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278:—such as shoes and hats—placed alongside them. Other offerings were placed inside wooden or pottery vessels near the head of the coffin on a wooden pedestal. Many of the vessels were painted with a distinctive pattern of white dots and red lines. Remains of food, desiccated but identifiable, were found in some of the unrobbed tombs and included
205:. It served mainly as the cemetery for the descendants of Chinese settlers in Gaochang from the 4th century to the first half of the 8th century. The complex covers 10 square kilometres (3.9 sq mi) and contains over 1,000 tombs. Due to the arid environment many important artifacts have been well preserved at the
441:
313:
was very similar to the life from which they had departed, and the deceased were therefore buried with goods and money they would require. However, it was sufficient to bury models and not original objects. These include human figurines, animals, clothes, ornaments and musical instruments. They were
254:
The body or bodies were shrouded in textiles. A silver oval shaped eye-mask and an oval piece of silk covered the face. Sometimes coins were used instead of these eye-masks. The origin of placing a coin inside the mouth is unclear: Stein saw parallels with the Greek custom of providing the deceased
237:
The tombs consist of sloping passageways leading downwards for 4 or 5m to a rockcut entrance, about a meter wide and over a meter high. A step then leads into a brick-lined chamber, square or oblong and measuring between two and four meters wide, three to four meters long and up to two meters high.
437:
in 1914. Unlike the other expeditions, the
Japanese monk-explorers were privately funded by Otani and so the finds were not deposited in public collections. Although by 1926 the first expedition material was in the Imperial Gift Museum of Kyoto, by 1944 these items were in the hands of the private
405:
at the Astana and
Gaochang graveyards from 1959 onwards, unearthing 456 tombs, 205 of which contained manuscript fragments. Most of these fragments were originally part of funerary objects—paper shoes, paper hats, paper belts, and paper coffins—made from discarded documents. Two thousand documents
353:
to the beginning of the first millennium AD, the Jushi, were a people who 'lived in felt-tents, kept moving in pursuit of water and grass for grazing, and had a fair knowledge of farming.' The
Chinese rulers divided their territory in 60 BC and stationed a garrison and military colony there. Until
428:
Material from the
Russian explorations was originally deposited in the Asiatic Museum of St. Petersburg. Later the manuscripts were transferred to the St Petersburg Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The Japanese collections were taken to
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461:, Governor-General of Korea (annexed by Japan in 1910). He presented the collection to his friend who kept it in the Museum of the Governor-General, which later became the National Central Museum in Seoul (now the
913:
242:
in which there are niches on either side for guardian beasts in effigy. These figures show a variety of animal features, and some have human faces. In their exuberance they resemble the clay statues of
449:
The
Japanese Government had to repurchase them after the war and, along with some other items bought from other individuals, the collection was deposited in the Oriental Section of
374:
The site was visited by many of the archaeological expeditions sent by various imperial powers to
Chinese Central Asia in the first two decades of the 20th century, among them the
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listed on a written inventory, also placed inside the tomb. Many tombs also contained epitaph tablets for the dead and a funerary banner showing the
Chinese mythological figures,
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figurines and
Chinese silk paintings found in the cemetery. A new pavilion has been built outside the cemetery the centerpiece of which is a large statue of Fuxi and Nüwa.
673:
73:
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with the fare for the ferryman of Hades, but
Chinese scholars have argued the same custom is seen in Chinese burials from the first millennium BC. The coins included
453:, where it remains today. A large part of Otani's second and third expedition material were kept in his house and sold along with the house in 1916. The buyer,
366:
was established in
Gaochang to the east of present-day Turfan, and this area also fell in and out of Chinese and steppe control over the following centuries.
923:
526:
465:). The German collections are in the Staatsbibliothek (manuscripts) and the Museum for Asian Art, Berlin. Stein's collections from Astana are in the
689:
Skaff, Jonathan (1998). "The Sasanian and Arab-Sasanian Silver Coins from Turfan: Their Relationship to International Trade and the Local Economy".
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and also withdrew when control in central China broke down. In the early 4th century an alternative
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492:. Objects from the tombs from various excavations have been displayed in several exhibitions.
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Portrait of a servant, mid-8th century, color on silk, Tang dynasty, from the Astana Graves
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who offered allegiance to the Chinese Han court. According to the Chinese histories, the
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Drinking scene of two Byzantines or Central Asians within a pearl roundel
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also went to Astana in 1907, then returned for longer in December 1914.
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were found which yield insights into the life of the people there.
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At the start of the first millennium this area was occupied by the
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189:) is an ancient cemetery 37 kilometers (23 mi) southeast of
678:. Istituto Italiano Per Il Medio Ed Estremo Oriente. p. 30.
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Westerners Among The Figurines Of The Tang Dynasty Of China
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but were soon dispersed after Otani resigned as Abbot of
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Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Xinjiang
748:"The Astana Graves - Underground Museum - China culture"
201:, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the ancient city of
711:Damian Harper; Steve Fallon; Katja Gaskell (2005).
128:
118:
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810:The Glory of the Silk Road: Art from Ancient China
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779:(2012). "Midway between China and Iran - Turfan".
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401:Chinese archaeologists have undertaken over ten
266:The bodies were originally placed inside wooden
445:Pants from Astana cemetery, 3rd-9th century CE
8:
21:
838:The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith
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769:
27:
20:
861:. John Murray (Publishers), London, 1980.
394:between 1909 and 1910. The archaeologist
298:. Several tombs contained well-preserved
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704:
424:A mummy from a tomb at the Astana Graves
390:(1904–1907, 1913–1914), and the Russian
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382:in 1902, the German expeditions led by
349:, the original inhabitants east of the
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508:fabrics unearthed at Astana Cemetery.
225:Stairs leading to an underground tomb.
484:Many thousands of artifacts found by
238:Some tombs contain one or two narrow
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532:Double dragon within pearl roundels
247:similarly found at the entrance to
924:Buildings and structures in Turpan
309:According to Chinese beliefs, the
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556:Boar head within a pearl roundel
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859:Foreign Devils on the Silk Road
488:since 1958 were removed to the
386:(November 1902–March 1903) and
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1:
735:Astana Graves tang paintings.
33:A view of the Astana Cemetery
868:(高昌故城). Ürümqi, China, 2005.
866:The Ancient City of Gaochang
812:. The Dayton Art Institute.
783:The Silk Road: A New History
672:Mahler, Jane Gaston (1959).
88:Astana Cemetery (Bayingolin)
787:. Oxford University Press.
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479:National Museum, New Delhi
475:Victoria and Albert Museum
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929:Sites along the Silk Road
864:Xinjiang Cultural Board.
719:. Lonely Planet. p.
438:collector Teizo Kimura.
354:450 AD the main city was
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16:Ancient tombs in Xinjiang
463:National Museum of Korea
217:Description of the tombs
840:. The British Library.
486:Chinese archaeologists
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410:Objects from the tombs
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91:Show map of Bayingolin
451:Tokyo National Museum
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754:on September 2, 2011
376:Japanese expeditions
209:, including natural
63:Show map of Xinjiang
919:Cemeteries in China
886: /
333:History of the area
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457:, was a friend of
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325:There are various
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60:Location of Astana
890:42.882°N 89.527°E
819:978-0-937809-24-2
808:Li, Jian (2003).
520:Animals and trees
459:Terauchi Masatake
416:Iranians in China
388:Albert von Le Coq
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150:42.882°N 89.529°E
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756:. Retrieved
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576:Tang dynasty
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290:, pieces of
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240:antechambers
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186:Āsītǎnà Gǔmù
184:
168:
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18:
893: /
403:excavations
396:Aurel Stein
380:Ōtani Kōzui
370:Excavations
153: /
129:Coordinates
908:Categories
881:89°31′37″E
878:42°52′55″N
849:References
758:August 19,
691:Asia Major
414:See also:
364:commandery
141:89°31′44″E
138:42°52′55″N
697:: 67–115.
602:Courtesan
562:Paintings
351:Tian Shan
311:afterlife
257:Byzantine
836:(2004).
638:Children
578:musician
477:and the
304:jam tart
300:pastries
203:Gaochang
195:Xinjiang
123:Xinjiang
101:Location
626:Servant
496:Gallery
360:Xiongnu
268:coffins
211:mummies
173:Chinese
816:
791:
727:
653:player
614:Dancer
473:, the
469:, the
356:Jiaohe
347:Hanshu
280:grapes
191:Turpan
183::
181:pinyin
177:阿斯塔那古墓
175::
119:Region
110:
715:China
659:Notes
651:Weiqi
590:Woman
431:Kyoto
343:Shiji
339:Jushi
296:wheat
288:pears
284:plums
272:paper
207:tombs
199:China
193:, in
113:China
814:ISBN
789:ISBN
760:2010
725:ISBN
345:and
320:Nüwa
318:and
316:Fuxi
294:and
292:meat
276:silk
274:and
167:The
721:780
378:of
910::
857:.
768:^
733:.
723:.
703:^
695:11
693:.
481:.
322:.
306:.
286:,
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263:.
251:.
213:.
197:,
179:;
822:.
797:.
762:.
171:(
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