Tang Changsha ewer with applique

In 138 BC, Emperor Wude sent his envoy Zhang Qian to establish contact with the oasis city states in Central Asia. His aim was to seek alliance against the normadic Xiongnu tribe, a perennial threat to the Northern frontier of China. Zhang Qian was unsuccessful in persuading the states in Central Asia to join force against the Xiongnu but through his travel, he brought back firsthand information regarding the region. Within a generation of Zhang Qian's exploration, the overland silk route was established. During the Han to Tang Dyansty period, the Chinese established suzerainty over the region. There were regular dipolmatic exchanges and trade between China and Central Asia. There were also much cultural exchanges and the exotic Central Asian goods, music, dance and dresses were well received by the affluent upper class in Changan, the cosmopolitan Tang capital. Indeed, the art of Persian Susanian had a significant influence on the style of various Chinese art forms. In the field of ceramics, it is generally held that lead glaze was introduced from Persia during the Han period. Ceramic vessels produced in Northern China kilns adopted many Susanian decorative elements and vessel forms.

Since the early 4th century, Sogdians had been conducting business in China. Sorgdian territory corresponds to the modern provinces of Samarkand and Bokhara in modern Uzbekistan as well as the Sughd province of modern Tajikistan. They played an important part as middlemen in the ancient overland silk route linking China and the Roman Empire in the West. China was a land of possibility, offering lucrative markets and jobs. Many Sogdians seized the opportunity, and found a home and a living in China in a variety of occupations—as traders, entertainers, craftsmen, scribes, translators, monks, soldiers, and military leaders.

I have in my possession an interesting shipwreck 9th Cent. Tang Changsha ewer with 3 applique medellions with decoration of male Sogdian dancer performing a dance known as the Sogdian Whirl (huxuan wu 胡旋舞). It was usually performed on a small, circular felt carpet. The high relief medellion form was a popular Susanian decorative art form and likely the source of inspiration for that on the Changsha ewer. The ewer was originally dressed with light brownish green glaze and the medellions further glazed brown. Due to the corrosive effect of sea water lasting almost 1300 years, the glaze has degraded and only traces are still discernible.

Shipwreck Tang Changsha ewer with decoration of Sogdian dancers

An excavated example found in China

Two beautiful examples of Sogdian dancer

Decoration of Sogdian dancers were known on earlier ceramic ware, such as one on a lead amber glaze flasks dated to the Northern Qi period (6th cent.)

Tang Poet Bai Juyi in his poem describes the impact of this Sogdian cultural import, of how “officials and concubines all learned how to circle and turn.” The poem tells how the courtesan Yang Guifei 楊貴妃 “stole the ruler’s heart with her Sogdian Whirl.”

The Sogdian-Turkic general An Lushan 安祿山 (703–757 CE) , a favorite official of Emperor Xuanzong, despite weighing more than 400 was proficient in the dance. The subsequent An Lushan's rebellion resulted in the decline of Tang dynasty.

More information on the Sogdians:

https://sogdians.si.edu/the-sogdians-abroad/