Wang Renxiang: How to Look at Faith and Chinese Civilisation through Symbols?
An exclusive interview with Wang Renxiang, Archaeologist and Research Fellow of the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
The significance of symbols to civilisation cannot be underestimated, and many important qualities of civilisation are embodied or contained in prehistoric symbols. As the American scholar John Dewey stated in Reconstruction in Philosophy, "Human beings are distinguished from the lower animals by the preservation of their previous experience......Thus, unlike wild animals, which live in a world of mere real things, human beings live in a world of symbols and signs."
The gold leaf design of the Golden Sun Bird (four birds orbiting the Sun), which expresses the spirit of "the pursuit of light, unity and progress, and harmony and inclusiveness", was designated as the Chinese Cultural Heritage Symbol seventeen years ago. What are other symbols like these? How do these symbols represent the 'qualities' of civilisation? In this regard, Wang Renxiang, a renowned archaeologist and research fellow at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, talked about China's prehistoric symbolic era and the "open" and "inclusive" qualities it embodied in an exclusive interview with East Meets West of the China News Service.
The summary of the interview is as follows:
CNS: It is generally believed that the most direct starting point in the history of Chinese civilisation was the emergence of mature writing systems. In your recent book Writing and Lecturing, you have proposed a new concept of the "Era of Symbols", what are the specific implications of this?
Wang Renxiang: The emergence of symbols in prehistoric China is not a discovery, nor a new definition. But the era of prehistoric symbols is a new concept.
Prehistoric symbols have received much attention from scholars, but most of them have only examined whether they are 'writing systems' or how far away they are from 'writing systems'. Many aspects of the nature of symbols have not yet been clearly identified, and it has not been realised that they have a greater significance than writing systems.
Modern society is full of symbols of all kinds that make the transmission of information so rapid that human behaviour and thoughts are obviously benefited. In an information society, it is impossible to imagine how 'difficult' it would be without the involvement of symbols.
But symbols do not belong exclusively to modern society; they are inherent in human beings. Of course, the earlier the age, the simpler and more straightforward the symbolic systems. Symbols are created by humans, they are the product of our minds, and they are the body of knowledge that has always been with us. There was an exclusive era of prehistoric symbols, and symbols were born at this time.
The emergence of writing is generally regarded as an important sign of the age of civilisation. In the era of prehistoric symbols, symbols were not writing systems, but had a quasi-writing-system meaning and even played a more critical role than writing systems. Whereas writing systems had forms, sounds, and meanings, symbols had forms, names, and meanings, i.e. conventional names with no definite pronunciations. Symbols in prehistoric times had more symbolic meanings and were not used to record languages.
The emergence of writing systems and the formation of civilisation is linked to symbols. The era of symbols was the gestation stage of the era of civilisation. When the era of civilisation arrived, symbols did not die out, but flourished even more.
In fact, in the era of prehistoric symbols, symbols had already developed to maturity or had surpassed the meaning of writing systems. It is possible to look forward to a change in the definition of the era of civilisation and of the standards of writing systems, and to a significant extension of the history of civilisation.
One of the representative artefacts of the Hongshan Culture of the Neolithic period in China is the Jade Pig-dragon from Liaoning, known as the "First Chinese Dragon".
Photo by Zhao Ying, China News Service.
CNS: Any symbol has a symbolic meaning, and how were the symbols of the symbolic era distilled? What were the main popular symbols in early China?
Wang Renxiang: By symbols of the symbolic era, I do not mean all symbols, but those that are highly recognisable and popular over time, and those sporadic painted symbols on pottery are not counted.
The distillation of symbols, which is the key to their creation, is the result of figurative thinking. But figurative thinking is not simply the reproduction of images of things, but the processing of new images through imagination and association, i.e. symbols that can be perceived as graphics, images, diagrams, and so on. In this process, abstract thinking and figurative thinking need to be skilfully combined "to get the idea and forget the image" to complete the creation of symbols.
For example, the fish motifs on painted pottery of the Yangshao culture were mostly formed through the deconstruction of ornamentation. After the full fish pattern had evolved from a typical fish pattern to a simplified one, a balanced and symmetrical rhombus pattern was created, which belongs to a well-structured straight-sided ornamental system. The decomposition of the deformed fish lip has resulted in the creation of the xiyin and petal motifs, which are the two main curvilinear compositional systems of the Miaodigou culture pottery.
The fish motif on painted pottery of the Yangshao culture.
Photo by Cheng Hao, China News Service
A diagram of the evolution of the fish motif of the Yangshao culture.
Photo by the interviewee. Banpo Culture (Dadiwan, Qin'an County), Miaodigou Culture (Dadiwan, Qin'an County Yuanzitou, Long County)
Fish motifs are intangible, and fish symbols have no fish. In this way, following the rule of artistic development, many of the motifs of painted pottery were transformed through simplification, from 'the form and image' to 'the formless and imageless', and finally presented as geometric symbols.
The Yangshao culture pottery also has a 'large bird motif system', which also has completed the geometric symbolisation of bird motifs through simplification and deconstruction, and conceals the realistic bird form.
Birds and fish, a pair of constant artistic motifs, feature prominently on the pottery. Water and fish, the sun and the bird, are also symbols of yin and yang, water and fire, in later Chinese culture.
The same is true of the white pottery motifs of the much earlier southern Gaomiao culture, where a large number of motifs are simply a few patterns referring to subjects of worship.
A huge number of white pottery motifs show a large mouth, two pairs of large teeth, and many patterns associated with bird forms. The wings of flying birds with divine faces that have tusks can be seen on some motifs. These birds and their wings represent the mythical golden crow. Between the wings is a sun figure, a golden crow carrying the sun in flight. The discovery of white pottery from the Gaomiao culture has convinced us that the myth of the golden crow was formed 8,000 years ago.
The divine face with tusks on the pottery of the Gaomiao culture should be the soul of the sun, the recognised symbol of the sun at that time. The Gaomiao people depicted the glorious sun as a mouth with tusks. This divine face with tusks flew with the bird or grew a pair of wings of its own to fly. With the tusks inside the sun and the tusks on the golden crow, one can imagine the omnipresence of the divine face with tusks in Gaomiao culture, where no tool was without tusks.
A schematic diagram of the tush types of Gaomiao Culture.
Photo by the interviewee.
It is difficult to find a direct link between the sun and the tusk, but it seems not difficult to understand the distillation of daylight into the shape of a tusk, out of association with light.
Octagonal star figures have also been found on white pottery, either full octagonal stars or half octagonal stars. The octagonal stars are found in many prehistoric cultures, which were painted, engraved, and carved in jade, widely distributed and long-lasting. The octagonal star is a significant symbol and also a symbol of the sun.
The octagonal motifs on a pottery basin of the Dawenkou culture.
Photo by the interviewee.
The gold leaf of 'four birds orbiting the sun' from the ancient Shu period, excavated in Jinsha Village, Chengdu, is also associated with the sun. The design shows four bird figures in flight, with their heads and tails joined together in a circle. The sun moves from east to west in the sky, and where is the impetus? The ancients naturally thought of birds, and in their vision, only birds could soar through the air. So they imagined that the sun must be carried across the sky by birds that could fly, and that the sun must be assisted by divine birds, which are the golden crows.
The gold leaf of "four birds orbiting the sun".
Photo by Zheng Shaochun, China News Service
CNS: How did the popular symbols of early China spread? And how did they reflect inclusiveness and openness?
Wang Renxiang: Human beings understood the universe and nature, processed the images and information subjectively, and wrote down and depicted them in a specific form, creating the original symbols. Such symbols are then modified in subsequent communications and eventually passed on to the world in their complete form.
Semiotics is the study not only of human culture, but also of human cognitive and psychic activity. Those original symbols were associated with beliefs, and beliefs were the driving force behind the transmission of symbols. Faith gave symbols their soul and life, as well as the attributes of inclusiveness and openness. Faith is the only path to order for a chaotic society, while symbols are powerfully evocative signs processed by the brain, and their diversity and wide dissemination are the embodiment of inclusiveness and openness in Chinese civilisation.
The American semiotician Charles Sanders Peirce had a famous saying that "a symbol is only a symbol if it is understood to be a symbol", the idea being that symbols must be easy to understand and accept, and acceptance is recognition, and recognition is the only way to spread.
According to Peirce, symbols can be divided into three types: icons, indexes, and symbols. Among them, the symbols are those that are not intrinsically linked to the subjects, but are established by usage. The divine face with tusks on the white pottery falls into this category. The tusk is not explicitly associated with the sun, but it has spread widely and is found on white pottery, painted pottery, carved jade, and engraved stone from south to north.
The divine faces depicted on Gaomiao pottery are complete in composition and fixed in form, most having been rather simplified, leaving only a mouth showing two pairs of upper and lower tusks.
The painted pottery of the Yangshao culture also depicts a divine face with tusks, which is a very vivid image of a human face. The jade faces of the Liangzhu culture are generally carved with tusks, a pair of upper and lower ones, and generally beast faces. Long, sharp tusks characterise the Shijiahe culture jade faces, a pair on each upper and lower side, and the faces are almost always in the form of human faces.
A jade cong of Liangzhu and the ornamentation of a divine face with tusks.
Photo by Du Yang, China News Service
The embossing on white pottery, carving in jade, and depicting on painted pottery, these three waves of art left similar divine forms, which are no longer just a continuation on an artistic level, but identification of belief systems.
Looking at the prehistoric symbols of the divine faces with tusks, we can draw several impressions: they date from around 8,000-4,000 years ago and were widespread in the north and south; the faces with tusks are basically similar in composition, with a pair of upper and lower tusks, the upper tusks inward and the lower tusks outward, which is the same style. In this way, it appears that the divinity with tusks was acknowledged on a large scale and over a long period in prehistory, and its link with worship and belief can be confirmed, reflecting a spirit of openness and inclusiveness.
The personification of animals and plants was a regular way of making gods in prehistory. When an animal image was put on a human face, it took on a divine personality. The prehistoric divine faces with tusks were created by adding animal tusks to a human face. As a symbol of faith, the tusked divine face, along with the aforementioned octagonal star motif, able to spread across cultures over a long period of time, has reflected the openness and inclusiveness of Chinese culture.
Also noteworthy is the fish symbol on the pottery of the Shuangdun culture in Anhui, which consists of two simple curved lines crossing to represent the outline of a fish. Such symbols also appear on Yangshao pottery from central and western Henan, and it is thanks to openness and inclusiveness that they have survived for millennia.
An atlas of fish motifs from the Shungdun culture.
Photo by the interviewee.
Fish motifs on pottery of the Miaodigou culture.
Photo by the interviewee
Symbols convey human ideas, beliefs, and art in the process of communication. The borrowing and assimilation that occurs during the transmission of symbols is a reflection of cultural openness and inclusiveness.
Civilisation and prehistory are the two major periods of human history. Although symbols are also widely used in civilised times, their roles and significance differ markedly from those in prehistory. The preparation of a pluralistic and integrated culture, based on openness and inclusiveness, perhaps begins with the identification of symbols. From symbolic identification, one can see the spread of beliefs and the development of artistic thinking.
CNS: What other paths do you think are available to explore the origins of Chinese civilisation?
Wang Renxiang: Archaeological discoveries have taught us that there was an exclusive era of symbols in prehistory, and that before writing systems appeared, symbols had begun to dominate some specific regions of the population. Symbols influenced the way people thought and behaved, and allowed people to understand each other, to uphold openness and inclusiveness, and to achieve mutual identification.
Early symbols were more in the nature of beliefs, open and inclusive, and it was thanks to this that they attracted more and more attention in their dissemination, like a snowball gathering as it goes.
Early human beliefs were reflected in the knowledge of the universe and all things. Before the advent of writing systems, pictorial symbols had become an essential means of expression of faith. Prehistoric symbols were not yet writing systems, but they recorded the thinking of the human mind.
Prehistoric symbols were generally geometric shapes distilled from the connotations of beliefs, with an emphasis on symbolism. The square and circle symbols, centred on the idea of yin and yang, and the tusk and golden crow symbols, centred on sun worship, recount the history with which the ancient beliefs were identified, the very roots of Chinese culture. Decoding the meaning of these symbols helps to understand the essence of Chinese culture and where its roots lie.
Since the era of prehistoric symbols, Chinese culture has been a vast exchange and convergence of time and space, gradually forming a unique cultural integration. Chinese civilisation has developed an explanatory model in which the path of thought and spirituality has been absent. By noticing the ancient symbols, those associated with faith and those flags that guide the direction of thinking, more discoveries are sure to be made.
The profile of the interviewee:
Wang Renxiang is an archaeologist and cultural scholar, and a research fellow at the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He is a professor at the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He has been appointed as a distinguished professor at Nanjing Normal University and Capital Normal University and a distinguished research fellow at the School of Humanities of Shanghai Jiaotong University. He has authored and edited more than 100 books, including The Wave of Art in Prehistoric China, An Anthology of Chinese Prehistoric Archaeology, Imagery of Half Window, The Mortal World and the Divine World, The Tomb of the Tibetan King, The Beginning of Universe, Diet and Chinese Culture, A Taste of the Past, Self-Binding: Ancient Belt Hooks and Buckles, The Square and the Circle as One: A Study of the Jade Cong, The Great Yangshao, and The Marquis of Haihun of the Southern Vassal State. In recent years, he has focused on the study of the connotations of faith in early Chinese art, and related works will be published soon.
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