Western Han Dynasty cracked flap silver box, Nanyue King Museum collection. This article is **all**people**overseas version taken by Du Jianpo.
The phoenix of the Yuan Dynasty wears a blue and white plate with a pattern, and the temple of Adbil in Iran is in possession. Photo by reporter Zou Yating.
Brilliant Persia - The Essence of Iranian Cultural Relics Exhibition". Photo by Du Jianpo.
From the 6th century BC to the 4th century BC, a bas-relief decorated with lions was excavated at King Saud University. Photo by Du Jianpo.
Qing Dynasty jade grape branch red floral pattern bonsai, the Palace Museum collection. Photo by Du Jianpo.
Achaemenid winged lion Jinlaitong, from the province of Hamadan in Iran. Photo by Du Jianpo.
At the beginning of 2024, the Palace Museum, together with the National Museum of Iran, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Crafts of Iran, the Royal Commission of AlUla of Saudi Arabia and other institutions, will launch the "Historical Encounters - Ancient Civilizations Exchange Exhibition between China and West Asia", "Brilliant Persia - The Essence of Iranian Cultural Relics" and "AlUla - Miracle Oasis of the Arabian Peninsula" in the Meridian Gate Exhibition Hall of the Palace Museum. The three exhibitions connect the important civilizations on the Silk Road with exquisite cultural relics, present the long and splendid history and culture of China and West Asia, and show the chapters of exchanges and mutual learning between different civilizations.
The Historical Encounter between China and West Asia.
China and West Asia, located at the eastern and western ends of the Asian continent, have had exchanges and interactions since prehistoric times. China and the ancient civilizations of West Asia have created the glory of the Silk Road and driven the common prosperity of the civilizations of the Eurasian continent.
Historical Encounters - Exchange Exhibition of Ancient Civilizations between China and West Asia" includes two units: "East and West" and "Roads Connected". The exhibits are based on the collection of the Palace Museum, bringing together the collections and materials of 10 domestic and foreign archaeological and cultural institutions, including Datong Museum, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, Dongguan Museum, Hepu County Museum, Famen Temple Museum, Zhengzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Nanyue King Museum, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum, and the National Museum of Iran, with a total of 266 pieces (groups).
At the beginning of the exhibition, a group of ancient books tells the story of the exchanges between China and West Asia. "Historical Records: The Biography of Dawan" records the historical process of the Han Dynasty opening land transportation between China and the Western Regions; The Book of Han: Biography of the Western Regions describes the history and geography of China's officially known foreign civilizations and their exchanges with China during the Han and Han dynasties. The Tang Dynasty's "General Dictionary" contains the fragments of Du Huan's "Jing Xing Ji", the original book has been lost, and it is one of the earliest Chinese historical materials to record the situation of the Arab Empire; The "New Tang Dynasty Book" written by Ouyang Xiu and others in the Northern Song Dynasty preserved the sea route from Guangzhou through South Asia to the Great Food Country of West Asia recorded by the Tang people; The "Zheng He's Navigation Chart" included in the Ming Dynasty's "Wubei Zhi" is accompanied by an illustration, which records the route of Zheng He's fleet from Nanjing to the east coast of Africa through West Asia, and is the world's earliest navigation chart of the vast sea.
There are also records about China in some ancient texts in West Asia. The Collected Records of China, written in Persian, is a work of world history published by the Ilkhanate more than 700 years ago. The book has since been translated into Arabic, Russian, Chinese and many other editions.
Since ancient times, Chinese civilization has been based on agriculture. Agricultural and animal husbandry products and handicrafts originating from West Asia were introduced to China, which promoted the development of Chinese civilization. Ji Luoyuan, deputy research librarian of the Department of Artifacts of the Palace Museum, said. About 4,000 years ago, wheat was introduced to China from West Asia and gradually spread in the northern region, forming a pattern of "southern rice and northern wheat" in Chinese agriculture with rice originating in China. Around the same time, sheep, cattle, horses and other domestic animals in West and Central Asia entered the Central Plains through Xinjiang and the Hexi Corridor, and rice, dogs and other species native to China also spread westward and integrated into the local natural ecology and agricultural and animal husbandry production systems.
This bonsai with red floral patterns on jade grape branches was originally preserved in the Ruyi Pavilion of the Qing Palace, and it represents an important plant of Sino-Western exchange - grapes. According to Maria Aherti, a staff member of the Scientific Research Department of the Palace Museum, China is the main origin of grapes grown in East Asia, and this grape has become a raw material for making fruit wine in the pre-Qin period, and a small part of it is used for food. Today's main varieties of table grapes are Eurasian species, native to the eastern coast of the Mediterranean and Western Asia, and first domesticated in Iran. After about 2000 B.C., Eurasian grapes were introduced to Xinjiang in China through two routes: grassland and desert. During the Han and Tang dynasties, Xinjiang became the center of Chinese viticulture.
Alfalfa, pomegranate, frankincense, saffron, ......With the prosperity of the Silk Road**, more and more West Asian specialties have entered China. The pottery lions and stone lions in the display cabinet are vivid and lovely. According to Maria Ahaiti, lions are native to North Africa, West Asia and other places, and the earliest record of lions in China can be found in the Hanshu Western Regions. After the opening of the Silk Road, exchanges between China and West Asia increased, and lions were brought to China as tribute, gradually evolving into the image of Rui Beast with Chinese characteristics.
Brilliant results of mutual learning.
In the process of the formation and development of Chinese ritual and music civilization, bronze ware has played a very important role. The emergence of bronze, iron, gold and silver manufacturing in China has a local origin, but also influenced by West Asia. The elements of West Asian art presented on bronze ritual vessels, weapons, gold and silver objects are the imprint of cultural exchanges between China and West Asia.
The collection of the Palace Museum has a clear difference between the Shang Dynasty dragon head short knife and the Central Plains bronze weapon style. Ji Luoyuan said. The head of this knife is in the shape of a dragon's head, with a vertical angle and round eyes, the eyes are embedded with turquoise, and the mouth is slightly open. The handle is slightly curved, inlaid with a row of turquoise, and the back is decorated with dense toothed protrusions, and a ring is cast underneath. According to reports, the short knives with various decorations cast from the handle are the daily utensils of the northern steppe peoples, and similar utensils have been found in the vast area from the Great Wall to Lake Baikal, which confirms the exchange of Eastern and Western cultures in the Eurasian steppe.
China's gold and silver manufacturing technology developed rapidly during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and by the Han Dynasty, a relatively mature craft system had been formed. During this period, the gold and silver products of West Asia continued to spread eastward, setting off a trend of localized imitation and transformation. The cracked silver box unearthed from the tomb of the Nanyue King in Guangzhou, Guangdong, the main shape and decoration have the characteristics of the Mediterranean and ancient Persian utensils, and the button on the lid of the box and the ring foot at the bottom of the box are the result of the craftsman's transformation according to the needs of China.
During the Sui and Tang dynasties of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Sassanid Persian utensils such as long cups, goblets, and animal-handled pots were introduced to China. Chinese craftsmen borrowed from its shapes and ornaments to create both Western and local styles of gold and silverware, ceramics, jade, and more. The Tang Dynasty silver gilt flower and bird pattern petal bowl unearthed in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, its folded belly shape and pearl ground pattern are in the Western Regions style, and the flower and bird pattern is the theme of traditional Chinese decoration.
China was the first country in the world to produce and use silk. In the exhibition, there is a Yangshao culture ivory carving silkworm unearthed from the site of Shuanghuai tree in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, which is the earliest image of silkworm in the current discovery era in China, and it and the silk remains of the surrounding sites of the same period together prove that there was silkworm reeling in Heluo area about 5,300 years ago.
During the Han and Jin dynasties, Chinese silk fabrics and silk weaving technology spread along the Silk Road to the Mongolian Plateau, West Asia and even the Mediterranean coast. Artisans from all over the world combine it with their own cultural traditions to create distinctive and colorful fabrics. From the Northern Dynasties to the Sui and Tang dynasties, Persian fabrics came to China, and Chinese craftsmen imitated exotic patterns and absorbed foreign themes to design new patterns that conformed to local aesthetics. The weft flowering technique used in Persian brocade gradually became popular in China from the Northern Dynasties. After the Tang Dynasty, twill weft brocade replaced warp brocade and became the mainstream product of Chinese jacquard fabrics.
The display case displays several fragments of Tang Dynasty twill weft brocade unearthed from the Astana cemetery in Turpan, Xinjiang, with a clear West Asian style. One of them is a fragment of knight's brocade, with a knight riding a winged horse and a high nose and long hair in the beaded circle. According to Ji Luoyuan, the winged horse pattern is a common decorative pattern in Sassanid Persian culture, and it has a special meaning in the Zoroastrianism believed by the Persians. This pattern entered China around the late Northern Dynasties, and the religious color was gradually diluted in the process of circulation.
The craft of glass originated in West Asia and North Africa. During the pre-Qin period, glass products were introduced to China, and then the Chinese ancestors mastered the technology of firing glass and used it in the production of ceremonial vessels. The exhibition hall displays a dazzling array of glassware: glass swords and utensils produced in China during the Warring States and Han dynasties, glass bowls made by craftsmen of the Northern Wei Dynasty using Western glassblowing techniques, Islamic carved glass plates unearthed from the Tang Dynasty underground palace of Famen Temple in Baoji, Shaanxi, and glass painted gold ......amphorae with Islamic double bird patterns in the Yuan and Ming dynastiesThey reflect the magnificent picture of cultural exchanges along the Silk Road.
Blue and white porcelain is the product of the perfect combination of China's advanced porcelain-making technology and West Asian pigments and aesthetic tastes. Since the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the revival of the Yuan Dynasty, to the Ming and Qing dynasties, it has become a grand spectacle and is famous all over the world. The manufacture of blue and white porcelain reflects the spirit of openness, sensitivity, and innovation of the ancient Chinese.
In the display case, the blue and white porcelain of various types such as plates, bowls, jars, and bottles are exquisite and dazzling. A Yuan blue and white lotus pond mandarin duck pattern rhombic flower mouth plate attracted the attention of reporters. According to Ji Luoyuan, some studies have shown that the green material used in blue and white porcelain in the Yuan Dynasty should be a cobalt earth mineral from the ancient Persian region of West Asia, which is known locally as Sulai Mani. The large size, rhombic mouth and dense decoration of this blue and white porcelain plate are all influenced by Islamic culture, and the lotus pond mandarin duck painted in the center of the plate has been a popular decorative motif in China since the late Tang Dynasty.
The Silk Road chapter continues to be written.
Iran is an ancient civilization with a long history in West Asia, with a prehistoric culture dating back hundreds of thousands of years, and its successive Achaemenid Dynasty, Parthian Dynasty, Sassanid Dynasty, etc., have extensive influence in the world. During the Western Han Dynasty, China called it "rest", and after the Northern and Southern Dynasties, it was called "Persia". The exhibition "Brilliant Persia - The Essence of Iranian Antiquities" brings together 216 cultural relics from the collections of various museums in Iran, showing the brilliance of ancient Iranian art from architecture, sculpture, ceramics, glass, metal, calligraphy, painting and other aspects.
Laitong is a unique utensil in West Asian culture, generally referring to the angular wine glass with a mouth in the lower part. In the "Historical Encounters - Ancient Civilization Exchange Exhibition between China and West Asia", a Tang Sancai duck cup modeled after that of West Asia Laitong is displayed. Zhai Yi, deputy research librarian of the Department of Artifacts of the Palace Museum, said that although the original origin of Laitong has yet to be verified, there have been studies that prove that Iran has made a great contribution to the spread of Laitong. In the early days, the pottery was mostly in the shape of animals, not necessarily used for feasting and drinking, and was gradually fixed into an angular shape. The exhibition presents a variety of shapes unearthed in Iran, including a simple and abstract cow shape, a vivid and realistic sheep head shape, a small boot shape, and a Laitong pushing a group of cans for a person, each of which is connected to each other, and the liquid in each jar flows from the long spout at the very front.
The most eye-catching is the Winged Lion Golden Passage in the independent display case. It is shaped like a lion with two wings, with its front legs prostrate and its hind legs turned into a high-raised cup, and the whole body is decorated with a variety of exquisite ornaments. A product of the Achaemenid dynasty, this winged lion is dating from about 500 BC to 450 BC and is still intact and shining with golden light.
No later than the early 9th century, Chinese porcelain was already known to the Persians, and there were Changsha kilns and Xingyao porcelain from the Tang Dynasty unearthed in the local area. Since then, Chinese porcelain has been continuously introduced to Persia. The exhibition recreates a scene at sea, with a merchant ship passing through the strait, loaded with a Chinese Longquan kiln bowl destined for Persia.
Beginning with Emperor Abbasid I of the Safavid dynasty, a large number of royal treasures were donated to the temple of Adebil, including fine porcelain from the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties of China. The display case displays the Oriental porcelain treasured by the Adbil Temple, such as the blue and white plate of the Yuan Dynasty phoenix wearing pattern, the Ming Dynasty sauce-colored Jiajing bowl, and the Ming Dynasty "Clark" style blue and white bowl.
Located in northwestern Saudi Arabia, AlUla is a valley oasis in the desert. Historically, it was a hub for Silk Road and spice tours, an important stopover for camel caravans across the Arabian Peninsula, and a meeting place for numerous religious pilgrimage routes. "AlUla – A Miracle Oasis of the Arabian Peninsula" is the first time that AlUla has showcased its magnificent natural scenery, rare archaeological relics and rich cultural heritage to Chinese audiences, bringing visitors a wonderful and immersive viewing experience. The exhibition is divided into four sections: "Prehistory to the Bronze Age", "Northern Kingdoms of the Arabian Peninsula", "Writing and Language", and "Modern AlUla", with a total of more than 230 exhibits, including 50 newly excavated artifacts that have never been shown to the public before. (ENDS).