Silk Road relics, artworks on display in Shanxi

An exhibition of selections from Hirayama Ikuo Silk Road Museum's collections recently opened at the Shanxi Museum in Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi province.

The exhibition sponsored by the two museums displays over 190 pieces of cultural relics and artworks from the rim of the Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and China, including Greek painted pottery and reliefs, Roman glassware, Persian gold and silverware, Central Asian brocades and Indian Buddhist statues.

The exhibits showcase creations of the ancient Silk Road, reflect the exchanges, collision and integration of civilizations, and provide physical references for understanding Chinese and Western cultures.

Zhao Zhiming, deputy curator of the Shanxi Museum, said that the exhibition is an important event for promoting international cooperation and cultural exchange involving the Belt and Road Initiative, and will last until March 3, 2022.

The Silk Road, which runs westward from the middle reaches of the Yellow River in China, and reaches the Mediterranean through Central and West Asia, is a network of trade routes connecting the East and West from the 2nd century BC to the 18th century.

Shanxi is an important post of the ancient Silk Road. From the Northern Dynasty (386-581) to the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) dynasties, Pingcheng (now Datong) and Jinyang (now Taiyuan) were prosperous international metropolises on the Silk Road. During the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, Shanxi merchants expanded their commercial layout along the Silk Road.