Summary: The Exhibition of “The Silk Road Yutian——Blending of Culture and Art” “Followed by the strategy of the Belt and Road Initiative for exuding the charms of culture of Xinjiang, The Silk Road Yutian——Blending of Culture and Art: The Exhibition on Top-Notch W

The Exhibition of “The Silk Road Yutian——Blending of Culture and Art”

 “Followed by the strategy of the Belt and Road Initiative for exuding the charms of culture of Xinjiang, The Silk Road Yutian——Blending of Culture and Art: The Exhibition on Top-Notch Work of Art of Relics of Ancient Hetian (Yutian) in Xinjiang Province” held by the Museum of Xinjiang as one of the most events during the week for showcasing the cultures of China and other regions is on view on September 18^th.

 

Entering the exhibition hall on the second floor, historical traces of the mingling of the four great civilizations in Hetian could be found in pieces of relics, including sculptures with a great variety of shapes and postures, vivid frescoes, colorful wool fabrics and plain books turning yellow. Carrying with the profound cultures and arts, it reveals the inclusiveness and magnanimity of Xinjiang.

 

Yutian, namely Hetian for today, sits at the foot of north of the Kunlun mountain in south of Tarim Basin. The activities of mankind in Hetian data back to the Stone Age. Yutian, a key part of south of the Silk Road, has benefited from the Silk Road and gradually has become a gathering place for the merging of cultures from the east and the west; Yutian, as the origin of Mahayana Buddhism, has witnessed the convergence of flourishing Buddhism cultures of different regions from a glimpse of the statue stele and frescos.

 

The relics on the exhibition stand as many as 217 pieces a set, including pottery and wooden daily necessities, coins, fabrics, frescos, inscribed wooden slips and tablets, a variety of figures and statue stele etc, which are all rare treasures.

Fresco of Avalokitesvara (Goddess of Mercy with a Thousand Arms)  

The exhibition hall is divided into 3 parts: “the Key Site of the Silk Road with Abundance Products for a Prosperous Life”, “the Home of fabrics features Brocades with a Riot of Color”, Pure- and Well-Intention Is Involved in Superb Skills”. The ethos throughout a millennium of Hetian is conveyed to full extent in aspects of production and life, skills of fabrics, crafts of statue stele. 

The development of rich history of Hetian presents in a clear way by an array of relics from different ages.

As a western area early introduced in with the technique of raising silkworms and reeling silk, Yutian is home to a variety of silk knitwear with extraordinary embroidery skills, which leads to the silk and cotton fabrics flood into Dunhuang as well as the homes of the common people.  

“Records on the Western Regions of The Great Tang Empire” offers an account of it. “There were no silkworms and mulberry trees in Yutian at first. While they exited in the eastern country ( then China of the Tang Dynasty ), where the eggs of silkworms and the seeds of mulberry trees were banned from exporting abroad. Having no way out, Hetian resorted to a marriage alliance strategy with the eastern country, offering a great number of gifts. The eastern country agreed with the proposal given the bright side of the good relationship between the two countries. Knowing there were no silkworms and mulberry trees in Yutian, the bride princess took with her the eggs and seeds of them and hided them in the caps, to head to Yutian. When they were succeeded transported to Yutian, the silkworms and mulberry trees began to prevail across the country.”

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Embroidered pouches woven in silk with writings pattern and produced in 806 AD

They were Unearthed in Niya ruins in Xinjiang. Made of sumptuous brocades, the embroidered pouches, something that deposit the valuable objects such as jewelry and official seals, had been served as the mark of high- ranking identity. The embroidered pouches made in 806 is the only one that bear the date and has become an object of reference for the study of the production dates and typology of the unearthed brocades.

The embroidered pouches fall into the category of what the archaeology community called“Brocades with Clouds and Animals Pattern”. A variety of auspicious patterns had been applied in the brocades, encompassing winged spotted deer, deer design and patterns indicating the luck, which are in line with the “white deer” or “deer from heaven” in the records of documents.  

 

 

Pottery jar in“王”shape (king)

It was unearthed in No.3 grave of No.1 graveyard in Niya ruins in 1995.

The pottery jar, 32.4cm high, its neck 26.2cm, red sandy ware, with spout, single handle, bulging belly and round bottom, remains inside the dried rotten food. Similar “王” character in ink on the spout indicates the identity of occupant of the grave.

 

 

There is an old saying that “Gold is from river of Lijiang and jades are from the mountain of Kunlun”. “The precious one among all jades comes from Yutian”, which was put down in the book Exploitation of the Works of Nature. Jades or the processed one are always the main exports to foreign countries for Yutian, which could be proved from the document found in the depository of Buddhist scripture in Dunhuang, on which the record was written that the king of Hetian once bestowed a white jade on an official in charge of the military and administrative affairs of Sha prefecture.

 

 

The jade monkey

It is 7.3cm high, 5.2cm wide and 2.5cm thick, collected from Tawaleku country of Hetian county.

The female monkey squat on the heels, turning aside, head to the right side and arms around two little monkeys riding on its neck and incision lines were carved on all the monkeys’ foreheads to mark the hairs as well as on the hand of the female monkey to show the fingers. The peerless treasure impresses us a marvelous feeling with two colors applied on the bodies, the red color on the back of the monkeys while the blue one on the waists, elbows and the face of the little monkey ahead.

The exhibition shows the great culture and history of Yutian in a way of combining the directly displaying the documents in simple words with applying the modern technology to restore the scenes, virtually form images, interact with visitors and access to information links and display boards etc. It offers visitors the excellent and hand-on experiences through the integration of knowledge, amusement and entertainment to have an intimate conversation with the treasures of the Silk Road in Xinjiang and to savor its connotations of the culture and spirit.