『Editor's note: The beauty of national treasures, through ancient and modern times, is magnificent. Behind each rare cultural relic is the ingenuity and wisdom of the ancients, engraved with the cultural genes of the Chinese nation, and witnessing the exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations. From 11 January 2023, China News Service "East-West Question" has launched the "Treasures of the Town Hall" series of planning (1) to explore the meaning of cultural relics and the stories behind them."
Fuzhou, 16 Jan (ZXS) -- Question: How did West Asian pottery come to China more than a thousand years ago?
——Interview with Chen Zisheng, Director of the Social Education Department of Fujian Museum
China News Agency reporter Long Min
As the earliest peacock blue-glazed artifacts found in China, one of the Persian peacock blue-glazed pottery vases is now in the Fujian Museum. It was excavated in 1965 from the tomb of Liu Hua, wife of Wang Yanjun, the fifth Fujian king of Lianhuafeng, in the northern suburbs of Fuzhou.
What makes people wonder is what kind of pottery are these peacock blue glazed pottery vases? How did you come to China from West Asia and Persia? Chen Zisheng, director of the Social Education Department of the Fujian Museum, recently gave an exclusive interview to the China News Agency's "East-West Question" and explained this.
The following is a summary of the interview:
China News Agency: As the "treasure of the town hall" of the Fujian Museum, how was the peacock blue-glazed pottery bottle discovered? What kind of pottery is this?
Chen Zisheng: In the mid-60s of the 20th century, the Fujian Provincial Museum (now known as the "Fujian Museum") cleaned the tomb of Liu Hua, wife of Wang Yanjun, the third monarch of the Fujian State during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, on the southern slope of Dongbao Mountain in the northern suburbs of Fuzhou City. The tomb was stolen in the early years, and most of the precious items were looted, except for three peacock blue-glazed pottery vases, three stone-covered lotus seats, and a group of exquisite terracotta figurines with exquisite Tang dynasty heritage. At present, one of the three peacock blue-glazed vases is in the Fujian Museum, one is in the National Museum, and the other is in the Quanzhou Overseas Transportation History Museum.
Peacock blue glazed pottery vases are very eye-catching, they are relatively large, the surface of the ware is applied with blue glaze, the shape is special, the glaze is thick and crystalline, the tire thickness is loose, the fracture surface is light red, the fire is not high, and it belongs to the glazed pottery. The shapes are similar in size, all of which are mouth, bulbous and small bottom, and are 74.5 cm to 78 cm high. The outer abdominal wall is a banner-like pattern made of three groups of mud strips, and the lower abdomen is a wavy pattern. Two of them have three ears attached to the shoulder and neck.
This is the earliest peacock blue glaze artifact found in China, which has attracted widespread attention from the academic community. Authoritative experts speculate that whether it is the type or material, it is unlikely to be a product of the ancient Chinese kiln, but was introduced from the West Asian and Persian regions.
The peacock blue-glazed pottery vase originating from Persia, because of its special historical, cultural and artistic value, can be called the "treasure of the town hall" of the Fujian Museum, which is not only of great significance to the study of the history of Sino-foreign ceramic exchanges, but also a physical witness of the friendly exchanges between the ancient Chinese nation and the people of West Asia through the sea. In 2021, the peacock blue-glazed pottery vase also appeared on behalf of the Fujian Museum in the "National Treasure" series.
▲Peacock blue glazed pottery vase. Photo courtesy of Fujian Museum
China News Agency: Why is the peacock blue-glazed pottery vase identified as produced in West Asia and Persia around the 9th century?
Chen Zisheng: The peacock blue-glazed pottery vase unearthed in Liu Hua's tomb during the Five Dynasties Min Kingdom period is not a Chinese product, but an imported product. At that time, there were commercial exchanges between Fujian and South Asia, West Asia and other regions, and the history books recorded: "Fuzhou tribute tortoiseshell glass rhinoceros ware, and treasures, incense medicines, strange products, and colors, the price is tens of millions." "Obviously, many of these tributes from the Min Kingdom are imported and have a strong exotic color.
It is known from the epitaph of Liu Hua's tomb that the tomb owner Liu Hua was the second daughter of Liu Yin, the king of the Southern Han Dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, and was married to the Min state in the third year of Later Liang Zhenming (917 AD), the wife of the Min king Yanjun, and died in the first year of Later Tang Changxing (930 AD). It can be seen that the three peacock blue-glazed pottery vases should be dated to 930 AD.
According to historical sources, the native Chinese peacock blue glaze appeared later, and it is generally believed that it did not appear until after Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty, that is, after the 16th century AD. The peacock blue mackerel lotus plate in the collection of the Shanghai Museum, dated to the Ming Dynasty; The collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art is a large album of blue-glazed white flowers and flowers, which is also dated to the Ming Dynasty.
From the shape, fetal quality and ornamentation of the peacock blue glazed pottery vase, similar artifacts have been found in Iran, Iraq and other places, and they are consistent with Islamic glazed pottery from the 9th to the 10th century AD.
Therefore, the origin of these three pottery vases should be from the ancient Persian region. Ancient Persia, known for its pottery, pottery glaze, glaze color yellow, blue, especially light blue glaze is the most distinctive.
Persia had friendly exchanges with China for a long time, and after the Sui and Tang dynasties, relations were particularly close, and trade was quite frequent. Relevant experts believe that these three peacock blue-glazed pottery vases should be ancient Persian products, imported into China before 930 AD in the context of the "Maritime Silk Road".
Liu Hua's tomb also unearthed three stone carvings covered with lotus seats. According to experts, they are supposed to be the holders of three peacock blue-glazed pottery vases. In ancient Persia, such vessels were often used to hold oil, and in order to stabilize the body, the Persians often buried the bottom of the vessel in the ground. The peacock blue-glazed pottery vase in Liu Hua's tomb is likely to be used to hold oil as a "Changming lantern". The tomb is a stone burial chamber, and the floor is also paved with stone slabs, so it is specially made of stone carved rosette stabilizing objects.
▲ Liu Hua, wife of Wang Yanjun, the third monarch of the Fujian State during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, cleaned up the tomb of Liu Hua, three peacock blue-glazed pottery vases, three stone-covered lotus seats and a group of exquisite terracotta figurines with exquisite sculptures and Tang dynasty heritage. Photo courtesy of Fujian Museum
China News Agency: How did these exquisite West Asian pottery come to China?
Chen Zisheng: This peacock blue-glazed pottery vase is not the only case of West Asian pottery being transmitted to China. Fujian Provincial Museum experts also found several pieces of peacock blue-glazed pottery during the investigation of the Fengqishan Wang Chao Tomb in Luoyang Town, Hui'an, Quanzhou, and their glaze color, ceramic quality and tire thickness were consistent with the peacock blue-glazed pottery vase unearthed from the tomb of Liu Hua in Fuzhou.
Wang Chao, formerly known as Wang Xunchao, the founder of the Min state, one of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, died in the first year of Tang Zhaozong's Guanghua (898 AD); Liu Hua died in the first year of Changxing (930 AD), 32 years apart. From the perspective of chronology, from 898 to 930 AD, peacock blue-glazed pottery vases were buried as funerary objects, which may be a funeral rite or custom of the princes and nobles of Min.
The peacock blue-glazed pottery vase displayed in the exhibition hall of the Fujian Museum, which is large in shape and relatively fragile in ceramics, cannot withstand many turns, and should be transported directly from Iran to Fuzhou. That is to say, the peacock blue-glazed pottery vase entered the Fujian country by ship, along the sea route, from the port of Fuzhou.
Since the Tang Dynasty, the land "Silk Road" has gradually declined or been interrupted due to war, and the transportation capacity of the "Maritime Silk Road" has leapt to the top of the transportation between China and the West. At that time, due to the development of China's shipbuilding industry and the advancement of HNA technology, there was a large ship called "Cangbao" in the Tang Dynasty, which was 20 zhang long and could carry six or seven hundred people; There is also a sea ship called "Yu Da Niang", which can carry up to 30,000 stone.
On the southeast coast of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the port of Fuzhou has risen. According to Xue Neng's poem "Sending Fujian Li Dafu", Fuzhou has "ships to the city to add foreigners", reflecting the grand situation of Fuzhou's trade with overseas. At that time, the port of Fuzhou was already an important port for the entrepot trade of "Persian goods" into China. The Quan Tang Book also records that at that time, there were already merchants who traded Persian goods into China, and made a lot of money in the trade.
After the discovery of peacock blue-glazed pottery vases in Liu Hua's tomb, similar artifacts were found in Yangzhou, Ningbo, Quanzhou, Guilin, Rong County, Guangzhou and other places. With the exception of Guilin and Rong County, these areas were important port cities in China from the 9th to the 10th century AD, which testifies to the prosperity of the maritime trade economy at that time.
▲A peacock blue-glazed pottery vase displayed in the exhibition hall of the Fujian Museum. Photo by Lv Ming
China News Agency: The unearthing of peacock blue-glazed pottery vases has witnessed the prosperity of the ancient "sea silk". Nowadays, with the comprehensive advancement of high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road", how to learn from the past and the present, so that the spirit of the Silk Road can be passed on to the next generation?
Chen Zisheng: Peacock blue-glazed pottery vase has special historical, cultural and artistic value, is one of the imported commodities overseas, and is also a witness of the friendly exchanges between the people of China and West Asia.
As one of the main positions of cultural dissemination, the cultural relics resources owned by the museum carry the common memory of the people along the "Belt and Road", promote ideological and cultural exchanges in the regions along the route, and have a positive and far-reaching impact on social development and national consciousness. Under the new situation, the core task of the museum is to guide the audience to look back at the glorious development process of civilization through cultural relics and exhibitions.
▲Exterior view of Fujian Museum. Photo courtesy of Fujian Museum
In 2013, the Fujian Museum, together with 45 museums in seven coastal provinces of China, gathered more than 300 cultural relics and held the "Silk Road Sail Away - Seven Provinces Joint Exhibition of Maritime Silk Road Cultural Relics". Up to now, the exhibition has been exhibited in many provinces and cities in China.
At the same time, in order to let the majority of young people further understand the millennium style of the "Silk Road", we have developed eight series of educational courses with the themes of porcelain, silk clothing, tea, spices, animals and plants, food, navigation and shipbuilding. On the basis of the exhibition, he edited and published the popular science book "Silk Road on the Tip of the Tongue", which was deeply loved by the majority of readers.
Through the holding of the exhibition and the development of educational activities, it is hoped that the general audience, especially the youth, will deeply feel the cultural connotation of the "Silk Road" and the importance of jointly building the "Belt and Road" due to the exchange of civilizations due to diversity, mutual learning due to exchange, and development due to mutual learning. (End)
Respondent Profile:
Chen Zisheng, Research Librarian, Director of the Social Education Department of the Fujian Museum, Deputy Director of the Social and Education Committee of the China Association of Museums. He has been engaged in museum social education for a long time, mainly committed to the research of museum public education and communication promotion, and presided over and participated in the compilation of "Cultural Relics Stories - General Reader of Fujian Ancient Civilization" and "Silk Road on the Tip of the Tongue".