Exhibition site
"Dragonfly Eyes" Glass Beads (Gansu Provincial Museum Collection)
"Silk Road Guanghua: Guangdong Long Cultural Relics Group Exhibition" was exhibited at the Guangdong Provincial Museum from March 24 to June 26.
The exhibition is guided by the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics and the Gansu Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics, and co-sponsored by the Guangdong Provincial Museum (Guangzhou Lu Xun Memorial Hall) and the Gansu Provincial Museum. Based on the latest archaeological discoveries and historical documents, the exhibition is divided into three parts: "The Rise of the Silk Road", "The Prosperity of the Silk Road" and "The Light of the Silk Road", and more than 500 cultural relics of the cultural and cultural institutions of the two places are selected, and many treasures are unveiled in Guangdong for the first time.
Text: Guangzhou Daily all-media reporter Bu Songzhu
Photo: Courtesy of Guangdong Provincial Museum
Correspondent: Huang Suzhe
Dissemination and reengineering
A journey through the world of "Dragonfly Eyes" glass beads
Experts from the Guangdong Provincial Museum pointed out that Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian on an envoy to the Western Regions and then sent envoys to the countries of the South China Sea, and since then, the East and the West have had frequent exchanges. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, Chinese history entered the era of the second great unification dynasty, and Dunhuang, located in the northwest and Guangzhou in the southern port, played an important role in the Silk Road. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, the various ethnic groups in the northwest developed together, and the southern sea trade also flourished. After the fifteenth century, with the advent of the era of great navigation, Jiayuguan in Gansu and Guangdong Guangdong Customs became the intersection of Chinese and Western cultures. At a key juncture in history, the Overland Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road both developed and echoed each other, jointly pushing ancient China to the world.
The "Dragonfly Eyes" glass beads in the exhibition are an important cultural relic that witnesses the exchange of the Silk Road. In the exhibition, we can see the "Dragonfly Eye" of the Warring States Period (476 BC - 221 BC) collected by the Gansu Provincial Museum, and we can also see the "Dragonfly Eye" of the early Western Han Dynasty (about the 1st century BC) collected by the Guangdong Provincial Museum. This glass bead was first made in Egypt in the 16th century BC and was mostly used as an amulet. It was introduced eastward through the Eurasian steppe to China, and around 500 BC it spread to the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River Basin. This piece from the Guangdong Provincial Museum is of Chinese origin and bears witness to the sinicization of Western craftsmanship and its spread from north to south in the country.
Northwest and Lingnan "bear shape symbol" high consistency
Gansu, located in northwest China, is a necessary transportation route for the "Overland Silk Road"; Guangdong, located in South China, has an important trading port of the "Maritime Silk Road". They are thousands of miles apart and closely related. Through this exhibition, we can understand the history and origin of the Hexi Corridor in Gansu and the Tonghaiyi Road in Guangzhou, and more deeply appreciate the cultural history of cross-regional ideological and technological dissemination and mutual learning in the same time and space.
For example, the bear stomp bricks excavated from the site of the Nanyue Royal Palace Office in Guangzhou. Comparing it with the bear stomping bricks collected from Xiaheqing Farm in Jiuquan City, Gansu Province, it is more able to appreciate the scope of the time and space spread of specific cultural symbols. The bear symbolizes bravery and toughness, and was already a common decorative theme during the Shang and Zhou dynasties. By the Qin and Han dynasties, the artistic shape of the bear was more colorful, representing the special status of the owner. The brick ornaments found in the two places are all in the shape of bears, which shows that both the northwest and lingnan use architectural components with similar patterns, reflecting the consistency of the hierarchy and etiquette of the princes of the Han Dynasty.
Gansu Province unearthed a number of Tang Dynasty camel figurines, indicating that camels were a symbol of wealth like other livestock at that time, reflecting the equal emphasis on commerce and agriculture in daily life in the Hexi Corridor. Guangzhou has also unearthed many figurines of Hu people, reflecting that similar "foreigners" were also common in lingnan during the Han and Tang dynasties.
Mutual learning and blending "Persian brocade" has also influenced Chinese silk
It should be noted that whether it is "Lu Silk" or "Hai Silk", the communication between East and West is in many cases a two-way interactive process, you have me, I have you. The cultural landscape of each place is also enriched by this interaction.
Several important goods on the Silk Road, which are well known to everyone, are presented differently in the exhibition. For example, the Fragments of Tang Dynasty Pigeon Pattern Brocade collected by the Gansu Provincial Museum are very sketchy and reflect the novelty and interest. Experts from The Province pointed out that although ancient Chinese silk has a wide variety, brilliant colors, exquisite craftsmanship and superb skills, which have had a profound impact on the world, it is worth noting that silk is not only a one-way export of China. Emperor Wen of Sui was very fond of the "Persian brocade" from Central Asia, and ordered people to actively learn, which in turn promoted the development of Chinese silk weaving technology.
Another example is the Persian blue glazed pottery vase excavated from the Jinghaofang construction site of Dama Station in Guangzhou. Most of the Persian blue glazed pottery vases were used as storage and transportation containers for liquids such as sesame oil, wine, and rose water, and most of them were introduced from West Asia during the Tang Dynasty. Their discovery has enriched the variety of ceramic artifacts in China.
Source: Guangzhou Daily