Sarcophagus
Marble
Sui dynasty (581-619)
Excavated from the Tomb of Yu Hong (dated 592), Jinyuan, Taiyuan, Shanxi
Province
Jinyuan Bureau of Cultural Properties and Tourism
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The Roman, Persian, and Central Asian metalworks, gold coins, and
glassware excavated in China and Chinese brocade discovered in Turfan in
Inner Asia evince the long-distance trade that connected East and West in
the demand for specialty goods from the various regions of the Eurasian
continent, which led to the development of land and sea routes of the Silk
Road. The Central Asian Sogdians, whose stronghold laid in Sogdiana (now
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan), played an especially crucial role in
developing the trade network by migrating to various regions and building
villages along the land route. As the Sogdians began to play a larger role
in China, Sogdian caravan leaders called sabao were appointed to rule
these villages. The decorative carvings on the stone coffins buried in
Sogdian tombs, discovered in recent years in northern China, depict the
customs and religious practices of the Sogdians and nearby tribes, such as
their Zoroastrian rituals. Later, the descendants of the Sogdians became
politically active in the Tang Court and in time contributed to the
decline and fall of the powerful dynasty. |
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