Suchergebnisse

We communicate our archaeological findings made in several burial complexes along the ancient Silk Road along with the analysis of the recent discoveries of other teams. Our research proves the special role of the Silk Road in Eurasian economic and political mutual influence, communication and transmission since Western Han dynasty. Sogdian and Middle East influence on Chinese culture was substantial and its importance cannot be underestimated. But even more importantly, during Tang dynasty, Europeans and Northern Eurasian representatives also influenced Chinese society and culture strongly, with some of them serving at the Chinese imperial court. Our findings are even more important in the context of the New Silk Road initiative announced recently by Xi Jinping ("One Belt, One Road").

Historical and literary works and archaeological materials (such as pottery figurines, tomb murals and reliefs, paintings etc.) recorded the spread of foreign dog breeds in the territory of China since the period of the Northern dynasties and their highest popularity among Chinese upper class during Tang epoch. At the present time there is information about two breeds — "Persian" dogs and "Roman" dogs. "Persian" dogs (Bosi gou, Bosi quan) were the hunting dogs with a thin elongated body, long legs, short-haired, probably, related to Saluki. "Roman" dogs (Fulin gou, Fulin quan) were miniature dogs with short body and legs, long-haired, black and white spotted, probably, originated from Maltese dogs. They performed a decorative function and served as companions of women and children. Apparently, originally both "Persian" and "Roman" dogs were imported into China along the Silk Road via Sogdian city-states of Central Asia and the states of Western Regions (Xiyu). Later, the breeding of these dogs started in China in order to meet the demand for the prestigious home pets among the Chinese elite.

The article addresses materials found in two burials of representatives of the ruling clans of the early medieval states in China. The first one is the tomb of the Rouran princess Yujiului Chidilian (550) — the granddaughter of the Rouran Khagan Anagui and the wife of Gao Dan (a member of the aristocratic family of the Northern and Eastern Wei period, whose representatives founded their own Northern Qi dynasty). The second is the tomb of Li Jingxun (608) — the granddaughter of the penultimate emperor of Northern Zhou and the great-granddaughter of the first emperor of Sui. The authors provide characteristics of the design features and accompanying grave goods of the burial complexes. Despite the cultural and chronological proximity of two complexes, the commonality of age and gender characteristics and the social status of the buried, there are more differences than similarities in the burial rite of the complexes under consideration: during the 2nd half of 6th — early 7th centuries the material and spiritual culture of the northern regions of China underwent significant transformation, which is reflected in the materials of these tombs.

The article presents materials of An Jia tomb, one of the early medieval Sogdian burials in China. A description of the burial complex is offered, descriptions of the painted reliefs of the stone burial couch and a stone panel above the tomb door, as well as the complete commented translation of the epitaph of the deceased are provided. Two versions of interpretation of stone reliefs' semantics are proposed: an idealized report on the earthly life to higher powers or ideas about the afterlife. The identification of specific features of the funerary rite, the stylistic and semantic analysis of images on reliefs in comparison with epigraphic data confirm the thesis about the syncretic nature of the studied complex, which combined elements of the Zoroastrian, Confucian, and Buddhist religious and worldview traditions.