Let's take a look at the painting techniques of the Qingdun ancestors together！

Cinnabar and hematite pigments have been found in the cultural layer of the Qingdun site, and their colors are the same as those of the vermilion painted pottery pieces unearthed from the Sinicization layer and the lower cultural layer. It can be inferred that as early as the Qingdun period 6300-5000 years ago, our ancestors began using mineral pigments for painting.

Cinnabar and hematite pigments unearthed from Qingdun Site

Nanjing Museum Collection

Colored pottery shards unearthed from Qingdun Site

Nanjing Museum Collection

Shi Ming ":" Red, He Ye, the color of the sun. "Shuowen": "Red, the color of the south, from the great to the fire." During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Five Elements theory was prevalent, and "red" corresponded to the fire in the Five Elements, representing the south in the four directions and the summer in the four seasons. In the history of ancient Chinese culture, various colors were endowed with certain symbolic meanings, and the "red" in the five color system was even more sanctified.

The color vermilion was highly valued by early Chinese ancestors. Many prehistoric sites have found examples of using natural mineral pigments such as red. The people of Zhoukoudian in the Paleolithic era scattered hematite powder or ocher around the deceased. Residual ochre was detected in a bone fragment scratch at the Xuchang Man site in Lingjing, approximately 100000 years ago. Both hematite powder and ochre appear red.

Painted cinnabar human face decoration fragments

Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology

Lacquer bowls unearthed from Hemudu Site

Zhejiang Provincial Museum Collection

In addition, people began to recognize a new mineral pigment: cinnabar. At the Chengbeixi site, a pottery plate coated with cinnabar was discovered, and around the same period, a red lacquered bowl was also unearthed at the Hemudu site. During the Yangshao period, a large amount of red pigments were discovered. Not only used for painting on pottery, but also for funeral activities, often found on the head or upper body of the deceased, or mixed with cinnabar in fill soil. During the Liangzhu Culture period, civilization was highly prosperous, and red based pigments were widely used in various aspects of life. In the late period of the Liangzhu culture, cinnabar was applied to coffins or scattered on burial objects or bones during funeral activities, seemingly endowed with a special symbolic meaning. During the Liangzhu period, pottery making techniques also improved, and mineral pigments such as cinnabar and ochre often appeared on pottery, with rich patterns and exquisite production.

Liangzhu pottery circle foot fragments

Collection of Yujiashan Archaeological Museum

The prehistoric period was a critical stage in the transformation of mineral pigments, mainly red, from material use to ceremonial symbols. Red was widely used in various scenes and functions. From the colored pottery pieces unearthed from the middle and lower layers of the Qingdun site, it can be seen that there are not only red and brown colors mainly composed of cinnabar and hematite pigments, but also a small number of black and white colors. The patterns include white four leaf patterns, white stripes, and red wide stripe patterns painted around black dots. The style of the pattern is similar to the Yangshao Culture Temple Ditch type and the Nanjing Beiyinyangying painted pottery, reflecting the diverse cultural exchanges at the Qingdun site. The appearance of these painted pottery pieces indicates that primitive painting art had quietly sprouted during the Qingdun period.

Colored pottery shards unearthed from Qingdun Site