The Hongshan Culture, located at the Niuheliang Site in Liaoning Province, is one of the major archaeological discoveries in the world since the 20th century. The Hongshan Goddess Statue, which once caused a sensation in the archaeological community at home and abroad, is a highly representative cultural relic in the Hongshan Culture, dating back about 5500 years. What is the Chinese civilization behind the Hongshan Goddess Statue? What is her connection to the ancient Chinese legend of N ü wa? What is the connection with Hongshan culture? Regarding this, Guo Ming, a researcher at Liaoning Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the leader of the archaeological excavation project at Niuheliang Site, recently gave an exclusive interview to interpret it. The interview summary is as follows: Reporter: When and where did the Hongshan Goddess Statue appear? What does it look like? Is she related to the ancient Chinese legend of N ü wa? Guo Ming: The colored sculpture of the goddess of the Hongshan Culture was unearthed at the Niuheliang Hongshan Culture "Goddess Temple" site at the border of Lingyuan County and Jianping County in Liaoning Province. In 1983, archaeologists discovered burnt clay like clay sculpture remains in a ravine on the northern slope of the Niuheliang site during a survey of surrounding relics during the excavation of the second site. In the winter of the same year, a relatively complete "human head portrait" was excavated from this semi subterranean house site mainly piled up with red clay. This portrait has been burned, but the degree of sintering is poor, and the interior is in the shape of red burnt soil blocks (particles). The surface is coated with fine mud and polished smooth, with residual hair accessory marks on the top of the head; The contour of the eye socket is clear, with blue gray talc as the eyeballs. The apple muscles are full, and the lower lip has fallen off. The remaining teeth decorated with clam shells on the inner side can be seen. There is a circular perforation in the left ear, indicating that an earring was originally worn. Based on the comprehensive analysis of the clay sculpture fragments of breasts, arms, and other parts unearthed together, it is confirmed that they are female figures. This is the earliest human figure with clear facial features excavated by the Chinese archaeological community, hence the name "Red Mountain Goddess". Archaeologist Su Bingqi referred to it as the "female ancestor of the Red Mountain people and the common ancestor of the Chinese nation". This clay sculpture of a goddess easily reminds people of the ancient myth of N ü wa kneading earth to create humans. Mythical legends are a collective memory of ancient society, and the details may not be accurate, nor can they correspond one-to-one with archaeological discoveries. In archaeological research, legends can provide us with a way of understanding ancient societies, but we will be very cautious about the correspondence between archaeological discoveries and the "characters" or their activities in mythological legends. At present, relying on such a single similar evidence is not sufficient to make a direct correlation between clay sculpture figures and "N ü wa". Reporter: What is the connection between the Hongshan Goddess Statue and the Hongshan Culture belief? Guo Ming: From current archaeological excavations, the Hongshan culture is not a single god or a simple "all things have spirits", but an ordered polytheistic belief. Each deity has a corresponding position and functions within this order system. Rather than believing in a certain deity, it is more of a belief in order and norms. According to archaeological discoveries, there are various remains of sacrificial activities in the Hongshan society. The differences in offerings and sacrificial methods indicate the differences in the objects of worship, indicating that people at that time did not believe in a single god. The worship activities for different objects coexist in the same area, and multiple gods coexist harmoniously in the Hongshan society without conflict. By setting levels and authorities for these deities, the people of Hongshan have created a complete system of divine ranks, allowing them to "perform their duties and secure their positions", and have established different ways of worship for them. Worshiping gods according to norms is essentially a belief in the order of the gods set by humans. The statue in the "Goddess Temple" is one of the many gods (objects of worship) in the Hongshan society. Archaeological discoveries of clay sculpture remains belong to at least six individuals of different sizes. The size of the statue is a symbol that distinguishes the level of the statue, and it is also the most intuitive manifestation of the belief in "divine order" in Hongshan society. Reporter: Currently, can the male statue be traced back to the "upper temple" corresponding to the "lower temple" at the Niuheliang site where the goddess statue appeared? Guo Ming: There are two areas in the first site of the Niuheliang site where clay sculpture human remains are concentrated. One of them is the "Goddess Temple", located in the low-lying area of the platform building complex at the first site of the Niuheliang site; Another area located on the north side of the first site has a higher terrain. Archaeologists have discovered clay sculpture figures and building components that are similar to the relics unearthed from the "Goddess Temple". However, there are slight differences in the volume and exquisite craftsmanship of the clay sculpture figures unearthed from the two locations, suggesting that there may be a larger "temple" similar in scale to the "Goddess Temple". According to the difference in terrain location, the "Goddess Temple" is called the "Lower Temple", while the area located higher in the terrain where a large amount of red clay is found is called the "Upper Temple". Due to the fact that the prediction of "Shangmiao" is based on existing archaeological discoveries, no clear remains of "Shangmiao" have been found, and an accurate answer to whether "Shangmiao" exists cannot be given yet. In the suspected area north of the first location in Niuheliang, remnants of human figures depicting female characteristics were also found. Even if "Shangmiao" really exists, its difference from "Xiamiao" should not be the gender of the deity worshipped. Male god images may be found in the Hongshan culture. Although the stone carved figures of Xinglongwa culture are mainly female, two stone carved figures that can distinguish between men and women were unearthed at the Nanwanzibei site, indicating that from earlier belief traditions, male and female statues may have existed simultaneously. The latest archaeological discoveries of the Hongshan Culture also confirm this point: two pottery figurines, one male and one female, were unearthed from the tombs at the Dongshantou site in Pingquan, Hebei Province, and a male jade figure was also unearthed from the M4 tomb at the 16th site of the Niuheliang site. Reporter: Before the appearance of the "Goddess Temple", many small female statues had already been unearthed in the Hongshan Culture. What are the differences between them and the Hongshan Goddess Statue? In the "Goddess Temple", there are also three times the size of a real person's nose and ears. Does this indicate the existence of larger female statues? What kind of civilization and ideology do these reflect for the ancestors of Hongshan? Guo Ming: The most obvious difference between the Hongshan Goddess Statue (a large female statue in the "Goddess Temple") and the previously excavated small female statues in the Hongshan culture, apart from their size, is their texture. The large statues of the "Goddess Temple" are all clay sculptures, while the small statues, including the half sized remains of statues unearthed from the Dongshanzui site, are all made of pottery. This may be mainly due to production process limitations - small and medium-sized statues can be fired in kilns, while large statues lack sufficiently large pottery kilns and have extremely high firing difficulty. In addition, the focus of their performance may also indicate differences in their social functions. Small female statues often emphasize the protruding abdomen, with damaged or unclear heads, and may still retain the witchcraft color of praying for fertility and abundance. It has a wide excavation range and can be found in ash pits and site strata, making it portable. This may be an individual sacrificial object or a magical prop, belonging to a widely spread folk belief. The large statues in the "Goddess Temple" place more emphasis on shaping facial features, and it is currently uncertain whether they also appear in the form of pregnant images. It only appears in Niuheliang, a specific ritual center of the Hongshan culture, and is a public object of worship, worshipped only in specific spaces and ceremonies. According to the three times larger nose and ear fragments unearthed from the "Goddess Temple", it can be determined that there were larger statues of gods at that time. The artistic level of Hongshan culture is extremely high, and the biomimetic objects we see in Hongshan culture can accurately reproduce the form of the imitated creatures and achieve proportional reproduction. The complete head of the Red Mountain Goddess, with its various structural parts designed in proportion to real people, therefore these oversized fragments must belong to larger female statues. The phenomenon of displaying the level and abilities of gods based on the size of their statues is also similar in other ancient civilizations around the world. For example, ancient Egypt distinguished gods, pharaohs, and ordinary people by carving the size of their figures. The Hongshan Goddess Statue and related discoveries provide us with a new perspective on understanding civilization. In addition to material remains such as cities, large houses, and artifacts, the civilization displayed at the institutional and spiritual levels also needs attention. The various sizes and distinct levels of deity statues in the Hongshan culture demonstrate that a standardized order had already been formed in society at that time, and the Hongshan civilization developed on the basis of this system and order. (Outlook on the New Era) Interviewee Profile: Guo Ming, female, holds a PhD in history and is a research curator at Liaoning Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. In recent years, her research has focused on the Hongshan Culture in the early stages of the origin of Chinese civilization. Secretary General of the "Archaeological China - Research on the Progress of Social Civilization in Hongshan" project of the National Cutural Heritage Administration, the project executor of the Niuheliang Site Research, a collaborative project of the fifth phase of the "Research on the Progress of Civilization in the Northern Great Wall Area" of the Chinese Civilization Exploration Project, the sub project leader of the major historical issues research project of the National Social Science Fund China Institute of History, the Niuheliang Site Excavation Data Processing and Research, and the executive leader of the Niuheliang Site Archaeological Excavation Project. Published 2 monographs and over 20 papers on the study of Hongshan Culture, providing prehistoric archaeological evidence for understanding the formation of prominent characteristics of Chinese civilization.