Niuheliang Park Reveals Ancient Hongshan Civilization

Deep in the Nuluerhu Mountain valley of northeastern China’s Liaoning Province lies a site that is rewriting the story of Chinese civilization. The Niuheliang National Archaeological Site Park, built around the Niuheliang archaeological site at the border of Lingyuan City and Jianping County in Chaoyang City, showcases the remarkable achievements of the Neolithic Hongshan (Red Mountain) civilization that flourished more than 5,000 years ago.

The site, discovered in 1981 and under excavation since 1983, was listed as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit in 1988. It contains the remains of altars, a Goddess Temple, and stone mound tombs, along with a wealth of stone tools, pottery, and precious jade artifacts featuring motifs of dragons, phoenixes, humans, and various animals, as Xinhua News reported in a photo essay published August 5.

A Civilization Confirmed

In late 2023, the National Cultural Heritage Administration released the latest results of the Chinese Civilization Origins Exploration Project, confirming Niuheliang as a typical representative of the first phase of the ancient state era, dating to approximately 5,800-5,200 years ago. This finding pushed the timeline of Chinese civilization origins back by 500-600 years and solidified the site’s place in understanding early Chinese state formation.

The site’s significance extends beyond its age. According to Guangming Daily, the Niuheliang site contains the earliest known and most complete collection of altars, temples, and tombs in China, with a rigorous layout that demonstrates advanced social organization. The Goddess Temple, the earliest known ancestral worship remains in the country, and the three-tiered circular altar used for heaven worship, with concentric circles corresponding to the winter solstice, spring/autumn equinox, and summer solstice, showcase the Hongshan people’s sophisticated understanding of astronomy and ritual.

New Discoveries in 2026

A new season of archaeological work began at the site in August 2026, and researchers have already made significant finds. As reported by the China Industry Economic Information Network, archaeologists discovered seven new red-burned earth pits on the large platform foundation at the first location, arranged in a pattern highly similar to the Big Dipper constellation.

“In the confirmed area of Platform 7, only 7 red-burned earth pits were found, so we suspect that the Hongshan people placed a model of their understanding of the universe on the northern part of Platform 7,” said Jia Xiaobing, research fellow at the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and field archaeology project leader at Niuheliang. “The handle of the Big Dipper points in different directions in different seasons, reflecting that Hongshan society had reached a certain height in astronomical knowledge and time management at the stage of civilization.”

Jia emphasized the site’s broader significance: “The core concepts of ‘reverence for heaven, ritual for earth, and ancestral worship’ can all be traced to their earliest origins at Niuheliang. It is the earliest sample of the origin stage of Chinese civilization, and evidence of the continuity of China’s 5,000-year ritual system.”

The ‘Ritual State’ Origin

In June 2025, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Liaoning Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau jointly released findings confirming that the concept of the “ritual state” (礼仪之邦) originated at Niuheliang 5,000 years ago. The Observer Network reported that research identified evidence of ritual practices including burning offerings and libation ceremonies documented in ancient texts as ceremonies for heaven worship and ancestor worship.

The site’s 13th location, re-excavated starting in July 2025, revealed a massive circular earth-and-stone structure standing 7.5 meters tall with a building area of 10,000 square meters. Bai Baoyu, director of the Liaoning Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, noted that “this scale exceeds the Circular Mound of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. Whether in the Hongshan period or later eras, it was a grand building.”

A Living Heritage Park

The Niuheliang Site Museum reopened on August 3, 2024, after nearly half a year of renovation, with nearly 3,500 square meters of exhibition space across seven themed units, as CCTV News documented. The park, approved as a National Archaeological Site Park in 2013, has become a major destination for cultural education, attracting visitors from across China.

Efforts are also underway to advance the site toward UNESCO World Heritage status. As Liaoning Daily reported in March 2026, systematic grid-based archaeological surveys covering 31.076 square kilometers have been completed, with researchers conducting detailed examinations of the approximately 50-square-kilometer protected area.

What’s Next

As the 2026 excavation season continues, researchers are working to piece together the “historical puzzle” of Hongshan society through multidisciplinary collaboration. A comprehensive database of findings, including jade artifacts, pottery, and human remains, is being developed and will be made available to researchers worldwide.

For visitors and scholars alike, Niuheliang offers a window into a civilization that laid the foundations for Chinese ritual culture and social organization. As Bai Baoyu put it, within the 50-square-kilometer Niuheliang area, the density of sites shows that “5,000 years ago, this was an irreplaceable center.” The ongoing discoveries at Niuheliang continue to illuminate the origins of Chinese civilization and its enduring legacy.