232
Research and Exploration
Studies on the Hu-Image Figurines
of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty
Chengyong Ge
Distinguished Professor, School of History,
Capital Normal University
T
he Hu people of the Yuan Dynasty
were
Semu, meaning they came from
various ethnic groups: from Central
Asia of the Western Frontier Region,
from Persia, from Arabia and from Europe. Through-
out the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, they both benefited
from ethnic politics and suffered from ethnic con-
flicts. In recent years, new results of academic re-
search on the
Semu have been presented continu-
ously.
[1]
However, most of these results are from
studies on historical literature and the traditional
classics; rarely have results been supplemented by
studies based on unearthed archaeological artifacts.
Even more rarely have results been supplemented
by a thorough analysis of Yuan Dynasty Hu-image
figurines, more and more of which have been un-
earthed lately. This paper attempts to fill in the gap
by complementing and validating historical research
with information drawn from the study of artifacts
and images, offering indispensable evidence to the
academic community.
I
The term
Semu has appeared frequently in lit-
erature since the early Tang Dynasty, when it meant
“miscellaneous items” and was used as an adjective
describing various other types of category.
[2]
In the
Song Dynasty,
Semu became a proper noun referring
to so-called “uncommon individuals” with peculiar,
hybrid surnames. In the Kublai Khan era of the Yuan
Dynasty,
Semu became a proper name for all foreign
ethnic groups, including Europeans, extending be-
yond its initial reference to ethnic groups of Central
Asia of the Western Frontier Regions, and was used
very commonly. Tao Zongyi listed 31 types of
Semu
in his
Notes While Resting from Farm Work [ Chuogeng
lu 辍耕录],
[3]
but they were all alien Hu barbarians
in the eyes of the Han Chinese.
The term
Semu, because of the product of the
Han Chinese perception of the world and of foreign
races, fell within the range of concepts and vocabulary
of the Han Chinese people and their language. How-
ever, some hold a different view of the term’s origin,
[4]
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233
believing that, at the time of ethnic categorization,
Semu and the Mongolian term qari irgen shared the
same semantic range. Those who hold this view main-
tain that
-qari was a suffix appended to the names of all
members of non-Mongol ethnic groups; this is held
to prove that the Chinese term
Semu is a translation
of the Mongolian term
qari. However, so far there is
no historical evidence in translations directly between
Mongolian and Chinese that the term
qari was treated
as equivalent to
Semu in even a broad sense.
We can learn from Yuan Dynasty literature that
when identifying other ethnic groups using the suf-
fix
-qari, the Mongols often added the term Huihui.
For example, we read that “Uygurs and
Huihui Semu
officials can serve as Overseers [
Daluhuachi 达鲁花
赤
] of Branch Secretariats [
Xingsheng 行省], Branch
Bureaus of Military Affairs [
Xingyuan 行院] and
Branch Censorates [
Xingtai 行台] of the various
Routes [
Lu 路, a provincial level administrative gov-
ernment during the Yuan Dynasty –
Trans.]” in the
“Ministry of War” chapter
of Laws and Statutes of the
Yuan Dynasty [ Yuan Dianzhang – Bingbu 元典章•兵
部
]. We also read of “various
Huihui Semu people”
in the
Collection of Statues of the Office of Censorate
[
Xiantai tongji 宪台通纪]. The term Huihui first ap-
peared during the Northern Song Dynasty, at that
time referring to
Huihe [i.e., ancient Uygur] people
of the Western Frontier Region. However, it basi-
cally referred to all Islamic believers of the Western
Frontier Region during the Yuan Dynasty. This is
an important reference for us in understanding the
scope of references to the
Semu.
Yuan Dynasty rulers divided their subjects into
four ethnic castes, including the Mongols,
Semu, Han
Chinese, and
Mangi [southern barbarians], and es-
tablished regulations and policies for appointing
and promoting officials, prohibitions and penalties,
compulsive services and taxations, etc., based on the
four-division ethnic caste system. It was the basic idea
of Yuan Dynasty rulers to exercise effective rule by
taking advantage of ethnic differences. Mongols and
Semu were often classified into one status, while Han
Chinese and
Mangi were classified into another sta-
tus. Since the Mongol army had conquered the West-
ern Frontier Region earlier, they considered the
Semu
their own “compatriots”; and since they occupied the
Central Plains later, they considered Han Chinese
and
Mangi “foreigners” or “outsiders.” In addition,
in the Western Frontier Region, Ariq Qaya, Ye Xian
Ding, Mung Suz and other Uygur generals who had
been loyal officials of Kublai Khan, as well as individu-
als talented in financial management, had formed a
clique. Thus, the status of the
Semu became higher
than that of Han Chinese. However, with the internal
integration of Mongol tribes and continuing territo-
rial expansion of the Mongol Empire, the statuses
of the non-Mongol castes were often blurred.
Semu
who belonged to the second highest caste might fall
into lower castes if they lacked hereditary privilege.
Not all
Semu had a prestigious status. They came
from countries and tribes of the Western Frontier Re-
gion and Central Asia. Although some among them
who belonged to the upper class could get into the
second highest caste of the Mongol system, due to dif-
ferences in occupation and status, etc., many
Semu fell
into lower castes after entering the Central Plains with
the invading army. Some of them served on support
staffs or as officers of the Overseers of Tribal Com-
mand [
Wanghu fu 万户府, a type of agency created
to administer southwestern aboriginal groups during
the Yuan Dynasty –
Trans.] and other local civil or
military officials. Most lower rank local county police
officer posts were filled by young
Semu,
[5]
and some
Semu even became domestic slaves. If Semu commit-
ted crimes such as adultery, theft, fraud, forcing good
women into prostitution, etc., they could certainly be
sentenced for punishment and be despised by others.
Slave trade was especially prevalent in the Western
Frontier Region and in Central Asia. Uygur Contract
Documents of the Yuan Dynasty unearthed in Tur-
pan, Xianjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in 1953,
recorded that a Uygur woman by the name of Qutluq
Hu-Image Figurines of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty
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234
Chinese Cultural Relics » Issue Number 1-2, 2015
was sold as a domestic slave to the Teti Mieli broth-
ers; and another young Uygur man by the name of
Bīntung was sold to someone with the Han Chinese
name “Dasheng Dutong” as his foster son. Judging
from several contracts for the sale of domestic slaves,
they mostly engaged in domestic services, and were
attendant members of the new master’s household
whose ownership was transferable.
[6]
After Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty,
Mongol nobles gradually migrated from the nomadic
steppe to the Central Plains of the Han Chinese re-
gion. Han Chinese bureaucrats from northern China
who were recruited, as well those who voluntarily
pledged allegiance to the royal court of the Mongol
Yuan Dynasty, also received promotions. Some of
these newly ascended aristocrats began to employ
Semu on their staffs or acquire Semu as domestic
slaves. Status based on ethnic identity gave way to
status based on social class. Especially among Han
Chinese bureaucratic families that performed meri-
torious military services to the Mongol Yuan Empire,
many had originally been significant landlords,
[7]
having massive numbers of domestic slaves in a strict
hierarchical system. The practice of using
Semu as
domestic slaves
emerged, and
Figure 1:
Black pottery figurines of the Yuan Dynasty
Figure 3:
Frowning Hu-image
standing figurine (detail)
Figure 2:
Frowning Hu-image
standing figurine (detail)
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235
Hu-Image Figurines of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty
the barriers of social class replaced the barriers of the
ethnic caste system. Hu-image figurines unearthed
from tombs reflect the intention of the people of that
time to emphasize the differences between higher
and lower rankings in social classes under the ethnic
caste system by displaying the lower social class and
ethnic identities of their
Semu domestic slaves.
II
The author intends to offer some physical
examples to draw the attention and discussion of
scholars, albeit with incomplete statistics, to pottery
Hu-image figurines unearthed from Yuan Dynasty
tombs in Shaanxi, Shandong and Henan provinces
and other areas.
(A) Frowning Hu-Image Standing
Figurines
There are two Hu-image standing figurines
among the black pottery figurines of the Yuan Dy-
nasty confiscated by the Artifact Protection Inves-
tigation and Enforcement Squad of Xi’an City. One
of them seems to be a weapon-bearing warrior or
guard figurine, standing with legs splayed. The other
Hu-image figurine wears the cross-cornered fold-
ing hat of a clerk, with a long square-opening robe
over a small cross-collared undergarment; its sash is
belted and fists clenched. Each figurine has deep-set
eyes, a straight nose, frowning eyebrows, open eyes,
a pinched mouth, beard and hideous expression (
Fig-
ures 1-3
).
[8]
The craftsmen might have inherited the
traditional sculpture Hu-image face with “deep eye-
brows as if frowning in melancholic autumn,” intend-
ed to highlight the distinctive ethnic characteristics in
contrast to other humble and gentle servant figurines.
(B) Hu-Image Low-Level Petty Clerk
Figurine
There is a Yuan Dynasty black pottery Hu-image
figurine in the collection of the Shaanxi History Mu-
seum. It has deep-set eyes, a high nose, braided hair
behind, full beard, a long cross-collared right-closing
robe, boots on its feet and both hands on its chest.
Some believe it may be an attendant leading a horse or
camel.
[9]
However, that is simply the continuation of
a theme that inspired the Hu horse-leading figurines
of the Tang Dynasty. This particular Hu figurine more
closely resembles the typical attendant image, and
so should be a depiction of a petty clerk (
Figure 4
).
(C) Hu-Image Figurine Riding
a Camel and Drumming
A noteworthy discovery was made when the Hu-
image figurine riding a camel and drumming
was un-
earthed from the He family tombs dated to the fourth
year of the Taiding reign period of the Yuan Dynasty
(1327 CE) in Huxian County, Shaanxi Province in
Figure 4:
Hu-image low-level petty clerk figurine
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236
Chinese Cultural Relics » Issue Number 1-2, 2015
1978. The Hu figurine wears a peaked cap and has
deep-set eyes, a high nose and full beard, and is rid-
ing a camel with drumsticks in hands raised to beat a
drum. He should be a member of an honor guard to
clear the road for his master during processions (
Fig-
ures 5
and
6
).
Huihui music played by Yuan Dynasty
Semu musicians was once very popular in the royal
court and in the homes of the nobility. Highly skilled
Uygur musicians who were proficient in music were
especially appreciated by high-ranking officials and
dignitaries. Therefore, this Hu-image figurine riding
a camel and drumming vividly demonstrates one of
the likely occupations of the
Semu from the Western
Frontier Region after they entered central China.
[10]
(D) Hu-Image Clerk Figurine Holding
a Document
A black pottery Hu-image figurine was un-
earthed at Zhudian neighborhood in Ji'nan City,
Shandong Province in 1954. The Hu figurine has
thick facial hair, deep-set eyes, a high nose and a typi-
cal Western Frontier Region turban wrapped over
his head. He wears a long robe, is holding a docu-
ment, and is in a walking posture, as if in a hurry to
present the document to his master. This figurine
demonstrates highly dynamic motion and is an ar-
tistic masterpiece among the black pottery figurine
artworks of the Yuan Dynasty (
Figures 7
and
8
).
[11]
(E) Hu-Image Figurine Leading
a Horse
The Hu-image figurine leading a horse in the
collection of the Shaanxi History Museum has deep-
set eyes, a high nose, a bald head, a long neck and
thin beard, with one hand grabbing his horse’s reins
and the other pulling the reins in a way indicating
that he is leading a horse.
[12]
The Hu figurine wears
a robe, with a leather apron below his chest, a thick
belt around his waist, and boots with laces on his feet,
and seems to be a skilled groom (
Figure 9
).
Figure 5:
Hu-image figurine riding a camel and
drumming
Figure 6:
Hu-image figurine riding a camel and
drumming
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237
Hu-Image Figurines of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty
Figure 7:
Hu-image clerk figurine
holding a document
Figure 10:
Hu-image attendant figurine in standing
salutation (front view)
Figure 11:
Hu-image attendant figurine in standing
salutation (back view)
Figure 8:
Hu-image clerk figurine
holding a document
Figure 9:
Hu-image figurine leading
a horse
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238
Chinese Cultural Relics » Issue Number 1-2, 2015
Figure 12:
Hu-image figurine leading a camel
(side view)
Figure 14:
Hu-image figurines leading camels (back view)
Figure 13:
Hu-image figurine leading a camel
(front view)
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239
Hu-Image Figurines of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty
(F) Hu-Image Attendant Figurine
in Standing Salutation
A Hu-image attendant figurine in standing
salutation was acquired by the Hohhot Aibo Yunji
Museum. This Hu-image figurine holds both hands
to his chest in salutation and waits for his master in
procession (
Figures 10
and
11
).
[13]
It is worth not-
ing that the Hu-image figurine wears a typical Arab
long turban, tightly wrapped around the top of his
head. The Hu-image figurine has a neatly trimmed
beard, thick eyebrows and long thick braids pulled
behind his head. It is hard to determine whether the
figurine depicts an ethnic Arab or member of some
other ethnic group found at the time in the Western
Frontier Region. In any case, it is a young man with
sparkling eyes.
(G) Hu-Image Figurines Leading
Camels
Two Hu-image figurines leading camels were
unearthed in the Liu Yuanzhen husband-and-wife
joint tomb dated to the sixth year of the Dade reign
period of the Yuan Dynasty (1302 CE) at the lineage
cemetery of Liu Heima of the Yuan Dynasty at Xia-
dian Village of Weiqu Neighborhood in Chang’an
District of Xi’an City in August 2009 (
Figures 12-
14
).
[14]
Each figurine has deep-set eyes, a high nose
and thick bushy facial hair, and is wearing long hair
braids rolled up into a top bun, and wears a large
brimmed boli hat (a hat like a cymbal). They stand
tall and calm in long right-closing robes. The camels
they are leading have rug saddles on their backs.
(H) Turbaned Hu-Image Figurine
Leading a Camel
A Hu-image figurine leading a camel was un-
earthed in a Yuan Dynasty tomb at Mengcun Village,
Qujiang Neighborhood in Xi’an City in 2002. The
Hu-image figurine has a long turban wrapped on his
head, thick convex eyebrows, deep-set eyes, a high
nose, wide mouth and thick beard, and is wearing
a long cross-collared and tight-sleeved robe and a
knotted-sash belt around the waist. His right fist is
raised to his chest in a posture indicating he is pulling
reins to lead a camel. He looks like an older
Semu
individual from the Western Frontier Region (
Fig-
ure 15
).
[15]
In addition, Hu-image figurines of the Yuan
Dynasty were unearthed in tombs of Duan Jirong
and his wife, Lady Liu, dated to the third year of the
Zhiyuan reign period (1266 CE) at Qujiangchi Lake
in Xi’an City in 1956; a Hu-image figurine riding
a camel was unearthed in a Yuan Dynasty tomb at
Shapo Village in Xi’an City in 1964;
[16]
there were
Hu-image figurines among a batch of Yuan Dy-
nasty pottery figurines unearthed in Jiaozuo City
in 1973;
[17]
Hu-image figurines were unearthed in
the Yuan Dynasty tomb at Hutou Mao neighbor-
hood, Yan’an City in 1987;
[18]
and there were also
Hu-image figurines among the pottery figurines un-
earthed in Yuan Dynasty tombs in Hebei Province
(
Figure 16
). A Hu-image stone-carving statue of the
Yuan Dynasty was also discovered in the scenic area
of Kongtong Mountain near Pingliang City, Gansu
Province. Although all the Hu-image figurines have
customary Mongol hair braids and hair bun styles
and wear large-brimmed Mongol hats modified from
Hu hats, which were very popular during the Yuan
Dynasty, as well as long robes, their facial features
differ markedly from the chubby round faces of the
Mongols. Judging from these artistic images, the sta-
tus and social ranks of those depicted are not very
high.
Hu-image figurines unearthed from Yuan Dy-
nasty tombs are obviously inferior to the Hu-image
figurines of the Sui and Tang dynasties in terms of
artistic design and refinement in production. How-
ever, their concise realism and accurate proportions
continue some of the artistic pottery design methods
of the Sui and Tang dynasties. Although Mongols are
characterized by their nomadic horseback culture,
the tomb figurine customs of the Central Plains were
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240
Chinese Cultural Relics » Issue Number 1-2, 2015
adopted in the tombs of the Han Chinese nobility.
The emergence of Hu-image figurines has prompted
us to reflect further on the different plights of
Semu
in society at that time and changes to the hierarchical
ethnic caste system.
After the Mongol occupation of the Central
Plains,
Semu collaboratively stationed themselves
around camps across the country. They followed
the Mongol troops, fighting or hunting, trampling
crops, capturing civilians as their domestic slaves
at will, forcefully demanding food and wine from
civilians, fully displaying power and prestige while
riding alongside the powerful Mongols. The
Semu
groups dispersed across the country did not reach
the necessary critical mass to form a separate com-
munity; formation of such a community was also
prevented by the disparity between upper and lower
Semu classes, as well as by the continued increase in
intermarriage among
Semu and Han Chinese.
[19]
In
what became a popular fashion at the time, many
Figure 15:
Turbaned Hu-image figurine leading a camel
Figure 16:
Hu-image figurines
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241
Hu-Image Figurines of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty
Semu “fell in love with Han Chinese culture and
customs” after entering the Central Plains, giving
themselves Chinese names and even adopting the
Han Chinese funeral practices.
However, the numbers of
Semu immigrants
were massive, their internal social classes increas-
ingly stratified, and the gap between the privileged
and the average working people became very great.
According to records in
The History of the Yuan
Dynasty [Yuan Shi 元史], 1,050 families of Wod-
uan (斡端, Khotan) and Keshihe’er (可失合儿,
Kashgar) artisans established military agricultural
colonies in Gansu and Shaanxi areas; 700 families
of
Qirqisud (乞儿吉思, Kyrgyzstan) established
a military agricultural colony in Hesihe [present-
day Yongning Town, Xiongyue County, Gaizhou
City, Liaoning Province –
Trans.]; Uygur people
established a military agricultural colony in Nan-
yang Superior Prefecture [present-day Nanyang
City, Henan Province –
Trans.]; Qarluq soldiers
established a military agricultural colony in Xiang-
yang Town [present-day Xiangyang City, Hubei
Province –
Trans.]; and many other Semu, such as
ethnic Kipchak, Qanqli and Russian people, engaged
in agricultural production in the Central Plains. Many
of them also engaged in the handicraft, commerce and
mining trades, and many served as domestic labor-
ers, domestic slaves, musicians and fortune tellers.
[20]
Especially noteworthy, the “Skilled Talents of the
Western Frontier Region” served as master sculptors
and artists. For example, the grandfather of Liu Yuan-
zhen was the Han Chinese Hereditary Marquis Liu
Bolin of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. Liu Yuanzhen
was the eldest son of Liu Heima, who was the head
of 30,000 households of Han Chinese military fami-
lies established by Ögedei Khan, Emperor Taizong
of the Yuan Dynasty. Therefore, the emergence of
Hu-image figurines during the Yuan Dynasty was
not accidental, but a reflection of the social and his-
torical background, and of the hierarchical status in
aristocratic funeral practice.
III
Why do various Hu-image figurines appear in
Yuan Dynasty tombs in the Central Plains area?
Were the Hu-image figurines an indication that those
depicted served in such roles as low-level petty clerks,
translators, interpreters and government entourages,
or as private artists in residence and domestic slaves,
etc.? Given the background of an ethnically diverse
country, understanding conditions of coexistence
of ethnic groups in the remote historical past is un-
doubtedly a very complex task and one worthy of
continued exploration.
We know that after suffering through the chaos
of the late Tang Dynasty wars, and then being torn
by the war between the Song and Jin dynasties, as
well as being trampled by the great Mongol armies,
areas from Hebei, Henan to Shaanxi Guanzhong
area suffered repeated destruction, which was de-
scribed as leading to “ ‘deserted cities and ghost
towns everywhere’ during the time of transition
between the Song and Yuan dynasties.” After Oge-
dei Khan took the throne in 1229 CE, he militarized
the civilians, established Han Chinese armies, ini-
tially with 30,000 households and later increasing to
70,000 households. The Han Chinese officials who
surrendered to the Mongols were made hereditary
marquises. Prominent hereditary marquises, such as
Liu Heima of Datong, Liang Ying of Taiyuan, Zhang
Rong of Ji'nan, Shi Tianze of Zhending, Yan Shi
of Dongping, Zhang Rou of Baoding, Wang Zhen
of Daming, and Di Shun of Zhongshan, were very
famous at the time. They not only had the privilege
of “dividing people and lands,” but also had the
power of “investiture or appointing officials, with
complete power over people’s life and property,”
so that “all local government officials served at their
pleasure” and “subordinated officials were treated
as their slaves.”
[21]
After Kublai was sent to control northern China
by the command of Möngke Khan, he restored Han
Chinese laws in the Hebei, Henan, Shandong and
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Chinese Cultural Relics » Issue Number 1-2, 2015
Shaanxi areas, and reestablished stability in those
areas. In order to fight the Song Dynasty army, it
was determined that the Henan area would be the
Mongol army’s base for an offensive against the area
of Xiangyang and Fancheng towns, while the Guan-
zhong area would serve as a base camp for attack-
ing the Sichuan area. Han officials around the great
Mongol Khans played significant roles in devising
strategies.
[22]
In the Mongol campaign to conquer the Song
Dynasty in 1259, almost all of the deployed troops
were Han Chinese armies; the main force was the
army of Zhang Rou of Mancheng in the Hebei area.
In fact, it was the Han Chinese in the north attacking
the Han Chinese in the south, and the Mongols were
not the main force at all. After Han Chinese mili-
tary officers and generals, who had perfect control
in commanding the troops, won meritorious victory,
they were awarded positions, titles and farmlands,
given slaves, and enjoyed all honor and glory. This
inspired many Han and Mangi Chinese to adopt
Mongol names, posing as Mongols to seek official
positions, and seeking to use lower-level
Semu as
servants, gaining glory for their households.
In the past, some scholars did not pay enough
attention to the fact that when the Mongol army re-
turned triumphant and migrated back east, many
immigrant ethnic groups from the Western Frontier
Area, Central Asia, West Asia and Eastern Europe
were brought back along with them, including the
Semu of Kipchak, Qanqli, Alans (aka Alani, Aorsoi,
or Alanorsi), Russians, Arabs and Persians. Zhao Yi
of the Qing Dynasty once pointed out that during
the Yuan Dynasty, Mongols and
Semu spread spo-
radically across the country, mixing with the Han
Chinese without any restrictions, thus becoming
widely distributed in the Central Plains and south
of the Yangtze River.
[23]
In
Western and Central Asians
in China under the Mongols: Their Transformation into
Chinese, Yuan Chen verified the ethnic and tribal
origins of 132
Semu, most of whom should have been
lower class
Semu. They formed working communities
and made livings with their expertise.
[24]
It is worth noting that many
Semu were mer-
chants and were called “
Ortaq” (aka Wotuo in
Chinese). Early in the Mongol Empire era, these
merchants from the Western Frontier Region and
Central Asia gathered around the courts of Mongol
Khans and various princes, collecting gold and sil-
ver jewelry, managing property and assets, assisting
commercial management, making profit through
investment in lambs or through official monetary
manipulation, and gained the appreciation of the
Mongol nobility in a very short time. The two parties
formed a special political and economic relationship,
and were seen as an “elite clique” that dominated
politics and power. After the founding of the Yuan
Dynasty, Hu merchants of the Western Frontier Re-
gion continued to play an important role, utilizing
their expertise in trade, and the Yuan Dynasty even
established ad hoc agencies such as “Supervisorate-
in-chief of
Ortaq” [ Wotuo Zonguan fu 斡脱总管府]
and “Office of Monetary Supervision” [
Quan fu si 泉
府司
], and let these businessmen serve as treasurers
for financial management. Some rich and powerful
families even had their own full-time merchants (
Or-
taq) from the Western Frontier Region serving as
subordinate staff in their profitable government of-
fices.
[25]
The
History of the Yuan Dynasty and the Laws
and Statutes of the Yuan Dynasty mentions numerous
times that “Hu merchants” paid tribute to the Yuan
Royal Court in the form of “rare and precious trea-
sures, prized belts and horses of the Western Frontier
Region.” The famous “Hu merchant” Shihabal-Din
(aka Shab-ad-din), who entered the Yuan Empire
from the Southern Song Empire, focused exclusive-
ly on collecting rare merchandise. The famous Hu
merchant Ding Kui of Quanzhou conducted trade
between Suzhou and Quanzhou, providing luxury
goods from the West for senior bureaucrats of the
ruling group of the Yuan Dynasty.
[26]
However, the
general impression the Han Chinese had of
Semu
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243
Hu-Image Figurines of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty
merchants was that they were cunning and greedy,
and that they were stealing the nation’s wealth. This
was bound to form some conflicting stereotypical
images between Hu and Han Chinese at the time.
The author believes that the emergence of pot-
tery Hu-image figurines in Yuan Dynasty tombs was
a realistic portrayal of the time. It showed that the
Yuan Dynasty nobility as well as the senior Han Chi-
nese officials who surrendered to the Mongol Yuan
Dynasty intended to demonstrate their powerful elite
status. To accomplish this, pottery Hu-image figu-
rines, as well as other figurines in the tombs, would
need to be placed in proper positions: either in front
of procession vehicles or in honor guard ceremonies.
Their images and designs were not simply repetitions
or random productions, but signify the visual culture
of a specific era.
The territory of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty was
larger than the territory of the Sui and Tang dynas-
ties. Various ethnic migrations and mixed commu-
nities were very common. Based on the analyses
of some scholars, about 300,000 or 400,000
Semu
migrated into the Central Plains.
[27]
“There, Hu
woman could sing in Han Chinese, while Han Chi-
nese women could also play
Huqin (a kind of spike
fiddle).”
[28]
Yet the
Semu, as the traditional Hu in the
eyes of the Han Chinese, in addition to leaving their
cultural heritage, such as Islamic culture (
Huihui)
and Christianity (
Yelikewen 也里可温: Nestorian
Christianity, Syriac:
arkagun), also left Hu-image
figurines in the tombs of the Central Plains region.
Images of foreign ethnic groups became a funerary
custom of the Han Chinese. Leaving us unique evi-
dence in the form of physical imagery, such figurines
complement our knowledge and understanding of
our history. This evidence not only reveals the physi-
cal appearance of assimilated
Semu of the Western
Frontier Region by the Chinese, but also shows what
ideological influence the Hu people had upon the
social lives of the Central Plains region.
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Wenwu ( Cultural Relics) Editor: Xia Wang
Translated by Garry Guan, Managing Editor, Chinese Cultural Relics; Independent Scholar, Atlanta, Georgia, United
States
This article was originally published in Wenwu (Cultural Relics) No. 10, 2014, pp. 57-65.
Chinese Cultural Relics No. 1-2, 2015. Copyright East View Press. All rights reserved.
www.eastviewpress.com/Journals/CulturalRelics.aspx
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