Date：2025-06-26 - 2025-10-08
Location：Shanghai Museum East, Bright Dairy & Food Exhibition Gallery 1

Some six thousand years ago, as the first light of civilization illuminated the land of China, an ancient people worshipped the heavens and earth with piety and carved jade with reverence in the Liao River basin. Amidst the continuous collision and integration of cultures, they created the Hongshan model, distinct from the civilizations found in the basins of the Yellow and Yangtze rivers.

The Hongshan Culture, a brilliant pearl of the Neolithic Age in northern China, originated around 6,500 years ago and reached the ancient state phase around 5,800 years ago. Its advanced sacrificial and ritual system reflects the path and characteristics of the origin of Chinese civilization, serving as the source of Chinese rites and ceremonies. The coiled jade dragons established the spiritual core of "dragon veneration and jade appreciation", tracing the roots of the Chinese nation's self-consciousness as "descendants of the dragon". The famous material symbols of Hongshan, such as "altars, temples, and burial mounds" and "dragon- and phoenix-shaped jade artifacts", expanded and extended the culture's influence from north to south and from east to west. With a wisdom of coexistence with nature and an open attitude towards communication, they facilitated exchanges and adoptions among regional cultures, forming a unique cultural memory in the history of the Chinese nation – all beyond our imagination.

Under the vast firmament, China stands as a great and gloriousnation. As the fourth in the Shanghai Museum's "The Essence of China" series of archaeological exhibitions, "Legends of Dragon: The Ancient Civilization of Hongshan Culture" interprets the Hongshan Culture's unique path of developing a civilization, characterized by unified beliefs and the initial formation of rites and ceremonies. Through the most important achievements and latest discoveries of a century of Hongshan archaeology, the show provides solid evidence for the over 5,000-year history of Chinese civilization and eloquently answers the ultimate question: What is the essence of China?

The dragon was born by the Liao River, the sun rises behind the Red Mountain, and the dawn shines over China!

C-shaped Jade Dragon

Jade Dragon in the Shape of Jue (slit ring)

Stone Dragon in the Shape of Jue (slit ring)

Cylindrical Painted Pottery Jar

Statue of a Wizard

Jade Soft-shelled Turtles

Interconnected Triple Jade Bi (disc)

Jade Silkworm