- Silk Road transmission of art
Many artistic influences transited along the
Silk Road , especially through theCentral Asia , whereHellenistic ,Iran ian,India n and Chinese influence were able to intermix. In particularGreco-Buddhist art represent one of the most vivid examples of this interaction.cythian art
Following contacts of metropolitan China with nomadic western and northwestern border territories in the 8th century BCE,
gold was introduced fromCentral Asia , and Chinesejade carvers began to make imitation designs of thesteppe s, adopting theScythian -style animal art of the steppes (descriptions of animals locked in combat). This style is particularly reflected in the rectangular belt plaques made ofgold andbronze with alternate versions injade andsteatite ["There is evidence of gold belt-plaques with "Scythian" "animal style" art, greaves, barrows and other indications of the penetration of steppe cultures south of the Yangzi before the Han period" (Mallory and Mair "The Tarim Mummies", p.329)] .Hellenistic art
Following the expansion of the
Greco-Bactrian s into Central Asia, Greek influences on Han art have often been suggested (Hirth ,Rostovtzeff ). Designs withrosette flowers, geometric lines, and glass inlays, suggestive of Hellenistic influences, can be found on some early Han bronze mirrors, dated between 300-200 BCE [Zhou bowl: "RED EARTHENWARE BOWL, DECORATED WITH A SLIP AND INLAID WITH GLASS PASTE. Eastern Zhou period, 4th-3rd century BC. This bowl was probably intended to copy a more precious and possibly foreign vessel in bronze or even silver. Glass was little used in China. Its popularity at the end of the Eastern Zhou period was probably due to foreign influence." British Museum notice to the bowl (2005)] ["The things which China received from the Graeco-Iranian world- the pomegranate and other "Chang-Kien" plants, the heavy equipment of the cataphract, the traces of Greeks influence on Han art (such as) the famous white bronze mirror of the Han period with Graeco-Bactrian designs (...) in the Victoria and Albert Museum" (Tarn, "The Greeks in Bactria and India", p363-364)] .Greco-Buddhist art
Buddha
The image of the Buddha, originating during the 1st century CE in northern India (areas of
Gandhara andMathura ) was transmitted progressively through Central Asia, China until it reached Japan in the 6th century ["Needless to say, the influence of Greek art on Japanese Buddhist art, via the Buddhist art of Gandhara and India, was already partly known in, for example, the comparison of the wavy drapery of the Buddha images, in what was, originally, a typical Greek style" (Katsumi Tanabe, "Alexander the Great, East-West cultural contacts from Greece to Japan", p19)] .To this day however the transmission of many iconographical details is still visible, such as the
Hercules inspiration behind theNio guardian deities in front of Japanese Buddhist temples, or representations of the Buddha reminiscent of Greek art such as the Buddha in Kamakura."See also:
History of Buddhism ,Buddhist art ,Greco-Buddhist art "hukongoshin
, the protector of the Buddha, and his representation was then used in China and Japan to depict the protector gods of Buddhist temples ["The origin of the image of Vajrapani should be explained. This deity is the protector and guide of the Buddha Sakyamuni. His image was modelled after that of Hercules. (...) The Gandharan Vajrapani was transformed in Central Asia and China and afterwards transmitted to Japan, where it exerted stylistic influences on the wrestler-like statues of the Guardina Deities (Nio)." (Katsumi Tanabe, "Alexander the Great, East-West cultural contacts from Greece to Japan", p23)] .
Wind god
["The Japanese wind god images do not belong to a separate tradition apart from that of their Western counter-parts but share the same origins. (...) One of the characteristics of these Far Eastern wind god images is the wind bag held by this god with both hands, the origin of which can be traced back to the shawl or mantle worn by Boreas/ Oado." (Katsumi Tanabe, "Alexander the Great, East-West cultural contacts from Greece to Japan", p21)] .
In consistency with Greek iconography for Boreas, the Japanese wind god holds above his head with his two hands a draping or "wind bag" in the same general attitude. The abundance of hair have been kept in the Japanese rendering, as well as exaggerated facial features.
Floral scroll pattern
.] .
The clearest one are from 7th century Nara temple building tiles, some of them exactly depicting vines and grapes. These motifs have evolved towards more symbolic representations, but essentially remain to this day in the roof tile decorations of many Japanese traditional-style buildings.
Eastern iconography in the West
Some elements of western iconography were adopted from the East along the Silk Road. The
aureole in Christian art first appeared in the5th century , but practically the same device was known several centuries earlier, in non-Christianart . It is found in some Persian representations of kings and Gods,and appears on coins of theKushan kingsKanishka ,Huvishka andVasudeva , as well as on most representations of the Buddha inGreco-Buddhist art from the 1st century CE.Another image which appears to have transferred from China via the Silk Road is the symbol of theThree hares , showing three animals running in a circle. It has been traced back to theSui dynasty in China, and is still to be found in sacred sites in many parts of Western Europe, and especially in churches inDartmoor ,Devon .Notes
References
* "Religions and the Silk Road" by Richard C. Foltz (St. Martin's Press, 1999) ISBN 0-312-23338-8
* "The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity" by John Boardman (Princeton University Press, 1994) ISBN 0-691-03680-2
* "Old World Encounters. Cross-cultural contacts and exchanges in pre-modern times" by Jerry H.Bentley (Oxford University Press, 1993) ISBN 0-19-507639-7
* "Alexander the Great: East-West Cultural contacts from Greece to Japan" (NHK and Tokyo National Museum, 2003)
* "The Greeks in Bactria and India" W.W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press
* "De l'Indus à l'Oxus, Archéologie de l'Asie Centrale",Osmund Bopearachchi , Christine Sachs, ISBN 2-9516679-2-2
* "The Crossroads of Asia, Transformation in image and symbols", 1992, ISBN 0-9518399-1-8
* "The Tarim Mummies", Mallory and Mair, Thames and Hudson, 2000, ISBN 0-500-05101-1
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