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Monks and Merchants: Silk Road Treasures from Northwest China,
Gansu and Ningxia, 4th - 7th Century
February 9 - April 21, 2002
Monks and Merchants: Silk Road Treasures from Northwest China, Gansu
and Ningxia, 4th – 7th Century comprises more than 120 spectacular
artifacts – including Buddhist images, metalwork, textiles, glass,
funerary furniture and ceramics, many only recently excavated and
most never before seen in the West, from the only stretch of the
Silk Road that traversed ancient China.
Set in a period of disunity in China' s history – the tumultuous
four hundred years between the fall of the Han dynasty and the rise
of the Tang empire – the exhibition tells the story of relationships
among cultures and societies through trade and religion as opposed
to military conquests. The period is far less well known than the
Han and Tang periods, mainly because of a relative lack of
historical texts. And yet, it is a period of considerable cultural
and artistic achievement. This exhibition draws extensively on
recent archaeological excavations of sites and largely unpublished
material from Gansu and Ningxia, in the northwest of China, to
reveal the impact of new religious, ethnic and cultural influences
penetrating China during this time and their transformative effect
on Chinese culture. During these centuries, China's ancient
civilization and art were almost totally transformed by Buddhism,
which spread from India across Central Asia into China together with
the increased commercial activity along the Silk Road.
The part of northwest China the exhibition focuses on was a virtual
melting pot of ethnic groups and traditions that ultimately
influenced cultural trends in the metropolitan centers farther east.
Among the prominent groups were the Sogdians, an Iranian people
widely dispersed through Central Asia, who were the most successful
traders on the Silk Road as well as important transmitters of
Buddhist materials; They interacted with the Tibetans and nomads who
also formed the complex society in this area in the aftermath of the
Han empire.
As the main entry to China from the West, Gansu and Ningxia were
critical in the ancient world, yet, with the exception of Dunhuang,
other spectacular Buddhist cave sites in the vicinity remain little
known. Most of the objects featured in Monks and Merchants can be
associated with a specific site or area, all are in official public
collections in Gansu province and Ningxia Hui autonomous region.
(The one exception is the Sogdian Ancient Letter II, from the
British Library, London.)
Foremost among the approximately 120 objects are some highly
important exotic pieces, either actual imports from Central or
Western Asia or Chinese artifacts inspired by foreign styles. The
former include a remarkable silver-gilt ewer with classical scenes,
a Sasanian glass bowl and sword, and Byzantine coins all yielded by
a cemetery of merchant-officials of Central Asian and Sogdian
descent. Buddhist sculpture also forms an important section of the
exhibition and includes some exceptionally beautiful images from
Dunhuang and Maijishan, two of China's four great Buddhist grottos.
Taken together, these remarkable works provide an unprecedented
opportunity to explore issues of ethnic identity – what is, what is
not, Chinese, then and now. Many of the objects were produced in
foreign lands and traveled great distances to arrive in China. The
ideas, styles and motifs transmitted – such as an interest in
naturalism, the image of the inhabited vine, and decorative beaded
borders – were assimilated and transformed by the Tang to create a
new, national style that defined the three centuries of their rule
and today still influences Chinese arts.
The exhibition is curated by Annette L. Juliano, Rutgers University,
and Judith A. Lerner, an independent art historian, in association
with Colin A. Mackenzie, Curator of Galleries, the Asia Society.
An illustrated 352-page catalogue with essays by Juliano and Lerner,
and other scholars from China, Russia and the United States,
published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., will accompany the exhibition
and will be available in the Museum Store.
Monks and Merchants: Silk Road Treasures from Northwest China, Gansu
and Ningxia, 4th – 7th Century is organized by the Asia Society.
Funding is provided by J.P. Morgan Chase & Company, The W.L.S.
Spencer Foundation, The Starr Foundation, the National Endowment for
the Humanities, The Henry Luce Foundation Inc., the E. Rhodes and
Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts
and the individuals of Gansu Dotcom. The local presentation of this
exhibition is generously funded in part through the corporate
sponsorship of Citigroup Private Bank with additional support
provided by the Chastain Foundation and media sponsors The Palm
Beach Post and WPTV NewsChannel 5.
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