CCTV News: Recently, in Xi'an, Shaanxi, a set of special stamps with the theme of Silk Road archaeology was issued. Below, we use this set of stamps as a window to explore the history and history of this legendary Silk Road.
This set of exquisite stamps is the newly issued Silk Road archaeology theme stamp, which was jointly supported by the foreign affairs, postal and cultural relics departments of China and Uzbekistan under the initiative of Northwest University. The stamp design is mainly cultural relics, its shape is ancient and peculiar, the style is very different, from different countries in different periods, a common feature, is the same from this ancient Silk Road that has traveled thousands of years and stretched for thousands of miles, representing the cultural exchanges and blending of countries along the Silk Road.
On this road, there is a special archaeological team, along the route of Zhang Qian out of the Western Regions in the Western Han Dynasty, continuing to search for and excavate sites and cultural relics along the way. This archaeological team, jointly formed by Northwestern University and Uzbekistan experts, has been searching for more than 20 years to re-present the Silk Road civilization buried for thousands of years to the world in the form of Chinese Chinese.
In this set of stamp designs, there are copper savings, tiger-shaped gold ornaments and sheep's head-shaped gold ornaments in the image of the sacred beast "Griffin" in ancient Greek mythology, which are cultural relics excavated by the archaeological team in the Shirenzigou site group, with distinctive nomadic cultural characteristics; The Feons (glazed pottery) pendant with the image of the monster "Sphinx" in ancient Egyptian mythology, and the gold headdress with a heart-shaped pattern, are cultural relics excavated by the Sino-Ukrainian joint archaeological team at the Rabat site, and have obvious cultural characteristics of the Eastern Mediterranean. These cultural relics, which represent the world's diverse cultures, have shown us the historical picture of mutual learning between multi-country and multi-ethnic civilizations along the Silk Road through a long period of time.
Chang Jiang, Vice President of Northwest University: These results have clarified the archaeological and cultural characteristics and distribution range of the Yueshi and Kangju in ancient times.
It is worth mentioning that almost all of the artifacts recorded on the stamps contain innovative archaeological discoveries, and one of the important research results is to push the widely believed opening of the Silk Road forward by more than 2,000 years.
Wang Jianxin, professor at Northwest University: We have evidence at least now that archaeological evidence shows that its transportation exchanges existed between 5,000 and 4,000 years ago.
The "Silk Road Civilization" exchange traffic time was much earlier than that of the Western Han Dynasty
With the deepening of the archaeological work of the Silk Road, many new cultural relics have emerged, revealing more and more comprehensive historical facts. More and more empirical evidence shows that the Silk Road civilization exchanged traffic much earlier than Zhang Qian's envoy to the Western Han Dynasty.
At the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, some of the cultural relics in the stamps are on display, including the harness of the mythical beast "Griffin" in ancient Greek mythology, and the location is Balikun County, Xinjiang, more than 5,000 kilometers away from ancient Greece.
Li Wenying, director of the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology: Two groups of cultural relics were excavated at the Balikunshi Renzigou site in Hami City, Xinjiang, and they are both dated from the late Warring States period to the early Western Han Dynasty.
According to expert research, the owner of the cultural relics is most likely the target that Zhang Qian wanted to find in the Western Regions-the Yue people. This legendary mysterious nomad may have established cultural interconnections with Europe thousands of miles away before the establishment of the Han Dynasty.
Professor Wang Jianxin of Northwest University: We believe that this period of people is the ancient Yue people, and it may be the location of the ancient Yue royal court. It is very representative, it has typical nomadic cultural characteristics, and can be regarded as found in the tombs of higher nobles.
Another set of ornaments with ancient Egyptian cultural characteristics was excavated in Uzbekistan, more than 4,000 kilometers apart, which is also a relic of the Yue people, once again proving the scope and age of mutual learning between civilizations in countries along the Silk Road.
Li Wenying, director of the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology: The three pieces of gold are made of gold leaf covered with wooden molds, showing the pattern of a tiger and a sheep's head standing on the side, which is a popular decorative art pattern of the nomadic culture of the Eurasian steppe during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, and the nomadic people surrounding the mountainous steppe during this period played a very positive role in promoting cultural exchanges and integration between the East and the West.
Archaeologists have uncovered a large number of Yue artifacts and relics
Zhang Qian sent an envoy to the Western Regions to find the Yue people, a nation or tribe that the Western Han Dynasty valued so much, but there are extremely few records in historical documents, and the cultural relics that can be verified are also very rare. After years of exploration and research, the archaeological team of Northwestern University has excavated more and more information about this mysterious nomadic tribe that only stays in legend with a large number of cultural relics and ruins.
According to historical records, the Yue were an ancient nomadic people living in northwest China, living in the "Dunhuang and Qilian". Since there is no written record of the Yue clan, no one knows the exact source of the Yue clan. It can be confirmed that the Yue were the first well-documented ancient group of people who migrated from the East to Central Asia.
Professor Wang Jianxin of Northwest University: The Yue people originally lived in China, but they were defeated by the Xiongnu, and then they moved west and went to the Amu Darya Valley, and Zhang Qian sent an envoy to the Western Regions to find them, wanting to unite them against the Xiongnu.
According to records, Zhang Qian went through hardships and hardships to find the Yue people, so what kind of unusual activity trajectory does this mysterious tribe have? After years of field investigation, research and demonstration, the archaeological team of Northwest University put forward its own understanding based on a large number of physical evidence.
Historical documents say that ancient nomads "had no fixed place to live", but the truth is that they had their own winter settlement and summer domination centers. After the remains of the Yue people were found and confirmed in the Xinjiang region of China, the archaeological team began overseas investigation and excavation to find the Yue people along Zhang Qian's route out of the Western Regions.
Professor Wang Jianxin of Northwest University: We look for the remains of the Yue people who migrated west to Central Asia, find it too, and let the remains of these two places compare the distribution of archaeological remains of the ancient Yue clan from east to west.
The establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Uzbekistan began at least during the Tang Dynasty
As countries along the ancient Silk Road, China and Uzbekistan have established formal diplomatic relations for 30 years, and through the long river of history, we can see that at least since the Tang Dynasty, China and Ukraine have opened up traffic and cultural exchanges.
Among the cultural relics recorded in the stamps issued this time, one group of cultural relics was found in China and Uzbekistan, with a difference of more than 4,000 kilometers, dating from the Tang Dynasty and Northern Zhou, a difference of about 400 years.
Professor Wang Jianxin, Northwest University: One is a mural found at the site of Avrasyab in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, which has the image of a Chinese from the Tang Dynasty, and the other is a tomb in the Northern Zhou Dynasty called Anjia Tomb found in Xi'an, which is a Sogdian tomb, the Sogdians came from Central Asia, and Samarkand belongs to the homeland of the Sogdians.
The ancient Sogdians, modern Tajiks and Uzbeks, found in Xi'an, China, and the Tang dynasty Chinese found in Uzbekistan overlap to present a completely new historical fact.
Source: CCTV