabu site. Scholars believed it was used to filter wine: rice wine or fruit wine could be purified after passing through the funnelshaped bowl. Filtered again with the partition in the lower bowl, wine became purer (Figs. 2.58 and 2.59).

42 Fig. 2.50 A cup from G1 at the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 2.51 A wide-handled cup from M117 at the Xindili site

Fig. 2.52 A wide-handled cup from M52 at the Xindili site

2 Types of Pottery

2.4 Storage Vessels

43

Fig. 2.53 A wide-handled cup from the Quemuqiao site

Fig. 2.54 A yi from G2 at the Bianjiashan site

2.4 Storage Vessels Pottery jars, constituting the largest proportion of pottery artifacts and varying hugely from one to another, were used as the most important vessels to store dry or liquid food. Pottery jars normally have flat bottoms or annular bases, mostly made from muddy clay and sometimes from sand-mixed clay; some of them even have handles attached to their bodies (Figs. 2.60, 2.61, 2.62, 2.63, 2.64, 2.65, 2.66, 2.67 and 2.68). The mouth of a jar could be covered with a board to prevent food from going moldy. Red pottery jars made from muddy clay with pricked motifs on their mouths and

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2 Types of Pottery

Fig. 2.55 A group of pottery yi from the Fuquanshan site

Fig. 2.56 A filter from M30 of the Miaoqian site

rolled rims appeared in the late period of the Liangzhu culture. They are of the same style and relatively large sizes, with the tallest one exceeds 70 cm, which seems to be used for specific purposes (Fig. 2.69). Large zun and weng could be used to store water or wine. Derived from jars with annular bases, zun have relatively limited volumes due to their high annular bases (Figs. 2.70 and 2.71). In contrast, the volumes of weng are fairly large. Pottery shards found on a burnt earth platform at the Gaochengdun site of Jiangsu Province were pieced together into a large pottery weng. It has a big mouth and a small flat bottom, with its cylinder-shaped body slightly constricting at the bottom. As tall as 78 cm, this weng may be the Liangzhu artifact with the largest volume (Fig. 2.72). Apart

2.4 Storage Vessels

45

Fig. 2.57 A filter from M19 of the Wujiabu site

Fig. 2.58 A filter from H3 of the Wujiabu site

from that, big basins and plates with annular bases were suitable for storing and taking things out due to their large mouths (Figs. 2.73 and 2.74).

46 Fig. 2.59 A diagram of a filter from H3 of the Wujiabu site

Fig. 2.60 A pottery jar made from sand-mixed clay in M1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 2.61 A jar from M2 at the Bianjiashan site

2 Types of Pottery

2.4 Storage Vessels Fig. 2.62 A jar from M233 at the Zhuangqiaofen site

Fig. 2.63 A jar from M97 at the Zhuangqiaofen site

Fig. 2.64 A dual-handled jar from G1 at the Bianjiashan site

47

48 Fig. 2.65 A jar from G1 at the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 2.66 A big jar from G1 at the Xindili site

2 Types of Pottery

2.4 Storage Vessels Fig. 2.67 A big jar from J10 at the Guangfulin site

Fig. 2.68 A big jar from the Hengxuli site

49

50

Fig. 2.69 A group of orange pottery jars from the Bianjiashan site Fig. 2.70 A zun from M20 at the Xindili site

2 Types of Pottery

2.4 Storage Vessels Fig. 2.71 A zun from M17 at the Zhoujiabang site

Fig. 2.72 A big weng from the Gaochengdun site

51

52 Fig. 2.73 A plate with annular base from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 2.74 A plate with annular base from T4 of the Bianjiashan site

2 Types of Pottery

Chapter 3

Craftsmanship of Pottery

Abstract Wheel-throwing technique is widely employed in the pottery making industry in Liangzhu. Though throwing workshops and kilns from the time of the Liangzhu culture have not been found so far, it can be seen from the regularity and design of Liangzhu pottery that pottery techniques during that period are fully mature. Lids, handles and special-shaped vessels unearthed from a couple of different archeological sites testify the great imagination of people during that period time through displaying multiple shapes, sizes, elements of animals and materials. Keywords Pottery technique · Craftsmanship · Lid · Handle · Animal elements · Special-shaped vessel Pottery making should first aim at usability and then pursue beauty. While wheelthrowing workshops and kilns from the time of the Liangzhu culture have not been found so far, it can be seen from the regularity and design of Liangzhu pottery that pottery techniques during that period were fully mature. With the wheel-throwing technique widely employed, the pottery making industry was of a considerable scale. In terms of its origin, the earliest pottery artifact found in Zhejiang Province by now can date back to the time of the Shangshan culture, which existed over ten thousand years ago. Pottery techniques have passed down and developed ever since. In terms of cultures before the Liangzhu culture, the Shangshan culture was represented by the red-surfaced large-mouthed basin; the Kuahuqiao culture was represented by the fu with egg-shaped belly and intersecting string pattern; the Hemudu culture was represented by the constricted-mouthed fu with engraved design made from coalmixed clay; the Majiabang culture was represented by the fu with multiple cornered edge on its waist; and the Songze culture was represented by the dou with a stairshaped hollow stem. On the basis of such sophisticated techniques, pottery crafts reached new heights in the time of the Liangzhu culture. In particular, the popularization of the wheel-throwing technique made large-scale and commercialized pottery production possible. The wheel-throwing technique refers to shaping prepared clay on a rotating wheel into a pottery artifact with a balanced and neat silhouette. Compared with earlier techniques like constructing artifacts with coils of clay or by combining flat slabs of clay, wheel throwing was quicker and much more efficient, especially for the © Zhejiang University Press 2020 Y. Zhao, Liangzhu Pottery, Liangzhu Civilization, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7146-6_3

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Fig. 3.1 Pots with two loop handles in M100 of the Zhuangqiaofen site

production of jars, dou, basins and other round vessels. Most artifacts, however, still needed to be assembled or combined by hand after throwing except flat-bottomed jars, pots, basins and cups without handles. For instance, handles or annular bases needed to be stuck to bodies of dou, jars and plates. Some attachments, such as legs of ding, handles of cups and knobs of lids, were also made by hand before being attached to main bodies of vessels. What is more, some complex and irregular shaped artifacts were completely handmade, including gu¯ı with pocket-shaped legs and animal-shaped triple-legged he, which exhibited craftsmen’s personal aesthetics. Moreover, some funerary objects in tombs were basically practical objects in miniature, requiring relatively simple techniques, and the artifacts with regular shapes and elaborate decorations often had ritual functions. Overall, Liangzhu craftsmen made pottery artifacts with different attitudes and by a variety of methods. Different types of pottery products might even be made in different workshops and kilns. More than ten pots with two loop handles were found in some Liangzhu tombs in Jiaxing. With similar shapes and volumes, they should be produced in specific workshops and kilns (Fig. 3.1). A majority of Chinese porcelains are round vessels. However, oval artifacts could sometimes be seen in the Liangzhu culture, such as oval plates, oval dou and oval guˇı, which were common in the late period of the Liangzhu culture (Figs. 3.2 and 3.3). Rectangular artifacts, though rare, do exist, such as a pottery guˇı unearthed from the Bianjiashan site, with an annular base and a square mouth (Fig. 3.4). As for a

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Fig. 3.2 A dou with an oval belly unearthed from the Beihu site in Yuhang

Fig. 3.3 An oval plate unearthed from the Zhongjiagang site

Fig. 3.4 A square-mouthed guˇı from G2 of the Bianjiashan site

plate with annular base unearthed from the Xindili site, its body is round, but its base is square (Fig. 3.5). No complicated techniques were required in these cases, since such mouths and bases were shaped by pressing a round mouth or annular base into square ones. A four-legged rectangular plate excavated from the Bianjiashan site is a proper rectangular artifact. The four sides, the bottom and the four legs of the plate were separately made and stuck together. Considering the large volume and the flat bottom of the plate, its shaping and firing must be very difficult (Fig. 3.6). As a saying in the porcelain industry goes, “a rectangular artifact equals ten round ones”, which reflects the difficulty of making rectangular artifacts.

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Fig. 3.5 A diagram of a plate with square base from T303 of the Xindili site

Fig. 3.6 A four-legged rectangular plate from T4 of the Bianjiashan site

3.1 Lids Not too many lids have been unearthed from archeological sites, whereas the percentage of covered vessels should be high according to the observations of tombs at Xindili, Xiaodouli, Zhuangqiaofen and other sites. Most types of vessels have covered samples, and a majority of them were made from muddy clay, with others made from sand-mixed clay. Pots with two loop handles, wide-handled cups and guˇı have the highest percentages of covered ones, followed by ding, and some of plates with annular bases, pots, cups, dou and other types have lids as well (Figs. 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.10, 3.11, 3.12, 3.13, 3.14 and 3.15). People may think many vessels have no lids because lids were easy to break in use. Some lids were obviously made after

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Fig. 3.7 Covered pots with two loop handles from the Zhoujiabang site

Fig. 3.8 A covered wide-handled cup with engraved design from the Daimudun site

the production of vessels, since their sizes, materials or colors are far different from those of mouths, which can be observed in some tombs (Figs. 3.16 and 3.17). Covered vessels can trap heat very well and is dust-preventing, showing vessel users’ quality life. An artifact unearthed from M74 of the Fuquanshan site has a lid with holes on it (Fig. 3.18). It seems to be a short cup according to its shape. Its

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Fig. 3.9 Covered guˇı from the Jinshidun site

Fig. 3.10 Covered gedangding from the Jinshidun site

straight flared mouth is slightly constricted, and its body has five raised lines on it. Given that there are six groups of holes with three in each on the lid, this artifact seems to be a censer (Fig. 3.18). It is inconceivable that the custom of burning incense existed as early as the time of the Liangzhu culture, but it is reasonable considering it was a society with strong religious beliefs and well-ordered rituals. Similarly, ritual tea banquets and wine banquets might exist as well. Different types of vessels have different shapes of lids. For example, the lids of ding and yan, made from sand-mixed clay in many cases, mainly look like upsidedown saucers with bridge-shaped knobs (Fig. 3.19). The lids of guˇı, basins and other

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Fig. 3.11 Covered triple-legged plate from M66 at the Xindili site

Fig. 3.12 A covered dou from the Xiantanmiao site

food vessels mostly look like upside-down saucers with trumpet-shaped or annular knobs (Figs. 3.20 and 3.21). Pots with two loop handles normally have circular or conic lids, and the knobs are mostly trumpet-shaped, with a few in cylindrical or annular shapes (Figs. 3.22, 3.23 and 3.24). Some pots with two loop handles have pierced lids, which may be designed for sucking rice wine or drinks with straws (Fig. 3.25). Most lids of wide-handled cups are oval, and some were made according to the shapes of spouts, going upward on the two sides (Figs. 3.26 and 3.27).

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Fig. 3.13 A covered cup with a loop handle from the Daimudun site

Fig. 3.14 A covered cup from the ruins of the Liangzhu City

3.2 Handles Loop handles can be seen on the mouths of some pottery containers of the Liangzhu culture. Some containers have a pair of handles, and others have three or four, evenly distributed on the rims of their mouths. The loop can be vertical, horizontal or oblique. A pair of loop handles can be seen on a pot; three loop handles can be seen on a guˇı

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Fig. 3.15 A covered triple-legged he from the Zhuangqiaofen site

Fig. 3.16 A covered jar from M101 at the Fuquanshan site

or a dou; and four loop handles or notches can be seen on a basin or a guˇı (Figs. 3.28, 3.29, 3.30, 3.31, 3.32 and 3.33). Many loop handles are exquisite and have small holes. Considering the bodies of containers, these loop handles would be broken if ropes were put through them to carry food or beverages. Small loop handles on the rims of mouths are very likely to be ornamental without practical uses. For a container with a lid, a string could be put through the loop handle to fasten the lid to the body. As shown in Figs. 3.34 and 3.35, a loop handle of a pot of the Dazemiao site had dropped, with the trace of the handle still there, and a hole was drilled opposite the other handle at the place of the lost one. It seems that the two loop handles had practical purposes, but the trace of stringing has not been found yet, and if the loop handles were used to attach the lid to the pot, then one loop handle was enough.

62 Fig. 3.17 A covered dou from M60 at the Zhuangqiaofen site

Fig. 3.18 A censer from M74 at the Fuquanshan site

Fig. 3.19 A lid from G2 at the Bianjiashan site

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3.2 Handles Fig. 3.20 A lid from G2 at the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 3.21 A lid from G1 at the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 3.22 A lid from G2 at the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 3.23 Conic lid from T3 at the Bianjiashan site

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Fig. 3.24 A lid with a cylindrical knob from G2 at the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 3.25 A pierced lid from M4 at the Dazemiao site

Perhaps ancient people pursued symmetry to an extreme extent, even on a broken vessel. By comparison, large loop handles are much more useful, and fingers can be put through some loops. Such handles are also known as huaner (lit. annular ears) or annular handles in Chinese, attached to the mouths, shoulders or bellies of containers. For instance, the pots with two pierced handles can be carried with strings put through their large vertically pierced handles (Fig. 3.36). Besides, two dings from M32 at the

3.2 Handles Fig. 3.26 A lid of a wide-handled cup from T4 at the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 3.27 A lid of a wide-handled cup from M40 at the Fuquanshan site

Fig. 3.28 A pot with two loop handles from G3 at the Miaoqian site

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66 Fig. 3.29 A jar-shaped pot with two loop handles from H6 at the Huacheng site

Fig. 3.30 A guˇı with three loop handles from M124 at the Xindili site

Fig. 3.31 A guˇı with four loop handles from T302 at the Miaoqian site

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Fig. 3.32 An oval plate with four loop handles from M5 at the Xiaodouli site (top view and front view)

Fig. 3.33 A basin with four notches from M1 at the Bianjiashan site

Bianjiashan site and M13 at the Guangfulin site have two annular handles attached to their mouths (Figs. 3.37 and 3.38), and a ding from M144 of the Fuquanshan site has four annular handles (Fig. 3.39). Such dings have three short legs, so the areas licked by fire are small. They are suitable for moving and might be used to heat food over charcoal fire. A unique ding has also been found in M141 of the Guangfulin site, and it may well be a stove used for heating purposes, because there is a carrying handle

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Fig. 3.34 A pot originally with two loop handles with a hole on its mouth

Fig. 3.35 Details of a pot originally with two loop handles with a hole on its mouth

attached to this mouth, and its legs, though broken, should be very short (Fig. 3.40). Apart from that, a ding with an annular handle and a spout have also been discovered at the Bianjiashan site (Fig. 3.41). It remains unknown whether it was used to brew tea or boil herbal medicine. A vessel with a single annular handle can also be seen, such as short pottery guˇı excavated from M65 of the Fuquanshan site and from M46 of the Bianjiashan site. These two guˇıs have an annular handle each, with the hole of the one from M65 horizontal and the hole of the other vertical (Figs. 3.42 and 3.43). Similar vessels have been discovered at the Xiantanmiao site as well (Fig. 3.44). It seems difficult to lift a full container with a single annular handle, so what on earth was the handle used for? Was it used to hang the vessel on the wall?

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Fig. 3.36 A pot with two pierced handles from J127 at the Chenghu site

Fig. 3.37 A short-legged ding with two pierced handles from M13 at the Guangfulin site

Pottery cups normally have handles for people to hold. There are many styles of cup handles, such as annular and curved styles, and a cup with a bird-head-shaped handle unearthed from the Liuli site in Haiyan looks fairly special (Fig. 3.45). A few pottery cups have bar-like handles, which might be used for pouring water or wine instead of drinking them (Fig. 3.46). A triple-legged yi with a bar-like handle excavated from M39 of the Fuquanshan site looks strange as well (Fig. 3.47), and the

70 Fig. 3.38 A short-legged ding with two pierced handles from M32 at the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 3.39 A covered ding with four handles and short legs from M144 of the Fuquanshan site

Fig. 3.40 A ding with a carrying handle from M141 of the Guangfulin site

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3.2 Handles Fig. 3.41 A ding with an annular handle and a spout from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 3.42 A guˇı with a single annular handle from M65 at the Fuquanshan site

Fig. 3.43 A guˇı with a single annular handle from M46 at the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 3.44 A guˇı with a single annular handle from the Xiantanmiao site

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Fig. 3.45 A pottery cup with a bird-head-shaped handle from the Liuli site

Fig. 3.46 Two cups with bar-like handles from M74 at the Fuquanshan site

Fig. 3.47 A triple-legged yi with a bar-like handle from M39 of the Fuquanshan site

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purposes of a ding with a bar-like handle unearthed from the Xindili site still remain obscure (Fig. 3.48). The shapes of wide handles are relatively regular, and such handles were mainly made by vertically pasting clay strips onto clay slabs (Fig. 3.49), or by combining strips of clay into woven patterns (Fig. 3.50). Both patterns can be seen on the wide handle of a pottery he from the Longtangang site (Fig. 3.51), and twisted patterns can be seen on the handles of some triple-legged he (Fig. 3.52).

Fig. 3.48 A ding with a bar-like handle from M52 of the Xindili site

Fig. 3.49 A wide handle pasted with clay strips from T302 of the Xindili site

74 Fig. 3.50 A wide handle with a woven pattern from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 3.51 A twisted rope-shaped wide handle from M28 at the Longtangang site

Fig. 3.52 A twisted rope-shaped handle from G2 at the Bianjiashan site

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3.3 Elements of Animals

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3.3 Elements of Animals Not all shapes of Liangzhu pottery artifacts are symmetrical and regular—A few of them have dynamic and impressive shapes. Demonstrating Liangzhu craftsmen’s ingenuity and wisdom, some unique pottery artifacts have drawn on the elements of animals: some show postures of animals; some reflect characteristics of animals in certain parts; and others have shapes of animals. This indicates that Liangzhu people had considerable interaction with animals, which could be commonly seen during that time. For example, triple-legged he has an upward spout, two front legs, a hind leg resembling two legs together and an annular handle like an upturned tail—the whole artifact looks like a roaring animal (Fig. 3.53). A triple-legged he from G1 of the Xindili site is relatively flat, decorated with a ring of ridge on the outside, which resembles the edge of a tortoise shell, and the vessel looks like a tortoise stretching its neck (Fig. 3.54). For another triple-legged he from M101 of the Fuquanshan site, its body is similar to that of the former one, but the whole artifact stands upright, resembling a standing tortoise or penguin (Fig. 3.55). The upward spouts of wide-handled cups, with lids covered, look like beaks of birds crying for food (Fig. 3.56). On top of that, gu¯ı with three pocket-shaped legs is vessels full of life, as their legs are patterned after animals’ breasts, which look ample as if milk were coming out (Fig. 3.57). The owl face-shaped lid discovered at the Bianjiashan site is very cute. Two round eyes and a hooked beak are vivid, and the beak is also the knob of the lid (Fig. 3.58). Fig. 3.53 A triple-legged he from M207 of the Wujiachang site

76 Fig. 3.54 A tortoise-shaped triple-legged he from G1 of the Xindili site

Fig. 3.55 A tortoise-shaped triple-legged he from M101 of the Fuquanshan site

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3.3 Elements of Animals Fig. 3.56 A wide-handled cup from M62 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 3.57 A gu¯ı with three pocket-shaped legs from H1 of the Xindili site

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Fig. 3.58 An owl face-shaped lid from G2 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 3.59 A lid with an animal-shaped knob (front view and back view)

The knob of a lid unearthed from the Wenjiashan site looks like a two-horned animal, which may be a deer or a goat. We cannot tell what animal it is. Although without four legs, it is obviously a standing mammal (Fig. 3.59). A similar lid has also been excavated from the Nanhebang site (Fig. 3.60). Besides, the handle of a pottery he with three breast-shaped legs unearthed from the Tinglin site in Jinshan District, Shanghai, looks strikingly like the animal knob from the Wenjiashan site (Fig. 3.61). Also, miniature clay elephant, lizard and other animals unearthed from the Bianjiashan site look nearly the same as animal knobs (Figs. 3.62 and 3.63). They may well be toys for kids. Pig head- and fox head-shaped black pottery shards have also been unearthed from the Bianjiashan site, and a pig head-shaped one has been discovered at the Miaoqian site, with better stereoscopic effects (Figs. 3.64, 3.65 and 3.66). In terms of their curves, they should be the shards of bellies of containers. Apart from that, many complete pig-shaped vessels have been found at the Longqiuzhuang site in Jiangsu, and they were fixed vessels from sets of grave goods (Fig. 3.67). Similar containers have also been discovered in the north area of the Huating site under the influence of the Liangzhu culture. With round bodies, faces with snouts, short upturned tails and

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Fig. 3.60 A cup with an animal-shaped knob from M84 of the Nanhebang site

Fig. 3.61 A triple-legged he with an animal-shaped handle from M21 of the Tinglin site

short legs, these containers look very much like piglets (Fig. 3.68). They have large or small cylindrical mouths on their backs, with overall shapes like piggy banks. Such adorable animal-shaped containers might well be designed for children.

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Fig. 3.62 A clay lizard figure from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 3.63 A clay elephant from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 3.64 A pig head-shaped pottery shard from T4 of the Bianjiashan site

3.4 Special-Shaped Vessels Some storage vessels have special shapes, such as jars and vats with son-mother mouths. The groove between the two rims of a son-mother mouth could be used to hold water, so the jar or vat could be airtight with its lid closed. Strongly resembling today’s pickle jars, such vessels might well be used to pickle food (Figs. 3.69, 3.70

3.4 Special-Shaped Vessels Fig. 3.65 A fox head-shaped pottery shard from T4 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 3.66 A pig head-shaped pottery shard from T302 of the Miaoqian site

Fig. 3.67 A pig-shaped jar from M157 of the Longqiuzhuang site

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Fig. 3.68 A pig-shaped jar from M21 of the Huating site

Fig. 3.69 A jar with a son-mother mouth from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

and 3.71). Some vessels with son-mother mouths are very large. For instance, two straight mouths found at the Bianjiashan site were originally connected with their cylindrical bellies, and their diameters reach 42 cm and 59 cm, respectively (with depths unknown), so the jars should have enormous volumes (Figs. 3.72 and 3.73). The four-legged rectangular plate from the Bianjiashan site mentioned earlier was made from sand-mixed taupe clay, with a length of 62 cm, a width of 49.2 cm and a depth of 13.6 cm (Fig. 3.6). It has wide-folded rim, with a raised trapezium on each long side and a round hole in its bottom. The purpose of this plate is obscure: It could be put on fire with four legs and could be used to burn charcoal, but the traces of being burnt and carburizing cannot be observed; the shallow rectangular plate with

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Fig. 3.70 A large jar with son-mother mouth from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 3.71 A vat with son-mother mouth from G2 of the Bianjiashan site

a hole looks like a water basin, but the purpose of raised trapeziums would be hard to explain in this case. Two dustpan-shaped scoops have been unearthed from the Bianjiashan site as well. One is black surfaced with muddy reddish-brown body. 23.5 cm in length, 21 cm in width and 6 cm in depth, it is oval, like a shallow basin, with a straight spout and an annular wide handle on the opposite side (Fig. 3.74). The other is a black-surfaced

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Fig. 3.72 A vat with son-mother mouth from G2 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 3.73 A vat with son-mother mouth from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 3.74 A dustpan-shaped scoop from G1 at the Bianjiashan site

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pottery scoop with sand-mixed grayish brown body. 24 cm in length, 18 cm in width and 5.5 cm in depth, this scoop has a lip and an open spout, with an annular wide handle on the opposite side (Fig. 3.75). These two scoops should be used to scoop food from containers. A similar wooden scoop with straight handles has also been found at the Bianjiashan site, and it looks very much like today’s wooden scoop. A few conjoined vessels and split vessels show great imagination. They can mainly be found in north Taihu area, such as a triadic yi unearthed from M3 of the Guangfulin site in Songjiang District, Shanghai. Three yi with spouts are connected together, and liquid can flow from one to another through three holes in inner walls inside the belly. It is inconvenient for use, more likely to be a work of art (Fig. 3.76). Triadic vessels in this area date back to the time of the Songze culture, so this type of vessel has a long history. A pottery guˇı unearthed from M74 of the Fuquanshan site has three parts, so its production was fairly difficult. Its main body is a guˇı with three loop handles, with a straight-mouthed lid rest with three loop handles in the middle and a lid on the

Fig. 3.75 A dustpan-shaped scoop from G1 at the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 3.76 A triadic yi from M3 of the Guangfulin site

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top (Figs. 3.77 and 3.78). The cylindrical lid rest is actually a small container. With each part strictly fitting into another, this artifact required sophisticated techniques, and it might be used as a multitier container. Similar artifacts have been unearthed from the Nanhu site in Yuhang District, Hangzhou, but they have no lids on the top (Figs. 3.79 and 3.80).

Fig. 3.77 A multitier guˇı from M74 of the Fuquanshan site

Fig. 3.78 A diagram of a multitier guˇı from M74 of the Fuquanshan site

3.4 Special-Shaped Vessels Fig. 3.79 A multitier guˇı from the Nanhu site

Fig. 3.80 A multitier guˇı from the Nanhu site

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Chapter 4

Color and Luster of Pottery

Abstract Throughout the history of pottery, the color of pottery is closely related to the kiln and firing techniques. Fired in open-air kilns, early pottery looks red because of oxidation. The earliest Chinese pottery artifacts unearthed are mainly red ones. Consequently, with the improvement of temperature control techniques, gray pottery and even black pottery produced in a reducing atmosphere gradually became the mainstream, resulting in the creation of the Liangzhu culture who admires black pottery artifacts and the Longshan culture. Keywords Color · Red pottery · Black pottery · Kiln · Firing techniques · Black admiration Pottery artifacts from an ancient culture normally have a typical color. For example, the typical color of Liangzhu pottery is black. Since the Longshan culture is also well known for its black pottery, the Liangzhu culture was first taken for a branch of the Longshan culture in Shandong Province when the ruins of the Liangzhu City were discovered. It was not until the year of 1938 when Shi Xingeng’s Liangzhu (A Preliminary Report on the Black Pottery Cultural Site in the First District of Hang County) was published that we had a real understanding of black Liangzhu pottery. At Changfen and Qipanfen sites of the ruins of the Liangzhu City, well-preserved black pottery, including pots with two loop handles, dou and guˇı, were unearthed in the 1950s. After China’s Cultural Revolution, the excavations of Liangzhu archeological sites and the studies of Liangzhu culture went on the right track, and a great number of unearthed Liangzhu pottery artifacts have proven that black pottery, with distinctive characteristics, is the mainstream type of artifact in the Liangzhu culture. Throughout the history of pottery, the color of pottery is closely related to the kiln and firing techniques. Fired in open-air kilns, early pottery looks red because of oxidation. The earliest Chinese pottery artifacts unearthed from the Nanzhuangtou site (located in Xushui District, Hebei Province), the Shenxiandong site (located in Lishui District, Jiangsu Province) and the Shangshan site (located in Pujiang County, Zhejiang Province), which existed roughly 10,000 years ago, are mainly red ones. It is the same with the pottery artifacts from later Peiligang, Yangshao and Majiabang cultures. Approximately 6000 years ago, the airtightness of kilns became better, and the temperature control techniques were enhanced, so gray pottery and even black © Zhejiang University Press 2020 Y. Zhao, Liangzhu Pottery, Liangzhu Civilization, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7146-6_4

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pottery produced in a reducing atmosphere gradually became the mainstream. With such background, black pottery of the Liangzhu culture and the Longshan culture came into being. Nevertheless, red pottery could still be seen when black pottery became popular, and people could choose whether to produce black pottery or red pottery according to their needs. Red pottery also existed in the Liangzhu culture. For instance, common cooking vessels like ding and yan, as well as sand-mixed vats and gu¯ı with pocketshaped legs, are mainly red or red-surfaced pottery. Moreover, red jars with rolled rims and pricked designs came to the fore even in the late period of the Liangzhu culture when black pottery reached its zenith. Red pottery not only balanced the color of pottery, but might also reflect people’s psychology. In fact, it is complicated and uncertain for pottery to show a specific color, because there are many processes in pottery production, such as clay preparation, shaping, glazing and firing, which may pose color difference, uneven luster and other problems. Basically, the color and luster of pottery artifacts are relatively stable after firing and may change due to oxidation or when people touch or hold the artifacts. After pottery artifacts are thrown away and buried in various environments, their color and luster may continue to change. In archeological excavations, the surfaces of many pottery artifacts and pottery shards have been destroyed, and their colors have faded, because they had been eroded by soil around them. For this reason, black or red surfaces of many pottery artifacts and pottery shards had gone when they were unearthed. Among an enormous number of pottery shards, pottery in red color spectrum has red sand-mixed, red clamshell-mixed and red muddy varieties, and pottery in black color spectrum has gray sand-mixed, black coal-mixed and gray muddy varieties. According to statistics, pottery artifacts in black color spectrum are far more than those in red color spectrum.

4.1 Preference for Black Liangzhu people had a preference for black pottery artifacts—the blacker the surface, the more respectable the artifact is. In over ten types of common pottery artifacts, a significant majority of them belong to black pottery. Unlike sand-mixed vats, largemouthed zun, some ding and jars and a few gu¯ı with pocket-shaped legs, most types of pottery are black, including the dou, jar, pot, basin, guˇı, cup and wide-handled cup (Fig. 4.1). Arguably, most of Liangzhu people’s pottery tableware was black in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Similar to today’s porcelain tableware, a set of bowls, plates, cups and dishes should be in the same color scheme and style. Nevertheless, the black pottery artifacts of the Liangzhu culture are actually black surfaced, with gray, beige, buff or even red clay bodies. The black color and luster of the surface are the results of painting, glazing and carburizing. Bianjiashan and Zhongjiagang are two archeological sites of Liangzhu City with excellent burial environments. With thick silt below the water table, both of the sites

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Fig. 4.1 A group of black pottery artifacts from the Bianjiashan site

have ideal saturated conditions, so the colors of pottery shards in these two sites are relatively stable, and the statistics are then reliable and representative. For instance, there were nearly 80,000 pottery shards remaining after restoration. In the layer of silt near the wharf that had good preservative conditions, pottery shards in black color spectrum accounted for about 73% of sand-mixed pottery shards (a majority of gray sand-mixed pottery shards had black surfaces), with those in red color spectrum 27%. Pottery shards in black color spectrum constituted approximately 89.5% of muddy clay shards (a majority of gray muddy pottery shards also had black surfaces, and a few of them still had lead luster effect), with those in red color spectrum made up around 10.5%. From these data, we can have a good understanding of the ratio of pottery in black color spectrum to pottery in red color spectrum.

4.2 Pottery in Red Color Spectrum While the proportion of red pottery is relatively small, it has its own characteristics. There are three major types of red pottery: red pottery ding, red pottery vat and red pottery jar. Red pottery ding can be represented by jar-shaped ding with fin-shaped legs, which have even, thin sand-mixed clay bodies painted with red pigments; some are gedangding (ding-shaped yan), which have holes below their grate holders (Figs. 4.2 and 4.3). Black as some cooking vessels may look, they have in fact been blackened with soot. For example, the lower belly of a ding with fin-shaped legs unearthed from the Meirendi site had been blackened with soot, but the mouth and legs of the ding remained red (Fig. 4.4). If you look closely at another ding with T-shaped legs from the Meirendi site, you will find it originally red (Fig. 4.5).

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Fig. 4.2 A red pottery ding from the Nanhu site

Fig. 4.3 A red pottery gedangding from M6 at the Xiaodouli site

Red pottery vats mostly have thick bodies mixed with coarse sand, flared mouths, round lips, curved bellies and rounded bottoms. The surfaces of their upper bellies are usually decorated with convex grid patterns. The wall thicknesses of bodies increase from mouths to bottoms, with the thicknesses of some bottoms exceeding 5 cm. Such vats have often been found in the pits in corners of tombs, showing the wish that tomb owners would not get starved in the underworld. Among sand-mixed vats

4.2 Pottery in Red Color Spectrum

93

Fig. 4.4 A ding with fin-shaped legs from the Meirendi site

Fig. 4.5 A ding with T-shaped legs from the Meirendi site

unearthed from the Xiaodouli site in Haining, the rounded-bottomed sand-mixed vat discovered in the northeast corner of Tomb M8 has several strings engraved on the surface near its mouth, below which is oblique basket-strip pattern (Fig. 4.6). Located to the southeast of Tomb M20, a sand-mixed vat has a special shape, with 8 cm-wide oblique basket-strip patten on its belly, constricting sharply to its small flat bottom (Fig. 4.7). Red pottery jars all have rolled rims with pricked designs on their lips, and the trace of rotary cutting can be found on the outer surfaces of their round bellies. Some of them still have red surfaces, and they are all very large, with most of them around 30 cm in height (Fig. 4.8). Red pottery jars began to appear in the middle period of the Liangzhu culture and gradually became popular and larger in the late period. The largest known red pottery jar is the one with pricked design unearthed from the Bianjiashan site (Fig. 4.9). The shoulder of the jar is decorated with the pattern of two convex strings, with three groups of equilateral twist-shaped appliqued designs above the top string. The surface between the lower string and the string on the

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Fig. 4.6 A sand-mixed vat from M8 of the Xiaodouli site

Fig. 4.7 A sand-mixed vat from M20 of the Xiaodouli site

lower belly is decorated with thin string pattern. Additionally, the mouth of this jar is 43.6 cm in width, and the entire jar is 72.8 cm in height.

4.3 Surface

95

Fig. 4.8 A jar with string pattern from the Zhongjiagang site

Fig. 4.9 A large jar from Platform I of the Bianjiashan site

4.3 Surface Well-preserved black pottery is often dark and shiny on its surface (Figs. 4.10, 4.11, 4.12, 4.13 and 4.14). Possibly affected by metal ions in the environment, some black pottery has metallic lead luster effect (Figs. 4.15, 4.16, 4.17 and 4.18). Many pottery artifacts excavated have lost their coats, showing the colors of their clay bodies, such as dark red, beige, buff and pewter. Instead of displaying their original appearance,

96 Fig. 4.10 A pot with two loop handles from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 4.11 A broken pot with two loop handles from the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 4.12 A small jar from G2 of the Bianjiashan site

4 Color and Luster of Pottery

4.3 Surface Fig. 4.13 A guˇı with three loop handles from G2 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 4.14 A stem of dou from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

97

98 Fig. 4.15 A lid from G2 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 4.16 A broken body of dou from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 4.17 A zun from G2 of the Bianjiashan site

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99

Fig. 4.18 A zun in shape of a stem of dou from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

many pottery artifacts take on the appearance after the erosion of their surfaces. On top of that, the color of a clay body is not always even and the same due to temperature, location and firing time, so color difference in the sandwich structure can be observed in cross sections of pottery, such as a gray layer in the middle of brown layers and a black layer in the middle of red layers. As the last step in pottery decoration, the surface of pottery was normally burnished with a cobblestone, or a bamboo, wooden or bone spatula when the clay body was partially dried, which could separate slurry in the clay body out, forming a shiny protective layer. This is similar to cement burnishing, through which technique slurry concentrates on the surface to achieve a sheen. As shown in Fig. 4.19, a pottery dou unearthed from silt at the Bianjiashan site has black surface with a metallic sheen, representing the original appearance of black Liangzhu pottery. Some pottery artifacts were brushed with coatings of special glaze-like slurry before burnishing, so they could have smoother surface, brighter colors and better impermeability. The color of a surface depends largely on the atmosphere within a kiln during firing. Generally speaking, the surface looks gray when pottery was fired in a reducing atmosphere, where fuels could not be burnt completely due to insufficient oxygen in the kiln. This would produce a large amount of carbon monoxide, which could reduce most of the iron oxide in the clay body to ferrous oxide, thereby turning the clay body into gray. To produce a black surface, craftsmen would pour water from the top of a closed kiln, so carbon molecules in the dense smoke produced by burning pine wood would penetrate the surface to turn it into black. In comparison, the pottery fired in an oxidizing atmosphere looks red. In this case, an excess of air

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Fig. 4.19 The color and luster of a pottery dou from G2 of the Bianjiashan site

was allowed in a kiln during firing, which could cause the oxidation of the pottery surface, converting the iron in the clay body into red trivalent iron. The pottery that has been used for a long time may also have a patina on the surface. It is a shiny layer developed by being touched many times. The pottery jar unearthed from the placer deposits at the Nanhu site in Yuhang District can be taken as a good example. The jar was originally red, and it gradually developed a brownish-red patina due to long-term use, reflecting the passing of time (Fig. 4.20). The red color of surfaces of a ding, a large-mouthed jar and a jar with an annular base unearthed from the same place became shiny yellowish brown, and the bottom of the ding was blackened with soot, suggesting the vessels were used for a long time (Figs. 4.21, 4.22 and 4.23). Fig. 4.20 An annular-based jar from the Nanhu site

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Fig. 4.21 A pottery ding with string pattern from the Nanhu site

Fig. 4.22 A large-mouthed jar from the Nanhu site

However, the vessels with such thick patinas have rarely been discovered, mainly unearthed from special burial environments like sandy soil and silt. The patinas of most vessels have already been decomposed by surrounding environment, and even the black surfaces of vessels have completely or partially peeled off. For example, the black surfaces of two jars from M41 of the Bianjiashan site and M143 of the Zhuangqiaofen site have partially peeled off, with the jar from the former site losing the left part of the surface and the jar from the latter site losing the upper part of the surface (Figs. 4.24 and 4.25). Besides, four pottery dou from M59, M47, M33 and M62 of the Bianjiashan site showcase the peeling of the black surface of pottery (Figs. 4.26, 4.27, 4.28 and 4.29). As a matter of fact, many pottery artifacts in tombs of the Zhuangqiaofen site have complete shapes, but their surfaces have peeled off,

102 Fig. 4.23 A jar with an annular base from the Nanhu site

Fig. 4.24 A jar with an annular base from M41 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 4.25 A flat-bottomed jar from M143 of the Zhuangqiaofen site

4 Color and Luster of Pottery

4.3 Surface Fig. 4.26 A dou from M59 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 4.27 A dou from M47 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 4.28 A dou from M33 of the Bianjiashan site

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Fig. 4.29 A dou from M62 of the Bianjiashan site

so the colors we see today are the colors of their clay bodies, which leave us a false impression (Figs. 4.30, 4.31, 4.32 and 4.33). Fig. 4.30 A jar from M97 of the Zhuangqiaofen site

Fig. 4.31 A basin from M99 of the Zhuangqiaofen site

4.3 Surface Fig. 4.32 A pot with two loop handles from M152 of the Zhuangqiaofen site

Fig. 4.33 A dou from M259 of the Zhuangqiaofen site

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Chapter 5

Decorations of Pottery

Abstract Decorations can often be seen in Liangzhu pottery in addition to basic shapes. Some pottery artifacts were decorated in many ways, simultaneously having string patterns, openwork designs and even engraved patterns in some cases. These decorations have both beautification effects and practical functions and endow vessels with distinctive characteristics which distinctly show that Liangzhu craftsmen tried to enhance the appearance and function of pottery on the basis of fixed productive processes. Meanwhile, details of concave string patterns, convex string patterns, appliqued designs, openwork designs, engraved designs, pricked designs and painted patterns are unfolded within this chapter. Keywords Decoration · Symbol · Engrave · Pattern · Design Decorations can often be seen in Liangzhu pottery in addition to basic shapes. Similar to soft decoration in home design, a bit of embellishment can make vessels more attractive. There are a wide range of decorations, mainly including concave string patterns, convex string patterns, appliqued designs, openwork designs, engraved designs, pricked designs and painted patterns. Some pottery artifacts were decorated in many ways, simultaneously having string patterns, openwork designs and even engraved patterns in some cases. These decorations have both beautification effects and practical functions and endow vessels with distinctive characteristics. There is no doubt that Liangzhu craftsmen tried to enhance the appearance and function of pottery on the basis of fixed productive processes. As a result, there are almost no identical shapes in Liangzhu pottery except for the shapes of pots with two loop handles. In Liangzhu pottery, there are also some symbols engraved in the mouths, shoulders, necks, bottoms and other parts of jars, dou, pots with two loop handles, etc. While some symbols can be observed easily, others were engraved in hidden places. In some cases, three legs of a ding were engraved with the same symbol. Besides, most vessels only have one symbol, whereas a few vessels were engraved with multiple symbols. According to statistics, more than 700 engraved Liangzhu symbols have been discovered so far. Most of them were engraved after firing, normally with zigzag cracks on the edges of strokes; a few were engraved before firing, so the strokes engraved later covered previous ones. In general, these engraved symbols can be © Zhejiang University Press 2020 Y. Zhao, Liangzhu Pottery, Liangzhu Civilization, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7146-6_5

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categorized into two types: pictographic symbols and abstract symbols. A group of pictographic symbols might be used for recording what happened, and abstract symbols were evidently endowed with identification functions. Some experts believe that engraved Liangzhu symbols belong to primitive characters. From the perspective of decoration, engraved Liangzhu symbols are rather casual, basically without fixed rules or patterns, so they did not play the role of decoration. Given that there is a book on Liangzhu symbols in this series, this topic is not developed in this chapter.

5.1 String Patterns and Appliqued Designs Divided into the concave type and the convex type, string patterns are the commonest decorations in Liangzhu pottery. In wheel throwing, with the blade of a bamboo knife put on a spinning pottery vessel, concave string pattern could be engraved on its surface (Figs. 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3). On top of that, some pottery vessels were embossed with convex string patterns or bamboo section-shaped patterns (Figs. 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7 and 5.8). With narrow space between concave strings, convex strings may be observed—this is an optical illusion (Figs. 5.9, 5.10 and 5.11). String patterns can often be seen on pottery artifacts, especially on shiny black vessels, so as to reduce the sheen of surfaces and add a sense of rhythm to them. In addition to decorative purposes, string patterns were also created to enhance friction, avoiding the slipping of artifacts. It is relatively easy to make string patterns, but the abuse of them can render artifacts dull and vulgar. String patterns, whether concave or convex, were formed by engraving. For large vessels like jars, pots and vats, string patterns were not enough for safety, so stripshaped decorations were applied to the shoulders or bellies of vessels to avoid slipping when they were moved (Fig. 5.12). Considering the walls of wheel-thrown pottery vessels were rather thin, deeply convex string patterns were not suitable anymore, so clay strips were stuck onto clay bodies, forming “appliqued designs”. In some cases, Fig. 5.1 A dou from G2 of the Bianjiashan site

5.1 String Patterns and Appliqued Designs Fig. 5.2 A plate with an annular base from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 5.3 A lid from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 5.4 A dou from G2 of the Bianjiashan site

109

110 Fig. 5.5 A guˇı from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 5.6 A plate with an annular base from G2 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 5.7 A red pottery jar from G2 of the Bianjiashan site

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5.1 String Patterns and Appliqued Designs

111

Fig. 5.8 A jar decorated with string pattern from H2 of the Miaoqian site

Fig. 5.9 A dou from Platform I of the Bianjiashan site

raised parts were further made into wave patterns, cord-marked patterns, etc. As for gu¯ı with pocket-shaped legs, two short appliqued strips can often be seen on their shoulders, and some were even engraved with other designs (Fig. 5.13).

112 Fig. 5.10 Pot with two loop handles from J2 of the Dazemiao site

Fig. 5.11 Pot with two loop handles from the Diaomudun site

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5.2 Openwork Designs

113

Fig. 5.12 A jar with string pattern from the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 5.13 A gu¯ı with engraved pattern from the Quemuqiao site

5.2 Openwork Designs Openwork designs were popular as early as the time of the Songze culture. Represented by a round hole with two triangular holes on the sides, openwork designs were mainly applied to stair-shaped dou and annular bases of some dou. During the period of the Liangzhu culture, tools like bamboo awls, bamboo tubes and bamboo knives

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were used to cut out oval, round or triangular holes in annular bases and handles of pottery artifacts, so pottery artifacts became more exquisite. General speaking, openwork designs became less popular in the period of the Liangzhu culture. Mainly in round or oval shapes, these designs were applied to a small number of short stems of pottery dou and annular bases of pottery pots with two loop handles, pottery plates and pottery guˇı (Figs. 5.14, 5.15 and 5.16). Some round holes formed multiple patterns with circular or semicircular pressed patterns (Figs. 5.17, 5.18 and 5.19). Large round holes and triangular holes appeared again in the late period of the Liangzhu culture in the combination of a round hole and two Fig. 5.14 A dou from M50 of the Xindili site

Fig. 5.15 A dou from M2 of the Bianjiashan site

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Fig. 5.16 A dou from T4 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 5.17 A dou from M90 of the Zhuangqiaofen site

triangular holes or arranged in lines with identical spacing, often seen on long thick stems of dou (Figs. 5.20, 5.21, 5.22 and 5.23). A large vessel base unearthed from the Meirendi site was decorated with round, triangular and hourglass-shaped holes, looking very much like a basket (Fig. 5.24).

5.3 Engraved Designs In addition to concave, convex and openwork decorations, Liangzhu pottery artifacts are often decorated with finely engraved designs. Especially in the late period of the Liangzhu culture, finely engraved designs were popular in some areas, including

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Fig. 5.18 A dou from M6 of the Tinglin site

Fig. 5.19 A guˇı from M43 of the Xindili site

circular, semicircular, spiral, cross, triangular, parallel, wave, zigzag, fish scale, grid, brickwork and bird designs. Most of them are abstract geometric designs, and some of them are associated with objects in nature and life, such as the sun, bird, wave and brickwork. The vessels engraved with designs mainly include pots, dou, wide-handled cups, yi, jars and ding. Some engraved vessels also have corresponding designs on their lids. In terms of the intricacy of engraved designs, some are rather simple, and others are relatively elaborate; some cover the outer surfaces of vessels, and others appear on inner surfaces. Generally speaking, pottery artifacts with engraved designs were all finely made, normally in regular elegant shapes and with black shiny surfaces. The tools used for engraving could be thin bamboo sticks, bone needles, fish bones,

5.3 Engraved Designs

117

Fig. 5.20 A dou with openwork design from M12 of the Tuze site

Fig. 5.21 A dou with openwork design from the Meirendi site

etc., and engraving should be completed before firing according to modern pottery. The designs on Liangzhu pottery were skillfully engraved with graceful and clearly discernible lines, which seem to be incised by professional craftsmen. What is more, engraved designs became more eye-catching against black surfaces after firing, not only beautifying pottery artifacts, but also giving them exquisite textures. Nevertheless, pottery artifacts with engraved designs only appeared in some places, which covered a small proportion of the whole area of the Liangzhu culture. These pottery artifacts were mainly found in the Liangzhu City (the ruling center of the ancient Liangzhu Kingdom) and local power centers like Caoxieshan, Fuquanshan and Qiuchengdun, which suggests that the places where engraved pottery artifacts were popular and were centers of political power, so such pottery artifacts should mainly be used as ritual vessels and vessels for the nobility. Spiral patterns were the most important elements used to compose more elaborate patterns of Liangzhu pottery, and they were the only type of basic patterns used in both pottery and jade artifacts. Elegant spiral patterns were also known as “cirrus

118 Fig. 5.22 A stem of dou with openwork design from T3 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 5.23 A stem of dou with openwork design from the Nanhu site

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5.3 Engraved Designs

119

Fig. 5.24 A vessel base with openwork design from the Meirendi site

patterns”. From small mung bean sprout-shaped patterns and large hairball-shaped patterns to coiled or serpentine patterns, spiral patterns, whether simple or elaborate, formed the main pattern style of Liangzhu pottery. A spiral with a sharp angle was often engraved to symbolize a head of a bird, and a wide ribbon-shaped curve filled with spiral pattern and short parallel lines was engraved to symbolize the body of an animal. Therefore, the combination of several spirals representing bird heads on the inner side or outer side of a serpentine body symbolizes a surreal animal with multiple heads and a coiled body, and sometimes it is difficult to differentiate its head from its tail. Similar to mysterious yet popular coiled dragon or qilin symbols, bird-head serpentine patterns were auspicious in the Liangzhu culture (Figs. 5.25, 5.26 and 5.27). Due to their similarity to panch1 patterns, such patterns were also known as “bird-panchi patterns”. Liangzhu people incised such designs on precious objects to show romanticism, demonstrating their wealth and extravagance, while the divine emblem engraved on Liangzhu jade symbolized dignity and sacredness, so these two types of engraved designs belonged to two distinct systems. The only pottery artifact engraved with a divine emblem-related design discovered so far was unearthed from the Liangzhu City. It was a design of an animal mask with big eyes and fangs, with arms turned into bird wings that fell apart and the designs on forelimbs turned into vertical and

1 Panchi

(蟠螭) is a kind of yellow dragon without horns. In some ancient Chinese books, panchi is believed to be female dragons.

120

Fig. 5.25 An engraved pottery shard from the Putaofan site Fig. 5.26 An engraved pottery shard from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 5.27 An engraved pottery shard from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

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121

Fig. 5.28 A pottery shard engraved with animal mask design from the west wall of the Liangzhu City

horizontal lines. The divine emblem became a decorative element in this case, and it can be perceived as an auspicious symbol (Fig. 5.28). Many bird-head serpentine patterns have other patterns as their backgrounds, such as the evenly arranged bird-head serpentine pattern on a pot neck shard from G2 of the Bianjiashan site against the background of grid pattern and spiral pattern (Fig. 5.29). Meanwhile, a small proportion of bird-head serpentine patterns entirely or partly cover vessel surfaces by simply repeating a single design (Fig. 5.30). The black surface of another shard of a pot neck and belly unearthed from G2 of the Bianjiashan site was engraved with intricate bird-head serpentine pattern, which look like a layer of gray glaze at the first sight. There are 12 bird-head serpentine designs engraved on a shard 2 cm2 , which can be considered a work of microscopic engraving (Fig. 5.31). Some bird-head serpentine patterns were elaborately engraved with rich details; with some space between these patterns and background patterns, the thematic bird-head serpentine patterns were highlighted. For instance, the graceful bird-head serpentine pattern engraved on the neck of a pot with two loop handles unearthed from G1 of the Bianjiashan site is impressive with the space between the designs and brickwork and parallel patterns in the background (Fig. 5.32). Some bird-head serpentine patterns were simplified into bird patterns with two or multiple heads and no serpentine bodies, engraved among background patterns with identical spacing (Fig. 5.33). Some bird-head serpentine patterns simply have multiple bird heads together with beaks pointing outward (Figs. 5.34 and 5.35). Such simplified composition has the same effect as the composition of patterns on Liangzhu jade, representing complete patterns by parts of them. As a basic type of decoration employed in Liangzhu pottery, circular ribbonshaped decoration refers to a circle of decorative ribbon, narrow or wide, around the body of a vessel. This type of decoration is typically seen on pottery dou with

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Fig. 5.29 An engraved pottery shard from G2 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 5.30 An engraved shard of stem of a dou from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

5.3 Engraved Designs

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Fig. 5.31 An engraved pottery shard from G2 of the Bianjiashan site

long stems, straight or slightly flared mouths and angled bellies. Convex or concave string patterns or bamboo joint-shaped raised patterns can often be seen on stems, and circular ribbon-shaped decorations can normally be found on the outer surfaces of bellies, on the lower parts of stems, or in every section on stems. For example, the patterns on stems of dou unearthed from the Bianjiashan site can be categorized into three types as follows: a. horizontal wave patterns, or horizontal wave patterns with bird-head patterns (Fig. 5.36), b. vertical wave patterns, or vertical wave patterns with bird-head patterns (Fig. 5.37), c. distorted grid patterns or distorted grid patterns with bird-head serpentine patterns (Fig. 5.38). There seem to be logical relations among these three types of patterns. In view of horizontal strings or raised ridges on stems of patterned dou, the first type should appear first to fill the space between strings or ridges, which evolved into ribbonshaped decorations with certain widths. As for the second type, vertical wave patterns came into existence when horizontal ones were rotated. With horizontal ones and vertical ones combined together, grid patterns (i.e., the third type) appeared, but they later became sloppy and even messy. We can see that the three types of patterns evolved from simple to complex, but they did not replace one with another. Instead, they might coexist in the same period, and bird-head patterns or bird-head serpentine patterns surrounded by these background patterns were very much likely to be the results of their coexistence and interaction.

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Fig. 5.32 An engraved pottery shard from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

Circular ribbon-shaped decorations can also be found on pots with two loop handles, mainly engraved on their long necks. For instance, a pot with two loop handles unearthed from G1 of the Bianjiashan site has five convex ridges with the same spacing on its neck, and identical circular ribbon-shaped decorations were engraved between its mouth and the first convex ridge and between its shoulder and the last ridge (Fig. 5.39). The circular ribbon-shaped decorations were filled with spirals winding counterclockwise from the center as well as horizontal zigzag pattern, and abstract bird pattern was also engraved on the shoulder of the flat body. Similar circular ribbon-shaped decorations with spiral pattern were also discovered on a pot with two loop handles unearthed from M28 of the Xindili site (Figs. 5.29 and 5.40). The pottery artifacts with their surfaces covered with combinations of ribbonshaped decorations and spiral patterns are high-grade artifacts. Similar to the decorations of blue and white porcelain in the Ming and Qing dynasties, ribbon-shaped decorations and thematic patterns were designed in different layers, with over ten layers in total from the mouth to the bottom in some cases. The pottery artifacts

5.3 Engraved Designs Fig. 5.33 An engraved stem of a dou from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 5.34 A shard from the stem of a dou from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

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Fig. 5.35 An engraved pottery shard from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 5.36 Horizontally engraved patterns on stems of dou from the Bianjiashan site

discovered to date with magnificent shapes and patterns on entire bodies are mainly wide-handled cups, yi, pots with two loop handles, dou and ding. Such wide-handled cups can be represented by the one excavated from M65 of the Fuquanshan site. This cup has thin light clay body, a wide upward spout and black shiny surface incised with elaborate patterns. The thematic pattern on its belly is well-arranged distorted bird pattern, with vertical and horizontal parallel lines filling the bodies of birds. The spout was engraved with the front view of a flying bird, and the entire body was engraved with horizontal diamond and zigzag patterns, with diamonds filled with lines (Figs. 5.41 and 5.42). A wide-handled cup unearthed from M12 of the Longtangang site in Haiyan was engraved with a crocodile, with its

5.3 Engraved Designs

127

Fig. 5.37 A vertically engraved pattern on the stem of a dou from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

opening mouth engraved on the side of the handle and its body depicted as several ribbon-shaped decorations (Figs. 5.43 and 5.44). There is another wide-handled cup entirely covered with engraved patterns discovered at the Chuodun site. It has a small mouth and an upward spout, and its body is covered with bird and beast pattern and line-filled square pattern (Fig. 5.45). What is more, the wide-handled cup unearthed from M1 of the Daimudun site in Pinghu has a pointed beak under its spout, and its body was engraved with bird-head serpentine pattern against grid pattern in the background (Fig. 5.46). Moreover, a broken wide-handled cup excavated from G1 of the Bianjiashan site was engraved with parallel lines and spirals on its spout as well as bird-head pattern and line-filled square pattern on its body (Fig. 5.47). Furthermore, a broken wide-handled cup unearthed in the fifth and sixth excavations of the Miaoqian site has bird-head serpentine pattern under its spout (Fig. 5.48). Wide-handled yi, also known as yi-shaped wide-handled cups, sometimes also has elaborate engraved patterns, such as two yi with double wide handles excavated from M207 of the Wujiachang site (Figs. 5.49, 5.50 and 5.51). Each of them has six raised ridges on its body, with the space between ridges engraved with line-filled bird pattern; the underside of the spout and the lid were engraved with rimmed distorted bird pattern, demonstrating extreme extravagance. In addition, a wide-handled yi unearthed from M28 of the Longtangang site also has pattern engraved all over its surface (Fig. 5.52).

128 Fig. 5.38 A grid pattern on the stem of a dou from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 5.39 An engraved pot with two loop handles from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

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129

Fig. 5.40 Diagrams of pots with two loop handles from Bianjiashan and Xindili sites

Fig. 5.41 An engraved wide-handled cup from M65 of the Fuquanshan site

Entirely engraved pots with two loop handles were unearthed from M74 of the Fuquanshan site. There are two in total, and one of them is covered with a lid. The necks, bellies and annular bases of the pots (even the lid) were entirely engraved with bird-head serpentine pattern. The bird-head serpentine designs on the uncovered pot are surrounded with blank strips, with spiral pattern filling the rest of space (Figs. 5.53, 5.54 and 5.55). Entirely engraved pots with two loop handles were also excavated from M198 of the Caoxieshan site and M3 of the Qiuchengdun site. On top of that, the neck of a pot with two loop handles was incised with vertical wave pattern (Fig. 5.56). The patterns engraved on a pot with two loop handles discovered in M3 of the Qiuchengdun site are more bizarre: The neck was engraved with four circular

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Fig. 5.42 A diagram of a wide-handled cup from M65 of the Fuquanshan site

Fig. 5.43 An engraved wide-handled cup from M12 of the Longtangang site

Fig. 5.44 A diagram of wide-handled cup engraved with a crocodile from M12 of the Longtangang site

5.3 Engraved Designs

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Fig. 5.45 An engraved wide-handled cup from the Chuodun site

Fig. 5.46 An engraved wide-handled cup from M1 of the Daimudun site

ribbon-shaped decorations, with bird-head serpentine pattern within them simplified into curved worm pattern against wave or fish scale pattern in the background; the belly was engraved with distorted double bird-head pattern; and the annular base was engraved with dual-line spiral pattern (Fig. 5.57). The pot with two loop handles discovered in M4 of the Qingpusi site in Shanghai was engraved with elaborate

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Fig. 5.47 A shard of an engraved wide-handled cup from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

patterns as well, with the upper part of its neck engraved with two circles of zigzag patterns consisting of three parallel lines, and spiral pattern was engraved underneath (Fig. 5.58). As for a pot with two loop handles discovered in M52 of the Zhaolingshan site, its neck and upper part of belly were engraved with line-filled flying bird pattern apart from string pattern (Fig. 5.59). Entirely engraved pottery dou can be represented by a dou unearthed from M101 of the Fuquanshan site. The outer surface and stem of the vessel were entirely engraved with intricate patterns. Intertwined bird-head serpentine pattern was engraved on the outer surface of the dou, with the serpentine pattern filled with cirrus pattern and parallel lines, and the profile of a phoenix spreading its wings and a sea gull-like bird design were engraved between every two bird-head serpentine designs. Bird pattern was engraved between raised ridges on the stem of the dou, with the front of a bird alternating with the profile of a bird (Figs. 5.60 and 5.61). A covered ding excavated from M65 of the Fuquanshan site was also engraved with patterns all over its surface and lid: The lid and the knob were engraved with 18 bird-head serpentine designs; the shoulder of the body was engraved with fine string pattern, and the belly of the body was engraved with linked bird-head serpentine

5.3 Engraved Designs

133

Fig. 5.48 A shard of an engraved wide-handled cup from H3 of the Miaoqian site

Fig. 5.49 The engraved lid of a yi with two wide handles from M207 of the Wujiachang site

pattern, which can also be seen on the outside of openwork T-shaped legs (Fig. 5.62). The ding unearthed from M198 of the Caoxieshan site only has simple string pattern on its body, but it looks very resplendent, as its lid was engraved with four groups of bird-head serpentine designs, and zigzag pattern was engraved between circles on the lid (Fig. 5.63).

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Fig. 5.50 An engraved yi with two wide handles from M207 of the Wujiachang site

Fig. 5.51 A diagram of an engraved yi with two wide handles from M207 of the Wujiachang site

Some pots and jars also have engraved patterns on their shoulders, such as a pottery pot excavated from the Tinglin site that has two circles of outlined crosses alternating with outlined curves engraved on its shoulder. Similar pattern has been found on pottery artifacts unearthed from G1 of the Bianjiashan site. The geometric designs were stretched and distorted, becoming more dynamic. Apart from that, a black pottery jar unearthed from T4 of the Bianjiashan site was engraved with distorted line-filled bird designs with identical spacing among three rings of raised ridges on its shoulder (Fig. 5.64). Two pots with engraved patterns on their shoulders

5.3 Engraved Designs

135

Fig. 5.52 An engraved wide-handled yi from M28 of the Longtangang site

Fig. 5.53 An engraved pot with two loop handles from M74 of the Fuquanshan site

have also been discovered at Qiuchengdun and Xindili sites: The one unearthed from M3 of the Qiuchengdun site was engraved with intertwined serpentine pattern on its shoulder, and the other unearthed from M2 of the Xindili site was engraved with distorted line-filled bird pattern on its shoulder (Fig. 5.65). A rare engraved cylindrical cup was unearthed in the fifth and sixth excavations of the Miaoqian site, with three ribbons engraved on its body. The first ribbon was filled with oblique parallel lines, and the second and third ribbons were engraved with identical circle and horizontal zigzag patterns, with the third ribbon conspicuously wider than the second one (Fig. 5.66).

136 Fig. 5.54 A diagram of an engraved pot with two loop handles from M74 of the Fuquanshan site

Fig. 5.55 Details of an engraved pot with two loop handles from M74 of the Fuquanshan site

5 Decorations of Pottery

5.3 Engraved Designs

137

Fig. 5.56 A diagram of an engraved pot with two loop handles from M198 of the Caoxieshan site

Fig. 5.57 A diagram of an engraved pot with two loop handles from M3 of the Qiuchengdun site

Additionally, there are many other patterns engraved on Liangzhu pottery, and some of them very rare. Fish scale pattern has been found on some pottery artifacts. For example, the trumpet-shaped stem of a dou unearthed from G1 of the Bianjiashan site was engraved with fish scale pattern among three sections on the bottom (Fig. 5.67). The neck of a pot with two loop handles unearthed from the Shedunmiao site in Haining was also engraved with fine fish scale pattern apart from the thematic bird-head serpentine pattern (Fig. 5.68). Wave pattern is also rare, and it was found in G2 of the Bianjiashan site (Fig. 5.69). Besides, pottery dou with the same shape and decorations were excavated from the Xiaodouli site and the Siqian site. Two

138 Fig. 5.58 An engraved pot with two loop handles from M4 of the Siqian site

Fig. 5.59 A diagram of an engraved pot with two loop handles from M52 of the Zhaolingshan site

5 Decorations of Pottery

5.3 Engraved Designs

139

Fig. 5.60 An engraved dou from M101 of the Fuquanshan site

Fig. 5.61 A diagram of an engraved dou from M101 of the Fuquanshan site

decorative ribbons filled with parallel lines (five lines in each ribbon) were engraved on the stems of dou, with lines forming wave pattern in the first ribbon and lines forming twisted cord pattern alternating with obliquely arranged small holes in the second ribbon (Figs. 5.70 and 5.71).

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Fig. 5.62 A diagram of an engraved ding from M65 of the Fuquanshan site

5.4 Pricked Designs Red pottery jar with rolled rims decorated with pricked designs appeared in the middle period of the Liangzhu culture. In the late period of the Liangzhu culture, such jars increased and became larger, decorated with more complex designs, becoming a unique type in Liangzhu pottery (Figs. 5.72, 5.73 and 5.74). Pricked design was normally decorated on the lip of this type of red pottery jar, mostly near the inside of the rim. Apart from decorative lines, pricked dots could also form symbols. Unlike the red pottery jars unearthed from the Xiaodouli site in Haining, which belonged to grave goods, most red pottery jars were unearthed from historical remains and strata. There were 59 red pottery jars decorated with pricked lines or symbols excavated from the Bianjiashan site, and 12 of them had undamaged lips. It can be seen from pricked designs on these undamaged lips that the decorative ways of pricked dots are as follows: a. a single pricked symbol, b. two symmetrical pricked symbols between pricked lines, c. four pricked symbols with the same spacing between pricked lines. Pricked lines are mainly curved lines, and some of them are wavy lines. Singleline decorations are relatively common, and dual-line and quadruple-line decorations can also be seen. The lengths of pricked lines vary hugely, and some of pricked lines alternate with other designs. Pricked symbols can be categorized into X, S, T, D, L and the vein. Symmetrical two or four symbols are different in most cases, suggesting that they are not purely decorative (Fig. 5.75). Some pricked symbols are similar to engraved symbols, such as X, T, the arrow and L; some are combinations of lines; and

5.4 Pricked Designs

141

Fig. 5.63 A diagram of an engraved ding from M198 of the Caoxieshan site

others are curves. Generally speaking, these symbols are abstract symbols rather than pictographs. Given slightly raised edges of pricked dots, such decorations should be pricked on clay bodies before firing. In the late period of the Liangzhu culture, red pottery jars decorated with pricked designs could be seen in various places. They were uniform in shape, identical in texture, similar in color and luster and consistent in decorative style, indicating that this type of pottery artifact had specific purposes. If they were used to hold rice or other grain, ordinary pottery jars could also do—there was no need to spend so much time making such special utensils. Assuming that they were used to hold wine, then their mouths should be sealed. Certainly, mouths could be covered with animal skins and other materials, and necks were convenient for animal skins to be tied tightly, but animal skins would also cover decorations on the lips of jars, in which case pricked patterns would become redundant. Therefore, these jars were possibly used to hold certain kinds of dried fruits, which might be the ingredients of high-class food or beverages, playing a special role in Liangzhu people’s life.

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Bianjiashan G1:398

Tinglin M9

Bianjiashan T4(12):110

Fig. 5.64 Diagrams of engraved pots from Bianjiashan and Tinglin sites

Qiuchengdun M3

Xindili M2

Fig. 5.65 Diagrams of engraved pots unearthed from Qiuchengdun and Xindili sites

5.4 Pricked Designs Fig. 5.66 An engraved cup from H3 of the Miaoqian site

Fig. 5.67 The stem of a dou with fish scale pattern from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

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Fig. 5.68 An engraved pot with two loop handles from M12 of the Shedunmiao site

Fig. 5.69 A rubbing with wave pattern from G2 of the Bianjiashan site

5.5 Painted Patterns Painted pottery can be seen as a seasoning in Liangzhu pottery. Only found in a few archeological sites, it has a wide variety of patterns. Painted Liangzhu pottery partly inherited the painted pottery from the late period of the Songze culture and was partly influenced by exotic cultures. After assimilation and innovation, painted Liangzhu pottery had its own style (Figs. 5.76 and 5.77). A painted portable pot excavated from the Fuquanshan site has the same style as the painted pottery from the Dawenkou culture in terms of its texture, color, shape and decorations, possibly because it was brought in from the Dawenkou culture.

5.5 Painted Patterns

145

Fig. 5.70 An engraved dou from M6 of the Xiaodouli site

Siqian M2 Xiaodouli

Fig. 5.71 Diagrams of patterns on the stems of dou from the Xiaodouli site and the Siqian site

A painted pottery pot excavated from the Guangfulin site and the annular base of a painted pottery artifact were both painted with the pattern of two thick red lines intertwined with two thick yellow lines (Figs. 5.78 and 5.79). A painted pottery cup with similar pattern was also unearthed from J16 of the Guangfulin site (Fig. 5.80). On top of that, a pot with two handles unearthed from the Chenghu site was painted with two strips of yellow intertwined rope pattern (Fig. 5.81). The pottery artifacts mentioned above were all discovered in today’s Zhejiang, Shanghai shang Jiangsu, suggesting that yellow-red or yellow intertwined rope patterns were popular in painted Liangzhu pottery.

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Fig. 5.72 A red pottery jar with pricked design from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 5.73 A red pottery jar with pricked design from G2 of the Bianjiashan site

A restored pot with pierced handles and complete shape, unearthed from the Meirendi site, has yellow color and red patterns. Vertical strip pattern can be seen on the handles of the pot, and coiled wide-ribbon pattern with a pointed tail filled with oblique lines can be seen on its upper belly, resembling the body of a coiled animal (Fig. 5.82). A broken painted pot with pierced handles was also unearthed from the Bianjiashan site, with its shape and patterned style very much like those of the one unearthed from the Meirendi site (Fig. 5.83). A relatively complete painted pottery jar, unearthed at the Tadi site, has four groups of connected red S-shaped lines painted on its orange base, which is very

5.5 Painted Patterns

Fig. 5.74 A red pottery jar with pricked design from G2 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 5.75 Rubbings of red pottery jars with pricked designs from the Bianjiashan site

147

148 Fig. 5.76 A painted portable pot from the Fuquanshan site

Fig. 5.77 A diagram of a painted portable pot from the Fuquanshan site

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5.5 Painted Patterns

149

Fig. 5.78 A painted pottery pot from the Guangfulin site

Fig. 5.79 Annular base of a painted pottery artifact from the Nanhu site

dynamic (Fig. 5.84). As for a black pottery pot with unique shape unearthed from the Fuquanshan site, it has a flat belly, a tall annular base decorated with petal-shaped holes and an exquisitely crafted lid with a long knob. The annular base and belly of this pot were both painted with a red ribbon, and the lid was painted with three red ribbons (Figs. 5.85 and 5.86). The pot should be decorated with engraved line patterns, but it was painted with colored patterns (only traces of painted patterns can be seen on the pot today), so it was made for special purposes. There are also some pottery shards unearthed from the Bianjiashan site painted with various patterns, such as grouped line patterns, parallel straight line patterns,

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Fig. 5.80 A painted pottery cup from J16 of the Guangfulin site

Fig. 5.81 A painted pot with two loop handles from the Chenghu site

grain seedling patterns and flying bird patterns (Figs. 5.87, 5.88, 5.89 and 5.90). In the nearby Zhongjiagang site, a broken black pottery artifact was also painted with bright red circular ribbon-shaped pattern with rectangles in it (Fig. 5.91).

5.5 Painted Patterns Fig. 5.82 A painted pot with pierced handles from the Meirendi site

Fig. 5.83 A shard of a painted pottery pot with pierced handles from the Bianjiashan site

151

152 Fig. 5.84 A painted pottery jar from the Tadi site

Fig. 5.85 A jar with a tall lid from M101 of the Fuquanshan site

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5.5 Painted Patterns

Fig. 5.86 A diagram of a jar with a tall lid from M101 of the Fuquanshan site

Fig. 5.87 The mouth of a painted pottery jar from the Bianjiashan site

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Fig. 5.88 A painted pottery shard from G1 of the Bianjiashan site Fig. 5.89 A painted pottery shard from G2 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 5.90 A painted pottery shard from T4 of the Bianjiashan site

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5.5 Painted Patterns Fig. 5.91 A painted pottery shard from the Zhongjiagang site

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Chapter 6

Evolution of Pottery

Abstract The type and evolution of pottery varied in different areas of the Liangzhu culture. The development of pottery was uneven in the four sub-areas of the Liangzhu culture due to the difference in geography, politics, lifestyle, culture and tradition. As major pottery artifacts in the Liangzhu culture, the evolution of ding, dou and pots with two loop handles existing in various areas is clear and complete, which reflects the development of Liangzhu society. This chapter takes these three types of pottery as examples, aiming to delve into the evolution of Liangzhu pottery within the temporal framework of the early period, the middle period and the late period. Keywords Change · Indicator · Characteristics · Chronological order · Evolution · Uneven Spanning approximately one thousand years, Liangzhu culture had many changes in terms of its social structure, management system, residential forms and shapes of artifacts. Pottery is one of the indicators for social development and lifestyle change, and subtle changes in pottery have often been used by archeologists to reveal the development of ancient culture and society. According to the characteristics of pottery, archeologists have periodized the Liangzhu culture in many different ways. Some divided the Liangzhu culture into three periods. Some believed there were five periods of the culture. Some divided the culture into six periods. Others further divided some periods into sub-periods and believed there were ten periods in total. However, complex periodization is inconvenient for the understanding of the culture because we cannot see all kinds of pottery artifacts from the beginning of a period to the end of the period at a single archeological site. To chronicle the development of the Liangzhu culture, pottery from many different sites should be put in chronological order. In this case, the specimens demonstrating the gradual evolution of pottery would be hard to obtain if periodization is too complex, especially with regional difference taken into consideration. As mentioned above, the type and evolution of pottery varied in different areas of the Liangzhu culture. Due to the difference in geography, politics, lifestyle, culture and tradition, the development of pottery was uneven in the four sub-areas of the Liangzhu culture, which was, respectively, located in Hangzhou on the south of © Zhejiang University Press 2020 Y. Zhao, Liangzhu Pottery, Liangzhu Civilization, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7146-6_6

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the Taihu Lake, in Jiaxing on the southeast of the Taihu Lake, in Suzhou and West Shanghai on the east of the Taihu Lake and in Wuxi and Changzhou on the north of the Taihu Lake. For instance, many types of pottery have been unearthed from Hangzhou, and only filters from the early Laingzhu culture have been discovered here (filters appeared in the late period of the Songze culture). While gedangding (ding-shaped yan) was fairly popular in this area, pots with two loop handles were relatively rare. The Liangzhu culture in this area was evidently influenced by the Fanchengdui culture in Jiangxi and the Qujialing culture in Hunan. Jiaxing and the Suzhou–West Shanghai area had long been affected by the Songze culture, so pots with two loop handles originated from the Songze culture were very popular in these two areas during the time of the Liangzhu culture. Besides, gedangding and yan were popular in these areas as well. In comparison, the Wuxi–Changzhou area was markedly influenced by the Dawenkou culture in Shandong. As major pottery artifacts in the Liangzhu culture, ding, dou and pots with two loop handles existed in various areas and had little difference. Their evolution is clear and complete, which reflects the development of Liangzhu society. This chapter takes these three types of pottery as examples, aiming to delve into the evolution of Liangzhu pottery within the temporal framework of the early period, the middle period and the late period.

6.1 Ding Dings are the most representative artifacts in Liangzhu pottery, and their characteristics are mainly reflected through their legs. Fin-shaped legs, T-shaped legs, conic legs and squashed legs are four common types. Fin-shaped legs existed from the beginning to the end of the Liangzhu culture. The edges of mouths of ding with fin-shaped legs in the early period were straight and inclined from rolled rims to inner rims, while they became concave in the late period. The legs became thinner from the top to the bottom in the early period and later became thicker from the top to the bottom. The engraved pattern on the sides of legs changed from short lines to parallel lines and then to intersecting lines (Figs. 6.1, 6.2, 6.3 and 6.4). T-shaped legs appeared in the turn of the early and middle periods of the Liangzhu culture. They were derived from fin-shaped legs with the widths of their outer sides increased, exceeding the widths of their inner sides, and then outer sides gradually became concave. The patterns engraved on the sides of T-shaped legs experienced same evolution as those on fin-shaped legs (Figs. 6.5, 6.6, 6.7 and 6.8). The outer sides of T-shaped legs from the late period of the Liangzhu culture are normally slightly concave (Fig. 6.9). Conic legs refer to cone-shaped legs without any patterns. Ding with such legs was mainly popular in the late period of the Liangzhu culture. Their bodies are mostly basin-shaped, with a few jar-shaped or long-necked jar-shaped. Their mouths mainly have folded rims or rolled rims (Figs. 6.10 and 6.11).

6.1 Ding

159

Fig. 6.1 A ding with fin-shaped legs from M30 of the Miaoqian site

Fig. 6.2 A ding with fin-shaped legs from M126 of the Fuquanshan site

Squashed legs look like conic legs squashed. Both sides of legs have sliced traces, and their cross sections are in oval shapes. Such legs appeared at the end of the Liangzhu period, possibly combining the shapes of fin-shaped legs and conic shapes (Figs. 6.12 and 6.13).

6.2 Dou Dou is a major type of Liangzhu pottery. Although having many shapes, dou mainly has angled bellies or curved bellies. The change of shape of dou was relatively

160 Fig. 6.3 A ding with fin-shaped legs from M21 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 6.4 A ding with fin-shaped legs from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 6.5 A ding with T-shaped legs from M31 of the Bianjiashan site

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6.2 Dou

161

Fig. 6.6 A ding with T-shaped legs from M5 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 6.7 A ding with T-shaped legs from M6 of the Bianjiashan site

consistent, with its body evolving from shallow to deep and its stem developing from short to tall. Angled-bellied dou has straight flared mouths or mouths with folded rims. The period in which the latter shape was popular is relatively short. As time passed by, angled-bellied dou with straight flared mouths had shallower bodies, larger mouths, taller stems, more string patterns and bamboo section patterns, and engraved patterns even appeared in the late period (Figs. 6.14, 6.15, 6.16 and 6.17). Curved-bellied dou has straight mouths or mouths with folded rims. The period in which the former shape was popular is relatively short. The lips of folded-rimmed curved-bellied dou were rolled at first. They became flat later and became everted

162 Fig. 6.8 A ding with T-shaped legs from M52 of the Guangfulin site

Fig. 6.9 A ding with T-shaped legs with concave outer sides from the Longtangang site

6 Evolution of Pottery

6.2 Dou

163

Fig. 6.10 A ding with conic legs from M70 of the Xindili site

Fig. 6.11 A ding with conic legs from M4 of the Daimudun site

at last. The bodies of such dou became deeper, and their stems became taller in evolution (Figs. 6.18, 6.19, 6.20 and 6.21).

6.3 Pots with Two Loop Handles The number of pots with two loop handles varied in different areas, but such pots had consistent rule of evolution. In general, their annular bases became taller; their bellies became flatter; and their necks became longer.

164 Fig. 6.12 A ding with squashed legs from G1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 6.13 A ding with squashed legs from H1 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 6.14 A dou from M31 of the Bianjiashan site

6 Evolution of Pottery

6.3 Pots with Two Loop Handles Fig. 6.15 A dou from M5 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 6.16 A dou from M9 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 6.17 A dou from M45 of the Bianjiashan site

165

166 Fig. 6.18 A dou from M10 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 6.19 A dou from M57 of the Bianjiashan site

Fig. 6.20 A dou from M6 of the Wenjiashan site

6 Evolution of Pottery

6.3 Pots with Two Loop Handles

167

Fig. 6.21 A dou from M50 of the Bianjiashan site

Pots with two loop handles were already in their early shapes in the late period of the Songze culture. During this period, such pots had pancake-shaped bottoms or “fake annular bases” with evenly arranged cuts on bottoms; they had globular bodies with deep bellies and short necks (Fig. 6.22). In the early period of the Liangzhu culture, pots with two loop handles had short annular bases and slightly flat bellies, and their necks started to become longer. In the middle period, these pots had taller annular bases, flatter bellies and longer necks. In the late period, their annular bases were tall; their bellies were flat; and their necks were long (Figs. 6.23, 6.24, 6.25, 6.26 and 6.27). Almost all the pots with two loop handles had a raised ridge on their bellies in this period (Fig. 6.28). It is noteworthy that ding, dou and pots with two loop handles finely engraved with intricate patterns simultaneously appeared in the late period of the Liangzhu culture. They have some characteristics in common: They all have black shinny Fig. 6.22 A pot with two loop handles from M5 of the Dazemiao site

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Fig. 6.23 A pot with two loop handles from M82 of the Xindili site

Fig. 6.24 A pot with two loop handles from M72 of the Xindili site

surfaces and regular shapes and are all elaborately crafted. In terms of shape, the legs of these ding are decorated with pairs of curves and round holes; this dou has tall trumpet-shaped stems; and these pots with two loop handles have flat bellies with long necks. The patterns on them are very similar as well—they mainly have birdhead serpentine pattern, supplemented with flying bird pattern, and some of them were entirely engraved with patterns (Figs. 6.29, 6.30 and 6.31). This is because these

6.3 Pots with Two Loop Handles Fig. 6.25 A pot with two loop handles from M42 of the Xindili site

Fig. 6.26 A pot with two loop handles from M66 of the Xindili site

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Fig. 6.27 A pot with two loop handles from M73 of the Xindili site

Fig. 6.28 A pot with two loop handles from M15 of the Xindili site

three types of pottery artifacts fell into the category of ritual vessels in the late period of the Liangzhu culture, and top-notch products in these three types were used as ritual vessels. With other types such as wide-handled cups and yi also used as ritual vessels, restrained and exquisite Liangzhu pottery became resplendent during this period.

6.3 Pots with Two Loop Handles Fig. 6.29 An engraved ding from M65 of the Fuquanshan site

Fig. 6.30 An engraved pot with two loop handles from M74 of the Fuquanshan site

171

172 Fig. 6.31 An engraved dou from M101 of the Fuquanshan site

6 Evolution of Pottery

Appendix: References and Sources of Some Figures (Archaeological Reports and Catalogues)

Archaeology 10. (2001). Zhejiang Edition. 《考古》 [ 2001年第10期 (浙江专辑)]. Archaeology 10. (2002). Shanghai Edition. 《考古》 [ 2002年第10期 (上海专辑)]. Archaeology 10. (2015). [上海博物馆:《上海福泉山遗址吴家场墓地2010年发掘简报》 ,《考古 》 , 2015年第10期]. Archaeological Team of Longqiuzhuang Site. (1999). Longqiuzhuang-report on excavating the Neolithic site in the Jianghuai Eastern Part. Beijing: Science Press. [龙虬庄遗址考古队:《龙虬 庄——江淮东部新石器时代遗址发掘报告》 , 科学出版社, 1999年]. Binghuo, Z., & Liangzhu Museum. (2015). Engraved symbols of Liangzhu culture. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House. [张炳火, 良渚博物院:《良渚文化刻画符号》 , 上海人民 出版社, 2015年]. Gongling, Q., Jieyu, J., Jinlong, D., & Guoliang, W. (1990). The first and second excavation report of the Neolithic Village sites in WujiangLongnan of Jiangsu Province. Cultural Relics, 7. [钱公 麟, 姜节余, 丁金龙, 吴国良:《江苏吴江龙南新石器时代村落遗址第一、二次发掘简报》 ,《 文物》 , 1990年第7期]. Haiyan Museum. (2012). Treasures in Haiyan: A selected collection of cultural relics in Haiyan Museum. Beijing: Cultural Relics Publishing House. [海盐县博物馆:《盐邑瑰宝——海盐县博 物馆馆藏文物精选》 , 文物出版社, 2012年]. Huping, X. (1996). Collected essays in commemoration of 60th anniversary of the discovery of Liang Zhu culture (1936–1996). Haikou: Hainan International News Publishing Center. [徐湖 平:《东方文明之光——良渚文化发现60周年纪念文集 (1936–1996)》 , 海南国际新闻出版中 心, 1996年]. Jiaxing Municipal Bureau of Culture. (2005). Songze·Liangzhu culture in Jiaxing. Hangzhou: Zhejiang Photographic Press. [嘉兴市文化局:《崧泽·良渚文化在嘉兴》 , 浙江摄影出版社, 2005年]. Nanjing Museum. (2003). A report on excavation of Huating Neolithic cemetery. Beijing: Cultural Relics Publishing House. [南京博物院:《花厅——新石器时代墓地发掘报告》 , 文物出版社, 2003年]. Nanjing Museum. (2012). Zhao Ling Shan (1990–1995 annual report on the excavation). Beijing: Cultural Relics Publishing House. [南京博物院:《赵陵山——1990–1995年度发掘报告》 ,文 物出版社, 2012年]. Nanjing Museum, & Jiangyin Museum. (2009). Gaochengdun. Beijing: Cultural Relics Publishing House. [南京博物院, 江阴博物馆:《高城墩》 , 文物出版社, 2009年]. Nanjing Museum, Jiangsu Provincial Institute of Archaeology, & Xishan District Administration Commission of Cultural Heritage in Wuxi city. (2010). A report on excavation of Qiuchengdun Neolithic site in Northwestern Taihu Lake. Beijing: Science Press. [南京博物院, 江苏省考古 研究所、无锡市锡山区文物管理委员会:《邱承墩——太湖西北部新石器时代遗址发掘报 告》 , 科学出版社, 2010年]. © Zhejiang University Press 2020 Y. Zhao, Liangzhu Pottery, Liangzhu Civilization, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7146-6

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Appendix: References and Sources of Some Figures (Archaeological …

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