The Arts of the Kitan-Liao Empire (907-1125)
Right after the fall of the glorious Tang
Empire (618-907 CE), the rise of the nomadic
Kitans not only reshaped the multipolar
geopolitical system of East Asia in the tenth
century, it also prompted intellectuals of
their neighboring polities and later scholars
to redefine what it meant to be a Chinese
state. With its political heartland in the
modern Chifeng region of Inner Mongolia and
its economic center in present-day Beijing,
the Kitan-Liao Empire (907-1125 CE), in its
prime, controlled an immense territory
stretching from southeastern Russia to
Central Asia. Focusing on excavated tombs,
hoards, and city sites, this seminar examines
Liao’s notions of cultural, political, and
religious identity, imperial consumption, giftgiving, as well as material exchange through
trade and diplomacy. We will explore a wide
variety of materials from the Liao period,
including gold and silver, bronze mirrors,
ceramics, imported glass, tomb murals,
scroll paintings, and Buddhist material
culture. Satisfies the geocultural or
chronological requirement