Page 88 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts

the Tang dynasty (618-907). Both the Han and Tang Fig. 11. Group of gilded silver tea utensils and Buddhist
ritual objects, gth century CB. Famen Temple, Xi'an,
courts shared the blessings of a stable, unified realm Shaanxi Province.
whose expansive territory reached far into Central
Asia, bringing trade and tribute from the animals highlighted inside these plates came from a
variety of cultural backgrounds: the fabulous,
westernmost end of the Silk Road to the Tang single-horned winged horse (cat. 60) recalls the
capital (see Map 2). The Tang court was grand, similar creature of West Asian myths; the bear (cat.
61) belongs to the northern forests; and the foxes
cosmopolitan, and sophisticated, and the luxury (cat. 62) may have been inspired by Chinese folk
goods of the Tang ruling elite reflected these tales. These repousse motifs and hammered shapes
qualities. Exotic goods, peoples, and customs came to China with foreign silversmiths and their
poured into the capital at Chang' an (modern wares, but they left a lasting influence on China's
Xi'an), endowing Tang society with a rich native lacquer and ceramic industries. Their metallic
multiculturalism unsurpassed before or since. 55 shapes and relief decoration were adopted on
Bronze, the preeminent luxury material of the Tang and Song lacquers and glazed ceramics
previous two thousand years, was no longer the
choicest substance, even at times being used for (cats. 133, 138).

funerary goods like its more common ceramic During the two thousand years from the creation
ot the first crudely made cast-bronze vessels of the
counterparts. Gilt bronze continued, however, to early second millennium bce to the exquisite
hold a special place in Buddhist contexts (cats. 160, bronze and silver objects of the Tang dynasty,
169), and the magnificent gilt-bronze dragon China's metalworkers invented, developed, and
(cat. 59) is exceptional in any context. s6 This perfected the casting of bronzes using section
dragon, which is over 34 centimeters long, has an
awesome presence; with its hind legs and tail flung molds, exploited as necessary new casting (lost-wax)
high in the air and its front legs held taut, it seems
and decorative techniques (inlaying, gilding), and
as if it had just touched down. The function of this eventually also acquired and mastered the foreign

remarkable object remains a mystery, since the Atechniques of cold-working silver and gold.
circumstances of its discovery provide no clue to its
—multitude of forces political, cultural, social, and
use or context. As an emblem of the power of the —religious contributed to these changes and
Tang empire, both at home and abroad, this flying
developments over time. The cornucopia of
dragon is unmatched.
beautiful objects they produced remains as evidence
Instead ot bronze, the preeminent status metals of their remarkable achievements.

throughout the Tang period were gold and silver

(cats. 60—65). Among the peoples of ancient Central

and West Asia glittering precious metals had long

held pride of place, and their prestige at the Tang

court was a direct result of prolonged contact with

these peoples along the Silk Road. 57 Two caches

recovered in recent years in Xi'an illustrate the best

of this new medium in Tang times. The treasures

sealed in the foundation of the Famen Temple

pagoda in 874 reveal the exalted status of gold and

silver in religious and imperial rituals (cats. 64, 5S

65).

The rich assortment of tea utensils from the trove

illustrate that tea drinking and its associated rituals

and ceremonies had noble connotations in Tang

imperial, literati, and Buddhist circles (fig. n). The

rarified custom of storing processed tea in the form

of hardened cakes is revealed by the openwork

basket (cat. 64) used to keep the cakes dry until

they were ground for brewing. Among the tea

utensils, articles like the salt caddy (cat. 65) confirm

practices previously known only from texts, such as

adding salt and spices to tea to reduce its bitterness.

The three gilded silver plates (cats. 60—62) were

part of a cache of 270 gold and silver objects,
foreign coins, and jades (cat. 20) stuffed into two
large pottery urns and buried at Hejia village, south
of Xi'an, perhaps by a noble family fleeing the Tang

capital to escape the rebel An Lushan in 755. 59 The

INNOVATION IN ANCIENT CHINESE METALWORK 86