Turkmenistan is an important hub country on the Silk Road in Eurasia. In 1948, archaeologists discovered a large horn cup "laitong" made of elephant bones at the ruins of the ancient city of Nisa. This large laitong is not a secular wine vessel, but a sacrificial vessel and ritual vessel used in religious rituals. Secondly, the pottery jars discovered in Merv, which are called "four-scene vase" by foreign scholars, should be the "painted jars" recorded by Du Huan in the Tang Dynasty, which are gifts exchanged during the New Year festival. The Central Asian water-lifting jars are vessels hung on water wheels for lifting water, which are very inspiring for understanding the types of pottery jars in the Western Regions, and their uses and methods of use also have other answers. This article, through the exploration and interpretation of three archaeological relics and the mutual learning and comparison with Chinese unearthed cultural relics, shows that the migration and circulation of "objects" is evidence of the spread of civilization and a symbol of the flow of historical scenes.
Laitong from the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg
Local details
The exchanges between Turkmenistan in Central Asia and ancient China have always been the focus of academic circles. Because of the lack of historical materials, it has become a difficult problem for research. In medieval documents, the Mu State is today's Merv in Turkmenistan, also known as "Mulu" and "Mulu". The "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Biography of the Western Regions" once recorded that "Mulu City is called Xiao Anxi, 20,000 miles away from Luoyang". In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it was renamed "Mu" or "Mulu" and was included in the historical scope of the "Nine Zhaowu Surnames" in Central Asia. Many years ago, Mr. Cai Hongsheng's "Mu Surnamed Hu Ke in Tang Dynasty Society" collected historical materials to verify the "Mu" surname entering China. The author admires the sharp eyes of the predecessors, who guided us to pay attention to the Mu State in the inland city-state area of the Amu Darya River Basin.
Recently, the author visited Turkmenistan for an investigation and visited ancient sites. While observing archaeological artifacts unearthed in multiple museums, three artifacts were very inspiring for exploring the medieval Western Regions and Sui and Tang dynasty artifacts. The comparison of old objects with new evidence was quite fruitful and is now being presented to the academic community.
Schematic diagram of Mu
From Nissa elephant bone Laitong to Xinjiang pottery Laitong
The ancient city of Nisa is located in modern Turkmenistan, about 18 kilometers west of the capital Ashgabat (Ešqābād), at the foot of the Kopetdag Mountains, which separate the Iranian Plateau from the Turkmen Plain. Across the mountain is the Iranian Plateau, and below the mountain is the Turkmen Plain.
Panorama of the ancient city of Nysa
Ruins of the ancient city of Old Nissa
In the fall of 1948, archaeologists discovered here the entire collection of the now famous "Rhyton" cups, large horn cups made of elephant bones, decorated with sculptures, gilding and gemstone inlays. This wine cup, which resembles an animal horn, originated in the Aegean civilization and was first seen on the Mediterranean island of Crete in 1500 BC. It is an ancient drinking vessel popular in the Eurasian continent. The earliest origin may be a drinking vessel made of animal horns. The small one is a drinking cup, and the large one is a large bottle for water or wine, which is used in important ceremonial occasions. The earliest Rhyton did not have an animal head at the bottom. This decoration was added after it was introduced to Greece as a sacred object for sacrifice. The ancients superstitiously believed that the divine wine poured into the Rhyton was holy and would not be poisoned. Lifting the "Rhyton" and drinking the wine in one gulp was a sign of respect to the gods, so it was also often used in rituals and sacrificial activities.
Xianggulaitong
The author observed Lai Tong
Nisa may be the treasure house of successive Parthian kings. More than 60 elephant bone and horn cups dating back to the 2nd and 1st centuries BC have been unearthed. The eaves are usually embossed with images of ancient Greek gods and various patterns of Greek mythology and life themes. The edge of the cup is decorated with Greek wavy grape patterns and Persian straight bead patterns.
On the side walls of this batch of bone horn cups, some are carved with Hellenistic reliefs of the twelve main gods of Olympus, and some are centaurs from about the 2nd century BC. The horns of the cups are carved into horses, deer, and wings. Ivory, bronze and ivory are combined and made by assembling separate parts. The images and styles are mainly derived from Greece, but the shapes and creations are undoubtedly local to Central Asia. Some wear Persian-style robes and trousers. The overall form of the restoration is Achaemenid style, which is a representative work of the fusion of Eastern and Western civilizations.
Horn-shaped cup made of elephant bone
Assembling interface components
Assembling the parts
A closer look reveals that relief and high relief decorative motifs include: plants (acanthus leaves), mythological figures, winged horned griffins, hunchbacked bulls with male heads (interpreted as Gopalshach), centaurs (perhaps with a small female Lapith on their shoulders). These figures on the Lyton horns are used in sacrificial scenes, Dionysian environments, literary women, and scenes of Dionysian revelry are carved on them. One of the horns has an inscription that evokes the goddess Hestia, the Greek god of the home hearth, which makes it even more rare.
Horn-shaped cup made of elephant bone
In the historical relics exhibition hall of the Turkmenistan National Museum, there are amazing elephant bone horn-shaped cups from the ancient city of Nisa. This unearthed Greek Alexandrian art laitong corrected two of my previous perceptions: first, I originally thought it was a large laitong for drinking, but after on-site observation I realized that it was a sacrificial vessel and ritual vessel, not only frequently used in the libation ceremony held in old Nisa, but also a ritual vessel used in Zoroastrian ceremonies and formal occasions; second, they were originally introduced as being made of ivory, and I mistakenly thought they were trade goods from Ethiopia, but now I know that they are basically made of elephant bones, and the huge and sturdy laitong horn cups are assembled in sections.
The Hermitage Museum exhibits the unearthed objects from Nysa (Photo by Yang Lin)
This inspired me to re-examine the pottery "Laitong" unearthed in Xinjiang archaeological excavations. The Tang Dynasty "human-head smiling ox-head pottery drinking vessel" unearthed at the Yotgan site in Hotan County is 19.5 cm high and is also called the "pottery Laitong cup". The top is an image of a smiling old man with a full beard, and the bottom of the Laitong is an ox head with curved horns, with a round mouth for pouring wine or water, and a hole at the end of the ox mouth.
A human-headed bull-headed burrow from the Tang Dynasty unearthed at the Yotgan site in Hotan County, Xinjiang
A Tang Dynasty pottery drinking vessel unearthed from the Yotgan site in Hotan County
Another "angry human-headed pottery drinking vessel" was unearthed at the Tang Dynasty site of Yotgan. It is 16.5 cm high and originally had the ox horns missing from the lower end, so it was a truncated remnant. It is rare to find two "laitong" drinking vessels with ox-horn-shaped heads of foreigners at the same site.
The Tang Dynasty female bull head pottery note collected in Maiti Village, Azak Township, Atushi City
Coincidentally, the Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture Museum collected a Tang Dynasty "female head bull head pottery note", which is 19 cm high and has a female face relief, with a crown on her head and raised breasts. There is also a bull head at the bottom, which is actually a red pottery bull horn shape. This place was the site of the Shule Governor's Office in the Tang Dynasty, so it is not surprising to find such cultural relics.
But surprisingly, cattle were important sacred animals in the Minoan religious civilization on the Greek island of Crete. This bull-headed wine vessel has two openings, one of which may be used to pour sacrificial liquids, implying that ancient bull-headed animal-shaped vessels were exquisite vessels that could be used to "feast with gods, heroes and monarchs." Obviously, this culture from Greek theology and religion was introduced into Xinjiang. Moreover, this bull-headed wine vessel was not unearthed in a tomb, but a relic lost from a religious site.
The spread of culture always involves misunderstandings. People used to think that Xinjiang pottery laitong was modeled after the Persian laitong wine vessel in West Asia. Now, after examining the elephant bone laitong unearthed in the ancient city of Nissa and comparing its meaning, it suddenly dawned on us that it was not necessarily a laitong for drinking in social occasions, but a religious sacrificial vessel or ritual vessel for visiting and worshipping gods. It may have been placed in a prominent position in the temple, and it is speculated that it was a sacrificial vessel, or a shadow sculpture decoration attached to the wall for people to admire and worship. What a precious misunderstanding.
From Turkmenistan's Merv Painted Jars to Henan's Luoyang Painted Jars
Merv, in the Islamic world, is on a par with Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo. In fact, long before the Muslims came, it was also the cultural center of the three foreign religions (Nestorianism, Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism) from the west to the east. There were also two Buddhist temples in the Muslim Kingdom here, but unfortunately they were destroyed later, which also shows that Buddhism had no trace of influence in Khwarezm.
Painted pottery jar with two handles Gathering for feast
The earliest Chinese record of the history of the Mu Kingdom can be found in Du Huan's "Jingxingji" in the Tang Dynasty, which is equivalent to a miniature "Records of Various Countries". It records that the Mu Kingdom had a high level of art, "wood was carved into shapes, and soil was also painted". Du Huan lived in Central Asia for more than ten years and had a deep understanding of the local products and customs of the Mu Kingdom. He paid special attention to "their custom of taking May as the year, and offering painted jars every year". May as the year is the Islamic calendar in Central Asia in the 8th century, but in the past, people did not know much about what "painted jars" were. However, in the ruins of the Buddhist temple in Gyaur Kala in Merv, an archaeologist discovered a 5-6th century double-eared painted pottery jar, 46 cm high, in 1962. The body of the jar describes the four major plots of a prince's life etiquette: hunting with a bow, holding wine and feasting, serving in bed and lying in bed for burial. A group of men and women in bright clothes filled the picture, and red pomegranates and pearls were used to decorate a circle of blank spaces in the pottery jar, giving the logo edge an artistic interpretation. Russian scholars speculated that it once contained written documents.
Painted pottery jar with two handles: hunting by the king
The shape and function of this painted jar are totally different from common wine jars and water jars, and are also completely different from painted pottery bone urns. Its nature is uncertain. According to Du Huan, it is an annual gift from local residents, so the painted jar may be a unique object given to each other during the local New Year, that is, Nowruz. Du Huan, as a person at that time, should have made a correct description, and there must be a lot of painted pottery jars for this kind of festival folk custom.
Painted pottery jar with two handles to serve the sickbed
Archaeological materials prove that almost every town in Central Asia has a pottery production site. Some pottery kilns produce high-quality pottery with many colorful fragments, indicating that the production technology is advanced and large-scale. 14 kiln sites have been discovered in Merv Geukara. What is more striking is that the artisans who paint on the painted jars are also amazing. They are good at painting various themes and scenes. They create different works of art according to the different recipients of gifts, in order to please the recipient or express their blessings in the paintings.
The painted jar unearthed in Merv is now on display in the history exhibition hall of the National Museum in Ashgabat, the capital. I didn’t know what a painted jar was when I read the “Jingxingji”. I once observed the picture of the incomplete painted pottery jar unearthed in Afrasiab, Samarkand (the original is kept in the Hermitage Museum) in the exhibition hall of the Uzbek Archaeological Institute, but I didn’t know that this was a “painted jar”. This time I observed it in the Turkmen National Museum, and after a 360-degree close-up observation, I realized that this was the “painted jar” that Du Huan specifically wrote about in the book.
A painted landscape pottery jar unearthed from the tomb of Empress Ai of Tang Gongling, height 14 cm
The painted pottery jar from the third year of Chuigong (687 AD) in the Tang Dynasty was unearthed in the Luoyang Museum in Henan Province. It was unearthed from the tomb of Empress Ai of Tang Gongling in Nangou Town, Yanshi. It is called the painted pottery "mountain zun" and is 14.2 cm high. In fact, compared with the pottery jars with decorative stripes painted since the Han and Jin Dynasties, the pottery jar from the tomb of Empress Ai has such a beautiful landscape painting painted on its belly, which is completely different from the general painted decorative jars. Another painted three-cow pottery jar was unearthed from this tomb at the same time. Some people say it is a "pottery jar", which may not be correct. The flat-bottomed three-legged pottery jar is painted red all over, and the belly is painted with vivid three-cow pictures. The custodian believes that the brushwork is very similar to Han Huang's "Five Oxen Picture". These two cultural relics were previously thought to be exquisite furnishings for the royal family, but why they were painted on pottery jars has never been understood. This time, I compared the Merv painted jars and finally learned from each other that this was a gift given to each other by dignitaries, which contained the meaning of blessing. If it was given on a festival, it would have a more auspicious commemorative significance. This custom may have come from Central Asia.
From Merv water-lifting pottery to Xinjiang water-holding pottery
The Murghab State was located in an oasis and had a developed irrigation system. Du Huan's "Journey to the West" recorded that "a large river flows into the territory in the south, with hundreds of canals, irrigating the whole state. The land is fertile and the people are clean." "A large river flows into the territory in the south" refers to the Murghab River. As for "hundreds of canals, irrigating the whole state", it includes natural canals and artificial canals. Artificial canals are the well canals in the Western Regions, which are underground sewers similar to karez. In Merv, like other agricultural oases, castles and farms are distributed along the canals. Xuanzang's "Great Tang Records on the Western Regions" records that the irrigation canals of Samarkand City are crisscrossed, "the land is fertile, crops are planted, trees are lush, and flowers and fruits are flourishing." To the west of the ruins of the ancient city of Qayukara, there are four canals flowing from west to east. The third canal is called "Raj Canal", which is the main canal supplying water to the city. The main reason why water conservancy and irrigation are so important is that the country of Mu is very famous for producing cotton, which requires an irrigation system. Du Huan recorded that the country of Mu produced "fine and soft" "folded cloth", which was an important trade commodity on the Silk Road at that time. Therefore, Huilin's "Yiqijing Yinyi" specifically recorded the name "Muludi", which may be because the high-quality cotton cloth "Muludi" was used in large quantities in the production of monk robes in temples. From the Sassanid Persia to the Arab Caliphate era, the country of Mu has always been the cotton spinning center in the Khorasan region. To this day, the cotton of Merv, Turkmenistan is still a product they can boast of, and there is a special unit in the museum to highlight its value.
A painted pottery jar with three oxen unearthed from the Tang Gong Mausoleum in Yanshi, Luoyang in 1998
Central Asian castles are often built on river banks, controlling the upstream of the main irrigation channels. Since irrigation with canals was well developed, it has always been unclear how people drew or lifted water from rivers or canals. For example, the Khorezm Oasis drew water from the Amu Darya River, and the Transoxiana region drew water from the Zeravshan River. Now we understand that the simple and effective water-drawing device for Central Asia to bring river water into the main irrigation channel is a specially made waterwheel to lift water pottery. It was originally thought that short-necked and sloping-shoulder pottery was tied with ropes to go down the well or hang ropes to lift water, but it was easy to overturn, and it was not as solid and stable as using double-eared or four-button water jars. This time, when inspecting the Mary State Museum and the Dashoguz State Museum, there were various pottery jars, especially double-eared pots, on display. When watching the pottery pots used by waterwheels to lift water for irrigation, I realized that the shape and size were not large. The key was that a connecting support protruded from the bottom of the pot, and a rope was passed along the edge of the pot neck to tie it so that it would not shake. Local people used camels to pull waterwheels for irrigation. The waterwheel was a circle with dozens of water jars hanging on it to lift or divert water into the channel. There should be waterwheel pottery kilns in the local area that specialize in production and export.
Amphora
Camel waterwheel carrying water pottery
In the 7th century, the Central Asian economy experienced a period of prosperity. The castle of Berkut-Kala in the Khwarezmian Oasis and the surrounding villages formed a series of "pieces" of handicraft production centers, and the equipment and tools such as water-powered millstones and presses were relatively advanced. The wine industry, textile industry, and leather industry were all very developed. These handicraft products are inseparable from the assistance of pottery making. We noticed that pottery in Merv was very common and the pottery industry was very developed, so there were a lot of pottery pots and jars of various sizes. The gorgeous patterns or patterns on the pottery pots were influenced by Persia and Byzantium. Some pots also had reliefs of dancing figures and inscriptions, proving that local craftsmen had used plaster carving technology extensively to pursue three-dimensional effects, which became works of art passed down to later generations.
Amphora jars unearthed in southern Xinjiang and common in Central Asia
The use of water-lifting pottery jars in Central Asia is not only very inspiring for our understanding of the "Western Region pottery jars" in Xinjiang, but most importantly, it helps us understand that there are other answers to the use of various pottery jars. There are supports at the bottom of the pottery water jars, which are rarely seen in Xinjiang.
The History of Turkmenistan's "Mu Kingdom" in the 7th and 8th Centuries Reveals Its Relationship with the Tang Dynasty
In the seventh century AD, the Central Asian countries were under the nominal jurisdiction of the Tang Dynasty, but the "Mu State" of Khwarezm seemed to have nothing to do with the Tang Dynasty. This was actually a misunderstanding. The Eastern Sogdians headed by Kangguo Samarkand had close contacts with the Tang Dynasty, while the Western Sogdians headed by Anguo Bukhara were less dependent on the Tang Dynasty. It is recorded in history that the three surnames of Kang, An and Shi among the Nine Zhaowu Surnames received more attention because they entered China and settled more frequently. He, Cao, Mi, Shi and others were also repeatedly identified and written about, while Mu, Bi and Huoxun were rarely asked about. The tributary relationship emphasized the East over the West, and was sometimes frequent and sometimes intermittent. Therefore, this tendency became more obvious after the Anshi Rebellion.
Mr. Cai Hongsheng has compiled a list of Hu people with the surname Mu in the Tang Dynasty. Among the "Hu children" who were favored by the court in the aristocratic society of the Northern Qi Dynasty, there was "Mu Shuer" who was listed alongside the wealthy children of Sogdian descent such as Kang, Cao, He, and Shi. Among the names unearthed from the burial clothing list of Astana in Turpan, there are Mu Boxi, Mu Shishi, Mu Gou Gou, etc. In addition, there is the book dealer Mu Yu. "Mu Shancai", a Hu disciple who was good at playing the pipa in the "sitting department" of the opera garden. Mu Sheng, a famous ophthalmologist in Yangzhou, and Mu Zhaosi, a famous doctor in Jingzhou. In addition, there is the book dealer Mu Yu. "Mu Shancai", a Hu disciple who was good at playing the pipa in the "sitting department" of the opera garden. Mu Sheng, a famous ophthalmologist in Yangzhou, and Mu Zhaosi, a famous doctor in Jingzhou. Liu Yuxi wrote about the famous palace musician Mu, the actor Mu Daoling who was deeply influenced by Chinese culture in the late Tang Dynasty, and Mu Simi, a foreign guest in Jiangling who was good at cultivating daffodils. And so on. Their identities included merchants, musicians, actors, doctors and farmers. It might be a mistake or misjudgment to judge that they were from the State of Mu just based on their surname Mu. However, if we collect the missing pieces and trace them back, we can find that there were still Hu people with the surname Mu entering China during the Tang Dynasty, which reflects the whereabouts of Hu people with the surname Mu as immigrants entering various parts of China.
Of course, there were also famous figures who entered China as "tribute envoys". Volume 975 of Cefu Yuangui records: In July of the 13th year of Emperor Xuanzong's Kaiyuan reign (725 AD), "Persian leader Mushano came to the court, was granted the title of Zhechong, and stayed in the palace guard ." In November of the 18th year (730 AD), "Persian leader Mushano came to offer gifts, was granted the title of Zhechong, and stayed in the palace guard." Mushano came to the court twice, both times with the title of "Persian leader". It is possible that he was a false identity, imitating the Western Regions Jahu to come to the court in the name of offering gifts, or he may be a real Persian royal descendant from Merv. The last Persian Sassanid king fled to Merv and was killed. His men fled in all directions and died in 654 AD, but the exiled government headed by Prince Peroz fled to Chang'an to ask for help from the Tang Dynasty. It was not until 670 AD that it was completely destroyed. Fifty or sixty years later, Mushano, who was called "Persian leader", did not forget that he came from the country of Mu.
The most shocking archaeological discovery in recent years is the Tang Dynasty Mu Tai Tomb unearthed in Qingcheng County, Gansu Province in April 2001. According to the epitaph, the tomb owner Mu Tai was born in the fifth year of Emperor Gaozong of Tang's Xianqing reign (660) and died in the eighteenth year of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang's Kaiyuan reign (730) at the age of seventy. It was the period when the Arab army attacked and conquered Merv, and the Mu Kingdom asked the Tang Dynasty for help. Mu Tai claimed to be from Tianshui, Longxi. His ancestors' native place was undoubtedly fictitious. His great-grandfather Mu An was the Supreme Guardian and Sima of Haozhou; his father Mu Biao was the Supreme Cavalry Commander and the Recorder of Renzhou. He was probably a Mu countryman from Central Asia who lived in exile there. The most distinctive burial objects in the tomb are the exquisitely crafted and lifelike pottery figurines. In addition to the common heavenly king figurines and tomb guardian beasts, there are sixteen lifelike Hu figurines, which have become rare cultural relics in the Silk Road exhibition. Because Mu Tai was probably a descendant of Mu State immigrants, he not only served as the deputy general of Hongde Town, Qingzhou, Lingzhou, Herun Prefecture, Zuo Guoyi Duwei, Feng'an Army Deputy Envoy, Dingyuan Ambassador and other local officials in the Tang Dynasty, and was awarded the title of guerrilla general and Shangzhuguo, but also retained his family memory of the Hu people, and the artistic images of the nine surnames of Zhaowu were still accompanying him in his tomb. In the context of the unclear whereabouts of the Mu surnamed Hu people entering China in the Tang Dynasty, Mu Tai's deeds are undoubtedly a typical example of three generations of immigrants successfully taking root in China.
Mu was the capital of Khorasan Province during the Sassanid Persian era. It was located in the southern Turkmen Oasis, facing Sogdia across the Amu Darya River. Mu bordered Iran in the western part of Central Asia. Its degree of Persianization was higher than that of other city-states such as Kangguo, Anguo, Shiguo, and Shiguo. Christians, Zoroastrians, and Buddhists coexisted in the city. Documents from the Sui and Tang dynasties sometimes failed to distinguish the specific differences and mixed Mu with "Persia". The connection between Sogdia and Iran was connected through Merv, and even for a long time it was subservient to the Sassanid dynasty and became a part of the Persian Empire across the Amu Darya River.
A two-handled pottery jar unearthed from the Tianshan North Road cemetery in Hami
From the perspective of Asian history, the Arab army’s march to Sogdia was based in the Kingdom of Mu. In 651 AD (the first year of Emperor Gaozong’s Yonghui reign), the last king of Sassanid Persia, Yazdegerd III (translated as “Yizhe” in Tang Dynasty), died in the hands of the Nestorians in Merv while fleeing. His son Peroz fled to the Tang Dynasty via Tokharistan and was initially granted the title of “the governor of the Persian governor’s office” and later the title of “the general of the military guards”. In 705 AD (served until 715 AD) (the fourth year of Empress Wu’s reign in Chang’an), Qutayba ibn Muslim al-Bahili (translated as “Qudibo” in Tang Dynasty) was appointed as the governor of Khorasan, with Mulu (i.e. “Mu”) as the capital, and with more than 50,000 soldiers, he crossed the Amu Darya River to march eastward. In 706-709 AD, he captured Anguo (Bukhara), and in 710-712 AD, he captured Kangguo (Samarkand). They occupied the Fergana Basin from 713 to 715 AD. The nine Hu surnames were in urgent need of help and offered tribute to the Tang Dynasty. In the seventh year of Kaiyuan (719 AD), King Dusapoti of An offered tribute to ask for help. In the same year, King Ulejia of Kang also offered tribute to ask for help. In the twenty-ninth year of Kaiyuan (741 AD), King Yitutunqule of Shiguo (Tashkent) offered tribute to ask the Tang Dynasty to support them in fighting against the Western Arabs. The disintegration of the nine Hu surnames in Central Asia had a lot to do with the Arab Caliph using the Mu Kingdom as a bridgehead. Du Huan highlighted the prominent status of the Mu Kingdom in the "Jingxingji" (The Records of the Travels), and especially emphasized that "the envoys of the Eastern Road of the Arabs were stationed here", which may be related to his long-term residence here.
The Amu Darya River Basin in ancient Central Asia was a densely populated area of inland oasis city-states. The Book of Sui, Biography of the Western Regions, recorded that when the inland transportation network of Central Asia in the seventh century was recorded, the State of Mu was located in the middle of the "Three Roads to the Western Regions": "The middle road runs from Gaochang, Yanqi, Qiuci, Shule, across the Pamir Mountains, and passes through the Khanate of Khan, Su Duishana, Kangguo, Caoguo, Heguo, Da'an and Xiao'anguo, and the State of Mu, to Persia, and reaches the Western Sea." This makes us know that on the ancient Silk Road, the State of Mu was the core area of Central Asia. British scholars even believe that Merv is not a passing city-state embedded in the Silk Road, but the most important hub city at the crossroads of the Silk Road. From Merv to the west, it goes straight to the Iranian Plateau. It has different degrees of connection with Persian civilization, Indian civilization and Byzantine civilization. It has long played an intermediary role in the economic exchanges and cultural dissemination of the Western Regions. Unfortunately, after it was destroyed by the Mongolian army in 1221, 300,000 people were massacred and none of them survived. Today, the ruins can no longer see the magnificence of the historical scene.
Deepening the exchanges and mutual learning of world civilizations and revealing unknown cultural forms reminds us that we must conduct in-depth, practical and detailed research on the Central Asian Silk Road and should not ignore the archaeological relics and historical materials of the Mu State. With the increase in unearthed cultural relics in Turkmenistan in Central Asia and related works by Chinese and foreign scholars in recent decades, there will be a new research situation on the ancient cultural exchanges between Turkmenistan and China in the future.
appendix:
The most complete record of the Mu Kingdom in Du Huan's Travel Notes of the Tang Dynasty can be found in Volume 193 of Tongdian, Chapter 9 of Border Defense, as follows:
Zhulu State ("Zhu" should be "Mo") is more than 700 miles southwest of Yamei State. A person named Zhu ("Mo" is a mistake, which means "Mu") is a native of this place. Its city is 15 miles square, with iron gates. There is a salt pond in the city and two Buddhist temples. Its territory is 140 miles from east to west and 180 miles from north to south. The villages are connected by fences, and trees are intertwined. There are flowing sands on all sides. A big river flows into its territory from the south, with hundreds of canals to irrigate the whole state. The land is fertile and the people are clean. The walls are high and thick, and the market is flat. Wood is carved and the soil is painted. There are also fine and soft cloth and lamb fur coats. The best ones are worth hundreds of silver coins. There are red peaches, white plums, white and yellow plums, and the big melons are called Xunzhi. More than ten people can eat one. The melons of Yue are more than four feet long. Vegetables include turnips, radishes, long onions, shallots, leeks, cucumbers, kudzu, junda, fennel, shallots, gourds, and grapes in particular. There are also cattle, wild horses, teals, and rock partridges. Their custom is to celebrate the fifth month of the year, and offer painted jars every year. There are festivals such as the Dahu Festival and the Huhu Festival. The envoys of the Arabs from the East Road settled here. From here to the West Sea, Arabs and Persians live here together. Their custom is to worship the heavens, not to eat dead meat or old meat, and to smear their hair with scented oil.
The above-quoted records, which cover geography, products, folk customs and political system, are equivalent to a miniature "History of the Mu State" and are still of reference value today.
(This article was originally published in Wenwu, Issue 1, 2025. The Paper reprinted it with the author’s permission. Notes are not included.)
