(Photo from the Nanjing Museum)

One of the 18 treasures at the Nanjing Museum, the jade ornament featuring a bird gazing into the distance, a small beast crawling upward, and a crouching figure with his hands raised is considered fine piece of early Liangzhu Culture from 5,300 to 4,000 years ago in the basin of Qiantang River and Taihu Lake.

Measuring 5.08 cm long, 2.95 cm wide, and 0.32-0.48 cm thick, the carved object was unearthed in 1991 in Tomb No. 77 at the ruins of Zhaoling Hill in Kunshan, Suzhou City.

Covering an area of 10,000 square meters, the archaeological site is about 9 meters higher than the surrounding area encircled by river channels. More than 160 pieces of relics made of jade, stone, pottery, and ivory have been unearthed here.

Zuo Jun, researcher with the Ancient Art Research Institute at the Nanjing Museum, suggested that the ornament's design implies that the person with a feather crown is closely observing the bird's movements in order to gather information about the season, the weather, and other changes in nature.

According to Zuo, the sun was considered the god of the sky in ancient times and the flying birds were believed to be the sun's spirit and symbol of the god. Beasts of the field were seen as the closest deities to the earth and also connected with the people. Some beasts were domesticated to become either friends of humans or a source of food for humans.

In his view, the figure is a person with high status, and the rare body position may indicate something special, perhaps a ritual.

Some scholars believe that the jade object expresses the worship of the sun or bird. "It shows an idea of the unity of heaven, the earth and humans. As such kind of design is found for the first time in the early Liangzhu Culture, it shows the dawn of civilization and the important role of the Yangtze River basin in the formation of Chinese civilization," Zuo said.