The Influence Of The Sogdian Culture To Tang’s Gold And Silver Vessels

Analyzing the reason of the gold and silver vessel’s rise in the Tang Dynasty from the historical background of Tang Dynasty’ gold and silver vessels.This paper is to find the reason separately from these four aspects including the political background,economic background,cultural background and the geographical position relationship.To summarize the political factors by researching and thinking,it is the open political atmosphere and the implementation of the imperial examination system which lead to the popularity of social "bribe" and "reward".Economic factors are mainly Tang Dynasty’s primitive monetary system with money and silks restricts national development,the prosperity of gold and silver mining and the maturity of smelting technology,the development and prosperity of the silk road;Cultural factors are mainly the influence of Taoist immortal thoughts on the gold and silver vessels.In the historical background,Sogdian is closely related to the Chinese nation in geographical location and cultural exchange.Secondly,this paper analyzes and discusses the influence of Sogdian culture on the gold and silver vessels of the Tang Dynasty from three aspects,namely,shape,decoration and craft.Through the study of literature and comparative analysis,this paper studies the Sogdian culture’s specific impact on the Tang Dynasty gold and silver vessels in these three aspects.Specifically,In aspect of shape,doing analysis from the pot,cup,dish bowl these three categories.The main vessel shape’s influence of Sogdian culture on the gold and silver vessels is pot with handle,cup with handle,multi-curved dish and multi-pedaled bowl.The gold and silver pots or cups in the tang dynasty are with handle and dishes or bowls are mainly multi-curved and multi-pedaled.These shapes are not the traditional form of Chinese Tang Dynasty artifacts and it is verified that these vessels are introduced into the Tang Dynasty from Sogdian,which have the typical characteristics of Sogdian culture.Thirdly,in the aspect of decorative pattern,doing analysis mainly from the character pattern,animal pattern,geometric pattern and plant pattern these four types.The hunting pattern and the musician pattern reflect the artistic life of the Sogdian nation,and the wing beast pattern and the lion pattern are related to the religious beliefs of the Sogdian nation.Two animals in lion pattern and deer pattern are not the Chinese Tang Dynasty native animals,and there were introduced into China from the Central Asian region.Although Capricorn pattern is from India,but it was indirectly accepted by the Tang Dynasty through the Sogdian merchant.The linked-pearl motif in geometric pattern is a typical Sogdian pattern,which is closely connected with their Zoroastrian belief.What’s more,the prototype of the grape pattern and the wrapped bird pattern can be found in the tomb sculptures and the murals of Sogdian.Grapes are not derived from Chinese mainland,which came from the western regions,being introduced into the Central Plains through the Sogdian businessmen and Sogdian’s custom of drinking wine also has a profound impact on the Tang Dynasty society.Finally,,discussing the workmanship from shaping technology and decoration technology.Among them,the hammer die technology which not only can be used as forming technology and can be used as decorative craft plays an important role in the development and maturity of the Tang Dynasty’s gold and silver vessels.And the Sogdian nation,which specializes in hammer die techniques,have an impact on the development of metal technology in the Tang Dynasty.