Komaroff. L., Carboni.
S., ED. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Exhibition
Cataloge, (2002), The Legacy of Genghis Khan Courtly Art and Culture in
Western Asia, 1256-1353, Available at http://www.lacma.org/khan/captionscredits.htm Accessed on 13 Oct. 12 at 18.15pm
Introduction
Genghis Khan created the world’s
largest empire, stretching at its greatest extent from Korea to Hungary.
The Mongols’ support of pan-Asian trade, their keen taste
for luxury goods, and their practice of relocating artists produced unique
artistic ideas throughout Eurasia. This development created a amazing new
visual language.
By uniting eastern and western Asia for over a century, the
Mongols shaped a unique event for cultural exchange that changed the face of
art in Iran forever. Manuscript
illustrations, luxuriously decorative arts and architectural elements,this was
Genghis Khan’s legacy.
The
Mongols in China
The vast Mongol empire was divided among four dynasties: the Ilkhanids in the Iranian
world, the Golden Horde in southern Russia, the Chaghatay in central Asia, and
the Yuan in China and Mongolia
The Mongols practiced shamanism but they maintained an open
policy toward religion.
Muslims reach positions of power and wealth under the Yuan.
The Mongol’s support of art and global trade helped boost
Chinese forms, motifs, and techniques westward to Iran, where they contributed
to the creation of a new visual language.
This cenotaph, or grave marker, found near the city of
Chifeng in Inner Mongolia show the presence of Muslims at the upper echelons of
Chinese society under the Yuan dynasty.
The head of the cenotaph is inscribed in Arabic script:- the Muslim profession of
faith: "There is no god but God (Allah). Muhammad is the messenger of God
(Allah)." (Los Angeles County Museum of Art. 2002)
This cataloge was very interesting. The pictures of the art were very detaild and very easy to see. I would not have thought that such a legacy could be left by such a man.
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