Tang Dynasty Research Articles

A Preliminary Exploration of Buddhist Culture in Tang Legends

Abstract: The chuanqi (legendary stories) of Tang Dynasty are widely recognized as a milestone that marks a new stage in the history of Chinese fiction. During this period, the Tang Dynasty adopted a religious policy that allowed Buddhism and Daoism to coexist, leading both religions to reach their historical peaks of prosperity. In the texts of Tang chuanqi, Buddhist thought is also endowed with profound meaning. This paper aims to conduct a detailed analysis of the stylistic features, literary themes, and character outcomes in five classic Tang Legends from the Anthology of Tang and Song Tales, including The World Inside a Pillow, The Governor of Nanke (or An Account of the Governor of the Southern Branch), An Account of Xie Xiaoe, The Tale of Li Zhangwu, and The Tale of Miss Liu. Through this analysis, the study preliminarily explores the Buddhist cultural connotations contained within these works. The significance of this research lies in revealing the profound influence of Buddhist culture in Tang Dynasty literature, promoting a deeper understanding of the stylistic features, literary motifs, and character outcomes of Tang chuanqi, providing valuable insights for contemporary literary creation.

ViCo: Human visual perception-based contour extraction of Chinese Tang dynasty textile patterns

The study of ancient textile patterns not only enriches historical material but also inspires modern costume art design. Recent developments in computer vision technology provide novel analytical methods for the study of ancient textile patterns. As contours are one of the most significant features in computer vision tasks, contour extraction serves as a prerequisite to accomplishing intelligent understanding and automatic design of textile patterns. In this paper, a perception-consistent contour extraction method (ViCo) that simulates the human visual system from the retina, the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), to the V1 area in the cortex is proposed, along with an ancient textile pattern dataset represented by TuanKe in the Chinese Tang dynasty. Experiments were conducted both qualitatively and quantitatively to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method on the TuanKe dataset. Analysis of the results implies the effectiveness of ViCo because the retinal and LGN filter enhances edge information and restrains tiny pixel changes, and the cortex simulation is direction selective. This study is among the initial efforts to employ computer vision technology for ancient textile pattern studies. The study presents a TuanKe dataset and a novel bio-inspired contour extraction method, which has significant historical research importance, fabric art design inspiration, and computer application value.

Exploring circulation dynamics in Han Dynasty China: insights from isotopic analysis of lead glazed pottery

This study investigates lead provenance and circulation patterns in Han Dynasty (202BC-220AD) China through the analysis of lead glazed pottery. Four objects were studied using a combination of typological study, elemental chemistry and lead isotope ratio analysis. The results for each object were compared with databases of ‘lead mining districts’ (lead deposits) and ‘lead usage districts’ (lead-containing artifacts unearthed in different spatial and temporal ranges) to assess the lead sources used for each sample and offers a spatial-temporal range of the use of these lead resources. Three distinct groups of lead and their possible circulating spatial-temporal scales are identified across six samples in this study. A possible change in lead supply networks between the Western Han Dynasty (202BC-9AD) and the Eastern Han Dynasty (25AD-220AD) is proposed. This study also highlights the probable changes in the movement of lead resources from the Western Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty (618AD-690AD), suggesting improvements in long-distance transport capabilities, and the development of economic divisions and exchange connections in ancient Chinese society. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the economic and political dynamics during the Han Dynasty and emphasize the significance of lead isotope analysis of glazed pottery in exploring resource movement.

Dadnet: dual-attention detection network for crack segmentation on tomb murals

Many tomb murals have punctate losses, cracks, and craquelure due to underground subsidence and changes in their physical support. Visual non-destructive detection techniques enable rapid assessment of how much tomb murals are affected by cracking, providing suggestions for their conservation. However, tomb murals are typically created by sketching outlines and then colored. Detailed sketches can easily interfere with crack detection work, requiring the use of deep learning network to better learn crack features and improve detection accuracy. At the same time the limited data of tomb mural presents a challenge to build a deep learning network. To address these issues, this paper introduces a novel dual-attention detection network (DADNet) for crack segmentation of tomb murals. In this work, a customized dataset is first constructed by collecting mural images from the Tang Dynasty tombs. Then the ConvNeXt framework serves as the basis for feature extraction, enhancing the process. Lastly, a dual-attention module utilizing neighborhood attention and biaxial attention is employed to accurately identify the crack regions. Neighborhood attention performs a local self-attention operation around the pixel point, addressing the limitations of self-attention. This approach significantly reduces computational demands as the image size increases. Biaxial attention performs attention calculations in the horizontal and vertical directions. This compensates for the limitation of neighborhood attention in capturing global dependencies. Our DADNet outperformed the competing methods, achieving the highest recorded scores of 78.95% for MIoU and 61.05% for the Jaccard index.

A Study on Pigment Composition of Buddhist Cave Paintings Based on Hyperspectral Technology

The value of the Buddhist cave lies not only in the Buddha statues but also in the surface painting. Hyperspectral imaging technology, as an emerging and effective method for component identification, offers a non-contact and non-destructive approach to the preservation and restoration of oil paintings. This study employed hyperspectral cameras to capture common pigments on the surfaces of Buddhist caves. Then, the results were processed and used as a database to identify the paintings. Additionally, a series of experiments were conducted to examine the impact of binder, substrate types, and pigment sizes on the reflectance spectrum of the paints. The Spectral Angle Matching (SAM) algorithm was then used to analyze the Yuanjue Cave and Qiqushan Stone Carvings of the Tang Dynasty in China. The findings revealed that the position of absorption peaks in the reflectance spectra is not significantly influenced by the substrate but is affected by the binder. Moreover, the absorption depth varies regularly with particle size. Furthermore, the spectral matching results demonstrate that components can be accurately identified even for similar colors. Based on the pigment distribution, the study also inferred specific details of ancient paintings, including the painting steps and hidden information in the manuscript layout. These findings hold significant implications for the restoration of representative surface paintings of the Tang Dynasty Buddhist cave, providing a reference for the selection of restoration materials and methods.

Ontological analysis and disease statistics of wooden coffin paintings from the Qinghai Tibetan Medicine Culture Museum, China

The 35 wooden coffin paintings from the Tubo period of the Tang Dynasty, housed in the collection of Qinghai Tibetan Medicine Cultural Museum, are valuable materials for studying Tubo culture. Research has shown that the wood used for coffin paintings was cypress. The adhesives contain bovine collagen and chicken ovalbumin. The pigments used include carbon black, azurite, cinnabar, orpiment, minium, and lead white. This article provides a statistical analysis of the types and areas of diseases that appear in wooden coffin paintings. Through the application of descriptive statistics, correlation coefficient analysis, principal component analysis, and cluster analysis, it was determined that deterioration phenomena such as rotten, crack, pulverization, and discoloration disease were particularly pronounced in coffin paintings. Key variables influencing the disease of wooden coffin paintings include crystal salt, drop, and pulverization. The dataset was categorized into three distinct clusters, each exhibiting significant differences. This study offers valuable insights and foundational support for the future conservation and restoration of coffin paintings.

An Exploration of Alkaline Degumming in the Printing and Dyeing Process of Silk Georgette

Alkali printing was one of the traditional techniques employed for printing on silk georgette in ancient China. This study investigates two degumming methods in alkaline printing processes, namely alkaline boiling and alkaline steaming, based on the principles of Tang Dynasty alkaline printing techniques. The effects of slaked lime concentration, steam temperature, and steam duration on the degumming rate of silk georgette are studied. Alkaline boiling is found to be rapid and effective, achieving a degumming rate of 27% at 80 °C in 30 min, whereas alkaline steaming requires a prolonged process with a maximum degumming rate of less than 20% before the water reaches its boiling point. Additionally, the differences in dyeing effects at various degumming rates, and the variations in pattern clarity and detail under alkaline steaming, were compared. Although both degumming methods can achieve the desired amount of degumming rate through process control, alkaline steaming allows for integration with methods like screen printing and rotary printing, offering better control over pattern freedom and detail. The combination of these two processes can further expand the artistic expression and application of traditional alkaline printing techniques in contemporary silk degumming printing.

Interpretation of Buddhist Scriptures from the Perspective of Sinicization of Buddhism

The interpretation of Buddhist scriptures from the perspective of Sinicization of Buddhism has undergone a long and fruitful development process. From the initial period of Buddhist transmission with grid-meaning translation, to the elaboration of Buddhist doctrines during the Wei, Jin, Northern, and Southern Dynasties, to the doctrinal taxonomy in the Sui and Tang dynasties, and then to the interpretation of mind and nature during the Song and Ming dynasties, up to the modern trend of humanistic Buddhism, the interpretation of Buddhist scriptures has always interacted with the spirit of Chinese native culture, presenting a unique landscape of integration and innovation. The Sinicized interpretation of Buddhist scriptures not only demonstrates cultural confidence but also provides wisdom and inspiration for modern society. In the future, cross-cultural dialogue with the world, interdisciplinary integration and development, digital humanities research, and innovative communication methods will become new directions and challenges for the Sinicized interpretation of Buddhist scriptures.

Was Bone Used in the Glaze of the Ancient Qiong Kilns for the Production of Tang Dynasty Opaque Glaze Celadon?

Being an important source of primary celadon in ancient China, the Qiong kiln is one of the few kilns that can skillfully produce opaque glaze celadon, which is of great significance in the history of Chinese ceramics. In this study, the chemical composition, microstructure, and crystalline phase of sixteen pieces of opaque glaze celadon excavated from the site of Qiong kiln Shifangtang dated at the Tang Dynasty were investigated by using ultra depth of field microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy spectrometry, and micro confocal Raman spectrometry. The findings indicate that Fe is the predominant coloring element in the ceramic glaze, and Cu is sometimes a secondary coloring element. During porcelain firing, washed plant ash was used to increase the phosphorus content of the glaze, while some wares incorporated animal ashes as a flux to improve glaze emulsification.

A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON CHINESE RED GLAZE

Glazes obtained by the reduction method, also called Chinese red or copper red in the literature, were first seen on porcelains of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and Northern Song Dynasty (960-1126) periods in China. These glazes, which require a very difficult process to produce, are obtained by reducing the copper compounds in the recipe in the kiln. From its historical process to the present day, the surface of Chinese red glazes has been desired to be shiny and smooth, and their production has been carried out according to this principle. Within the scope of this study, a new artistic perspective was wanted to be brought to Chinese red glazes and instead of a smooth surface appearance, a pin hole image, known as a glaze defect, was desired. For this purpose, silicon carbide (SiC) was used to achieve the desired effect. Under normal conditions, the reduction process is carried out when the kiln cools down after neutral firing. However, a different perspective was tried to be provided by developing an alternative firing method to the traditional Chinese red glazes obtained by reduction. In order to contribute to the language of discourse in art ceramics, a new proposal is presented with the interpretation of Chinese red glazes.

Emotions Conveyed by Objects — The Colourful Sculptures of Nanzen Temple as an Example

Various kinds of objects fill our lives, and in different contexts, they carry more meanings than just their own use. Nanchan Temple is the earliest wooden mortise-and-tenon structure building of the Tang Dynasty, and the coloured sculptures enshrined in it are also rare coloured sculptures in the world, which have profound research value. This paper takes Nanchan Temple-coloured sculptures as the object of study and explores the historical information and deeper meanings contained in material historical objects through the five aspects of craft, making, biography, affect, and enchantment.

Image Restoration Technology of Tang Dynasty Tomb Murals Using Adversarial Edge Learning

The city of Xi’an, China houses a vast collection of valuable Tang dynasty (618 AD-907 AD) tomb murals that have experienced various degrees of damage over time due to weathering. This research proposes an adversarial edge learning-based mural restoration technique that provides a fast and accurate automatic repair of the murals. The method uses generative adversarial networks to learn how to repair the edge contour of a damaged mural and restore the missing content. The contour restoration network and mural restoration networks are trained and updated simultaneously to enhance the feature extraction and restoration coordination performance of the network. The experiments were conducted on a self-built Tang dynasty tomb mural painting restoration dataset and compared to several existing algorithms. The proposed algorithm showed a 1.3 increase in peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and a 1.43% increase in structural similarity (SSIM) value, providing a precise restoration of the structure and contour of the mural content. The algorithm successfully repaired damaged murals with fractures and small missing parts. The suggested method can be useful for both the technical repair and conservation of significant national visual cultural property and the digital restoration of historic murals.

A study of diverse cosmetics from the Tang dynasty

A study of diverse cosmetics from the Tang dynasty

Degradation of a Sauce-Glazed Ware from the Song Dynasty Salvaged Out of Water at the Dalian Island Wharf: Part II—The Effect of Surface-Attached Marine Organism Remains

Dalian Island, located in the northwest of Pingtan County, Fujian Province, China, has been an important junction on the Maritime Silk Road since the Tang dynasty. This study focuses on sauce-glazed ceramic ware from the Song dynasty salvaged from the waters near Dalian Island Wharf. The composition, phase attributes, and microstructures of the marine organism remains attached to the ceramic ware were analyzed using an optical microscope, scanning electron microscope, and micro-Raman spectrometer to investigate the influence of marine organisms on the degradation of the ceramic ware. Long-term abrasion by sea wave-borne debris led to the increased surface roughness and wettability of the ceramic ware, facilitating the attachment of marine organisms. Differences in surface roughness between the inner and outer walls led to varying levels of biomass. Coralline algae secreted inducers to attract the larvae of macrofoulers. The attachment of different types of marine organisms had varying effects on the degradation of the ceramic ware. Firmly attached unitary organisms could alleviate the scouring of sea wave-borne debris and hinder the intrusion of foreign pollutants, thereby playing a ‘bio-protective’ role. In contrast, the group skeletons of modular organisms could reinforce the mechanically damaged surface but failed to block the intrusion of iron rust and other pollutants, resulting in chemical alterations of the glaze. Therefore, the specific species of the attached marine organisms should be considered in subsequent conservation efforts.

The Inheritance and Development of “Intangible Cultural Heritage ” : A Case Study of Zhejiang Taizhou Embroidery

From the needle boneless lanterns in Xianju during the Tang Dynasty to the unearthed artifacts of Huangyan Lingshi Temple in the Northern Song Dynasty, to the carved embroidery of Haimen in the late Qing Dynasty, the history of embroidery in Taizhou has a long and profound history. After several generations of inheritance, development, and historical and cultural accumulation, Taizhou Embroidery has now become one of the artistic treasures of Taizhou culture and even Chinese culture. This paper then is to discuss how to promote Taizhou Embroidery from Zhejiang by using “big data” under the background of the “national trend craze”, and through research on the awareness of Taizhou Embroidery at home and abroad, it reflects the reasons for the necessity of promotion, the challenges faced by promotion, and the corresponding strategies for promotion.

Investigation on the Construction of Yinshan Buddhist Temple in Beijing

Yinshan Tallin is located in Xihu Village, Xingshou Town, Changping District, Beijing. During the reign of Tang Zhenguan, Yinshan temple was built, and the famous monks and Zen masters of all dynasties came to practice here one after another. Through a detailed review of the construction of Yinshan Buddhist Temple and the development of Buddhism from the Tang Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, that is, from the 7th century to the 20th century, this paper conducted investigation on such a temple with a long history and unique geographical location, which can help people better understand its value and influence, and provide references for protection and inheritance.

Bidirectional Transmission Mapping of Architectural Styles of Tibetan Buddhist Temples in China from the 7th to the 18th Century

Architecture is the stone book of history, and the evolution of architectural styles showcases a non-verbal history constructed through images. As an important part of China’s historical and cultural heritage, the architectural forms and styles of Tibetan Buddhist temples were initially modeled on Tang dynasty temple architecture and gradually evolved into the most significant architectural types in regions such as Tibet and Qinghai in China. Religious architecture has also played a significant role in shaping regional cultural landscapes. Existing research on Tibetan Buddhist temples is primarily focused on qualitative studies of individual temple buildings. This research takes the spatiotemporal evolution of architectural styles of Tibetan Buddhist temples as an entry point and, for the first time, employs ArcGIS technology to visualize the spatial and geographical distribution of Tibetan Buddhist temples from the 7th to the 18th century, establishing a comprehensive academic vision that encompasses both historical stratification and cross-regional spatial correlations. By analyzing the cultural symbolic features embodied in the construction styles of Tibetan Buddhist temples and the visual characteristics reflected in their decorative arts, we propose two spatiotemporal dimensions for the formation and transmission of Tibetan Buddhist temple architectural styles: “Westward Transmission” and “Eastward Diffusion”. Firstly, from the 7th to the 9th centuries, the architectural style and construction techniques of Tang dynasty Buddhist temples were transmitted westward along the Tang–Tibet ancient road, integrating with local Tibetan elements to form the Tubo architectural style, which was further refined into the “Sino–Tibetan Combined Style” with strong visual characteristics around the 13th century. Subsequently, along with the spread of Tibetan Buddhism, this temple architectural style underwent an eastward diffusion from the 13th to the 18th century, reaching regions, such as Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, and Beijing, presenting a spatial gradient from west to east in the geographical dimension. On this basis, in this research, we construct a historical evolution mapping of Tibetan Buddhist temple architectural styles based on bidirectional transmission, attempting to elucidate that the intrinsic driving forces are religious and the cultural identity that guided the bidirectional transmission mechanism of these architectural styles under the historical context of the formation and dissemination of Tibetan Buddhism from the 7th to the 18th century.

Construction of Cultural Heritage Knowledge Graph Based on Graph Attention Neural Network

To address the challenges posed by the vast and complex knowledge information in cultural heritage design, such as low knowledge retrieval efficiency and limited visualization, this study proposes a method for knowledge extraction and knowledge graph construction based on graph attention neural networks (GAT). Using Tang Dynasty gold and silver artifacts as samples, we establish a joint knowledge extraction model based on GAT. The model employs the BERT pretraining model to encode collected textual knowledge data, conducts sentence dependency analysis, and utilizes GAT to allocate weights among entities, thereby enhancing the identification of target entities and their relationships. Comparative experiments on public datasets demonstrate that this model significantly outperforms baseline models in extraction effectiveness. Finally, the proposed method is applied to the construction of a knowledge graph for Tang Dynasty gold and silver artifacts. Taking the Gilded Musician Pattern Silver Cup as an example, this method provides designers with a visualized and interconnected knowledge collection structure.

We are the Same Mind! A Study of Zongmi’s Idea of the True Mind

Guifeng Zongmi 圭峯宗密 (780-841) was a prominent Chinese Buddhist scholar who lived during the Tang Dynasty. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in the development of Chinese Buddhism, particularly the Huayan (Flower Garland) and the Chan school. Within his own philosophical framework, Zongmi introduced the concept of the “True Mind of original enlightenment” (benjue zhenxin本覺真心). This paper presents a fresh interpretation of True Mind theories in Buddhism, drawing inspiration from Zongmi’s teachings. The proposed interpretation holds the following: (1) We are the same mind as the cosmic True Mind; (2) The essence of the True Mind is reflexive awareness devoid of content, whereas its conditioned function is reflexive awareness with content. To support this perspective, I characterize awareness as a dynamic activity within the threefold structure of inner time-consciousness. By applying this framework, I argue that the True Mind can be regarded as unchanging because reflexive awareness without content is without the experience of the flow of time. This proposal aims to reconcile the tension between the concept of the permanent True Mind as our True Self and the Buddhist doctrines of universal emptiness and no-self.

Intangible heritage restoration of damaged tomb murals through augmented reality technology: A case study of Zhao Yigong Tomb murals in Tang Dynasty of China

Tomb murals are a precious amalgamation of tangible and intangible heritage, encapsulating profound historical significance and aesthetic value. While tangible heritage often gains more attention than intangible heritage in cultural protection, it is still imperative to acknowledge that intangible heritage complements and substantiates the historical, cultural and artistic context. Tomb murals contain intangible heritage elements such as religious practices, customs and artistic techniques. Tomb murals from the Tang Dynasty of China showcase the cultural richness of both tangible and intangible heritage. Nevertheless, there are many challenges to the protection of Tang Dynasty tomb murals. In light of these challenges, the current study aims to protect the intangible heritage embodied in Tang Dynasty tomb murals through augmented reality technology. A Tang Dynasty tomb, the Zhao Yigong Tomb, has been selected as the research object. Seven murals from this tomb were restored using a process involving two-dimensional and three-dimensional modelling combined with augmented reality (AR) technology. Throughout the restoration process, the current study explores the impact of religious customs associated with the Zhao Yigong Tomb on mural contents and artistic techniques. The scenes depicted in these seven murals were integrated into an on-cloud AR platform to establish an effective process for protecting intangible heritage in tomb murals and stimulate further research, design and development. This study identifies the target audience as researchers, educators and college students interested in history, art and culture. To evaluate the current study, researchers and educators with relevant working backgrounds and college student participants with different backgrounds and interests were invited to test the AR application in the field, followed by one-to-one interviews for a usability assessment. The usability assessment shows that the AR application is widely accepted. In addition to adding information interactively, it helps the audience to improve their understanding of Tang Dynasty art and culture.