Beijing exhibition explores the ancient Silk Road
By He Zhuoyan,
Morag Hobbs (People's Daily Online)
The
National Museum of China, in conjunction with national museums in 12 other
countries, showcases the rich and diverse cultural exchanges between the
countries in an exhibition of 234 cultural relics along the Silk Road from
different periods and categories nowadays. With the theme “Sharing a Common
Future”, this exhibition runs until July 14, 2019.
The
ancient Silk Road stretched for tens of thousands of kilometers and lasted for
thousands of years. This exhibition brings together 234 cultural relics from 13
countries along the Belt and Road including China, Cambodia and Russia, to show
exactly how the Silk Road affected early globalization.
In his
introduction, Wang Chunfa, director of the National Museum of China, said that
the exhibition will present and display the theme through two sections, the
Land Silk Road, and the Maritime Silk Road, and reflect on the ways of cultural
exchanges among countries along the Silk Road according to the geographical
location.
The
connection between China and western Eurasia has existed since prehistoric
times. Wheat, cattle, sheep and bronze casting – the most important
domesticated species and handicraft technique during prehistoric times and the
Bronze age, were introduced from West Asia and the Persian Plateau via the Silk
Road. Bronze was first used to form tools and weapons. Once in China, it was
used to make everything from pots to money.
This
Roman glass dates back from the 1st century A.D and is usually housed in the
National Museum of Slovenia. Roman glass found its way along the length of the
ancient Silk Road, after the technique of glass blowing was first created and
then put into mass production towards the end of the first century AD.
Later,
in the 16th Century, the Maritime Silk road became a vital link in the early
era of globalization. Porcelains, silks and other goods were shipped from
China, through Africa, to Europe, and European silver continuously flowed into
China.
The
exhibition shows treasures that left China hundreds of years ago, only to find
their way back for this very exhibition. For example, various Qing Dynasty
enamel and porcelain are on display from the Polish National Museum collection,
as well as Southern Song Dynasty pieces from the Oman National Museum.
Of
course, it wasn’t only weaponry or fancy items that found their way along the
Silk Road, but also spirituality. Take, for example, the "Joy
Diamond" painted with gold bronze, from the National Museum of Cambodia. Mahayana
Buddhist Tantra spread in Cambodia from the 10th to 11th centuries AD, after
being spread along the Silk Road in other forms from India to China and then
through South East Asia.
Visitors watch cultural relics at
the exhibition. (Photo by Du Jianpo from People’s Daily Online)
Beijing exhibition explores the ancient Silk Road
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