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Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

author:The Shengle Collection
Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Silk Road

Connecting the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa

It is the earliest and most important communication channel between Eastern and Western civilizations

For thousands of years

The Silk Roads left behind splendid civilizations

It still influences history and culture around the world

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative

In the green flowing gold, the blue sky is in October

The Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was also successfully held in Beijing

The Belt and Road Initiative is the Silk Road Economic Belt

and

Short for "21st Century Maritime Silk Road"

Covering East Asia, West Asia, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe worldwide

More than 60 countries

It aims to promote the harmonious development of the world

Promote economic and social development

Promote cultural sharing

Make the world more prosperous and peaceful

Let more people enjoy the benefits of prosperity

While building poetry with the distance

Shenglejun uses a set of artifacts

Showcasing the glorious civilizations of the Silk Roads

Feel the spiritual connotation of the "Belt and Road"

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Tang Sancai camel carrying figurines

tang dynasty

The overall height is 48.5 cm, and the height of the figurine is 11.5 cm

Shaanxi History Museum

Camels are one of the main means of transportation on the Silk Road, and the camel image and music and dance image displayed by the Tang Sancai camel carrying figurine are all important manifestations of Silk Road culture. This Tang Sancai camel figurine is not only an important material evidence of the development and prosperity of Tang Dynasty culture, art and production technology, but also witnesses the exchange and integration of art on the Silk Road.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Filigree pattern gold cup

tang dynasty

Height 5.9cm, diameter 6.8cm

Shaanxi History Museum

The mouth of the golden cup is slightly skimmed, deep abdomen, circle foot, the abdomen of the golden cup is welded with four flat gold wire woven group flowers, the cup edge and the bottom of the cup have a gold silk ruyi cloud, the group flower was originally set with jewelry, has now fallen off.

Some of the artifacts in the Tang Dynasty came directly from Central Asian Sogdians, and some of them belonged to Tang imitation Sogdian style works, which are precious material evidence of exchanges and mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations through the Silk Road.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Beast head agate cup

tang dynasty

Height 5.9cm, diameter 6.8cm height 6.5cm, length 15.6cm, diameter 5.9cm

Shaanxi History Museum

The Tang Beast Head Agate Cup is the only beautiful jade carving of the Tang Dynasty seen so far, the most exquisite jade workmanship in the Tang Dynasty, and the product of Sino-foreign cultural exchanges in the Tang Dynasty, and is included in the "Catalogue of the First Batch of Cultural Relics Prohibited from Going Abroad (Border) for Exhibition".

The shape of the gold-encrusted beast-headed agate cup is similar to the wine ware "Laitong" that originated in ancient Greece, which was widely popular in Central Asia and West Asia, and continued to spread eastward into China along the Silk Road.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Bone Force

tang dynasty

Shaanxi History Museum

The belt consists of 16 pieces. His name is known from the ink book "Bone Jade One Body" on the silver box containing the ribbon.

Bone Pill is generally thought to refer to the state of Bone Pill in literature, also known as Ke Bulo, located between present-day Tajikistan and Afghanistan, and was a branch of the Western Turks during the Tang Dynasty. Historical records record that during the Kaiyuan and Tianbao years, the Bone Kingdom paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty many times. This pair of bone-made jade ribbons is currently only seen.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Guest Diagram

tang dynasty

Height 185cm, width 247cm

The "Visitor Envoy Map" is located on the east wall of the middle of Prince Zhanghuai's tomb. The characters in the painting are life-size and there are 6 characters in total. It depicts officials from the Tang Dynasty's diplomatic institution, Hongxu Temple, receiving foreign envoys.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Sancai vacated horse

tang dynasty

It is 38 cm high and 52 cm long

Shaanxi History Museum

This soaring horse shape consists of two parts: the Hu Ren Riding Figurine and the Soaring Horse. The equestrian figurine has middle hair, a bun on each ear, a full face, leans forward, fists control the reins of the horse, wears a blue robe with a round neck, a leather belt at the waist, a tie on the sac, and bare-toe boots. The horse has a fierce body shape, jumping into the air, with an erect mane on the neck, and a white, green, and yellow bag behind the saddle.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Golden-backed beast grape mirror

tang dynasty

Diameter 19.7 cm, weight 1710 grams

Xi'an Museum

Rui beast mirror was popular in the Tang Dynasty, and grapes, lions and other ornaments were the product of cultural exchanges between the East and the West at that time. The Silk Road of the Tang Dynasty was opened, and exchanges between the East and the West were frequent, and the Anguo, Kangguo, Shiguo, Mi Guo, and Persia in the Western Regions all paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Hou Sujun blamed Kou for being a Han Jian

Han dynasty

Gansu Jianmu Museum

The 36-piece booklet with a full text of 1,526 characters is a set of case files and materials on an economic dispute that occurred between Su Jun, the official of Jiaqu, and Koen, a guest in the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, covering military, civil, legal, economic and other aspects, and is an important document for studying Hexi Juyanbian in the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

During the pre-Qin period, China was divided into nine prefectures, and most of Gansu Province belonged to the two prefectures of Yong and Liang. Since the Han and Tang Dynasties, Gansu has become a channel for cultural exchanges and trade between China and the West. Zhang Sai of the Han Dynasty sent an envoy to the Western Regions, and the monk Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty went west to India to obtain scriptures, both of which passed through Gansu, leaving behind precious cultural heritage.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Eastern Han Copper Galloping Horse

Eastern han dynasty

Height 34.5 cm, length 45 cm, width 13 cm, weight 7.15 kg

Gansu Provincial Museum

At the moment when the galloping horse took off on three legs and overtook the flying bird, the bird looked back and looked back, and enhanced the momentum of the galloping horse to move forward rapidly, and the focus of the whole body was focused on the foot that surpassed the flying bird, accurately grasped the balance principle of mechanics, and had an excellent level of technology and technology. The shape is sturdy and exquisite, with the head raised and the galloping shape, showing a kind of pride and ambition to forge ahead, and is a symbol of the great temperament of the Chinese nation.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Eastern Roman Dionysian gilt silver plate

Eastern Rome

4th-6th centuries AD

Gansu Provincial Museum

This is a national treasure comparable to the copper galloping horse, an important Roman cultural relic found on the Silk Road in China, and a cultural relic that has witnessed the exchange and integration of the East and the West.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Gao Shanmu Statue Tower

The first year of Northern Liang Chengxuan

Gansu Provincial Museum

An important aspect of this cultural relic is the appearance and age, it is a precious physical material of the early stupa of the mainland dating the age, from this stone pagoda we can restore the road map of Buddhism to the east.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Stud glass bowl

North Sunday and four years

The bowl is 8 cm high and 9.5 cm in diameter

Ningxia Guyuan Museum

This glass bowl was unearthed in the tomb of Guyuan Lixian and his wife, and is a Sassanid glass masterpiece. As the gateway to the northwest of the Silk Road, Guyuan was a necessary place for trade travel between East and West, and was found along with stud glass bowls, as well as national treasures and gilt silver pots from the Sassanid era, which witnessed the cultural exchange between East and West.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Gilt silver beard bottle

Northern Zhou

It has an overall height of 37.5 cm, a maximum belly diameter of 12.8 cm, and a weight of 1.5 kg

Ningxia Guyuan Museum

This bottle of Sassanid gold and silver that was transmitted to China through the Silk Road, is exquisite and unique, and is known as the "treasure of the town hall" of the Guyuan Museum.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Red Onyx Tiger Handle Gold Cup

5th-6th centuries AD

It is 14.7 cm high and weighs about 489 grams

Xinjiang Yili Prefecture Museum

The shape of this gold cup is very reminiscent of the Greek god of wine Dionysus, and on the Roman wine vessel of the 1~2nd century AD, as well as the species unearthed by the rest culture further east, there are also wine vessels with tigers and leopards as the handle. Therefore, this golden cup deeply reflects the characteristics of the distant Mediterranean civilization.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Hu people eat bread and ride camel figurines

Sui

Height 45.7 cm

Shanxi Museum

The camel stood with its head held high on a rectangular pallet, with a blanket between its twin peaks, carrying silk, a leather pouch and other items, and on the pouch sat a person, thick eyebrows, deep eyes and a high nose, and a round felt hat on his head.

Known as the "ship of the desert", camels are the easiest animals to walk and transport in the desert, and judging from the goods carried on the back of camels, they were also the bulk commodities of trade at that time - textiles such as silk and silk. This also shows that after the Hu merchants came to the Central Plains at that time, they sold the gold and silver utensils, gemstones and spices they brought with them, and then took the local silk fabrics back, and the quantity was very large.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Painted black figurines with camels

Tang Dynasty

Height 50 cm

Gyeongseong County Museum

Semi-naked upper body, slender body, thick eyebrows, prominent cheekbones, deep sunken eye sockets, long ears, dark face. The Hu merchants and Hu people of the Tang Dynasty were mostly white, and the blacks were called Kunlunnu.

According to research, the blacks of the Tang Dynasty generally came from two places, one was Southeast Asia and the other was Egypt. The blacks of Southeast Asia came from the southern part of the Indochina Peninsula and the Nanyang Islands, and Kunlun Nu refers to the blacks from these places. And the dark-skinned Western Regions people scattered in the Hexi corridor, their hometown is Alexandria in Egypt, along the oasis Silk Road, thousands of miles, they came to the East, witnessing the prosperity of the Silk Road.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Shishi

tang dynasty

Forest of Steles Museum in Xi'an

Ancient Chinese lions mostly came from foreign countries through silk routes.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Yellow-glazed flat pot pottery

Northern Qi

Overall height 20.5 cm

Henan Museum

This flat pot is shaped like a leather bag pot from the Western Regions, and the two sides of the pot are molded with a pattern of Hu Teng dance from the nomads of the Western Regions, which was popular from the Northern Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty. The tomb owner Fan Zhiyao led the history of Liangzhou, and artifacts with the Western Regions style were unearthed in his tomb, indicating the historical fact that the culture of the Western Regions infiltrated the Central Plains at that time.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Female pottery

Syria

2000 BC

Height 14.4cm, width 5cm

Statue of a goddess in northern Syria. She held the child to her chest, her body was simplified, her body was pulled into a slender flat shape, and her neck was embellished with huge jewelry.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Red pottery long-necked bottle

Syria

Late Bronze Age

3600-3200 years ago

This slender-necked bottle, which was common in ancient Syria and is usually gray in color, should be a reservoir and is mainly exported to Cyprus. This red vase may have been used to hold valuable liquids or for religious ceremonies, and an inscription on the base of the vessel records where it was produced.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Ugaritian clay plate

Syria

Late Bronze Age

3600-3200 years ago

Discovered at the site of Ugarite, this clay tablet records sacrifices to the main Ugarit gods, such as the gods of rain and thunder and the gods of the earth, to pray for protection from poisonous snakes and diseases.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Sphinx carvings

Syria

900-800 BC

The carving, found in Hadatu in Aleppo province, depicts two sheep-headed sphinxes, facing each other with a sacred plant in the middle. The Sphinx is derived from winged monsters in ancient Egyptian mythology. Legend has it that there are three types of Sphinx, namely the human-faced sphinx, the sheep-headed sphinx, and the eagle-headed sphinx.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Portrait Spout Pottery

Syria

Around 1800 BC

Height 23.5 cm

On the pottery sits a man with his right hand on his head, who comically opens his mouth, widens his eyes, leans forward, and his mouth is used as an outlet for the pottery.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Black faience pottery

Greece

Second half of the 6th century BC

A cantalus wine cup made by the Athenians in ancient Greece, decorated with black painting techniques. The wine glass depicts a young man riding a horse, and on the left and right sides stand an old man with a long robe with a staff. On the other side of the wine glass is a large water bird, with two leopards standing on the left and right of the water bird facing each other.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Bull's head-shaped red faience to pass

Southern Italy

4th century BC

Height 20 cm

This piece is in the shape of a black bull's head, and the outer paint contains more iron, giving off a metallic sheen. The wine jug is painted in red, depicting a famous scene in Greek mythology: Zeus, who transforms into a swan, is seducing the peerless beauty Lida.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Goddess statue

Southern Italy

7th-6th centuries BC

Height 8.3cm, width 12.2cm, height 23.5cm

Cylindrical female statues. She wears a tall woven hat, her long braided hair hangs down her chest, and she has a legendary classical smile on her lips. Most of these hats were owned by Demeter (the goddess of earth and grain).

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Sesame oil bottle with gold base

Eastern Mediterranean

4th-3rd centuries BC

Height 18.6cm, width 5.1cm

Aromatic essential oil container with gold countertop underneath. The pattern on the container is wrapped around the glass bottle with dissolved colored glass, and while it has not yet cooled, a wire or other instrument is pushed vertically to create a pattern that resembles a bird's feather.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Lifting beam glass bottle

Eastern Mediterranean

4th-5th centuries AD

Height 23cm, width 7.3cm

The one-piece bottle is wrapped around a glass rope and has a large two-layer handle at the top of the mouth. This complex decoration with glass rope requires a very high level of craftsmanship and sophisticated temperature control. The bottle is a first-class treasure made by skilled glassblowers in Roman times.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Faience figure head

Mesopotamia

14th-12th century BC

Height 3.3cm, width 4.5cm, height 6cm

Painted pottery from ancient Mesopotamia. Painted pottery is an ancient fired product with quartz powder as the main raw material. There are three holes in the ears of the figure, and you can see traces of inlay techniques on the eyes and eyebrows.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Ox-shaped pottery

Northwest Iran

12th BC-8th century BC

Height 28 cm

A large number of pottery and metal utensils have been excavated from the tombs of princes and princes on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea in northwestern Iran, mostly in various animal shapes, although they have different shapes, but they are basically used in wine banquets or sacrificial ceremonies.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Pegasus-shaped silver to pass

Iran

Around the 4th century BC

Height 27 cm

In ancient Persia and West Asia, leton was a ceremonial vessel. At the front end is the front half of the winged horse (i.e., Pegasus), which at first glance looks like a horn cup, but in fact there are outflow holes between the horse's forefeet, through which wine can be poured into the glass.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Stone seated statue of the goddess

Afghanistan

Around 1900 BC

Height 10 cm

A very representative statue of the Earth Mother god in the Bactrian bronze culture of Afghanistan, with a white limestone face and a green mudstone hat or hair and clothes. The statue was dressed in the traditional Sumerian dress of the time, the Kaunakis, and was influenced by the culture of Mesopotamia.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Golden Crown

Afghanistan

2nd century BC - 2nd century AD

Height 7.5cm, diameter 17.5cm

Gold crown making can be said to be a tradition of Greek style metal craftsmanship, and the use of olive leaves for decoration is also characteristic of Greek art, and the crown absorbs the above style.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Buddha relief sculpture (birth, out of the city, enlightenment, first turn of the Falun)

Gandhara

1st-3rd centuries AD

Height 15cm, width 34cm

The inside of the square body has a rectangular through-shaped openwork, which is considered to be the place where the relic container is placed on the base of the stupa. Pictures of the Buddha are drawn on all sides, including the birth of the Buddha, leaving the city (passing the city in the middle of the night), sitting on his knees and settling the fearless seal of the Buddha to worship the emperor Shakuten, enlightenment, and the first statement (the first turn of the Falun). The Dharma wheel behind the pillar represents the Buddha's teachings.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Guanyin Bodhisattva half-contemplative image

Gandhara

2nd-3rd centuries AD

Height 78.5cm, width 36cm

Stone, a statue of a bodhisattva wearing the crest of Kshatriya on his head, holds a lotus flower in his left hand, leans on a rattan chair above the lotus, and presses his right foot on his left leg. The figures of men and women carved at both ends of the rattan chair represent the giver.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Statue of Buddha

Gandhara

2nd-3rd centuries AD

Height 109cm, width 36cm

Dimensions of Buddha statue plus base (length 40, width 29.5, height 123)

The Buddha statue applies the dreadnought seal in his right hand and the corner of his clothes in his left hand. The disc-shaped backlight expresses the Iranian idea of the world of immeasurable light, man as God. The technique of placing the center of gravity on one foot of the Buddha statue is derived from Greek art. The coat wrapped around the shoulders is also characteristic of the Gandhara standing Buddha statue.

Heavy cultural relics, witness the Silk Road civilization

Stupa-shaped glass relic box

Gandhara

2nd-4th centuries AD

Height 6cm, width 1.9cm

The stupa tower is made of glass and the rest of the tower is made of gold. The stupa consists of a four-story pagoda, a bottle and a square pagoda, and is a typical Gandhara stupa.

Thousands of years of history along the Silk Roads

It provides the source of ideas for the Belt and Road Initiative

It is also the basis for action to jointly build the "Belt and Road"

It carries the common dream of development and prosperity of countries along the Silk Road

It gave the ancient Silk Road a new connotation of the times

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