Located in the hinterland of the Eurasian continent, Xinjiang is the gateway for Chinese civilization to open to the west, a place where Eastern and Western civilizations learn from each other, and it is also an important passage connecting the East and the West on the ancient Silk Road. As the last stop of the Xinhua News Agency's "Belt and Road Global Tour" reporting team in China, Xinjiang showed everyone its unique charm the endless historical context and brilliant and rich cultural heritage.
When it comes to East-West cultural exchanges, the "five-star out of the East benefits China" brocade arm guard is worth mentioning. It is the treasure of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum, dating back to the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty.
In 1995, Xinjiang archaeologists unearthed an 18.5 cm long and 12.5 cm wide brocade arm guard in an ancient tomb at the Nya site in Minfeng County, Hotan Prefecture. The brocade pattern uses cloud patterns as the skeleton, continuously spread from right to left along the latitude, phoenixes, birds, unicorns, white tigers and other beasts and auspicious clouds and grasses, cleverly surrounding the text of "Five Stars Out of the East to Benefit China", expressing the meaning of praying for auspicious rui. "More than 2,000 years ago, Han Dynasty tapestry appeared in Xinjiang, which confirms the historical fact that the Han Dynasty governed the Western Regions, and is also a strong evidence of the development and development of the ancient Silk Road and the cultural integration of the Central Plains and the Western Regions." Sun Weiguo, deputy research librarian of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum, said. After the unearthing of the "Five-Star Oriental Benefit China" brocade guard, it attracted worldwide attention and was included in the first batch of 64 cultural relics prohibited from overseas (border) exhibition.
Tomb No. 206 of Astana in Turpan is the joint burial tomb of Zhang Xiong, a general of Gaochang Zuowei in the Tang Dynasty, and his wife. The wooden figurines unearthed in the tomb are exquisitely made, most of them are produced by the Central Plains, with obvious Sheng Tang style, and painted camel figurines were unearthed here. The camel man is a bearded man with deep eyes and a high nose, a slightly upturned beard, a towering white felt pointed hat, a brown robes, and high-edged black boots. This figurine is carved and glued in sections, and then painted, and the facial expression is full of charm and vividness. Through the vivid expression of the camel man, it is as if he is seeing him leading a camel, carrying all kinds of goods, slowly walking along the Silk Road.
When the reputation of Chinese silk spread in West Asia, Europe and other places through the ancient Silk Road, Western civilization also passed through the wind and sand and long songs, leaving its mark in China. The human head smiling bull head pottery ware was unearthed at the Yotgan site in the Hotan area and is a cultural relic of the Tang Dynasty. The upper part of the drinking vessel is in the shape of a human head, the lower part is bull's head shaped, the bottom has a small round hole, and the upper and lower parts of the inner cavity are connected. The head has a beard abducted and curly on the upper lip and a smile. The head of the bull is slightly upturned, and the horns are erected and rounded. This drinking vessel shape is derived from "Laitong", that is, the horn cup with an animal-shaped or human head at the end, which is a common drinking utensil in Asia Minor and the Mediterranean, and similar artifacts have been unearthed in countries along the Silk Roads.
For thousands of years, the sound of camel bells has accompanied caravans through the desert Gobi, and a large number of precious cultural relics have been preserved in Xinjiang, which are telling people about the grand situation of economic and cultural exchanges on the ancient Silk Road and telling the diversity and integration of Chinese culture.
Curator: Qi Huijie
Executive Producer: Li Xiang, Hu Guoxiang
Final judge: Zhang Shuqi
Coordinator: Chen Qian
Reporter: Zhou Ye
Design: Nie Yi
Editors: Feng Xiaoqing, Tan Huiting, Mu Xiaoxiang
Image source: Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum
Academic guidance: Sun Weiguo, deputy research librarian of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum