Some scholars even suggest that the origins of the famous Shang ‘taotie’ motif may be the gargoyle-like, frog-eyed monster that decorates artefacts from Liangzhu, including the ‘cong’ – which is known as the ‘king of cong’, because of its impressive heft of 6.5kg (14.33lbs) – that I saw at Zhejiang Provincial Museum.

Earlier this year, the archaeological ruins at Liangzhu were designated a Unesco World Heritage site. Today, visitors can marvel at extraordinary artefacts from the city at the beautiful Liangzhu Museum, designed by British architect David Chipperfield. On display are many more jade grave goods, including ceremonial axe-heads, ornamental combs, and circular discs with a central hole, which look like oversized Polo mints and are known as ‘bi’. Located at the foot of Mount Tianmu, the principal settlement of Liangzhu was a fortified town encompassing a rectangular area of approximately 740 acres (299 hectares), protected by a system of moats and rammed-earth walls at least 65ft (19.8m) wide. Visitors could enter via one of eight water gates – suggesting that, in the words of archaeologists Colin Renfrew and Bin Liu, “this was a town of canals as much as of roads”.

A civic emblem?

The sophistication of the civilisation that flourished at Liangzhu from approximately 3300-2300 BC is evident not only in the precious finds from the town’s high-status cemetery, but also from a remarkable network of monumental earthen dams, amounting to an extensive system of hydraulic works, and carefully managed rice paddy fields, arranged across the surrounding area. These ensured a regular supply of food for the city’s inhabitants. Within the settlement, archaeologists discovered a massive pit of charred rice – “perhaps burnt in a granary located in the palace nearby and subsequently discarded,” say Renfrew and Liu.