Check out the fascinating range of jade jewelry worn by women of the Hongshan culture in the Neolithic period (6000-5000 BC). Quaint cloud-shaped jade pendants, superbly-crafted miniscule dragon-head pendants, and three-in-one rings with minute animal heads at either end, are sure to inspire any modern designer.
Be fascinated by the quaint and curious forms money takes. Bronze currency from the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) comes in the shape of a spade or a chopper. Western Han (206 BC-AD 24) gold horse hooves, which were used as royal gifts or collectibles, have rings and characters carved into them. The first specimens of paper currency from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) measure 33.9 cm by 22 cm - the size of a tabloid newspaper.
Liaoning Museum also serves as a platform for the exchange of antiquities from around the world. The calligraphy collection has been shown across 10 European countries, besides Japan and South Korea, in the past 20 years. It also hosts exhibitions from museums from the rest of China, as well as England and Japan.
The salient feature of the exhibits, says the director, is its local character. The duck-shaped flagon, excavated from the northern Yan Fengsufei tomb at Beipiao, Liaoning, between 409 and 436, was in fact imported from Syria, indicating trade through the Silk Road.
A vast number of Liao Dynasty (916-1125) relics were excavated from tomb 7 at Yemaotai Faku, in Liaoning: a green glass dish with an inlaid silver buckle; a painted wooden backgammon set, the earliest of its kind known to exist; a crystal amber necklace; a small wooden house containing a Liao stone sarcophagus; a stone coffin with delicate curlicues carved on its sides.
These are the emblems of local pride.
By Chitralekha Basu (China Daily)
Editor: Li Cheng
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