Hongshan jade dragon, Liangzhu deity figure

"The jade dragon of Hongshan culture marks another round of long-distance prehistoric jade diffusion in China, following the southward spread of northeast Asian jue rings." At the 2026 Conference on Hongshan Culture, Fang Xiangming, director and research fellow at the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, shared his research on the spread and evolution of the Hongshan jade dragon. He stated that the Hongshan jade dragon spread over 1,500 kilometers to the lower Yangtze region, eventually becoming part of the deity figure, the unified emblem of Liangzhu belief. Reaching 1,500 kilometers away to the Taihu Lake Basin, this transmission spread three-dimensional carving techniques and beliefs. Beyond borrowing artistic motifs and forms, it reflects a shared mythological belief. The Hongshan and Liangzhu cultures are the earliest and most systematic models in the heritage and innovation of Chinese jade culture, forming essential pillars of China's 5,000-year civilization.