Buried Treasure

New archeological discoveries keep history in a continuous state of flux. Often, these discoveries fill gaps in our understanding of a particular culture. Such is the case with the more than 200 objects in “Gilded Splendor: Treasures of China’s Liao Empire (907–1125),” which opens Thursday at Asia Society. On view for the first time outside of China, these artifacts — primarily excavated within the past 20 years and from four burial sites in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region — blow apart the previous notion that the Liao were an unsophisticated, even barbaric people. That was an assumption perhaps fueled as much by the absence of these historical items as by the cultural snobbery of subsequent Chinese dynasties.The history of the Liao began soon after the demise of the Tang Dynasty. Northern Asia was populated by a diverse group of people, including Jurchens, Han Chinese, the Uighurs of Turkish descent, and the nomadic Khitan from the eastern section of the Eurasian steppes. It was the Khitan ruler Yelü Abaoji who officially founded the Liao Empire in 907, and it soon grew to encompass a massive landmass counting Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of north China. Their control and taxation of the fabled Silk Road, along with vast financial tribute paid by the rich Song Dynasty, made the Liao one of the wealthiest and most powerful dynasties in East Asia. They were able to establish an extensive trade system with other regions outside China, guaranteeing a constant flow of foreign goods and foreign ideas.Curated by Hsueh-man Shen and Adriana Proser, “Gilded Splendor” is structured around four broad, thematic divisions of Liao culture: nomadic heritage, the Han Chinese tomb tradition, religious life, and luxuries and necessities. Each category offers gorgeously idiosyncratic items, ranging from a large wooden house-shaped sarcophagus, to an elaborate silver mesh burial suit, to miniature pagodas recently discovered at the famous White Pagoda, to rock crystal fish and amber silkworm chrysalis pendants.What unfolds as the exhibition progresses is the overarching tale of a nomadic people who forged a unique and flexible aesthetic. The Liao intended for this new aesthetic not only to legitimize their warmongering ways, but to grow and adapt as they, too, grew and adapted as an empire. It was tailor-made for a lifestyle in transition, combining old nomadic traditions with the new demands of a sedentary existence. A funerary urn in the form of a yurt (10th century) –– decorated with reductive, Matisse-like white-line silhouettes of deer traversing its earthenware body –– combines an almost nostalgic yearning for past nomadic portability with the sedentary lifestyle required for its production. When the Liao invaded the northern prefectures of the Song Dynasty in 938, they took over several kilns and began the production of high-fired ceramics, a craft previously unknown in Northern Asia. The time-consuming operation of a kiln could only be managed by a people willing to stay in one place. Interestingly, the small size of this yurt makes it easily transportable, slipping the metaphor of mobility back into the earthenware body.One of the first things one encounters when entering “Gilded Splendor” is a simple, unassuming stoneware flask. Its neutral grey is a perfect match for its straightforward form-follows-function spherical body. But a subtle, raised ridge — the only decorative element aside from a delicate ring of circles running around the spout — gently lopes along the contour of the flask, hinting that the maker of this object was trying to imitate a sewn leather seam. This flask is a hybrid of folksy directness and sophisticated elegance, fusing the practical day-to-day needs of a nomadic culture with their desire for a more luxury-based item.More important, it also is a clue to understanding that an impulse toward cultural and aesthetic amalgamation is what lies at the heart of the artistic production of the Liao people. They subsumed and assimilated multiple influences from other cultures, especially the Song Dynasty, arguably one of the most artistically sophisticated cultures in history. This impulse is a fairly complex way of approaching the world, and should not be confused with mere imitation. All these objects, regardless of use, are clearly stamped with an endearing, unaffected — at times even naïvely crude — clumsiness particular to the Liao.A gilt silver crown (1018 or earlier), excavated from the marvelously preserved tomb of the princess of Chen, could not be described as delicate or refined — or even particularly elaborate — when compared to the regalia of other cultures. Wide, thinly hammered, decoratively chased lines swirl not gracefully, but confidently, around the reticulated shape of the crown. The seams where the sheets of silver are joined feel rudimentary. Plunked on top is a curious little Daoist figure, sitting among lotus petals and ruyi-shaped clouds. But what this crown lacks in sophistication it more than makes up in a completely unexpected felt-in-the-gut royal presence. Somehow, this object feels much larger than its actual size, and exudes a pride in its own making. When the Liao looked upon this crown, they surely believed that the thing itself, like a talisman, represented supreme power.One of the strangest objects in the exhibition, however, is also one of the most beautiful examples of the real poetry the Liao wrought through their brand of artistic and cultural hybridization. This object — essentially a mash-up of Buddhist and Chinese funerary practices — is a life-size mannequin composed of 17 different movable wooden parts. At one time it had pigmented features and was probably entombed wearing clothing. Though the Liao eventually adopted the Buddhist practice of cremation, they also believed, in accordance with Chinese tradition, that the deceased needed their bodies in order to enter the afterlife. To reconcile these opposing customs, they ingeniously hollowed out the mannequin’s chest and inserted the cremated human remains, creating a dutiful, robot-like courier-of-the-ashes. This bizarre conflation of traditions reduces the human body to its organic conclusion while simultaneously transmuting flesh into wood for all eternity.Through December 31 (725 Park Ave. at 70th Street, 212-327-9271).

Buried Treasure

Buried Treasure

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