GuoàDashun (; born Novemberà1938) is a Chinese archaeologist known for his research on the Hongshan culture (c.à4700âÂÂ2900àBCE) of Northeast China. As director of the first largeâÂÂscale excavations at Niuheliang, he revealed a ritual landscape, including the soâÂÂcalled âÂÂGoddess Temple,â stone altars, and cairn burials, that reshaped understanding of early Chinese civilisation. GuoâÂÂs subsequent theories on animal totems, the origin of the Chinese dragon, and the independent development of a âÂÂLiaohe civilisationâ challenged the onceâÂÂdominant Central Plains paradigm and helped establish the multiâÂÂregional (å¤Âå Âä¸Âä½Â) model of Chinese origins.
Guo was born in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, in NovemberÃÂ 1938. He earned both his BA (1962) and MA (1965) in archaeology at Peking University, studying under Professor SuÃÂ Bingqi.
In 1968 Guo was assigned to the Liaoning Provincial Museum (later the Liaoning Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology). He served as ViceâÂÂDirector of the Liaoning Provincial Cultural Department (1983âÂÂ1994) and Director of the Institute until 1998, after which he was named Honorary Director. He is an Executive Director of the Archaeology Society of China and a professor at Peking UniversityâÂÂs China Archaeology Research Center.
Between 1983 and 1985 Guo led the discovery and excavation of Niuheliang, a 50àkm<sup>2</sup> hillâÂÂtop ceremonial complex in western Liaoning. Finds included a loamâÂÂbuilt âÂÂGoddess Templeâ lined with painted walls, a northâÂÂsouth ritual axis, jade âÂÂpigâÂÂdragons,â and lifeâÂÂsize clay figurines with jadeâÂÂinlaid eyes. Guo interpreted the triadic layout of altar, temple and cairns as evidence of an early theocratic chiefdom or âÂÂprotoâÂÂstate.âÂÂ
Guo also directed excavations at Xiaoheyan, Dongshanzui, Shipengshan and the pyramidal earthen platform of Zhuanshanzi, all of which reinforced the picture of a complex, ritualâÂÂfocused Hongshan society.
Guo argued that the richness of jade grave goods and the separation of ceremonial and residential zones show that Hongshan society had moved beyond simple tribal organisation to a stratified chiefdom.
Analysing animal imagery, Guo identified two principal zoomorphic types in Hongshan jadesâÂÂboar (narrow eyes, flat snout) and bear (round eyes, perked ears)âÂÂwhich he linked to a totemic belief system also visible on Xiaoheyan pottery. Tracing a continuous sequence from Chahai to Hongshan, he proposed that the Chinese dragon ultimately derived from these motifs.
In 1981 Guo and SunàShoudao advanced the thesis that the West Liao River basin constituted an independent cradle of Chinese civilisation contemporaneous with the Yellow River heartland, pushing ChinaâÂÂs civilisational timeline back to c.à5000àBP. Subsequent Hongshan discoveries and ChinaâÂÂs national âÂÂProject to Trace the Origins of Chinese Civilisationâ (2018) lent wide support to this view.
Building on the theories by SuàBingqi, Guo promoted a multiâÂÂregional model in which Hongshan (north), Liangzhu (southâÂÂeast) and other cultures each reached an âÂÂancientâÂÂstateâ level before converging into a unified Chinese civilisation. He likened the convergence to the joining of dragons and flowers (found in Yangshao painted pottery) in Chinese mythology.
GuoâÂÂs work shifted scholarly consensus away from a CentralâÂÂPlainsâÂÂcentric narrative and highlighted the ceremonial and symbolic dimensions of Neolithic China. Dubbed the âÂÂNo.à1 person of Hongshan cultureâ (红山æÂÂÃ¥ÂÂ第ä¸Â人), he is credited with demonstrating that regions north of the Great Wall played a role in the formation of Chinese civilisation.
Guo coâÂÂauthored the first EnglishâÂÂlanguage study of Niuheliang with British archaeologist Gina L. Barnes in 1996, contributed to the volume The Archaeology of Northeast China: Beyond the Great Wall in 1995, and lectured widely abroad, including at University College London in 2012.
Since retiring in 1998, Professor GuoàDashun has remained deeply engaged in Hongshan archaeology. He continues to advise ongoing excavations and research projects, led the push to nominate the Niuheliang site for UNESCOàWorld Heritage inscription, serves as an academic consultant on major museum exhibitions, and appears regularly in documentary features. In 2024 he delivered the keynote lecture at the 70thâÂÂanniversary Hongshan symposium, outlining a threeâÂÂstage schema of Chinese civilisation (Ancient KingdomàâÂÂàRegional StateàâÂÂàEmpire).