A Study Of Cultural Exchanges Between Yuan Dynasty And Ilkhanate In The 13th-15th Centuries

The Mongolian Empire’s conquests in the 13th-15th centuries spread across Eurasia,and its military campaigns profoundly influenced the world landscape and the spread of culture,leading to an unprecedented flourishing of cultural exchanges during this period.This Dissertation takes the pearls used in the clothing of the Yuan and Ilkhanate dynasties in the 13th-15th centuries as a starting point,which has not usually been the focus of scholarship in the past,and is therefore innovative in terms of research perspective.In addition,images have rarely been used in the scholarly focus on the Ilkhanate,and this Dissertation uses a large number of fine Persian miniatures,which is also novel in terms of research materials.The Dissertation begins with an overview of the current state of research in the field,followed by a detailed categorization and sorting of the collected image,documentary and physical material in Chapter 2.To facilitate the extraction of pearls for clothing in Yuan dynasty literature,the author examines the pearl designations commonly used during the Yuan dynasty and finds that there were seven pearl designations commonly used during the Yuan dynasty.In addition,the author also elaborates on the three ways of obtaining foreign pearls that were more commonly used in the Yuan Dynasty.Then,in the third chapter,the way of decorating pearls for Yuan Dynasty clothing was classified and studied,mainly according to the five categories of crowns,hats,earrings,costumes,belts,shoes and boots,and on this basis,it was summarized that the people who took pearls were mainly emperors,ministers,and noblewomen,and the occasions of taking pearls were mainly reflected in the scenes of grand banquets and the enthronement of emperors.Meanwhile,Chapter four examines the way pearls were used to decorate clothing that appears in Persian miniature paintings of the Ilkhanate period,mainly by summarizing the location and arrangement of the pearl taking appearances in the miniature paintings.First,it gives an overview of pearls used for clothing in Persia before the Mongol conquest,and then explains the way pearls were taken in the Ilkhanate period according to the categories of crown,hat,jewelry,costume,belt,shoes and boots,and then compares it with the Ilkhanate period to summarize the impact of the Mongol arrival on the way pearls were taken in Persia.Finally,based on chapters three and four,the similarities in the way pearls were used to decorate clothing between the Yuan and Ilkhanate regions are further argued from the perspective of the social nature of clothing in the context of cultural exchange,and the possibility of their dissemination is attempted to be explored.In summary,this Dissertation concludes that there was a close exchange between the two regions in the 13th-15th centuries in the way pearls were used to decorate clothing by analyzing and studying the pearls used in the clothing of the Yuan Dynasty and the Ilkhanate in the image materials,along with other literature and physical materials.The pearls,as the Mongolian’s preferred clothing decoration,reflect the prosperous clothing exchange and cultural integration between the Yuan Dynasty and the Ilkhanate,and play a positive role in the study of the dress cultural exchange along the Silk Road in ancient China.