Art of Central Asia

Abstract
The paper aims at analyzing the representation of social activities (that include trade and leisure, dance and sport) during the Great Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) from a prism of interpreting the intangible through tangible. Based on interdisciplinary approach, methodologically it addresses the concept of the “Other” as discussed through interlinks between imperial China and the other world (mostly represented by cultures of neighboring Turks and Iranians/Sogdians).
It is argued that the representation of “Us” and the “Other” was two-folded. On the one hand, it followed the general dividing lines of this concept, thus representing the “Other” through rather strict categorization (what could be traced in the depiction of the features of the “foreigners” – mostly Sogdian traders).
On the other hand, the representation reflected the general context and specificity of time as well, marked by intensive trade and fertilizing cross-cultural encounters along the Silk Road. The latter has been vividly and succinctly expressed in magnificent artistic representation of the idea of connectivity - movement, process, action and pause, thus leading towards establishing links and melting the barriers between “Us” and the “Other”.
The paper addresses these issues while discussing beautiful and impressive terracotta/ terre cuite figures from the collections of the Musee Nationale des Arts Asiatiques (Musee Guimet), National Museum of India and National Museum of China.

This paper investigates cultural adaptations of ancestral traditions between the Hellenistic and local elites in Western and Central Asia from an iconographic and symbolic point of view. It is recognized that the hegemonic Greek population made use of symbols such as the cornucopia and the mural crown (together with those emerging from the local background) in order to reiterate their control over resources. This can be also maintained from a merely symbolic perspective where the divinities legitimize the power of the new rulers and grant a fortunate, wealthy rule over a fertile rich-producing land. In considering select examples of material culture, this paper will look at the diffusion of some “western” symbols and their popularity in various later artefacts of the Indo-Iranian borderlands. Following the introduction of Hellenistic elements in the eastern regions the religious imagery was subject to a series of adaptations that in some cases had a longer life in local variations. This can be exemplified by the appropriation of “adapted symbols” by subsequent waves of conquerors that ended up in controlling the land that formerly was under the rule of Seleucus I.

В статье автор обращается к известной антитезе: явные-скрытые зооморфные изображения в архитектуре Средней Азии периода раннего ислама. В отечественном искусствознании долгие годы считалось, что последние намеренно замаскированы в растительном орнаменте с целью преодоления запрета в исламе на изображение живых существ. Исследование проведено на материале резного ганча (стука) как наиболее репрезентативного материала, содержащего ценную информацию об архитектурной орнаментике раннего ислама. Расцвет этой техники в Средней Азии приходится на IX-XII вв. (чем объясняется выбор хронологических рамок исследования). В работе классифицируются «скрытые» зооморфизмы, описываются существовавшие в то же время реалистические фигуративные изображения, анализируются мнения средневековых богословов об особенностях канонического запрета. Автор предлагает проследить пути стилизаций от реалистичных растительных форм до предельно абстрактных, когда мотив впоследствии ошибочно интерпретировался как «скрытый зооморфизм»
An author refers to a well-known antithesis: explicit-hidden zoomorphic images in the architecture of Central Asia during the early Islamic period.  The study was conducted on the material of carved ganch (stucco) as the most representative material containing valuable information about the architectural ornamentation of early Islam. The heyday of this technique in Central Asia falls on the IX-XII centuries. (what explains the choice of the chronological framework of the study). The paper classifies "hidden" zoomorphisms, describes realistic figurative images that existed at the same time, and analyzes the opinions of medieval theologians about the features of canonical prohibition. The author suggests tracing the path of stylizations from realistic plant forms to extremely abstract ones, when the motif was later mistakenly interpreted as"hidden zoomorphism".

ISBN 978-84-941099-7-3

Desde tiempos inmemoriales Asia ha sido la cuna de numerosos imperios pero, de entre todos ellos, llegando a abarcar desde el Pacífico hasta el Mediterráneo y desde Siberia hasta el Índico, los mongoles crearon el más extenso y poderoso que ha conocido la Historia. Sería el noble Temujin, del clan Borjigin, quien encabezó dicha hazaña al ostentar por vez primera el título de Gengis Kan o Gran Kan. Unió al, hasta entonces, dividido pueblo mongol y convirtió a sus habitantes, nómadas pastores de las estepas (Lane, 2006: 17), en los guerreros más temidos de la Edad Media. Reinos e imperios cayeron a sus pies, tras vencerlos en incontables batallas, obteniendo los mongoles riquezas sin fin. Gracias a diversos cronistas árabes, chinos, rusos, etc., contamos con un conocimiento relativamente amplio y veraz de su historia, aunque la fuente principal procede de la Historia Secreta de los Mongoles, obra de autor desconocido y compilada quizá alrededor del año 1226, un año antes de la muerte del Gran Kan, que junto a numerosas leyendas recoge la tradición oral de los sucesos que narraremos.

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