Chinese dragons might originate from boars besides horses, cattle: archeologists

After studying the prehistoric Hongshan relics in Chifeng City in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, archeologists now say Chinese dragon heads may have been inspired by boars in addition to horses and cattle.

More than 80 leading experts from China and abroad convened in Chifeng City to exchange the latest information on Hongshan, a relics site dating from 6,500 BC to 5,000 BC. The site, whose name means "red mountain," was discovered in 1935.

Traditional Chinese dragon worship was developed by primitive people who struggled to survive by fishing and hunting. They thus appreciated and revered important food resources such as pigs, deer, birds and snakes, said Tian Guanglin, an archeologist with the Liaoning Normal University.

The dragon image coalesced into animal-head and snake-body in the Hongshan cultural period and remained unchanged until the Han Dynasty, nearly 4,000 years later. Dragon images from Hongshan were the earliest standard image of dragons discovered in China, said Tian.

The largest and most vivid discovery is a jade, pig-head-dragon about 26 centimeters long and bent like the letter "C." It had a pig head, snake body, tight-lipped snout, bulging eyes and a hole dug at the back, said Liu Guoxiang, an archeologist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

A lot of pig bones were found buried with the deceased at Hongshan sites, indicating pig had already been a very important animal at that time and might have symbolized prosperity, said Sarah M. Nelson, an archeologist with the University of Denver in the United States.

Academics continue to discuss various theories of dragon origins. Some believe the dragon body originated from lizards, crocodiles or snakes, while the head originated from horses or cattle. The pig-head-dragon was discovered exclusively in the Hongshan area, stretching from the southeastern Inner Mongolia to western Liaoning Province in northeastern China.

Chinese dragon worship in the prehistoric age could be divided into three systems, the pig-head-dragon in northern China, the snake-head-human-body-dragon in central China and the crocodile-head-dragon in eastern China.

The pig-head-dragon from Hongshan proved for the first time with archeological evidences that Chinese dragons originated in primitive societies. It was also the most primitive dragon worship system ever discovered.

The six-day international conference, jointly held by CASS, the municipal government of Chifeng and Chifeng College, will end on Friday.