The Sogdian Caravan as Depicted in the Relieves of the Stone Sarcophagus from Shi’s Tomb of the Northern Zhou Rong Xinjiang Key words: Sogdian sabao sarcophagus caravan Following the excavations of tombs of Yu Hong 虞弘 and one of them is carrying a cargo pack on his shoulder. and An Jia 安伽, the tomb of Shi 史, the sabao 萨保 of A man is leading a horse laden with cargo, another man Liangzhou 凉州 under the Northern Zhou, provides a is resting on the ground as he tends to two laden camels. rich source of visual materials for the study of Sogdian Further behind are two donkeys laden with packs. The immigrants in China. By referencing other written and upper scene must be a depiction of the sabao, the Sogdian visual materials, the present study is a brief analysis of caravan leader, paying homage to the nomad the Sogdian caravan as seen in Shi’s stone sarcophagus. (Hephthalites or Turks) chief, while the scene below depicts the caravan at rest. I. The Sogdian Caravan Depicted in Shi’s Similar scenes can be found on screens from other Stone Sarcophagus stone sarcophagi. For example, the stone slab numbered On the third scene of the west side of Shi’s stone sar- D from the stone panels in the Miho Museum collection cophagus (W3, Fig. 1) is a depiction of a Sogdian chief (Fig. 3) depicts foreigners leading camels laden with hunting in the forest above and a caravan procession large packs, accompanied by one foreigner to the right below. Leading the caravan are two equestrian male and another behind. Below are three mounted nomads figures, one with a quiver hanging from his belt. Be- (Hephthalites or Turks) with loosely hanging hair. Re- hind them are two camels laden with merchandise, and covered from Yidu 益都, Shandong 山东, is a set of at the rear is an equestrian male figure wearing a boat- screens from another stone panels in which a “camel shaped hat, peering through a looking glass held in his caravan” scene is also depicted (Fig. 4). A servant with right hand. To the right of the two camels are two horses deep-set eyes and prominent nose is leading a camel and and a donkey with a cargo pack driven forward by a a fine horse, his master’s mount, to the right. The camel man cracking his whip. is carrying bundles of woven fabric and a dangling wa- Next to this scene around the corner is the first scene ter flask. At the top of the fifth scene on the left screen on the north side of the stone sarcophagus (N1, Fig. 2). of An Jia’s stone platform are two figures seated on the A man is sitting with his legs folded under his body in- floor inside a round tiger-skin tent; the left one wearing side a tent. He wears a jeweled crown, full-length tunic a cap is the Sogdian sabao, the right one with loosely with collar and narrow sleeves, knife dangling from a hanging hair is the Turkic chief. Outside the tent are belt at his waist, and he is holding an elongated cup in four attendants. Below are three foreigners dressed in his right hand. In front of the tent is an oval rug on full-length fitted tunics; one is carrying a backpack, the which kneels an elderly man wearing a felt hat, full- other an ewer, and behind them are two donkeys haul- length tunic with collar and narrow sleeves, knife hang- ing packs and a single-hump camel with a towering load ing from his belt; holding an elongated cup in his right kneeling in resting position. This composition of stack- hand, he is drinking with the man inside the tent. Flank- ing one scene above another is very similar to that on ing the tent are three attendants. Below is a scene of a the first scene on the north panel of Shi’s stone caravan at rest. At the center are two conversing men, sarcophagus. The upper scene shows the Sogdian sabao Volume 6 181 Fig. 1 The caravan procession on Shi’s stone sarcophagus Fig. 2 The caravan procession on Shi’s stone sarcophagus paying a visit to the nomadic chief, the lower scene shows figure represents a typical constituent of a caravan. Other the accompanying caravan at rest. surviving evidence helps us to estimate the average size If the representations of caravans in tombs of Sogdian of a Sogdian caravan. For example, Chapter 50 of His- leaders are compared with those found in their Sogdian tory of Zhou 周书 says: In 553, the governor of homeland, their significance would become immediately Liangzhou of the Western Wei attacked the Tuyuhun apparent. Professor F. Grenet, who has been conduct- 吐谷浑 envoy returning from the Northern Qi and took ing archaeological excavations on Sogdian soil in re- hostage over two hundred and forty foreign merchants, cent years, says: “In the whole of Sogdian art there is six hundred camels, tens of thousands of silks in myriad not a single caravan, not a single ship.” Accordingly colors. This suggests the impressive size of the caravan. the pictorial representation from Shi’s stone sarcopha- Buddhist texts contain many stories of five hundred gus offers us an excellent perspective from which to un- merchants led by sabao (merchant leader) traveling derstand the Sogdian caravan. abroad for trade. These events originally reflect the con- ditions of Indian merchants traveling abroad, but in the II. Several Issues Concerning the Sogdian murals of rock-cut caves of Kizil and Dunhuang 敦煌, Caravan they are transformed into depictions of Sogdian caravans. 1. The size of the caravan It is reasonable to assume that, given the large amount Only a few figures are shown in the caravan depic- of gold, silver, treasures and riches carried by the Sogdian tions from Shi’s stone sarcophagus and from other ex- caravan, only relatively large groups would have dared amples elsewhere. This is perhaps due to the limitation to traverse the desolate terrain. With more people, there of the given pictorial space. In these very dense compo- is a relatively better chance of warding off bandits or sitions the number of people may be limited, but every even the attack of enemy troops, as indicated by the 182 Chinese Archaeology Fig. 3 The caravan procession on the stone screen collected in the Fig. 4 Rubbing of the caravan procession on the stone screen from Art Gallery of Miho Yidu Western Wei army’s attack of the Sogdian caravan from guards for Sogdian caravans; in pictorial representation, Tuyuhun mentioned above. The foreign merchants’ they are usually shown riding horses on the periphery of encounters with bandits are also frequently depicted in the caravan. the Dunhuang murals. The practice of assembling multiple ethnicities into 2. Ethnic composition of the caravan caravans continued through the Tang Dynasty. Accord- As depictions of caravans are found mostly in the ing to the document recovered in Turfan, entitled “The tombs of Sogdian leaders who have already settled in entry petition of Kang Weiyiluoshi and others in the first China, we call them Sogdian caravans. But this does year of the Chuigong era (AD 685) of the Tang,” two not mean that every member of the caravan is of Sogdian caravans with Sogdians and Tokharians respectively pe- ethnicity. In fact, during the Middle Ages, the ethnic titioned for entry at the Tang Office in the Xi Prefecture composition of the Sogdian caravans that traversed the for the purpose of “promoting trade to the east.” The Xi Silk Road is very complex. Images from Shi’s sarcopha- Prefecture regrouped them into two caravans, one of gus show people wearing different costumes; while their which had a Sogdian caravan leader from Samarkand, ethnicity cannot be firmly determined, they seem to have with other participants from Tokharistan, Samarkand, come from more than one ethnic group. The Miho im- Kushanika, Kaputana, Bukhara; there were probably also ages indicate that, besides Sogdian foreigners, there are Türks. also Hephthalites and Türks with loosely hanging hair. 3. Constituency of the caravan The nomadic confederacies were in fact the protectors The sabao, the leader of the Sogdian caravan, was of the Sogdians who traveled from west to east for trade, usually a Sogdian. This is clearly confirmed by the and it is possible that some of the nomads served as names of sabao stated in tomb epitaphs. Visual evi- Volume 6 183 dence from An Jia also shows that the portrait of a sabao vehicles used by the Sogdian caravan. The caravan donning a cap is present in almost every scene. In simi- beasts recorded in the“The entry petition of Kang lar scenes from Shi’s stone sarcophagus, the elderly fig- Weiyiluoshi and others”consist of one horse, two ure with long beard wearing a felt hat must be the sabao camels, twenty-six donkeys. The chapter “Tuyuhun of the Sogdian caravan; sitting outside the felt tent, he is Zhuan”(Record of the Tuyuhun) of the Zhou Shu 周书 conversing with the person inside the tent. As for the (History of Zhou) states that the Tuyuhun envoys and caravan procession on the west side, the bearded male caravans had six hundred camels and mules. figure donning a boat-shaped hat, holding a viewing tube Did the Sogdian caravan use oxen as beasts of burden? and riding a horse in the middle of the caravan must be An Jia’s depictions include the carved relief of an ox a type of lower ranking leader serving under the sabao, pulling a large-wheeled wooden cart, suggesting that caravan leader.