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  The
Silk Road was not only the channel for the merchandise, but also the medium
of which, forms, styles, fashion and music been transported between the
East and West. The transportations underwent upon the Silk Road went by
the Kingdoms of Central Asia and China. There is no doubt that Central
Asia is the melting pot of different civilizations, was also the point
of departure of stylistic influences on the art of Central China. The
rich culture along the Silk Road have enabled art historians to research
Indian, Kushan, Iranian, Syrian and other influences on the painting and
sculpture of Miran, Bamiyan, Kucha, Penzhikent, Khotan, Turfan and Dunhung.
The multi-culture wave from Central Asia had reached China under Tang
Dynasty on the high. For instance, the ornamental designs on the bronze
showing animals facing each other. The artistic aspects from Central Asia
were a fashion that affected daily life in areas such as clothing, cooking,
music, etc. Moreover, Persian music had been appreciated in the palace
of the Tang Emperor while Persian food is served at the table of the gentry
and women dressed with Persian style clothes. This enthusiasm for the
exotic was soon spread out to other regions of China as well as Japan
who had close relations with China in the Tang period. Several traces
of the influences still exist there, with the objects, instruments and
textiles preserved at the famous Shoso-in, the depository of treasure
from the Todaiji temple at Nara, and also more diffuse influences, such
as music.
 Among
the artistic fashions of Central Asia inspiration that
then developed in the Chinese capitals, music and dance occupied a special
place. Orchestras played the music of Kocho, Kashgar, Bukhara and Samarkand
and India, from these Kingdoms of Central Asia with their distinctive
instruments such as flutes, percussion (gongs and drums) and stringed
instruments, harps, lutes and the pipa of Iran. The music of Kucha was
the most popular one of all. As music, the exotic style of dance influenced
China in wide. There are figurines of dancing girls and orchestras discovered
in the tombs dating from Tang Dynasty. Along with the music and dance,
the tradition of drinking grape wine was imported mainly from Liangzhou,
Gansu in the 7th century. In addition, the puppet shows and the game of
polo were also carried into China from the Central Asia.
 Through
the excavations of the art along the Silk Road, we have evidence of the
significant interchange between East and West. The exchange of culture
is powerful till now today cause we can still felt the interactive among
our daily lives.
 
 Porcelain
is a new kind of pottery. The earliest type of porcelain was produced
during the Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD). Porcelain is made by mixing
white china clay (kaolin) with china stone (pertuntze) and then heat them
to a temperature over 1300 degree. The fusion of the particles creates
thin walls without loss of strength. This technique was believed to be
mastered by the potters in the Tang dynasty. People in China and people
in the west defined it in their own way. To the Chinese, porcelain is
like stoneware. The body is hard and resonant. The surface is covered
with a hard feldspathic glaze. To the West, porcelain is a hard, resonant
and translucent white-bodied ware.
The skills
of making porcelain were introduced to Central Asia through the silk route
during the 9th century. At that time people found porcelain products in
the ruins of the Abbasid city of Samarra in Iraq. That city was once a
summer residence of the Muslim leaders from 836 to 883. Later, porcelain
was brought to Europe during the 15th century and was introduced by the
Arabs into Spain, and then to Italy, Germany, France, Holland and England.
It reached Japan after 1600.
http://www.silk-road.com/artl/porcelain.shtml
 The
"Jade Horse" is an example of art created by people with admiration to
the horse. It is made out of jade, a stones treasured by the Chinese as
a symbol for excellence and purity (Cohen,
China 29).
Horse is one of the animals favored by the Chinese rulers. The name 'flying
horse' is given to the animal because of the beauty in its running motion.
It is used in the combat by Wu-ti, the Han Emperor, in the warfare against
the Huns. Upon knowing a type of horses, Ferghana horses, with exceptional
quality for warfare, Wu-ti assigned a mission to purchase horses from
Ferghana. During the transport, many horses have died of dehydration and
lack of nutrients. To resolve the problem, Wu-ti sent out a second mission
with veterinarians (Hopkirk, 16).
The
main transportation in the Silk Road is donkey. "Camel and Drive" is a
ceramic from the Tang dynasty. Ceramics of the Tang is famous for the
technique called the three-color glazes.
The merchant travelers in the Silk Road used camel as transportation because
of its ability to carry heavy loads and its ability to adapt to dry humidity.
Though camel was commonly used in the Silk Road, the speed of the camel
is by far the slowest. The speed is "four miles an hour unloaded and two
and a half to three miles an hour when loaded up. The average load was
around three hundred pounds per camel. At this pace, a caravan might cover
thirty miles a day" (Foltz, 10).
"Abduction
of a Lady with her Porcelains" is a painting from Fatch Album for Shan
of Iran. This painting depicts a strange world with people such as the
black man at the upper left corner, the nomads of the Steppes, the Chinese
officials, and the Chinese Princess at the center. The Chinese princess
is being escorted by the Mongols. The group is probably sending her to
a distant place, where she will become the wife or a concubine of a prince.
The marriage should be the reinforcement of some political alliance (Cohen,
China 37). The driver in the foreground of the
wagon is turning the head around to the dowry. He is looking back to reassure
that the precious gold and porcelains are in security. The men with the
sticks are guarding at the front and back of the traveling group. Behind
the mountain, there is a group of people interacting in a different activity.
The Arabic inscriptions, the black man at the corner, and the ram appear
to be cutouts, which are glued on to the painting. Inter-marriage such
as "Abduction of a Lady with her Porcelains" suggested that mixed marriages
in the Silk Road are very common. People from different walks of life
had come together in the Silk Road not only for trading, but also for
exchanging of religious ideas and friendship.
 The
Polo game is introduced to the Tang in the eighth century by the nomads.
The history and origin of the game is unsure, but many historians believe
that the Iranians or Tibetans develop it in the central Asia. The game
is described by Tang Yu, in 779AD: "Hooves of a hundred horses gather,
bright and close together, The ball leaps up, the stick drivers it, as
they ride together and apart, Of red oxhide their straps, of yellow gold
their bits. They lean their bodies and bend their arms around the horses'
bellies, A thunderclap answers hands' movement, the divine bead races."
http://www.silk-road.com
Trading
silk textile products was the first way that China was first known to
the outside world. According to the history, it was the consort of the
Yellow Emperor in the 3000 B.C. who gave silkworm to the Chinese and taught
them how to spin and weave silk so that it could be made into articles
of clothing. In the Han dynasty (202 B.C. - 220 A.D.), silk was already
a major element in the Chinese economy. At that time the Chinese were
still the only people who could weave silk. They exported silk to other
countries, which were eager to obtain this fine fabric. To the Greeks
silk was known as ser, and they called the Chinese people the Seres.
There were
many different textile arts include gauze, quilting, embroidery and damask.
And among them, embroidery was only done by hand with a needle and required
patience and skill. Large quantity of embroideries was transported to
Europe through the silk route. Embroidery was also considered as the special
domain of woman of all classes. Every Chinese girl had to learn the skills
with needle. A girl's intelligence was determined by these skills, just
as a man's intelligence was determined by his technique in calligraphy.
When a girl became engaged she had to present pieces of embroidery to
all the relatives and friends of her prospective bridegroom for their
critical appraisal. In the 17th to 18th centuries A.D., in countries such
as Spain and Portugal embroidery, silk was used for screens and wall hangings,
clothes, shoes, fans, banners, bed covers and tobacco pouches. And textile
arts include silk weaving, tapestry and silk embroidery were used to make
costumes such as all imperial robes wore by the emperor.
There
was little information about the origins of Chinese carpets since nothing
has been written on the subject in China. However, people can trace the
origin to the northwest region of China. First of all, people needed wool
to make rugs and carpets, and wool could only be obtained from the regions
where there were many sheep or camels. Those regions would probably be
Kansu, Mongolia, or Turkestan. And the skills of wool weaving were carried
on by the people in those regions .
Some people
claim that the Chinese were the first to weave rugs with a thick pile
and that they were made as early as the Hsia dynasty (around 2205 B.C.).
On the other hand, some experts from school thought that nothing could
possibly have originated in China. They insisted that the idea of wool
weaving was introduced into China only a few centuries ago. However, in
a treasure trove of the Tang dynasty in Japan there were many fine examples
of Chinese rugs of the 8th century, with grayish white grounds, brown
border, and designs worked in brown and indigo blue. It proves that the
idea of rug weaving was originated from China, but some time later, perhaps
during the Yuan dynasty, when China was ruled by the Mongol people, the
weavers exchanged their skills with those in Persia and China, and the
Chinese had substituted the use of the Persian knot for their own use.
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