Dragon artifacts celebrate a year of auspiciousness and vigor, Lin Qi reports.

A crescent jade, reputed to be "the top dragon of China", belonging to the Neolithic Hongshan Culture. (JIANG DONG / CHINA DAILY)

Of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs, the dragon (long in pinyin) is the only animal that doesn't exist in the real world. But despite its mythological status, the dragon is not purely imaginary, as it displays the physical features of a number of different animals.

Speculation about which creatures the dragon has borrowed from include the serpent, crocodile, fish, lizard, salamander, horse, ox, deer, tiger and silk worm.

In his thesis on Fuxi, the mythological emperor with a serpent's body, the renowned scholar Wen Yiduo, who died in 1946, wrote that the dragon is a synthesis of many different totem animals, a "composite" formed during the merging of various tribes, whose respective totems were combined. As the body of the dragon resembles a snake, Wen suggested that the creature was the emblem of the most powerful tribe — likely the family of Fuxi — that had absorbed other clans into its forces.

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The dragon is a symbol of distinction that unites and motivates Chinese living in different corners of the world. Images of it make repeated appearances in festivals and on ceremonial occasions. So, when it comes to celebrating the Year of the Dragon, it is not surprising that it appears even more frequently.

A pottery chiwen (center), a dragon-head creature in Chinese mythology, rests between wadang eave tiles from different dynasties, used as roof decorations. (LIN QI / CHINA DAILY)

From Neolithic jade objects and Shang Dynasty (c.16th-11th century BC) oracle bones, to ceramics, the Qing Dynasty (1368-1644) throne, and ink finger paintings, some 200 artifacts from the collection of National Museum of China are currently on display in A New Year Guarded by the Dragon.

The exhibition illustrates the wide spectrum of dragon images, a cultural symbol that embodies good wishes and which has been integrated into all aspects of life during the long course of Chinese history. It presents a panoramic view of the dragon as an often revisited motif and popular image in arts and crafts.

The show opens with a dark green jade crescent, reputed to be the top dragon in China, which was made by the Neolithic Hongshan Culture. It was found buried about 50 centimeters under the ground as people were planting trees in Chifeng in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region in 1971.Years later, it was added to the national museum's collection and since then, it has been displayed at various exhibitions.

Zhang Weiming, a deputy director of the National Museum of China, says that the piece "has a clearcut and smooth profile that renders it great strength and vigor", and that it shows a dragon image made some 6,000 years ago, which is similar to other jade dragons found at other Neolithic sites in southern China.

The dragon is about 28 centimeters long. According to Zhang, it was most likely used during sacrificial ceremonies and, given that it has a small hole in it, it might have been hung in the air attached to another object.

Details of Jiuge, a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) painting inspired by Chuci (Songs of Chu) on display at the National Museum of China. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Crescent dragons continued to be made until the Shang Dynasty, as the jade pieces of the same shape found in the tomb of Fu Hao, China's first female general and consort of King Wu Ding, in Anyang in Henan province, attest. The dragon varied as a decorative motif and pictographic character, an example of which can be found on one of the Shang oracle bones on display.

No more than 4 centimeters in length, the bone is inscribed with several characters including one believed to represent long, which looks like an "s "with a circle at each end facing in opposite directions. Researchers say the epigraph was possibly made to pray for rain, as in Chinese mythology and folk custom, dragons were viewed as the deities that regulate water.

Shang artifacts also show the tendency toward dragon patterns becoming increasingly elaborate, paired with other elements, such as clouds, flowers and water. Dragons were often depicted crawling, curling and surrounded by circling patterns, and sometimes with a head on both ends, or two or more dragons together.

Dragon shadow puppets also on display at A New Year Guarded by the Dragon, an ongoing exhibition at the museum. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Over time, objects decorated with dragons, sometimes also functional, were created as objects of beauty. Examples on display include a bronze iron dated to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), which consists of two parts; a bowl to contain burning coal and a long handle, the end of which is a dragon's head. It is believed to have been used as an instrument of torture during the Shang Dynasty, and was later used to iron cloth during the Han Dynasty.

Some other objects at the exhibition witness the exchange and fusion between different ethnic groups. One vivid example is a green ceramic flask from the Liao Dynasty (916-1125) that shows two circling dragons flying above clouds.

The earthenware flask was styled after the leather bags commonly used by the nomads known as the Khitan, who founded the Liao Dynasty. The Khitan learned ceramic techniques from the Han during the 10th century, and made the leather bag-shaped flasks to store water, milk and other liquids. The style is also known as a saddle pot, or a chicken crest pot, after the unique shape of its mouth.

The flask has two holes in its top to put a string through, making it convenient to carry on horseback.

Two Song Dynasty (960-1279) stone tablets with dragon (left) and tiger reliefs on show. (JIANG DONG / CHINA DAILY)

Later, as the Khitan shifted from the nomadic to the settled life, the holes were replaced by a hooked handle and the flask bottoms were flattened so that they could stand upright, but the leather bag shape was retained not only because it looked special, but also out of nostalgia for the carefree nomadic life.

According to Zhuge Yingliang, the exhibition's curator, visitors will see the evolution of the dragon over the long course of history. For example, depictions of it were bold and simple in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and before, and later became more refined.

"The exhibition also shows the role of the dragon to different social groups. It symbolized imperial authority and also embodied the auspicious wishes of ordinary people," she says.

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The show ends with a section of folk handicraft dragons, including shadow puppets, toys and embroidered pieces that were collected across the country by the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

"Ultimately, the dragon has become a collective embodiment of prosperity and peace, union and harmony," Zhuge says.

Contact the writer at linqi@chinadaily.com.cn