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China: Dawn of a Golden Age The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 12 October 2004–23 January 2005

VICTOR CUNRUI XIONG

This archaeological exhibition is not only one of the most important exhibitions on Chi- nese archaeology ever mounted outside but also is the most ambitious presentation of China’s medieval era ever presented to the American public. Like its predecessor “The Great Bronze Age of China” (Metropolitan Mu- seum, 1980), “Dawn” is composed of excavated or unearthed objects loaned directly from China. “Dawn” differs from “Bronze Age” in two significant areas: chronological range and thematic coverage. Chronologically, it shifts to the much later medieval period. Themati- cally, instead of focusing on a single art form like bronzes, it extends coverage to embrace gold and silver, pottery, china, glass, stone statues and carvings, textiles, murals, gems, Fig. 1. Map of mid 6th-century China. coins, and paper manuscripts. The concept for this exhibition originated with Philippe de economic, and cultural changes took place that Montebello, director of the museum, and Wen forever transformed China. In the north the C. Fong, professor emeritus of at went through an aggressive process Princeton. It took seven years of collaborative of sinification and became amalgamated into work between the Metropolitan and the State mainstream Chinese civilization. In the south Administration of Cultural Heritage of China, the ruling elites, claiming to be the true suc- as well as the participation of 46 museums in cessors to Han orthodoxy, were well integrated China, for the concept to come to fruition. into local society and lost the zeal and drive to The period covered by “Dawn” begins with reclaim their ancestral land in a north now oc- the last phase of the Eastern Han, the close cupied by the non-Han “barbarians.” It took a of which marked the end of the first empire northern clan, imbued with vital- and the emergence of the age of political ity and supported by people of Han, non-Han, fragmentation (fig. 1). After a brief period of or mixed ethnic and cultural backgrounds, to reunification under the Western Jin from 280 bring north and south once again together to 311, was subject to incessant in the age of Sui. With the reestablishment invasion by non-Han ethnic groups, notably of empire, the pinnacle of medieval Chinese the and the Xianbei. About a cen- civilization finally arrived in the early eighth tury later, the branch of the Xianbei century in the following , which emerged as the dominant group in north was founded by people of similar cultural and China, while the south was ruled by a succes- ethnic hybridity. sion of Han Chinese regimes. In the following The 247 items, consisting of more than 300

January 2005 of a Golden Age Dawn China: of America Institute the Archaeological © 2005 by Copyright age of north–south rivalry, major political, individual pieces, selected for “Dawn” with 2 China: Dawn of a Golden Age (from Rome). Although the catalogue suggests import an is 13) (no. bottle glass long-necked the Only themselves. objects gold and the even pieces, textile the calligraphy, elegant with graced Quan Cao of stele the geese, of sculptures wooden the case, inkstone bronze objects, watchtower,earthenwaregold-plated the the jade translucent the horseback, on figures bronze the dominate clearly motifs Indigenous influence. foreign little display goldsmith usedithere with great dexterity. recently imported from the West, the Chinese only been had granulation of technique the Although 11). (no. granules gold miniscule and tails enhanced by filigree and covered with of them is of complex design, with eyes, horns, two miniature chimeras inlaid with gems. Each display all the more precious. on Among objects those gold are the makes gold Han Eastern pecially true of the . The rarity of follow achronological order. roughlythat sections seven into groupsthem them in proper historical perspective, “Dawn” place To age. tumultuous this of framework chronological the within fall exceptions few nying theobjectsinexhibition. mounted onthewall. hall. exhibition the of entrance the facing platform long a on up set 2) fig. see 2; (no. bronzes of group the is section the of item striking most The Kingdoms. Three the of power northern Cao-Weithe of era the the (220–265), dynasty into Han the of years Century,” last the from Third extends Second–Early Late Han, of antiquity have rarely survived. This is es is This survived. rarely have antiquity of not a major producer of gold, and gold objects was China Ancient 8–12). (nos. vintage Han Eastern of objects gold of group a of display in thegroup. That Treads a Flying Swallow,” is not featured tomb, dubbed by modern scholars the “Horse the from piece famous most Regrettably,the . Leitai, at tomb Han Eastern an from discovered set larger much a from selected is figures as much as 51 cm in height. The group of impressive stature, with some of the human are objects executed realistically these sized, three chariots with drivers. Although not life- “Yituo” inthecatalogue. 3 2 1 “Late I, Section of span chronological The The artifacts of this section in general general in section this of artifacts The Another salient feature of this section is its For the pronunciation of pronunciation the For Item numbers are those recorded in the catalogue (Watt 2004) and on the explanatory panels accompa object the of photo large a is stead its in exhibition; the from missing is chimera, stone a 1, no. Item 2 It includes 14 horses with riders and and riders with horses 14 includes It in Yiyi, see Morohashi 1957–1960, 1:393, no. 177. Note that it is rendered is it that Note 177. no. 1:393, 1957–1960, Morohashi see Yiyi, in yi 1 - sion under the Jin and during the chaotic age chaotic the during and Jin the under sion future research andconfirmation. awaits still hypothesis this of proof the influence, Indian shows possibly present-day in Shu of state the from 21) (no. earthenware female attendant holdingthe of a headgear platterthe of pattern floral the that named chieftain of the central area,central in the which of chieftain named was 295–305) (r. Yiyi beyond, and ), of (south Shengle to ), (, to ), of (northeast Mountain from White west extending land of tract vast a in Tuobaunder territory control threeinto areas of Tuoba (a branch of the Xianbei), divided the Western Jin. After Luguan, the supreme leader status of Yiyi the and his of special relations with the because mention particular deserves tion inscrip the with them, of One art. of Scythian reminiscent are 35) steppe 29–32, of (nos. animals motifs openwork with plaques the artistic styles of China proper. The golden from them distinguishes that flavor exotic an of theSixteenKingdoms. the Han Empire, and continued their expan their continued and Empire, Han the north of China proper, after the breakdown of arose they times, Han in group Donghu the later spread to north China. Descending from group in and Inner who tribal nomadic non-Han a were Xianbei The Xianbei,” suggests a major thematic departure. (Watt 2004,(Watt 105). Fig. 2. Bronze andmounted chariots guards. Eastern Han. Overall, the objects of this section are of of are section this of objects the Overall, The title of title The Yiyiof Yiyi”“Gold 3), or fig. jin, 32; (no.

Section II Section “The Coming of the of Coming “The , 3 - - - -

3 China: Dawn of a Golden Age 127). Fig. 3. plaquewithfour Gold animalsandinscription of “Gold Yiyi” jin). (Yiyi 2004, (Watt shows strong influence of nomadism and ele clearly question, in exhibits the by attested as founded and ruled by Han Chinese, its culture, north ). Although the Northern was and (south holdings reduced cantly signifi with height, its at YanFormer the of a revived state of Yan, was but a pale shadow and Liaoning. The Northern Yan (407–436), as present-day Hebei, , Shanxi, , Former the , Yanof Former dominated the by conquest its Before Plain. Central the of heartland the in 357, in Hebei) Linzhang, moved their capital south to (southwest of Longcheng (Chaoyang, in Liaoning), based the Originally, Tuoba. the of cognates Xianbei, of Murong the were (337–370) Yan . The founders of the Former and the Northern Yan (nos. 37–41), two of the 36) 23–25, (nos. Yan Former the to enanced ern Yan and its true founder. One of them is them of One founder.true its Yanand ern of Feng Ba, the second sovereign of the North come from the tomb of Feng Sufu, the brother ments ofcentral Asia. of Wei, known asNorthernWei inhistory. state the of predecessorTuoba the statehood, of beginning the marked year That attacks. alliance with the Xianbei to ward off Xiongnu seeking desperately court Jin a by 310 in Dai of Duke created was 307, in power to came Yilu,brotherwho Consequently, younger his of the Jin province of Bing, from the Xiongnu. Teng,governor rescued have to said is Yiyiunrest, ethnic of age tumultuous this In cluded north Shanxi and the region to its north. All five Northern Yan items on display display on items Yan Northern five All 4 prov clearly are objects of number A

Jin shu 62.1681; Bei shi 1.4. 4 - - - - age and medallion portraits (nos. 63–64) are 63–64) (nos. portraits medallion and age Chinese label for it is the exhibition utility.the its In explain to ing in the shape of an animal” without attempt without animal” an of shape the in “vessel it labels catalogue The 39). (no. open mouth bronzeits recumbentin with a animal Sasanian. The two bowls with acanthus foli acanthus with bowls two The Sasanian. with a hunting scene (no. 62) is unmistakably plate the vessels, threesilver the Of origin. of place its as Afghanistan to point may which inscription, Bactrian a is bowl the of exterior suggests association with Gupta style. On the overall its form, in but Sasanian its sea-monster is 61) ( (no. bowl silver lobed eight- The traditions. Roman and Hellenistic 58–60; see fig. 4) suggest their indebtedness to shape, and motifs of the three stem cups (nos. general the patterns, Weifloral The 493. until Northern the of capital the Pingcheng, was which of northeast Datong, in unearthed all group of bronze and silver vessels (nos. 58–64), perhaps Transoxiana. West,representfromthe hailed acrobatswho figures these that probable highly Caucasian is It look. definitely a them give also but other figures from the same locale (nos. 51–52), of the performers not only mark them off from prominentThe style. eyes deep-set and noses non-Han a to point costumes their of sleeves tight-fitting and cut round-neck The more. groupthis something of suggests appearance were a longstanding tradition. But the overall noted in the catalogue, acrobatic performances show in action more than 1,500 years ago. As is provenance captures a moment of an acrobatic seven earthenware figures (no. 53) of the same of group A51–52). nos. example, (for Shanxi north in Datong, from figurines pigmented earthenware the of contours human shaped more mature craftsmanship in the realistically and gesture are awkward (nos. 46–50). We see human figures are rough-hewn, and their pose qualities. Some of the earthenwarevarying of animalsobjects andof mix heterogeneous a is “pot” than“cauldron.” probablyis guo more appropriately rendered the small size of this piece (16.5 cm in height), Considering “cauldron.” a calls (“wok”), guo been translated as the catalogue, translating the Chinese term term Chinese the translating catalogue, the (no. 40) with bronze body and iron lid, which container metal a is item Another 1049). v.9, The most striking objects of this section are a Section III, “Early Dynasty,”

“chamber pot” (Morohashi, huzi, which should have makara ) motif - - 4 China: Dawn of a Golden Age was transmittedlocally. which tradition northern same the to access had probably him around people the and he royalty;Jin of house Sima same fromthe was occupant of the tomb in question, Sima Jinlong, (r. 322–325), a great painter in his own Mingdi right. The or Shao Sima mentored Yangzi, of Wei Xie’s work. Wang Yi, after crossing the admirer an was himself Kaizhi Gu Shijiang). Wei Xie, Xun Xu ( of famous painters of morality tales, including share its Westernhad The Jin Jin. Eastern the predates actually and way long a back goes tales morality painting of tradition the ever, content of the painting, and this medium work the is quintessen and composition, pictorial them. In terms of form, style, dominant motif, from the Eastern (317–420). How that Sima’s screen was influenced by painting 406), 345–ca. (ca. Kaizhi Gu to attributed tu), of the tale or provid characters main the identifying colophons of number a has register Each background. red a against registers separate in tales morality of series a with painted is screen the wood, lacquered Of Jinlong. Sima of tomb the from screen a of section a is 74–78]) [nos. statues Buddhist the and 65–68] [nos. glasswares the example, (for objects foreign-influenced or influences from othersources. Sasanian in form, but in their style they show of the Governess to the Court Ladies (Nü shi zhen the with comparison of basis the Han influence. The catalogue even suggests, on tially Chinese, with no trace of foreign or non- 2. In sharp contrast to these and other foreign 5 On Wei Xie, Xun Xu, Gu Kaizhi, and Jin Mingdi, see Mingdi, Jin and Kaizhi, Gu WeiXu, On Xun Xie, and grapevine. 2004, (Watt 149). Fig. 4. bronze Gilt stem cupwithfigures zi Gongzeng) and Wang Yi ( ing short narratives about 5 Admonitions zi - - were issued to local Di and Qiang tribal chief office of seals These Gansu. southeast in hui, Tiansof southwest Xihe, in unearthed seals, times (no. 83). The latter consists of three gold and one dates back to Cao-Wei and Western Jin threeare80–82), (nos. vintage Han Eastern of and foreign. Of the Chinese itemsChinese (nos. groups, 80–89), two into naturally fall tion sec this in objects The subcontinent. the and including , west Asia, east Europe to all areas west of China in premodern times, Pass in west Gansu. In a broader sense, it refers the area east of the Pamirs and west of Yumen encompassed it defined, Narrowly Xiyu. or Regions,” “Western the dominance, Chinese graphical focus to an area that often fell outside predominant pastoral lifestyle of the peoples the of lifestyle pastoral predominant the reflects probably motif latter The sheep. the Gansu seals the finial depicts a recumbent have a coiled serpent them as their finial design; on of Both evidence. critical the provide Japan, Fukuoka, in discovered Han, of state Yunnan, and the of the king of the Wa-Na The seal of the “prince of Dian,” unearthed in foreign leaders goes back to the Han dynasty. or non-Han to court central the by seals gold tice of granting investiture through issuance of investiture. Archaeology proves that the prac of proofs as court Plain Central the by tains of HanChinese. who usedthem(theDiandQiang). part of the Buddhist scripture (317–376). They include a paper scroll carrying personal paraphernalia of Former Liang times are section this in objects Chinese the of ber continued the cultural practices and customs and practices cultural the continued Liang Former the state, independent an As descent. Han of house, the by and ruled founded was it Jin, Western the of fall that carved up north China in the wake of the Former Liang was one of the Sixteen Kingdoms can be explained by the fact that, although the objects these in reflected Chinese Han the of dominance cultural The tools. administrative 86). The last three items (no. also tablets functioned wooden as three Han and 84), (no. gold with inlaid container seal-clay bronze a 85), (no. 88), a jade ram wood (no. in 98), model a lamp writingtree-shaped a brush 87), (no. (no. the Way Thither,” we witness a shift of geo of shift a witness we Thither,”Way the Lidai minghuai ji minghuai Lidai It is interesting to note that the largest num In

Section IV Section “The and Regions Western “The , 5; on Wangon 5; Yi, see Dharmap Lidai minghua Lidai ā ta s ū tra ------

5 China: Dawn of a Golden Age prominent Hellenistic, Roman, and/or Persian nude goddess (nos. 101–103), the objects have a or patterns, centaur,acanthus the featuring textiles or 100), (no. frieze floral a with ewer schist tray with a drinking scene (no. 99), silver amphora (no. 97), earthenware rhyton (no. 98), earthenware trihandled 96), (no. decorations with agate (no. 95), glass goblet with appliqué inlaid cup gold rubies94), with (no. inlaid jar gold the Whether West. the with association remaining foreign objects, they show a strong the of provenances the pinpoint to difficult more is it Although Sogdiana. from 187) (no. motif tiger with plate silver the and Persia, silver bowl the with ostrich motif Orient, (no. 91) from Roman Sasanian the from 90) (no. silver in plate Dionysus the realm: Chinese the beyond far of from imports Some are objects 96). the (no. A.D. century seventh or sixth the to 100–101) (nos. B.C. century or first second the around from time, of stretch in northwest . Their dates span a long Ili, to , in Xining of north Datong, to Gansu, east in Jingyuan, fromarea, graphical short-lived, dynastic power at the center—the albeit important, an omits and legitimacy to claim south’s the of favor in bias traditional it is not without its problems. It feeds into the the “” designation is convenient, legitimate center of Chinese civilization. While implying that in this period the south was the centuries, sixth the to third the of age entire the to refer to used is Dynasties” “Six name the Thus Kingdoms. Three the of era earlier the during Wu of capital the as served had based in the capital (), which south en masse. A total of five dynasties were and common, professional royal andpoor, elite—migrated and north—rich the of residents Plain, Central the lost they When culture. its part of China remained strongly indigenous in center,this its as areaWu Withthe Huai. the middle and lower the Yangziof south valleys to equal roughly was Geographically,it tion. as the preserver and guardian of Han civiliza regardeditself that regiontury,” a with deals fect. characteristics. f icvr ae ctee oe a ie geo wide a over scattered places are discovery Their of 90–103). (nos. objects foreign Section V, “South China, Third–Sixth Cen The bulk of the section, however, comprises 6 An eighth figure, the ancient recluse Rong Qiqi, appears on one mural, probably for symmetrical ef symmetrical for probably mural, one on appears Qiqi, Rong recluse ancient the figure, eighth An - - - aoes ne ter atr Oe rc fea brick One master. their under laborers as served and duty military performed who tures the paragon of filial piety Guo Ju, and Ju, Guo piety filial of paragon the tures murals. brick stamped these of contents the by testified is as Dynasties, Southern the in Seven Sages, remained popular in iconography the advocates, main pureits on conversation, blamed were Jin Western the of fall the and the of loss the later ment. Although move intellectual escapist an into evolved which conversation,” “pure in engaged and Daoism embraced scholars nonconformist these Confucianism, Rejecting . Henei in then was which Henan), Jiaozuo, of one of the seven, in Shanyang (seat: southeast Kang, Ji of home the near grove bamboo a in gathered century, often scholars third free-wheeling seven mid the In 113). (no. Grove Bamboo the of Sages Seven the featuring rals the pieces labeled “Western Jin” are from the from“Western are labeled Jin” pieces the All China. north in found period same the of southern legitimacy, it fails to include artifacts of idea the to subscribe necessarily not does Western Jin (265–316). Although the exhibition the rubbings of a pair of stamped brick mu brick stamped of pair a of rubbings the and silver. gold on used often technique a matting, ring may have attempted to reproduce the effect of decorated with tiny circles. Here are the animal craftsman the West. of body the the and clothing from His foreigner a of reminiscent featuresfacial has else, something for stand a as served have may which hat, tall a wearing figure human The 105). figure (no. animal an riding human a of shape the in piece the is porcelain making. One extraordinary of example maturation the was period Dynasties Six south. the lives and activities of tomb in Dengxian, Henan. Four of these depict a from unearthed large bricks pictorial a of number from selected were They 121). (no. images impressed pigmented with bricks six from the stamped brick murals are a group of site ofthesameperiod. stamped bricks. These, however, on come from a different seven, the of member leading Accompanying no. 113 is the image of Ji Kang, What captures the zeitgeist of this age are age this of zeitgeist the captures What the in south the of development Aunique Somewhat variant in theme and technique buqu , bound servants 6 - - - -

6 China: Dawn of a Golden Age 1995,327ff. which isatypographicalerror. valley with the Central Plain at its core. Herecore. its at Plain Central the with valley tury in the North” focuses on the ably. playing themusicalinstrument by phoenix a summons who “immortal”) (an transcendent Daoist a of tale the narrates one the ern iconography? the handsofnortherners. From then on, the area essentially remained in of Jing prefecture in the Taihe reign (477–499). seat the became Weiit (r.Northern 470–499), the of Xiaowendi to lost was it After Jin. ern (Ruru or Ruanruan) empire in Inner and and Inner in empire Ruanruan) or Rouran (Ruru the was north their to Meanwhile, Wudi. under north the of unifier the became which Zhou, Northern the into WeiWestern the and , Northern into evolve to Weiwas century,sixth the of Eastern course the the In ). (Xi’an, Chang’an city greatHan the lay where , in Wei Western the and Plain Central the in based Wei Eastern the with 534/5, WesternWei,in and Eastern Luoyang, it split into east and west halves, or from north the dominate to continued Wei Northern the While Luoyang. present-day of east predecessor, Jin Western its of ruins the Northern Wei, a city built anew from 493/4 on or functional significance in the symbolic context of south particular any have this could reverse; in embossed are characters Chinese the 121(e), no. and 114 no. In catalogue. the in unexplained left phenomenon intriguing the before it was retaken by the East was then taken over by (r. 394–416) of by the Former Qin under (r. 357–385), it be recovered by the Eastern Jin in 338. Annexed it succumbed to Xiongnu attacks in 311, only to Known as Rangxian since Western Han times, south. and north both of regimes various by Northern Dynasties, the area was fought over and Southern the of period the In complex. southern regimes. the In reality, the situation under is much more prefecture a of part identified as is Dengzhoushi) as known now 10 9 8 7 VI Seven an is there images brick these Among In the catalogue Dengxian (Deng County,(Deng Dengxian catalogue the In

Luoyang in question was the capital of the Forapreliminary discussionofreversed writing,seeWu Hung1995,260–1.

Luoyang qielan ji 1.1, 1.12. In the catalogue (p. 233), 419 is entered as the founding date of the monastery, Yuanhe junxian tuzhi On Princess Linhe; see Linhe; Princess On , “Luoyang and After: Sixth Cen Sixth and After: “Luoyang 8 21.532; 14.517–8; Zhou Weizhou 1983, 130–1. On the term “to xianbeinize,” see xianbeinize,” “to term the WeizhouOn Zhou 130–1. 14.517–8; 1983, shi Bei 7 Dushi fangyu jiyao sheng . - - - 51. Liang Wudi’s attempt to retake it in 521 failed miser origin, he became acculturated into the domi ethnic Han Of north. the frontierin a town in up grew who Huan, member, lustrious Rouran the of daughter the Tujue.As Turkicthe century,by destroyed was it when sixth mid the around until north Asia of lord over the was Rouran Europe. in Avars the to related distantly were who Rouran, the as to which she belonged, Ruru, is better known is the tomb occupant herself. The ethnic group aesthetically appealing. Of far greater interest areBoth camel. a other the official, elderly an represents piece One realm. the of part ern the majority of their subjects were Han Chi Han were subjects their of majority the though even aristocracy, xianbeinized and Wei–, was dominated by a Xianbei the Han Chinese. The state he created, Eastern of heartland the Plain, Central conqueredthe to use a term coined by Chen Yinke, before he nant Xianbei culture there, or “xianbeinized,” 534. in conflagration a in destroyed pagoda, nine-story its for known best was monastery the 516, in ) (née Ling Dowager Empress by Built Luoyang. of city inner the in located was Wei,it Northern the of monastery dhist princess Linhe, in Cixian, Hebei, in the east the in Ruru Hebei, Cixian, in the Linhe, princess of tomb the from come 132–133) of thepagoda. nese. il most its to thanks prominence into thrust was family Gao The place. his took tradition, leviratic a (Wenxiang),following Cheng Gao Weison his death, Huan’s Rouran. Gao and After between alliance strategic a cement to Huan Gao to off married was Linhe Aguina, power) steppe a of sovereign or “khan” (the site the at found were 130 and 129 nos. Both tomb contain images of people wearing both wearing people of images contain tomb the Yongning Monastery. As the greatest Bud from statues terracotta of parts are 129–130) (nos. items two first The northwest realm. the the outside from items two with along realmthe of parts arewestern and displayed, Rouran were theEphthalites(WhiteHuns). Outer Mongolia and Siberia, and to the west of Two pigmented earthenware pieces (nos. (nos. pieces earthenware pigmented Two In this section objects from both the eastern 10 The murals found in Princess Linhe’s Princess in found murals The qaghan 9 ------

7 China: Dawn of a Golden Age united north China by conquering the North objects would have shed much light on the the on light much shed have would objects Had they been included in the exhibition, these in her last year as Empress Dowager Tianyuan. for Ashina seal gold a and stones, epigraphic two figures, earthenware numerous jades, of key objects have survived, including a number its contents of before its most recent of excavation. But stripped some and rifled been had palmette and animal motifs (no. 161). The tomb fittings, ornaments, and a set of belt buckles featuring belt bronze of number a of consist they letdown: a of arebit display a on objects the wife, his and Wudi behind lies that story He isidentifiedbyscholarsasLaozi. inscription. an have not copy,does identical an almost right, the on one the Emperor,but Jade the as him identifies that inscription an figures. The one on the left is accompanied by main two the of gestures hand and costumes the in however, present, clearly is influence stele Buddhist images. this Daoist exclusively features ones, Buddhist by accompanied often were icons Daoist where iconography, enance (no. 172). Unlike earlier works of Daoist Muhan qaghan of Tujue, the overlord of Mon formidable the of daughter the was wife His history.in Buddhism against campaigns tion sovereignof ambitious most the As Ashina. Empress wife, his and Zhou ern Northern Qi. Northern for Wudi needed Tujue support in crushing the and Ashina was obviously a strategic alliance, Wudi of between marriage The state Linhe. Princess home the Rouran, subjugated just had that empire an to inheritor the and golia proscrip major four the of one orchestrated the Sui. Favorably inclined toward Daoism, he under China of reunification eventual the for ern Qi to the east in 577, laying the groundwork this section is perhapsWudiis of section that this North of reproduction isincludedintheexhibition. is It unfortunate that times. no part of the the murals or their of reality ethnic the reflects probably which costumes, non-Han and Han section is the 527 stele of unconfirmed prov unconfirmed of stele 527 the is section lives ofthetomboccupants. longest in the show. Characterized by the the by Characterized show. the in the of longest one is section this of timeframe The of the Sui and Early Tang Dynasties, 581–755.” The most intriguing tomb represented in in represented tomb intriguing most The The only Daoist item on display in this this in display on item Daoist only The 11 The exhibition ends with Section VII

Zhou shu 9.143–5; 11 Considering the momentous momentous the Considering Zhou shu5;Grousset 1970,80–3.

his times, he times, his , “Arts - - - - - of the exhibition, the of title Chinese the of ambiguity the by caused High Tang a period had yet that to arrive. This imply is probably to seems period pre-755 Tang). To use “Early Tang” to denote the entire to the position of position the to appointment his mentions it Instead, sertion. as that to support lend not does epitaph his der the Sui as governor of Bingzhou. However, in falls Tangphase High the that impression the Tang”),gives High which the toward ing Tang”“High ( as referredto is rebellion Lushan the An until reign) (Xuanzong’s after there period century.The eighth the of ning the Northern Qi and became and Qi Northern the under career official his began occupant The posed of 12 slabs in addition to the roof pieces. Affairs) in Zoroastrian times. of Initially Office the of director (acting both its interior and exterior, the chest is com Decorated with carved reliefs and paintings on 175). (no. 592 in died Yuwho descent, Hong, (Sogdian) Asian Central possible of official the section is the marble sarcophagus of a Sui the post-755period. under Wuzong. blow destructive a suffered it Tang before in China community exclusive rather its in success moderate enjoy to was which Persia, Yu Hong’s connections with the religion from reconfirms graphically This half-birds. and half-men priests, Zoroastrian celestial two by flanked altar, fire the Zoroastrianism, of symbol the is interest special of sarcophagus, the on imagery rich the Among Asia. central “barbarians,” that is, foreigners from west supervising and included function its Later, was an official post in charge of Zoroastrians. referring to the period leading to the begin the to leading period the to referring Tang” “Early with phases, four into divided Tangthe is convention, dynasty historical art arises concerning issue nomenclature. minor In a literary Here Tang”).and “Early term the Tang dynasty chronologically in halves (hence Tang the empire asunder, tore but also conveniently cut the only not (755–763) rebellion Lushan An cataclysmic the that perception the in groundedapparently is 755 year the at essentially united. The stayed rationale for ending the exhibition period this throughout rule of a revived imperial government, China Arguably the most extraordinary item of of item extraordinary most the Arguably According to the catalogue, Yucatalogue, the un to Accordingserved Zouxiang sheng Tangsheng Zouxiang (“Mov (“equal in rank in (“equal sansi yitong jianjiao sabao fu sabao jianjiao sabao sheng hu, hu, ------

8 China: Dawn of a Golden Age functional power. As for the zhangnei the for power.As functional without titles prestige highest the of one was hand, other the on sansi, yitong The ritory. sources. Contextual information seems to to seems suggest that the zhangnei was a high-ranking information Contextual sources. precise function of the office in the traditional or rank the of records no are there de-camp), zong (da command superior Bingzhou the of commanders of capacity the in it governed Sui Yangdi), Yangand Jun, Yang Liang—who (later Guang princes—Yang imperial the of control direct the under placed was it Sui, of area of the Sui. Apart from the very beginning ent-day Shanxi, was considered a key strategic see ZhangQingjie2001,145–76.On BingzhouinSui,see military aide. ter Binghzou entire the of charge took that governorship civilian coexisting a of aware not am I affairs. civilian and military both of to be a military post, in reality it was in charge zongguan da the Although guan). The Bing area, roughly corresponding to pres section. Bing the of charge in aide-de-camp”) to the Three Dukes”) and to 12 For an English version of the archaeological report, see Zhang Qingjie et al. 2002, 258–68. On the epitaph, 2004, 284). silk. Tang dynasty, eighth early century. (Watt Fig. 5. Grooms andhorses. Inkandcolor on 12 zuo zhangnei (“left

purported

(aide- - - - The state of there was not annexed were mostly Chinese speakers of Han descent. there residents the though even WesternJin, the of fall the since Plain Central the in ment extravagant burial because of her royal connec official rank, she was afforded any an without exceptionally child young a As sarcophagus. decorated elaborately an in furnishings 230 eight and was buried together with more than occupant of the tomb died in 608 at the age of The central Asia. west or Iran from Road Silk the along imported probably was this necklace elements, Sasanian and Greco-Roman of mixture a With 6). fig. see 187; (no. gems inlaid with pearls, lapis lazuli, and bloodstone the gold necklace from the tomb of Jingxun, by thecenteruntil640. of the reigning female sovereign, , Wusovereign, female reigning the of petition a inscribed is it On 190). (no. artifact Daoist unique a , Mt. at found tablet a house of Yang. Yuwenof royalhouse royal Sui Zhou the nor as a Li, was a member of neither the Northern daughter of make-believe the sovereign. or The tomb honorary occupant, an made be first as a princess to a non-Han chieftain, she would surname. When a palace lady was married off close female relatives who bore the same royal other or siblings, female his sovereign, the of descendents female paternal to granted was however, is inappropriate. designation, The title That “princess” princess. a as her to refer even scholars modern Some dynasty. Zhou wen Yun or Xuandi (r. 578–579) of the Northern Yangdi, and her maternal grandfather was Yu emperor,reigning the of sister elder the was tions: her maternal grandmother, , often stayed outside the orbit of the govern the of orbit the outside stayed often on the north route of the Silk Road, Turfan had area An centuries. 13 about for underground survive to managed display on paintings the climate of Turfan, where they were unearthed,arid the to Thanks paintings. paper Tang and silk of perishability high the considering valuable, highly are condition, fragmented century, these paintings, even in their present eighth early the to back Dating grooms. their and horses is subject paper.primary and The silk on color in paintings screen elegant six of remains what features which 5), fig. (see Sui shu The most resplendent piece of the section is Among the gold objects of this section is section this of objects gold the Among Tang painting is represented by no. 177 177 no. by represented is painting Tang 30.854. - - - 9 China: Dawn of a Golden Age figures (no. 204), labeled in Chinese as “Afri as Chinese in labeled 204), (no. figures of much more interest is a pair of earthenware renderedartistically but Less areunmatched. workmanship, realism, and attention to detail ably Sogdians, from the Western Regions. The eclectic view of religion in general and of Dao her of evidence material provides tablet gold this Buddhism, of believer pious and porter Daoist ritual was often accompanied by the most renownedIt dragon. the up conjure to water of body a into tablet gold inscribed an or dragon gold a threw ritualist the which in dragon”), the Taiping guangji see slave, Kunlun Tanga fictionalized of recorda For 1990. Xiong 2:18–23; 1977–1979, Xinglang Zhang See lun slaves.” In spite of the name, however, the Kunlun slaves of Tang times seem to have come from Africa. in Luoyang conducted jiao conducted Luoyang in cast, the abbot of the Daoist Qingyuan Abbey same year when the gold tablet on display was blames oneself”). mechanism known as as known self-condemning mechanism a of reminiscent is sin of acknowledgement This sinners. of book the of premodern China) to delete her name from mountains sacred five the of one Song, (Mt. Marchmount Middle the of transcendents to lhuh u s nw a a tafs sup steadfast a as known is Wu Although earthenware known as as known earthenware Tang period is especially famous The for its own. glazed its into came figures earthenware ism inparticular. most common practices was ing tradition, especially in Daoism. One of the casting a precious object had been a reverentiallylongstand by divine the Contacting gods. munication transmitted through a Daoist to the public statement, the tablet was a private com also different. Unlike a zuiji , which was a two of them must representprobforeigners,must them of two its back. With their long noses and full beards, with musicians and entertainers performing on tomb of Xianyu Tinghui, in the form of a camel An exemplary for the three dominant colors of these objects. Rivers to perform the Four the and Marchmounts Five the as such landmarks iconic the to master Daoist a sent she 692 In rituals. these conduct to proxies Daoist her requested Zetian Wu occasions of bring transcedents down to earth. On a number In Sui-Tang times the technique of making 17 16 15 14 13 SeeWatt 2004. Kunlun refers to the Malay Peninsula where there lived dark-skinned Negritos, hence the name “Kun OnWu Zetianand Tangwen xushi See,forexample,theoneissuedby Yizong ofTang (QuanTang wen jiao 194.1452–4.

sancai piece is no. 200, from the (“cosmodrama”), intended to 13 9.9. However, this gold tablet is toulong toulong uj zhao zuiji sancai

and for Wu Zetian. Wu for toulong rite. , or “tri-color,” or , jiao (“edict that that (“edict 14 In 700, the , seeQingXitai1976,2:71–2. (“casting 15 ------

pleasure to read but also an essential reader essential an also but read to pleasure The two figures of no. 200 should represent should 200 no. of figures two The service. domestic perform to households rich into weresold slaves” “Kunlun as known ers facial features suggest a possible African con cans.” Their curly hair, dark pigmentation, and nection. In Tang times dark-skinned foreign dark-skinned Tangtimes In nection. them. and stone. Suidynasty. 2004, (Watt 294). Fig. 6. from LiJingxung’s Necklace tomb. inlaidwithpearl Gold The accompanying catalogue accompanying The large-scalecenteredChina. sive exhibition on American and Chinese collaborators have have done a marvelous job collaborators of mounting this Chinese impres and American The lead curator,lead The C. James Y. Watt, his and 16 84.2–4). 17 is not only a only not is - - - - 10 China: Dawn of a Golden Age cepted conventionofsinology. with its rich array of Sasanian, Sogdian, Scyth come away with the notion that this exhibition, may uninitiated The imports. non-Chinese of of not only foreign-influenced objects but also simply because of the overwhelming presence impression skewed a creating up end may it past, China’s about public American the cate edu to purports exhibition this If objects. of choice its is concern major My exhibition. the about gripes of share my have I chaeology, Buddhist iconography. and textiles, glassware, metalwork, to period cover range from the general art history of the they topics The Howard. F. Angela and Bai, Su Feng, Zhao Jiayao, An Marshak, I. Boris different fields of Chinese art and archaeology: in experts leading five and editor the by says laymen. Especially informative are the six es six arethe informative Especially laymen. on Six Dynasties arts for experts and interested Bei shi.ByLi Yanshou (Tang dynasty).Zhon sources are listedbytitle,according toanac the author-date system.Traditional Chinese Modern sources are arrangedaccording to and Sui-Tang Luoyang. as Northern Wei Luoyang, Sui-Tangcities Chang’an,world-class such from those including covered, systematically were decades recent hardlybut glamorous archaeologyof finds in significant most the of some if achieved been have would foreign, and domestic exotic, the and quotidian the A between balance artifacts. greater excavated archaeologically by embodied as art exhibition—Chinese the of theme central the of pieces, sight lost organizers the precious most the present to effort well-intentioned their in suspect I centuries. eighth thirdthroughthe the in art Chinese of ian, and Roman art objects is representational Chen Yinke. 1995. Wei-Jin Nanbeichaoshi DEPARTMENT OFHISTORY pei: Longyunchubanshe. jiangyan lu.EditedbyWan Shengnan.Tai ghua shujuedition. KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN49008–5334 WESTERN MICHIGANUNIVERSITY 4301 FRIEDMANNHALL As a historian who used to dabble in ar in dabble to used who historian a As WORKS CITED ------Xiong, Victor Cunrui. 1990.“TheStoryofa Quan Tang wen.11 vols.CompiledbyDong Qing Xitai.1996. Luoyang qielanji.By Yang Xuanzhi(Northern Lidai minghuaiji.ByZhang Yanyuan (Tang Jin shu.ByFangXuanlingetal.(Tang dy Dushi fangyujiyao Zhou shu.ByLinghuDefenetal.(Tang dy Zhang Xinglang.1977–1979. Sui shu.ByWei Zheng Wu Hung.1995. Watt, JamesC. Y., ed.2004. Grousset, Rene.1970.TheEmpire ofthe Yuanhe junxian tuzhi Zhang Qingjie.2001.“Yu Hongmuzhi Morohashi Tetsuji. 1957–1960.DaiKan-Wa Zhou Weizhou. 1983. Zhang Qingjieetal.2002.“The Yu Hong Tangwen xushi Taiping guangji nese Archaeology Kunlun SlaveinTang Chang’an.” ford UniversityPress. nese ArtandArchitecture. Stanford: Stan Gao etal.(Qingdynasty).With Tangwen Chengdu: Sichuanrenmin chubanshe. Wei dynasty).References are to Yale University Press. ropolitan Museumof Art/New Haven: kaoshi” (A studyoftheepitaph Yu shiyi jiten, 13vols.Tokyo: Taish Shanghai: Shanghaigujichubanshe,1978. ang qielanjijiaozhu dynasty). nasty). Zhonghuashujuedition. Rutgers UniversityPress. Naomi Walford. NewBrunswick, N.J.: Steppes. Translated from theFrench by nasty). Translated byVictor Cunrui Xiong.” Tomb oftheSuiDynastyinTaiyuan.” nasty). Zhonghuashujuedition. shiliao huibian Hong). Tang yanjiu ty). :Zhonghuashuju,1983. Historians Golden Age,200–750AD.New York: Met hua shuju,1961. (Northern Song).10vols.Beijing:Zhong Zhonghua shujuedition. Xinyuan. Beijing:Zhonghuashuju,1983. hai: Shanghairenmin chubanshe.

and Tangwen xushi Guoxue jibencongshu Congshu 4:77–81. . SeeQuanTang wen . CompiledbyLiFangetal. . Beijing:Zhonghuashuju. Monumentality inEarlyChi Zhongguo daojiaoshi . ByGuZuyu(Qingdy 2:258–68. . ByLiJifu(Tang dynas , ed.FanXiangyong. Chile yuRouran 7:145–76. etal.(Tang dynasty). , editedbyLu China: Dawnofa Zhongxi jiaotong edition. ū kan shoten.

edition. . Luoy . 4vols. . Shang Chinese - Chi ------