Producers: Taras Kutsenko (Terry Heimat Studios LLC, Florida) & Alex Sino (Pier5 LTD, New York)
Liangzhu culture, one of the archaeological cultures of the Neolithic period in China between 5,300 and 4,000 years ago, which appeared and developed around the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in the area around the Taihu Lake, with a total of more than 500 sites found, with Moguoshan near the Liangzhu ruins as the central area. The most important feature of the Liangzhu culture is the use and burial of jade, including the large jade cong, jade bik, and jade battle-axe. Jade cong was the most crafted and authoritative jade artifact, often engraved with delicate animal-face motifs, a picture of the gods, while the jade battle-axe was a symbol of military and royal power. The political body of Liangzhu culture was a sheikhdom, and some scholars believe that the prototype of the state had already appeared, which could mobilize a large number of laborers, formed alliances among the sheikhdoms, with strong theocratic coloring, constructed large-scale sacrificial places, city walls and flood-proof earth walls, and the status of members of the society was differentiated into aristocrats and ordinary commoners.
Liangzhu ancestors good use of stone plow farming, rice began to become the main source of food, and primitive writing. Liangzhu culture is regarded as an important cradle of China's prehistoric civilization, Liangzhu jade marking the arrival of the age of civilization, and close exchanges with the northern Longshan culture. Liangzhu culture ended with the disintegration of the sheikhdoms or states, the decline of agriculture, the loss of jade artifacts, followed by the Maqiao culture regressed back to the economic state of self-sufficiency, hunting and picking, and returned to a more decentralized tribal society.
The Liangzhu culture was a theocracy with strong religious overtones, and earthen shrines of various sizes were built in settlement centers. Most of them served both ritual and funerary functions, such as the religious altar with the highest features at Moguoshan and two funerary altars at Antishan and Yaoshan. A large version of a building foundation altar was found among the earthen platforms at the Moguoshan site, which may have been used for rituals, assemblies, or vows of unity. The unity of social groups was achieved through ritual actions, forming a prototype of a religious ritual state. The kong symbolized the legitimacy of religious authority, which itself varied in thickness and size, as well as the power it represented. Lin Xingef noted that the animal face on the kong represented the sun god or fire god, and that it was surrounded by an image of a ghostly sun. (A mirage of the sun refers to a halo formed by rays of light emitted from a small point on the outside of the sun.) The sun god was worshipped because in the region where rice was grown, the light and warmth of the sun was essential for the growth and harvest of rice. On the head of the animal face is a crown of feathers, which represents the wings of a bird and also symbolizes the sun's rays. If one inserted feathers or straw, symbolizing sunlight, into the holes of a jade conga, he gained the power of a god, and the holes of the conga were places where gods descended to stay and were used for sacrifices to the sun god or fire god and for sacrifices to the sky god with fire, and the altar at the Fuchuanshan site is several meters long and bears traces of fire. Li Xueqin, however, suggests that the animal face is a dragon.
The orchestra performs the melody, restored by Chinese experts, in a colorful arrangement by conductor Taras Kutsenko. Violin solo - Valery Moiseenko.