Horse Tomb Figure
Tang Dynasty
BIOGRAPHY
According to custom, the elite of the Tang dynasty (618-907) stocked their graves lavishly to ensure a comfortable afterlife. Their often extensive tombs were furnished with ceramic vessels, accessories of precious metals and gemstones, and a retinue of clay models of servants and animals was created. It is remarkable that objects, such as this stunning Horse may have been seen only once; during the funeral procession. Made at the height of the Tang dynasty's golden age (late 7th to mid-8th century), the horse displays the era's vibrancy and splendor. With its unusual bowed head, exquisitely ornamented details, and large size, the horse was ambitiously assembled from hollow clay sections. It wass lovingly formed and embellished, its flowing mane combed and parted, its tail bound. A trademark of the Tang dynasty, the fluid lead glazes colored by metallic materials, were allowed to run during firing. Such polychrome glazes, typically amber, brown, and green, are known as sancai, (three-color).
(from: http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/asian/4pc_horse.html)
More
than any other epoch in Chinese history before the twentieth century, Chinese in
early and mid Tang had self-confidence to be open to the new and different.
Perhaps because a universal religion and foreign origin gave China links
to all the other countries of Asia east of Persia, perhaps because the elite
included many families of non-Chinese descent, perhaps because China had the
military might to garrison the Silk Road and keep it open for trade, Chinese in
this period were more than happy to gather about them the best of what the rest
of their world had to offer.
The
magnificent capital at Chang’an exerted a powerfully attractive force on the
outside world. Like earlier capital
cities in the north, Chang’an was a planned city laid out on a square grid,
but it was constructed on a much larger scale than any previous capital.
Its outer walls, made of pounded earth about ten to fifteen feet thick
and thirty-five feet tall, extended over five miles north to south and nearly
six miles east to west. The palace
was in the north, so the emperor could, in a sense, face south towards his
subjects, whose homes were in the 108 wards, each enclosed by a wall.
Certain blocks were set aside for markets, open at specified hours each
day. The great southern gate of the
city opened out to an extremely board avenue about 500 feet wide.
Foreign envoys seeking to see the emperor all travelled along this
thoroughfare directly to the palace. This
and other main avenues were bordered by ditches planted with trees.
When the city was first built in Sui, officials and nobles were offered
incentives to build residences and temples in the city, and many southern
aristocrats were forced to move there after their capital was conquered in 589.
But incentives and coercion were not needed for long; by the early Tang
leading members of society sought to live in Chang’an or the secondary capital
at Luoyang, also rebuilt in the Sui period.
The
culture of Chang’an and Luoyang was enthusiastically cosmopolitan.
Taizong was fascinated by the monk Xuanzang (602-64) who returned to
China in 645 to tell about his fifteen years travelling across Central Asia and
India. Knowledge of the outside
world was also stimulated by the presence of envoys, merchants, and pilgrims who
came from the tributary states in Central Asia as well as from neighboring
countries like Japan, Korea, and Tibet. Goods
from these distant regions - horses, jewels, musical instruments, and textiles -
were sources of endless fascination to both the court and the capital elite.
Foreign fashions in hair and clothing were often copied, and foreign
amusement like the game of polo became favorite pastimes of the well-to-do.
The caravans that came from Central Asia were so appreciated that pottery
representations of camels and their non-Han grooms were among the objects people
commonly placed in tombs. Foreign
religions, including Islam, Judaism, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism and Nestorian
Christianity were practiced among the thousands of foreign merchants resident
there, though none of these religions spread into the Chinese population the way
Buddhism had centuries earlier.
Foreign
influence had longer-term impact in the arts.
Silver-smithing was perfected, with cups, plates, ewers,
and other small objects showing the influence of Persian designs and
techniques. The introduction of new
instruments and new tunes from India, Iran, and Central Asia brought about a
major transformation of Chinese music. Interior
furnishings were also transformed, as the practice of sitting on mats on the
floor gradually gave way to the foreign practice of sitting on stools and
chairs.
Prosperity
undoubtedly aided the cultural vitality of the Tang period.
The reunification of the country, the opening of the Grand Canal linking
north and south, and the expansion of international trade via the Central Asian
Silk Route and the higher-volume sea routes all stimulated the economy.
Economic development of the south was particularly impressive, aided by
convenient water transportation along rivers and streams.
River traffic had grown so heavy that storms at Yangzhou in 721 and 751
were said to have led to the destruction of over 1,000 boats each time.
Tea, native to the south, was no longer looked on as a medicinal herb,
useful primarily to those trying to stay awake, but had come to be drunk all
over the country, making it a major item intrade.
The southern port cities of Canton, Quanzhou, and Fuzhou grew in size as
maritime trade along the coast and throughout Southeast Asia expanded greatly,
much of it in the hands of Arab merchants.
By 742, when A census was taken, the proportion of the registered
population living in the south had increased from only a quarter in the early
seventh century to nearly a half.
Neither
economic growth nor the development of thriving commercial cities brought about
radical change in the composition of the social or political elite.
Tang China was still an aristocratic society.
In elite circles, genealogies continued to be much discussed and eminent
forebears were looked on as a source of pride and admiration; The most
prestigious families still largely married among themselves, giving coherence
and visibility to the highest stratum of the elite.
Early in the Tang dynasty the emperors sporadically made offers to
undermine the prestige of aristocratic pedigree and to assert that high office
carries more honour than eminent ancestors.
Once the families closest to the throne had become socially accepted as
aristocratic families, however, the emperors largely gave up trying to challenge
the aristocratic pretensions.
Aristocrats
and other educated men in Tang times engaged in a wide range of arts and
learning. Confucian scholarship of
many sorts flourished, especially the writings of histories and commentaries to
the classics. In this period
education in Confucian texts and commitment to Confucian principles of
government service was not looked on as incompatible with faith in Buddhism or
Daoism, and many men were learned in the texts of more than one tradition.
The arts also attracted scholars, many of whom were esteemed for their
calligraphy. Almost all educated
men wrote an occasional poem, and poetic composition was tested on the most
prestigious of the civil service examinations, the jinshi,
or ‘presented scholar’ exam. Perhaps
that contributed to the art of poetry, for the Tang produced many of China’s
greatest poets, including Wang Wei, Li Bai, Du Fu, Bai Juyi, and Li Shangyin.
Over 48,900 poems by 2,200 Tang poets have survived.
The parting of friends was a common theme of these poems, perhaps because
officials were frequently transferred to the provinces.
The immense distances of the empire, the dangers of travel, and the
difficulty of keeping in touch once separated evidently made every parting seem
momentous. Poets also frequented
entertainment quarters of the cities where they could call on female musicians.
In the late Tang period, courtesans played an important part in
popularizing a new verse form by singing the lyrics written by famous men and by
composing lyrics themselves.
The high point of Tang culture came in the first half of the eighth century during the reign of Xuanzong (r.712-56), a grandson of Empress Wu whose court became the focal point of high culture. Xuanzong conducted state ceremonies on a grand scale and authorized a major codification of state ritual. Buddhist and Daoist clerics were also welcome at his court. Xuanzong invited teachers of the newly introduced Tantric school of Buddhism, in 726 calling on the Javanese monk Vajrabodhi to perform Tantric rites to avert drought and in 742 holding the incense burner while the Ceylonese Amoghavajra recited mystical incantations to aid the victory of Tang forces. To liven up the poetry written at his court and amuse him on his outings with palace ladies, Xuanzong established a new academy for poets. The poet Li Bai served in this academy for a few years, writing light sensual poems celebrating the beauty of the imperial parks and the ladies in them. Xuanzong also enjoyed music and horses and even kept a troupe of dancing horses. Han Gan, a great horse painter, served at his court.
http://www.heritageeast.com/history/tangtxt.htm