The Neolithic Chinese Hongshan culture attracts fascination and controversy in equal measure. It represents one of the highest volumes of diverse jade making with spectacular technical achievements and almost unparalleled variety. While researchers have explored Hongshan culture from different disciplinary perspectives, this research seeks to combine insights across archaeology, anthropology, geology, geochemistry, and history to make a new case for a design led analysis of Hongshan culture jade ‘products’ from a creative and production technology perspective. Examining Hongshan culture through a design lens creates new insights into the motivations for making jade artifacts, hints at the spiritual significance and socio-technological innovations and provokes the idea that Hongshan may be considered as a neolithic proto-industrial design society. Learning from Hongshan culture can provide new insights and inspirations to meet contemporary challenges and regenerative practices derived from this rich historical context.