The finless porpoise, also known as the "river pig" or "sea pig", is a living creature in the Yangtze River. It is covered in lead gray or gray white, with slightly curved corners of its mouth, as if wearing a smile, and is therefore also known as the "smiling angel in the Yangtze River". How long has this smile bloomed in the vast river of soup, and when did humans establish contact with this lovely elf? A collection from the Nanjing Museum helps answer these questions: at least 4000 years ago, the ancestors along the Yangtze River captured the smile of the finless porpoise and made exquisite handicrafts based on its image. Entering the Nanbo exhibition hall, the finless porpoise shaped pottery pot from the Neolithic period attracts visitors to stop and watch. This is a mud gray pottery pot, with a light gray color throughout, resembling the skin tone of a finless porpoise. It has a crown on its head, a pointed beak shaped mouth, and bright eyes that look ahead. Its body is obese, with an empty abdomen, a pair of small pectoral fins on the upper abdomen, and three small flat feet under the body to maintain stability. Researcher Wang Qizhi, Deputy Director of Nanjing Museum, introduced that this pottery pot was unearthed in 1960 at the Meiyan Neolithic site in Wujiang. At the Meiyan site, archaeologists discovered 122 pieces of stones, jade, bones, horns, clams, and pottery, and collected more than 4000 relics of various types. This pottery pot is a special artifact discovered at the Meiyan site. Through the analysis of the unearthed cultural relics at the Meiyan site, it can be confirmed that the site belongs to the Liangzhu culture and has a history of more than 4000 years. In the June 1963 issue of Archaeology magazine, an article titled "Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Work Team" was published titled "Jiangsu Wujiang Meiyan Neolithic Site", in which the pottery pot was referred to as a bird shaped pot. So, how did archaeologists later determine it as a finless porpoise shaped pottery pot? Wang Qizhi introduced that in the study of this Neolithic artwork, scholars found that although it has a pointed beak and a crown on its head, with some bird like features, it is more similar to a dolphin overall. Scholars from Nanbo consulted professors from the Department of Biology at Nanjing University, who also believed that it was more like a "dolphin". In the Neolithic Age, it was not uncommon for ancestors to shape animal shaped pottery according to their familiar animals, such as the turtle shaped pot and snail shaped pot of the Liangzhu culture, and the pig shaped pottery of the Dawenkou culture. More than 4000 years ago, the Meiyan Site was located near the mouth of the Yangtze River, which was an active area for finless porpoises. The water source here is abundant, the climate is mild, and the ancestors lived a life of fishing and hunting. Standing by the Yangtze River, they often see finless porpoises playing in the water, and are not unfamiliar with this gentle and docile animal. They created this lifelike and leisurely finless porpoise shaped artwork in the shape of a finless porpoise to express their attachment and love for the Yangtze River and nature. Experts also found that the tail of the finless porpoise shaped pottery pot is a water inlet, but the tail and body are on the same horizontal line, so the value of use is not high, more like a carefully crafted artwork. Some scholars speculate that this is likely a sacrifice used in sacrificial occasions, offered to ancestors or deities. Wang Qizhi said that the finless porpoise shaped pottery pot is also a highly skilled sculpture, with a simple style, exquisite craftsmanship, and a polished body that is very smooth. The pottery pot is 32.4 centimeters long and 11.7 centimeters high. Although it is much smaller than the real-life finless porpoise, it fits the proportions well overall. The molding technique is concise and refined, without excessive decoration, and is simple and unadorned. From a side view, the finless porpoise appears to be in a static state, with a cute and adorable appearance that is pleasing to the eye; From the front view, the finless porpoise keeps its eyes wide open and closely fixates on the target ahead, as if swimming rapidly, demonstrating a high degree of agility and strength. It is interesting that more than 4000 years ago, the "Meiyan people" added a crown on the top of a finless porpoise shaped pottery pot, which may have personified or deified the finless porpoise, reflecting their worship of superhuman power. In short, the finless porpoise shaped pottery pot is lifelike and its sculptural skills are extremely advanced. It is a rare physical example for studying the history of sculpture art in China, fully reflecting the development level of sculpture art in the late primitive society. Finless porpoises, mammals, cetaceans, and porpoises. Adult finless porpoises generally have a body length of 1.2-1.6 meters and a weight of 50-70 kilograms. At present, the finless porpoise is the only surviving cetacean in the Yangtze River, and is the flagship species of the Yangtze River system. It is considered a barometer of the vitality of the Yangtze River. Since the Neolithic Age, the Chinese living along the Yangtze River have been familiar with the finless porpoise. Cao Cao said in his book "Four Seasons Food System": "Fish, black in color, as big as a hundred catties of pig, yellow and fat, not edible. Several fish follow each other, floating and sinking one by one. One fish is commonly used. It leaves the Huai River and the five lakes." The "fish" mentioned in the article refers to the finless porpoise. In Guo Pu's "Jiang Fu" of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it is said that "the fish is the finless porpoise sea bream, and the uncle tuna king bream". This is the first time the term "finless porpoise" appeared in literature. In Duan Chengshi's "Youyang Zazu" of the Tang Dynasty, there is a detailed record of the finless porpoise. The Tang Dynasty poet Han Yu once wrote, "The finless porpoise sometimes plays, and the waves suddenly ripple," depicting its lively temperament and the characteristic of occasionally diving out of the water. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Lu You witnessed the finless porpoise at Sanshanji in Nanjing. He vividly recorded in his "Record of Entering Shu" that "dozens of finless porpoises appeared in the river, with colors ranging from black to yellow." There are countless records of finless porpoises in historical documents. However, just over 30 years ago, the finless porpoise family, which had lived carefree in the Yangtze River for generations, encountered a crisis. At that time, due to the destruction of the ecological environment and the intensification of pollution in the Yangtze River, the population of finless porpoises continued to decline. In the early 1990s, the population of finless porpoises was over 2700, but sharply decreased to about 1045 by 2012 and to about 1012 by 2017. If action is not taken in a timely manner, the finless porpoise may follow in the footsteps of the white dolphin and move towards functional extinction. Faced with the severe situation, starting from January 1, 2020, China has implemented a "ten-year fishing ban" in key water areas of the Yangtze River Basin, deepening the protection of the Yangtze River and helping it to recuperate. The water quality of the Yangtze River is improving day by day, and the decline in the number of finless porpoises has been curbed, with the population gradually recovering. According to reports, the population of Yangtze finless porpoises reached 1249 in 2022, an increase of 237 from 2017. According to the dynamic survey of biodiversity in the Nanjing Yangtze River Finless Porpoise Provincial Nature Reserve in 2024, researchers observed a total of 336 finless porpoises in the Nanjing area from autumn 2023 to summer 2024. Nowadays, more and more ordinary people are joining the pursuit of the "smiling angel" and protecting the Yangtze finless porpoise. If the ecology is good, then the finless porpoise will smile. With the improvement of the ecological environment, more and more finless porpoises will appear on the Yangtze River, "said Wu Jiamin, a Nanjing photographer who has been photographing finless porpoises for a long time. If Nanbo's finless porpoise shaped pottery pot represents the smile on the Yangtze River more than 4000 years ago, then this smile has lasted for more than 4000 years and will continue to bloom warmly on the Yangtze River thousands of miles away. (New Society)