China to excavate cabins on 800-year-old recovered merchant wreck

Read on WWW.CHINAVIEW.COM the latest news about the excavation of a marine ship from the Sung Dynasty (??)
Further two more articles from January 2008 ( more vessels, located in the Grand Canal in China) and November 2007 (has to do with the same ship as the first article).




China to excavate cabins on 800-year-old recovered merchant wreck

GUANGZHOU, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese archaeologists have won permission to start an "excavation" into the cabins of the 800-year-old shipwrecked merchant vessel Nanhai No. 1, the local government said Sunday.
The municipal government of Yangjiang, Guangdong Province, where the Nanhai No.1 boat has been preserved since it was hoisted from a depth of 30 meters below the South China Sea at the end of 2007, won permission from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage in May for the "excavation", Feng Shaowen, director with the municipal publicity bureau, told Xinhua.

The 30-meter-long vessel ship has been soaked in a sealed pool in the "Crystal Palace" at the Marine Silk Road Museum in Yangjiang. The glass pool - 64 meters long, 40 meters wide, 23 meters high and about 12 meters in depth - was filled with sea water and silt to replicate the water temperature, pressure and other environmental conditions of the seabed where the vessel had lain for centuries.
The details of the excavation have not been released so far but it could last three to five years.
Construction of the Marine Silk Road Museum began in early 2006,costing 170 million yuan (24.9 million U.S. dollars).
Discovered in mid 1987 off the coast near Yangjiang, Nanhai No.1 was recognized as one of the oldest and biggest merchant boats sunk in Chinese waters.
Archaeologists have already recovered more than 4,000 artifacts including gold, silver and porcelain, as well as about 6,000 copper coins from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) boat.
Among the 1,000 delicate porcelain wares, many were made by handicraftsmen to feature foreign porcelain patterns and styles, said Feng.
The well-preserved vessel might confirm the existence of an ancient maritime trade route linking China and the West.
As early as 2,000 years ago, ancient Chinese traders began taking china, silk and cloth textiles and other commodities to foreign countries along the trading route. It started from ports at today's Guangdong and Fujian provinces to countries in southeast Asia, Africa and Europe.
The 'Marine Silk Road', like the ancient Silk Road that connected China with south, west and central Asia and Europe, was also a bridge for connecting Eastern and Western cultures, but evidence for the existence of the route is rare, said Huang Zongwei, professor with the Guangdong-based Sun Yat-Sen University.





January 03, 2008
Treasures down with ships continue to dazzle

Believe it or not, archeologists have located the sites of 2,000 ships that sank in China's territorial waters during the heyday of its marine trade.
China was a major maritime power between the 10th and 16th centuries, and the great exploits of Zheng He give an idea of Ming Dynasty's (1368-1644) might on the sea.
The 2,000 wreckages won't be the last to be found, because State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) Director Shan Jixiang says many more are waiting to be located.
Archeologists and other experts are now trying to find the sunken treasures in the Grand Canal, and their number can be "big", Shan says.
Work on the 1,700-km-long canal linking Beijing with Hangzhou began in the 5th century BC. So deft were the engineers of the times, and so farsighted was their vision that the canal is in use even today.
The discovery of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) ship Nanhai-I, which was finally hauled from South China Sea on Saturday, prompted the government to draft a plan to protect its relics lying under water, Shan says. In fact, the work on the plan has already begun.
The discoveries have created the need for regulations and actions, too. "Now that everyone has realized the value of the cultural relics lying under water, it has become all the more urgent to keep thieves and smugglers away from them."
If the country wants to better protect these priceless objects, it has to join the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, says Zhang Wei, director of National Museum of China's underwater archaeological center.
China has just two instruments to protect its underwater heritage: the Cultural Heritage Protection Law, promulgated in 1981 and amended in 2003, and the Regulation on the Protection of Underwater Heritage, announced by the State Council in 1989.
Most of the relics looted from the seas and rivers often make their way abroad, and smugglers have been particularly rampant over the last two years, Shan says.
Art collectors and dealers across the world have become especially interested in China's underwater heritage since 2005, when about 15,000 relics, mainly 300-year-old blue-and-white porcelain, were found on a 13.5-m sunken ship off the coast of Fujian Province.


November 29, 2007
China to house shipwreck in underwater museum

China is building a giant underwater museum to preserve and exhibit an ancient shipwreck. The museum, the first of its kind in the world, is to contain a sunken ship more than 800 years old and its treasures.
Archaeologists say the ship is China’s most exciting underwater excavation. Named the Southern Sea Number One, it lies under 24 metres of water and two metres of sand and soil.
Archaeologists took more than 6,000 treasures from one small room on the ship in 2002. The Guangdong provincial government has now allocated £10 million to building a five hall underwater museum to preserve the wreck.
“We’ve estimated the ship to contain a total of 60,000 to 80,000 pieces of treasure,” says Wei Jun, director of the Guangdong Province Underwater Archeology Institute.
“Since the ship and its treasures have become accustomed to being underwater, it’s better to keep them there.” Experts say the ship may break up if it is exposed to air so they plan to put it into a 5,000 tonne steel container and then transport it into into the underwater museum. Construction work on the museum is well underway and it is expected to open to the public by the middle of next year.


More information about the Nanhai 1 at www.china.org

Intact fresco found in Hebei

Intact fresco found in Hebei

Chinese archeologists working in North China's Hebei Province recently discovered an ancient mural at a local temple in Weixian County. The relic is thought to be the most well preserved fresco unearthed in recent years.
The mural has been kept intact. Archeologists say the drawing of the fresco began in the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty. The art work is comprised of 64 pieces, and are scattered around the four sides of the temple. It gives a detailed depiction of the booming and busy Qing artisans at work in various industries, as well as the vivid social life of Weixian County some hundreds of years ago. The painting is regarded as the Qing Dynasty counterpart to "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival", a famous painting by Zhang Zeduan, who lived in the late Northern Song Dynasty.
Archeologists say the discovery in Weixian County is of great historical significance and aesthetic value.
Source: CCTV.com

Watch video

More news about the Terra Cotta Warriors

Play Video

The third excavation of Terra Cotta begins
More digging to begin for Terra Cotta Warriors

The much anticipated third excavation of the Terra Cotta Warriors site in northwest China's Shaanxi Province kicked off Sunday. As the excavation continues, a team of Chinese archaeologists are now working hard on reinforcing the color paintings, unearthed on June the 13th.

Apart from the work of cleaning up the Number One pit where some warriors and clay horses were excavated, archeologists are also working on maintaining a proper humidity to protect the paint that has unearthed so its color does not fade. The team of archeologists say they will do their best to protect the relics so they are not damaged by exposure to air.

So far, eight color warriors have been successfully kept intact. A terra cotta warrior stands out among the eight for its distinguished face color---green.

Play Video

Zhou Tie, chief engineer of Terra Cotta Museum said, "We have a variety of gadgets to protect the unearthed clay figures. Because the painted colors on relics easily disintegrate and peel off once they are unearthed, we need to keep their humidity at a proper level. This is the first step in protecting them."
Tourists from near and far are welcomed to visit the museum while the excavation work is on.
A tourist said, "I wish I could see something marvelous and I wish I could see the color warriors!"
In the face of the growing enthusiasm among the public, archeologists say the excavation is a long process. It takes time to unearth the relics carefully, removing them one at a time.
Source: CCTV.com

The Khan's Lost Fleet in Vietnam

In the latest issue of Archeology (July/August 2009) will appear an article from Heather Pringle ( writer a.o. of The Mummy Congress) about the attempt to invade Vietnam by Khubilai Khan, Mongol Great Khan and Emperor of China at the end of the 13th Century.

Diving into History: The Khan's Lost Fleet by Heather Pringle

The Khan's Lost Fleet
Bach Dang River, Vietnam

In A.D. 1287, China's great Mongol emperor Khubilai Khan received word that his navy had been crushed in Vietnam. Nearly 400 of the emperor's prized ships, part of a massive invasion force, had become trapped in the Bach Dang River, where Vietnamese soldiers set them afire with flaming arrows and burning bamboo rafts. In later years, the leader of the Vietnamese forces, Tran Hung Dao, boasted of his effortless victory. "When the enemy advances roaring like fire and wind," he observed, "it is easy to overcome them."

But how, exactly, did Tran Hung Dao and his forces defeat the great armada? With the Vietnam Institute of Archaeology, nautical archaeologists Randall Sasaki at Texas A&M University and Jun Kimura of Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, are now searching for new clues to explain the momentous victory. According to texts from the period, Vietnamese forces cut down hundreds of trees, sharpened their ends, and placed them in a "stakeyard" across the Bach Dang River. Then, small Vietnamese ships lured Khubilai Khan's fleet into the area just before the tides turned. As the water ebbed, long lines of stakes emerged several feet out of the water, barricading the river and preventing escape.


Sasaki and Kimura are mapping all surviving remnants of the stakeyard. Their studies show that the Vietnamese forces made clever use of islands and other natural obstacles to create part of the barrier. And today, at least some of the stakeyard lies in local rice paddies. "The preservation is really good under the mud in the rice fields," notes Sasaki. "If we could find a ship, it would be wonderful."
Heather Pringle

Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire

Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire
by William Honeychurch (Author), William Fitzhugh (Editor), Morris Rossabi (Editor)





About the Book
His fame notwithstanding, Genghis Khan is widely mistaken to have been a barbarian. Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire presents a startling new view of Genghis as the world’s greatest civilizer, emphasizing his achievements in popularizing literacy and the printed word, the creation of the mail system, freedom of religion and culture, meritocracy, tax relief, ecological conservation, and even the wearing of pants. Genghis Khan’s profound influence on the very shape of the modern world and the aspirations of its societies is as stunning a revelation as is the craftsmanship and range of the artifacts of his reign. He was an historic figure of singular importance in Mongolia and much of China. Recent highly publicized studies indicate that one-quarter of the world’s population may carry Genghis Khan genes.


Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire, the most accessible and lavishly illustrated scholarly work on the world’s greatest conqueror—and one of its greatest statesmen—will be published coincident with the opening of a blockbuster international exhibition. Showcasing the most complete collection of artifacts related to Genghis Khan ever mounted, the exhibition is estimated to attract 10 million visitors during its five-year tour of science and natural history museums in North America. The exhibit and book will unveil internationally newsworthy archaeological discoveries, including the mummified remains of the thirteenth-century murder victims, found with nooses still attached. An IMAX film, National Geographic children’s book, television documentary, and national and regional publicity campaigns budgeted at $1.8 million will accompany the exhibition.


Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire, a 352-page large-format volume, is a landmark achievement in the study of the famed but little understood conqueror, an historic figure who has attained mythic stature but a tainted reputation because he is known primarily from histories written by those he conquered rather than those he led. More than 400 color photographs of landscapes and artifacts illustrate 30 concise and informative essays and two dozen sidebar stories on significant characters and events in the development of the Khan’s Empire.


Smithsonian anthropologist William Fitzhugh, who has studied Mongolia as an aspect of arctic cultures, is the lead editor, assisted by his Smithsonian colleague William Honeychurch who also lectures at Yale University, and Columbia University historian Morris Rossabi, the acknowledged world expert on Kublai Khan, Genghis’s grandson and founder of China’s Yuan dynasty. Its authors are leading archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, and art historians worldwide, including Mongolian, Chinese, German, Turkish, and Japanese authorities. Their essays reveal new details about Genghis’ dramatic life and the spectacular development of his empire, while examining the geography and history of pre-Genghis Mongolia and the results of recent excavations of his world of the twelfth to fourteenth centuries. His legacy of effective military tactics and cultural innovations is treated comprehensively, along with the decline of his empire. Full-color images of important artifacts, maps, historical photographs, and magnificent scenic images by prize-winning photographers complement this encyclopedic treatment of Genghis’s consolidation of Mongolian peoples and subsequent empire.


Genghis Khan’s life, his military and diplomatic tactics, and the recent searches for his mysterious burial site, are the subject of five documentaries (Discovery Channel, History Channel, and a five-part BBC series). Jack Weatherford’s best-selling (but not illustrated) book Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World has revealed the international interest in this iconic figure. A major movie, a serial in one of Japan’s leading newspapers and 26 books published in Japan in this past year profile Genghis Khan.


In the 1990s Genghis’s magnetic name attracted large audiences to twenty major U.S. venues to view scholarly exhibitions with different themes: the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History focused on archaeological evidence of regional cultures up to and including Genghis Khan; the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco looked at the legacy of Buddhism in the material culture of Mongolia; the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art jointly presented a survey of artistic production and influence across the far-flung empire. A 100,000 square foot exhibition organized by the Kunst-un Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepulik Deutschland, Bonn, German, toured major museums in Bonn, Munich, Niederosterreich and Turkey over the last two years and is now scheduled through September 2nd, 2007 at the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest, Hungary.


But public interest in the worldwide legacy of Genghis Khan has not yet been sated, and the treasure trove of artifacts has barely been opened. Many of the most telling objects pertaining to Genghis Khan and his thirteenth-century heirs—who expanded his empire to Persia, Russia, and India in the West and China, Manchuria, and Korea in the East—are illustrated for the first time in Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire, which draws on the wealth of knowledge published by its contributors, including Dr. Rossabi’s Kubilai Khan: His Life and Times (University of California Press), and work by David Morgan. In its scope, accessibility, and illustrative content the present volume is far more than just a book about Genghis Khan; Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire sets this remarkable era of world history in broad context for the first time for the English-reading world.

Daily Life in the Mongol Empire

Daily Life in the Mongol Empire
George Lane

'This book could readily serve as a basic history course text owing to its introductory and explanatory character. However, it differs from other general, introductory history texts for two important reasons. First, it covers topics related to daily life and the social and cultural history of the Mongols while intentionally avoiding descriptive factual and narrative history for which there are many other books. Second, it is a general history book, but one which uses primary source material throughout. It introduces students to the importance of primary sources and stresses how these early texts provide the evidence and foundations for all the words, ideas, and thoughts which make up traditional history books. The excellent biographies, including one listing many of the translated primary source materials, ensure that this book will be an essential component in any library of the Mongol Empire' - "Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies".

The Mongols in the Making of Europe, 1220-1500

The Mongols in the Making of Europe, 1220-1500
Ann Fielding
ISBN 978-1-905246-76-2 - 256pp. Illus - Case
June 2009 - £60.00

This is the first study to examine the effect the Mogols had on Western imagination and the world beyond Christendom. It focuses on images and texts that have been hidden in plain sight for centuries.

In the early thirteenth century, the Mongols who were causing turmoil throughout the known world, were perceived as an Other that Westerners could neither dominate, nor pretend to understand, a people who existed outside maps and who introduced unpredictability into a scripted history that ran direct to the Apocalypse.
Amongst the illustrations featured are Tuscan paintings in which Mongols witness the Crucifixion and hold the horses for the Magi. New light is also brought to bear on some of the great literature of the period as to why Ghenghis Khan is romanticised, such as by Chaucer in his Canterbury Tales. It also discusses why some Westerners linked themselves directly to the Mongols, such as Edward III of England who paraded across London dressed as the Great Khan.

"Caves of a Thousand Buddhas" under repair

The travel of Zhang Qian to the West, Mogao caves, 618-712 AD



BEIJING, June 9, 2009 -- A thousand-year-old cultural site "Caves of a Thousand Buddhas", near the city of Turpan in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is undergoing restoration work. The project is scheduled to be completed by June next year.

Many parts of the Buddha Caves had been threatened by collapse. The thousand-year-old relic site encompasses 83 caves that house Buddha sculptures and murals. The restoration project is costing 11.4 million yuan, or 1.6 million U.S. dollars.

It's the largest renovation of the site since l949 when the People's Republic of China was founded. A new wooden road will be built and be connected with the old one, meaning more caves will be open to visitors after the restoration is completed.
(Source: CCTV.com)


To learn more about these caves don't forget to visit the Online Tour from the Brtish Museum about the "Caves of the Thousand Buddhas".

Lost Kingdoms

One of the reasons that I write this blog and do all the postings is my fascination for history.
Just the thought that so many kingdoms and states have existed and have vanished with so many of whom we have seldom heard.
It than surprises me that while I have a better than average knowledge of old and disappeared kingdoms and states, my knowledge of those at present is not what it should be.
While playing the next game " WorldMap ", my average score of the first two tries was around 50 ( mainly because my poor knowledge of Africa).
I'am interested to hear about your first score !!!!

Silkroad--China backs joint bid to award World Cultural Heritage status

Photo: Xinhua

Read in the Global Times of June 9, 2009

China is backing a unique multinational bid to add the famous Silk Road to the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.

Along with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, Chinese officials will submit the first-ever joint “cultural route” request to UNESCO for special status in 2011.
“A multinational application is the better choice if we want to aptly present the historical culture of the ancient Silk Road for such status,” said Jing Feng, an official with the UNESCO World Heritage Center's Asia- Pacific Region Program.
If the unprecedented six-nation bid is successful, the 2000-year-old famous trade route will be afforded the same global protection as other world famous cultural sites, including the Great Wall, the Giza Pyramids in Egypt and Stonehenge in the United Kingdom.
“The Silk Road has had a great influence in the world, and China is the starting and end point and with destinations worldwide. It is a good choice for China to unite with other Silk Road countries to jointly apply for World Cultural Heritage status,” said Qiao Ran, vice director of The Silk Road Team from the National Tourism Administration of The People's Republic of China.
Once a major trade arteries linking Asia and Europe, the 6,500-kilometer Silk Routes – known collectively as the “Silk Road” – extended from the Chinese city of Xi'an in northwest Shaanxi Province to Europe via south and central Asia countries.
Along them traveled luxury goods, technologies, slaves, rare foods and plants, ideas, cultures and diseases.

Chinese officials and culture experts have selected an initial list of 48 historical sites along the country's section of the Silk Road for the joint application temples, burial sites and remains of ancient cities.
'The Silk Road in China spans thousands of kilometers and links 5000-year history of Chinese civilization. It is full of Chinese culture,” said Shan Jixiang, president of China State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
“We have been preparing to apply for several years, and the conditions are now right to start the process,” said Yang Lian, an archeologist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

China is also applying to UNESCO to include an old sea-going trade route that once hugged its shores for similar status.
Some claim the so-called “Silk Road on the Sea” is older than its overland namesake, following the discovery of shipwrecks and other finds in recent decades.
The recovery of the Nanhai 1 in late 2007 in South China Sea – a Song Dynasty wreck that had been buried underwater for 800 years – initiated the recent application.
The ship is believed to have plied the navigation, which began in southern China and hugged the coast of Indochina, passed through the Strait of Malacca where it entered the Indian Ocean and navigated the coast to the Persian Gulf
Guangdong Province in Southern China has earmarked 150 million yuan ($ 20.3 million) to build a Maritime Silk Road Museum – to be opened this year – to preserve the salvaged ship.

China starts with 3rd excavation Terracotta Army Site

The following article is from www.chinaview

XI'AN, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese archaeologists will begin the third excavation of the famous terracotta army site on Saturday June 13, 2009, hoping to find more clay figures and unravel some of the mysteries left behind by the "First Emperor".
Archaeologists hoped they might find a clay figure that appeared to be "in command" of the huge underground army, said Liu Zhancheng, head of the archeological team under the terracotta museum in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province.
"We're hoping to find a clay figure that represented a high-ranking army officer, for example," he told Xinhua Tuesday.
Liu and his colleagues are also hoping to ascertain the success of decades of preservation efforts to keep the undiscovered terracotta figures intact and retain their original colors.
Richly colored clay figures were unearthed from the mausoleum of Qinshihuang, the first emperor of a united China, in previous excavations, but once they were exposed to the air they began to lose their luster and turn an oxidized grey.
The upcoming excavation into the first and largest of the three pits at the site would last at least a year, said Wu Yongqi, curator of the museum.

The 230 by 62-meter pit was believed to contain about 6,000 life-sized terracotta figures, more than 1,000 of which were found in previous excavations, said Wu.
The State Administration of Cultural Heritage has approved the museum's dig of 200 square meters of the site, and the excavation is likely to continue if it proves fruitful.
Most experts believe the pit houses a rectangular army of archers, infantrymen and charioteers that the emperor hoped would help him rule in the afterlife.
But Liu Jiusheng, a Chinese historian in Xi'an, claims it was an army of servants and bodyguards rather than warriors. His argument is still not widely accepted by other terracotta experts.
The army is still known to most Chinese people as the "terracotta warriors and horses".

The army was one of the greatest archeological finds of modern times. It was discovered in Lintong county, 35 km east of Xi'an, in 1974 by peasants who were digging a well.
The first formal excavation of the site lasted for six years from 1978 to 1984 and produced 1,087 clay figures. A second excavation, in 1985, lasted a year and was cut short for technical reasons.
The discovery, listed as a world heritage site by UNESCO in December 1987, has turned Xi'an into one of China's major tourist attractions.

In the Footsteps of Marco Polo

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MARCO POLO, premiering on public television last November 2008 , chronicles the journey of two ordinary guys – Belliveau, at the time a wedding photographer, and O’Donnell, an artist and former Marine – as they set out to follow Polo’s historic route.

Equal parts travelogue, adventure story, history trek and buddy movie, the 90-minute film weaves footage from the duo’s often perilous voyage with Marco Polo’s descriptions and experiences.
Richly enhanced with Belliveau’s award-winning photographs, the program details their highs and lows as they retrace Polo’s path, trying to see what he saw and feel what he must have felt.

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MARCO POLO captures the pair as they survive a deadly firefight and befriend a warlord in Afghanistan, cross the forbidding Taklamakan Desert in a Silk Road camel caravan, endure continuous interrogations from authorities, and live among cultures ranging from the expert horsemen of Mongolia to the tattooed tribes of Indonesia.

“We made a pact,” says O’Donnell, “that, under any conditions, no matter what, we were only coming back to the United States two ways – either dead or successful.”
In the spirit of history’s great adventurers, the two make their way across the world’s largest land mass and back, securing – or, when necessary, forging – visas, surviving extreme temperatures, and talking their way out of jams brought on by Tajik soldiers, Chinese security officers, and an assortment of other bureaucrats, border guards and armed warriors.
“We made it the 13th century in our heads,” said Belliveau. “What was this like for Marco? How would it have been for him? We were going to try to make this whole journey like we were living in Marco Polo’s world.” Without the assistance of air travel, they made their way on foot, horseback, camelback, in jeeps, trucks, boats and trains.
But as fascinating as the world looked through Marco Polo’s eyes, is the world and the people Belliveau and O’Donnell saw through their own. “Travel is the enemy of bigotry,” says O’Donnell. “There’s a lot more good people on the planet than bad…Get out there, meet [people], they’re good,” adds Belliveau.


"It was the best-documented journey of its time, inspiring the imaginations and ambitions of countless adventurers, including Christopher Columbus. Now we, too, can follow in the footsteps of Marco Polo, with guides as vividly exciting and engaging as Marco himself. With both their film and this book Denis and Francis have recreated what Joseph Campbell would have applauded as 'The Hero's Journey.' Come take it yourself and you'll never turn back."
Bill Moyers

Rare portrait of Genghis Khan discovered in 2006 in north China temple

This "old" news I found on the site "Mongolian Matters - News from Mongolia".
Beijing, Aug 24: A rare Thangka portrait of legendary Mongol leader Genghis Khan has been discovered in a Tibetan Buddhist temple in north China`s inner Mongolia autonomous region, a local cultural heritage official announced.

The painting was drawn by a Late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) Mongolian artist, probably in the nineteenth century, Wang Dafang, an official with the Cultural Heritage Bureau of Inner Mongolia said.

The portrait is painted on a piece of cloth 28.5 cm long and 21 cm wide. The painting shows Genghis Khan in martial attire, riding a white horse and holding a banner in his right hand, with a bow and a quiver of arrows on his back, according to Wang.

Thangka is a Tibetan art form that dates back 1,000 years and which mainly depicts images from Tibetan Buddhism, Wang was quoted as saying by a newsagency."

To put this "old" news more in perspective, the following item is from Welcome2mongolia.com:

More about portraits of Chingis Khan

There are almost no portraits of Genghis Khan,of the ones that exist it is impossible to tell if it is really his likeness. Some researchers consider that his image was either middle Asian or European. In 1368, the Mongols,who were excluded from the Yuan dynasty Capital City, did not take many things because they believed the invading force was returning soon. The Chinese ruined and destroyed the cities including monasteries, houses, buildings, art and books. When the Mongols moved on, the Chinese felt they should destroy their culture .
Still 20th century researchers did know that the rare monuments and papers including Genghis Khan’s portrait, those that remained from the Mongol movement, were hidden by Chinese lords.
Mongolian cultures and arts were ruined during the many battles. In 1924, Chinese marshal Fen Yui Syan conquered Beijing by expelling Manchu Khan Pu Ei. In his house were over 500 pictures including portraits of 8 Mongolian khans and 7 queens. Also there were other treasures connected to the Mongol and Yuan State. New findings have suggested that there was indeed an original picture of Genghis. Mongolian painter, Khar Khasun painted the original portrait in 1287. In the portrait his image was drawn as a man of tall body, the hair on his face scanty and white, with black eyes, brown face, and possessed with great energy.


The only existing portrait preserved until today was painted in 1278, almost a half a century after his death. Khubilai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, ordered artist Khorisun to paint the portrait, and asked some of Genghis Khan’s few remaining trusted men to overlook the painting and make sure it reflects the true image.

Alexander The Great Exhibition in the Reiss-Engelhorn Museum Mannnheim

From one of the first travellers from West to East, Alexander the Great, comes a splendid exhibition in the Reiss-Engelhorn Museum In Mannheim, Germany from October 3, 2009 till February 21, 2010.
Alexander the Great and the Opening of the World: Asia’s Cultures in Transition follows the conqueror through Central Asia and focuses on the extensive cultural, economic and social changes unleashed by his passage. The exhibition includes objects lent by Uzbek museums (Samarkand, Tashkent and Ter-mes) and the Tajikistan’s National Museum of Antiquity as well as the Louvre, the British Museum and the Berlin Museums.

Tang Shipwreck

A 1,200-year-old shipwreck opens a window on ancient global trade.


In the June number of National Geographic again a great story this time from the Tang period.

The following is from the website of www.sentosa.com the owners of the Tang treasure:

The Tang Treasure
The 9th century shipwreck of Arab or Indian origin was laden almost entirely with Chinese trade and imperial ceramics. It was discovered in 1998 in heavily silted international waters between Sumatra and Borneo. Salvaged from the oldest shipwreck found in Southeast Asia, this rare time capsule dating back 1,200 years features some 60,000 well-preserved artefacts of great cultural, archaeological and historical significance. The Tang artefacts have been authenticated by experts from around the world and key pieces are already widely acknowledged to have rewritten maritime history! Today, many renowned historians and collectors are excited to access it and help unravel its many hidden secrets. Singapore's rich sea trading history and geographical position – right at the crossroads of the maritime trading route between Western Indian Ocean and China – make the republic the perfect location to exhibit this magnificent collection of sunken artefacts.


THE TANG TREASURE
The Tang Treasure was discovered in 1998 by Tilman Walterfang in Indonesian waters between Malaysia and Borneo and salvaged from a sunken 9th century Arab or Indian dhow vessel that was probably bound for what is today's Saudi Arabia. These East Asian antiquities – which are causing the world's collecting and museum circles to redefine the boundaries of historical knowledge – make up some 60,000 items intended for trade and an imperial gift. 98% of the collection is made up of ceramic pieces with the balance artefacts made of gold and silver.

This collection was not only meticulously salvaged by stringent archaeological and conservation procedures, but Tilman Walterfang's company Rickshaw Investments has also ensured professional legal licensing and adherence to world salvage processes, even though the waters where the wreck was found are not governed by UNESCO guidelines.

In archaeological terms, the sunken Tang Treasure is generally not regarded as a particularly large collection. However, its significance lies in the rarity of the artefacts within the collection. To retain the integrity of the find, Tilman Walterfang has stipulated that the collection be bid for and purchased as a single lot, despite pressure from several interested parties and auction houses to sell the collection in smaller lots.

Rickshaw Investments' salvage affiliate Seabed Explorations has also paid meticulous attention to historical, archaeological and conservation procedures throughout its operations, unlike standard treasure hunters. It has received top marks from experts who were invited to supervise the processes. News of this discovery only circulated recently because the company had been running the treasures through the painstaking desalination and immersion processes necessary for proper preservation.

Fact Sheet Three

Special significance of the Tang Treasure
This collection of artefacts has been authenticated by experts from around the world and stand out on several counts:

The Tang shipwreck is the earliest South-East Asian ship discovered to date, and only such vessel in the world with a complete load of 9th century cargo. This makes it the largest collection of 9th century artefacts today.
The shipwreck and its cargo map out a seaborne trading route hitherto only speculated about. The overland silk route was common knowledge but this sunken treasure trove establishes China as the first great sea power, 200 years before the Spanish, Portuguese and British had theirs. This sea route is also the longest of that era, not to be surpassed until the Portuguese ventured into Asia in the late 15th century.
It was a known fact that Arab and China were exchanging gifts. However during the 9th century, China's Tang dynasty was paramount. This valuable gift going from China to Arabia further increases the importance of this find. Moreover, many of the gold items have matching pairs, raising speculation of a royal wedding in Arabia. Some of the motifs featured on the artefacts suggest the blending of Arabic and Chinese cultures. Whatever the occasion, the value and immaculate quality of these items demonstrate the fortification of peaceful relations between China and Arabia.
The ship carrying the Tang Treasure featured Arabic ship building technology using Indian timber. This coming together of different cultures has redefined the parameters of our maritime knowledge.
The three well-preserved blue-and-white ceramic plates from the Tang Treasure offer physical proof that this ceramic technology started much earlier than generally thought. This find rewrites the boundaries of our knowledge.

The Valley Of The Khans Project

On November 9 last year I copied an article of the Science Daily about finding the lost tomb of Ghengis Khan by using non-invasive Technologies.
Now there is also a website called The valley of the Khans Project with the latest news about this subject.

To get a feeling with this project, start with this video from end of last year:

Valley of the Khans Expedition Report (November, 2008) from Albert Lin on Vimeo.

Then start listening to Dr. Albert Yu- Min Lin's keynote lecture on March 3, 2009 at UCSD:




Abstract: The story of Genghis Khan has until now been spliced together through a collection of almost entirely secondary source text. It has become understood that throughout his rule, he had introduced an alphabet and central currency, united a kingdom of warring tribes, and had conquered the majority of the known world creating an influence that stretched from Poland to Japan. Yet the mystery that surrounds his death and burial during the summer of 1227 still eludes the world today.

"If the grave exists and if it were ever found, it would create a revolution in archeology, scholarship, cash-flow and, since China claims Genghis as its own, international relations." - John Man, 'Genghis Khan life, death and resurrection,' Bantam Press, 2004.




The objective of this study is to perform a non-invasive archaeological search for the tomb of Genghis Khan utilizing modern tools from a variety of disciplines, including satellite imagery, human computation, computer vision, and non-destructive geophysical surveying. Large arrays of multi-spectral satellite imagery taken of the identified areas of interest are being analyzed to look for possible anomalies within the vast uninhabited landscape of northern Mongolia. These target spots will be subjected to systematic non-invasive geophysical surveying, and electro-magnetic induction (EMI), magnetometry, and ground penetrating radar (GPR) are the geophysical tools that will be applied. Leveraging super-resolution techniques designed to assemble high resolution, high quality digital images from multiple lower resolution images we hope to contribute to the advancement of these tools.

Calit2's extensive research scope provides the perfect platform for this high-tech approach. Massive-scale visual analytics is conducted on Calit2's 1/3rd gigapixel resolution HIPerSpace display and StarCAVE, while analysis through web based human computation platforms are being applied to the overwhelming amount of data. By defining the landscape and creating a baseline of information through the noninvasive imaging we hope to contribute to the knowledge of Genghis Khan and his tomb, which today remains undiscovered, a time capsule into the days of birth of the modern world.

Along the Silk Road in 1905

This article and photograph, I found at daughterofthegoldenwest.blogspot.com !!!

This is from a series of photographs taken by one of the pioneers of color photography, Sergei Prokudin Gorsky. who was sponsored by the Tsar to document life in the Russian Empire.

His lengthy travels took him to Samarkand, the second largest city in Uzbekistan, an historic city that occupied an important position on the Silk Road, between China and the West. In 1220 it was sacked by Mongols under the leadership of the legendary Genghis Khan and didn't come under Russia control until 1868. Today, Samarkand is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world.

This 1905 picture was originally taken through three different color filters that were later projected together and combined to create the final print. It shows a group of Jewish students and their teacher.

The image is courtesy of the Prokudin-Gorsky collection in the Library of Congress.

La Route de la Soie' (Silk Road) at the Royal Museums for Art and History, from 23 October 2009 to 14 February 2010

Two wood vases of Western Xia- era silk flowers, discovered in 1986 at the Baisikou twin pagodas in Ningxia.

Pre announcement:
La Route de la Soie' (Silk Road) at the Royal Museums for Art and History in Bruxelles, Belgium, from 23 October 2009 to 14 February 2010

Legends of the Silk Road- Treasures from Xinjiang

I nearly missed this exhibition (December6, 2008- March 15, 2009) in the National Museum of History in Taipei, Taiwan, one of the three big exhibitions this year about the Silk Road this year ( in Sint Petersburg, Taipei and Bruxelles).

The following article is from the website of the museum:


The Silk Road was a trade route that extended for over 7,000 kilometers to connect Asia and the Mediterranean region, starting in the east in Changan (or Luoyang) and ending in the west at Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. This route passed over mountains, deserts, grasslands, and oases to connect Asia and Europe. It passed through the mighty cross-continental empires of Persia, Macedonia, Rome, and the Ottoman, and many great political and military events of the ancient world are connected to it. This road also spread religions that have influenced billions of people—Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. The Silk Road spanned over 1,700 kilometers inside China. In the pre-Qin times, many tribes lived in northwestern China and many kingdoms rose and fell in China’s historical border region. In this place called the “Western Territory” in ancient times, an ethnically diverse civilization developed. During the Han and Tang Dynasties, many ethnic groups moved to the northwest and became increasingly powerful. In the time of Han Emperor Wudi, Zhang Qian went to open up the Western Territories, and the campaigns into the Western Territories led by Wei Qing and Huo Qu-Bing finally opened up a road to the Western world. This road sent silk and ceramics from China and gradually brought the civilizations of the Western world into China. This gave it the name of the Silk Road, and its peak period was seen during the Tang Dynasty.

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is located at the vital hub of the Silk Road, and because of its dry climate and special geographical conditions, many thousands of ancient artifacts have been unearthed in good condition by archeologists. There are Loulan beauties, Xiaohe Culture relics and pre-Qin metal vessels, Han and Jin textiles, Wei and Jin wall paintings, and Tang Dynasty silk paintings, which reflect the grandeur of the desert frontier of the ancient Western Territories. These all have great value in terms of the academic study of the trade, transportation, diverse ethnic civilizations, and Chinese-Western interchange of the Silk Road. The artifacts unearthed in Xinjiang are amazing and priceless, and they have been exhibited many times in foreign countries in North America, Europe, and Japan, where they have been seen by millions of visitors.

This exhibition was nine years in the planning, and it will finally be officially opened on December 6 this year, with the cooperation of Media Sphere Communications. The museum has divided its exhibit introductions of the 150 items unearthed by archeological study into five categories based on the cultural features of the artifacts—“The Beauty of the Silk Road,” “The Traces of the Silk Road,” “The Wonders of the Silk Road,” “The Ancient Kingdoms of the Silk Road,” and “The Gods of the Silk Road.” The most important exhibits are the “Loulan Beauty” mummy and the Turpan artifacts from the Tang Dynasty, which are being exhibited for the first time. There are also many other types of objects that give one a glimpse of the beautiful scenes of the ancient world. The assistance of Director Sheng Chun-Shou of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Bureau of Artifacts, Director Zhang Yu-Zhong of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Archeology Academy, Director Tian Xian-Hong of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Museum, and General Manager Li Mei-Ling of Media Sphere Communications, as well as the hard work of our museum staff have contributed greatly to our achievement in bringing this exhibition to fruition.. I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest thanks and the wish that the exhibition will be a complete success.

Recent Re-Evaluations of Chinggis Khan and Kubilai Khan

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2009

The following article I found at the Blog " This Month in Mongolian Studies" written by Brian White from the American Centre for Mongolian Studies.

I'm not an real expert on this subject but 've read a lot of books, older ones and recent ones about Mongols and Chinggis Khan and agree with Dr. Rossabi that in literature one can observe the same trend of emphasizing the negatives, 20/30 years ago and emphasizing the positives in most literature, published around his 800th birthday.


Re-evaluating Chinggis Khaan
Dr. Rossabi gave his lecture yesterday evening entitled: Recent Re-Evaluations of Chinggis Khaan and Khubilai Khan. Before the lecture the School of Foreign Service at the National University of Mongolia conferred on him the title of "Honary Doctor" and presented him with a doctoral robe, medal, and diploma. It was a well attended event with more than 60 people.

If anyone expected Dr. Rossabi to pull punches during his lecture out of deference to the occasion, they were proven wrong. He gave a rather candid reassessment of his book Khubilai Khan and the recent deification and "vulgarization," as he put it, of the popular image of Chinggis Khaan. It was a brave position to take given the politics involved, but he expressed his concern about exalting the positives of the Mongol Empire and attempting to conceal the negatives of the Mongol conquests. Noting that, of course, this is a response in some respect to a long history in the West of portraying the Mongols unfairly, still he insisted that honest and factual examinations of history are of paramount importance in scholarly research. The facts indicate that there were positives and negatives associated with the Mongol conquests of Eurasia.

It was not an easy argument to make, especially in Mongolia. It made me think of someone standing in front of a group of Americans and suggesting that the way forward in truly understanding American history is accepting, even embracing, the uncomfortable facts about slavery. For many people that would be tantamount to heresy, and in Mongolia suggesting that Chinggis Khaan was a great leader but he was also a ruthless and brutal leader can be very dangerous, indeed. I think Dr. Rossabi was making a very trenchant observation about the need for all people to embrace both the positives and negatives of their history in order to give lasting resilience and credibility to the image that is presented to the rest of the world. Americans who ignore the legacy of slavery risk being branded hypocrites on issues of human rights, and Mongolians who ignore the brutality of the Mongol conquests risk having people not believe the factual positives of Mongol rule.

Dr. Rossabi also added that in re-evaluating Mongolian history, he is somewhat troubled by the fact that other great Mongolians are often neglected in the national consciousness. Mongolian currency, for example, has images of Chinggis Khaan and Sukhbaatar, but not of Natsagdorj, Zanabazar, or others. But, at the same time, he said it was understandable because Chinggis Khaan and Sukhbaatar are Mongolia's great generals, and other countries also find it hard to give space to leaders of the arts and sciences. Hero worship of military leaders is a common phenomenon around the world. I remember the first time I saw a German 5 Mark bill and it had a portrait of Carl Friedrich Gauss. I was impressed to see a mathematician receiving such an honor. But, maybe Germany is one place generals are best left unremembered. In the rest of the world we have a tendency to measure greatness in terms of conquest of the physical environment as opposed to the human mind.

Overall the lecture was enjoyable, most especially for Dr. Rossabi's candid thoughts. He certainly elicited numerous questions at the end of the lecture which poured into the reception afterwards. Congratulations to you Dr. Rossabi for your award and thank you for an informative lecture.

From the site of Museen Dahlem in Berlin we copied the following exhibition news:
1 April - 1 September 2009

If you don't want to read, watch the video from CCTV.com



The newly opened Chinese Cultural Centre (Berlin, Tiergarten) is organising an important exhibition on the art of the world renowned Mogao Caves in Dunhuang at the eastern hub of the Silk Road. Copies of two of the rock-cut temples have been recreated to original size and are now to go on view for the first time in Berlin.

Concurrent to the Musée Guimet's activities in Paris, the Museum of Asian Art is planning to host an exhibition to accompany the project, in which objects from the famous Turfan Collection will go on show to reveal the various close ties between the oasis towns of the Northern Silk Road. These objects are visually stunning and include silk fragments with ornamental patterns, fragments of paintings adorned with gold and clay sculptures. The accompanying texts in the exhibition rooms will shed new light in elucidating the close ties between the various workshops and reveal the cultural exchange that occurred in terms of iconography and style.

Going towards the concept entitled ‘On the way to the Humboldt Forum', this small exhibition will also serve as a model of things to come: as a joint cooperation not only with the new Chinese Cultural Centre in Berlin, but also with the Turfan Studies Academy Project of the Berlin Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Experts from the field of Turfan studies will place texts (manuscripts) and pictures in their relation to each other which will serve to guide people round the exhibition.

Until the middle of 2009, the International Dunhuang Project (IDP-CREA) will also be accessible on-line with a host of original photos, glass plate slides and drawings from the important historical photo collection available on the websites of the International Dunhuang Project (British Library, London) and our own picture archive.

The temporary show also accompanies the exhibition, ‘Transformations of Compassion - The Metamorphosis of a Buddhist Holy Figure', which is on display in the adjoining room.


In 2005, the curator (Dr. Lilla Russell-Smith) published a book on this particular subject (entitled: ‘Uygur Patronage in Dunhuang: Regional Art Centres on the Northern Silk Road', Leiden: Brill), and now for the first time ever, by way of several concrete examples, many interesting findings from her many years of research will also be made available to the wider general public.

On the Trail of Texts Along the Silk Road: The Russian Expedition's Discovery of Manuscripts in Central Asia

Kyoto National Museum
July 14 to September 6, 2009

This is a continuation of the exhibition shown in St Petersburg from December to April (details in IDP News 31 and in my weglog from January), showcasing many of the manuscripts discovered on the Russian explorations in Central Asia.

The poster itself, announcing the exhibition is a jewel by the way !!!

SILK ROAD NEWSLETTER VOLUME 6 NUMBER 2

It has taken a while but it is out again, the latest issue of the Silk Road Newsletter from the Silk Road Foundation ( but in fact from Daniel Waugh, Editor Professor Emeritus, University of Washington, Seattle).

65 pages with new articles which can't be found anywhere else.
For the full text click: Silk Road Newsletter Volume 6 Number 2.



CONTENTS:



Korea and the Silk Roads,
by Staffan Rosén 3
The connections of Korea with the Silk Road often have been ignored. Objects buried in Korean tombs, especially those of the Silla Dynasty period, indicate important connections between the Korean peninsula and the cultures to the north and west. In particular there is evidence of connections with shamanistic traditions of peoples in North Asia. Also, there are imported objects such as glassware from West Asia.


Alexander the Great and the Emergence of the Silk Road,
by Yang Juping 15
It is common in explaining the origin of the Silk Road to cite the initiatives of Han Emperor Wudi, who sent his envoy Zhang Qian to the west in the 2nd century BCE. This article argues that the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE and the consequent spread of Hellenistic culture to the East were of equal significance in preparing the way for the opening of the Silk Roads.


Centaurs on the Silk Road: Recent Discoveries of Hellenistic Textiles in Western China,
by Robert A. Jones 23
Among the spectacular archaeological finds of recent decades in the Tarim Basin are wool textiles, some of which are decorated with Hellenistic motifs. This article explores the possible connections of two such finds, from Sampul and from Yingpan. The focus is on the artistic analogies in the Hellenistic West.


Dialogue among the Civilizations: the Origin of the Three Guardian Deities' Images in Cave 285, Mogao Grottoes,
by Zhang Yuanlin 33
Mogao Cave 285 at Dunhuang is known for its complex “multi-cultural” imagery. The author argues that key imagery on the west wall of the cave (in particular the depictions of sun and moon deities and of Maheshvara) and some of the donor identifications point to possible Sogdian involvement in the decoration of the cave.

Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute: Possible Religious Symbolism within the Late-Song Paintings,
by Lauren Arnold 49
The Eighteen Songs of a Nomadic Flute concern the tragic tale of a Han princess who was taken captive by the Xiongnu, raised a family among them, and then had to leave her family behind and return to China. This episode was the subject of paintings, whose dates have been disputed. The author argues for a date in the middle of the 13th century, at a time when in China details of nomadic culture would have been well known and when a presence of Eastern Christians among the Inner Asian nomads might help explain why cross motifs are to be found in the carpets the paintings depict.


Shrine Pilgrimage among the Uighurs,
by Rahilä Dawut 56
Pilgrimage to Islamic shrines is an important feature of Uighur culture in southern Xinjiang. The author describes a range of such shrines and explains the specifics of worship at them. She emphasizes the likely connection of the Islamic shrines and worship with pre-Islamic shamanistic and Buddhist beliefs in the same regions.

IDP Newsletter No. 32 is out !!!

Out allready for some weeks is the latest newsletter (No.32) from IDP (The International Dun huang Project).

For anyone with a serious interst in Silk Road related articles a MUST read.


The contents of this issue in headlines is following:

- Archaeology in Xinjiang
- A Century On: Documenting Archaeological Sites in Xinjiang
- Berlin Researchers in Turfan
- New Discoveries and Research on Khotan
- Celebrating the 2009 International Year of Astronomy
- Understanding the Dunhuang Star Chart
- Recent Publications on Xinjiang Archaeology and Travel
- Exhibitions
- IDP UK

Go straight to the IDP newsletter by clicking: IDP

NOBLE TOMBS AT MAWANGDUI: Art and Life in the Changsha Kingdom

Lacquer Flanged Cup with Cloud Pattern and Inscriptions "Jun Xing Jiu" and "Si Sheng," Western Han dynasty (206 BCE - 9 CE). Paint, wood, 27.5x 22.3 cm. Excavated 1972, Han Tomb I, Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan Province. Hunan Provincial Museum.



It's a pity, when living in Europe that many of the finest exhibitions are on tour solely in the USA. This exhibition is no exception. It has started in the China Institute Gallery in New York and will go to the Santa Barabara Museum of Art from September 19 till December 13, 2009.Many can still remember the first photo's and reports in the magazines and the papers about the sensational find of the tomb of Lady Dai

Treasures for the Afterlife on View at China Institute Gallery from
February 12 through June 7, 2009




New York, December, 2008—More than two thousand years ago, a Chinese marquis and his family began their plans for the afterlife with three lavish tombs in Hunan Province which were excavated in the 1970s. Their extraordinary existence will come to life in NOBLE TOMBS AT MAWANGDUI: Art and Life in the Changsha Kingdom, Third Century BCE to First Century CE at China Institute Gallery from February 12 through June 7, 2009. For the first time in the U.S., nearly 70 treasures including bronze sculptures, lacquer ware, jade ornaments, seals, wood carvings and silk costumes will be on view from the Hunan Provincial Museum. A fully-illustrated bilingual catalogue will accompany the exhibition.

The excavation at Mawangdui in Hunan Province in Southeastern China is considered one of the major archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. Containing the remains and possessions of the Marquis of Dai and his wife and son, the tombs were found between 1972 and 1974 in the archaeological site of Mawangdui, which is located in a suburb of the modern city of Changsha. More than 3,000 objects from the Western Han dynasty (206 BCE to 25 CE) were found in nearly perfect condition representing the highest levels of workmanship.

“People during the Han dynasty regarded death as birth and longed for immortality,” notes Willow Hai Chang, Director, China Institute Gallery. “To prepare for the afterlife, they constructed their tombs to be eternal residences. As a result of this landmark excavation, we now have a rare window into the fascinating Han civilization through these remarkable objects of the highest artistry.”




Exhibition Highlights
Among the highlights of NOBLE TOMBS AT MAWANGDUI: Art and Life in the Changsha Kingdom, Third Century BCE to First Century CE are five charming wooden figurines of musicians which seem to form a small family band and perhaps indicate the importance of song and dance to the tomb occupant. The figures are painted in black and vermilion to depict their faces and colorful gowns.

Also indicating the importance of music to the family, the exhibition includes a seven-stringed qin, a musical instrument first played for entertainment and then as a solo instrument played by scholar-poets to “harmonize the emotions.” By the Song dynasty (960-1279 CE), qin-playing was among the “four accomplishments” of the scholar-gentleman along with painting, calligraphy and Chinese chess. In literati belief, the qin went beyond all other forms of art – musical or visual – in its mysterious power to harmonize the soul and purify the mind. The is the first Han dynasty qin ever discovered in China and the first “half box shaped” qin ever seen.

A two-tiered cosmetic box containing nine small boxes is thought to have belonged to Lady Dai. The outer surface of the box is coated with black lacquer and then affixed with patterned gold foil. The interior of the box is coated with vermilion lacquer. The top tier of the box contained a silk scarf, a belt and a silk mirror case with embroidery representing longevity. The nine small boxes in the lower tier contained items that can be found on many women’s dressing tables: cosmetics, rouge, silk powder pads, combs and a needle case.

The exhibition also offers extraordinary textiles including an example of gauze with a printed and painted design which represents the world’s earliest silk fabric combining both printing and painting discovered to date. The design depicts a plant with vines, buds, flowers and leaves, reflecting an extremely advanced level of technique. Another piece of stunning gauze is printed with a flame pattern in gold and silver representing the earliest silk fabric printed in three color block printing.

The tombs at Mawangdui contained a stunning amount of information in the form of books and tablets on health, well-being, and longevity. One tablet inscribed with Chinese characters refers to dried soybean seeds that have germinated and were used in the treatment of headache, paralysis, asthma and other health problems. Also found was a book, Prescriptions for Maintaining Health, which was written on silk and contains 32 different medical prescriptions including advice on sexual relations. Both the tablet and sections from the book are included in the exhibition.

The exhibition is curated by Chen Jianming, Director, Hunan Provincial Museum, who also edited the catalogue, and is organized by Project Director Willow Hai Chang, Director, China Institute Gallery.

If you want to find out more about Mawangdui, watch the following movies ( in Chinese !!)

Discovery Mawangdui
Han Tomb unearthed at Mawangdui

Genhis Khan in the Houston Museum of Natural Science

Siege of Xixia

Genghis Khan

February 27 - September 7, 2009

Born with nothing, he rose to become the most powerful man of his time, conquering nations to build the largest empire the world had ever seen.
Exhibition in the Houston Museum of Natural Science, organized by Genghis Khan Exhibits, Inc. in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, The National Museum of Mongolian History, The Institute of Archaeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, The National Library of Mongolia, The Military Museum of Mongolia, The Dornod Province Museum and The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Genghis Khan's name is legend, as his brutality. During his reign, he conquered three times more land than either Julius Caesar or Alexander the Great. But Genghis Khan was much more than a barbarian. In fact, it was Genghis Khan who first created national parks, the postal system, international law and the borders of modern nations. His Empire was the safest and most tolerant of lands. We can trace hamburgers, skis, passports, charcoal and even pants to this renowned warrior.

Discover the real Genghis Khan, in a new special exhibition featuring the largest number of artifacts from his reign ever gathered, including a newly discovered mummy and tomb treasures.

“Although he was often referred to as a brutal killer, Genghis Khan achieved his victories through brilliant tactics, earning him a well-deserved reputation as a military genius,” said Dirk Van Tuerenhout, curator of anthropology of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. “Yet, this special exhibition presents a new image of the legendary leader. He developed a great number of improvements for the Mongol Nation. For instance, he built bridges and roads to help trade with other countries and created Mongolia’s first written language. Many of his innovations are still in use today.”




















Queen's Hat Ornament

In Genghis Khan, delve into an immersive recreation of scenes from the Khan’s empire, from the lush grasslands to his extensive capital in the largest-ever presentation of 13th century treasures, many which might have been used during the Khan’s empire. Approximately 200 spectacular artifacts will be on display, including Mongolian costumes, headdresses and instruments from the National Museum of Mongolian History; and imperial gold, metal ornaments, beads, a tombstone and more from Russia’s State Hermitage Museum.

However, telling the tale of Genghis’ life and his contributions to world culture takes far more than precious artifacts. The exhibition offers visitors innovative role-playing, archaeological excavation, Mongolian music and costumes, and special effects to create the exotic atmosphere of ancient Mongolia.

Undoubtedly, one of the exhibit’s most attention-drawing displays is the mummified murder victim, recently uncovered in a Mongolian cave. The mysterious mummified nomad will be on display when Genghis Khan opens to the public February 27 through September 7, 2009.