敦煌佛爺廟灣唐代模印塑像磚墓(四) - 從模印胡商牽駝磚看絲路交通中的有關問題=A Study on the Tang Dynasty Brick Tombs with Impressed Statues or Motifs at the Foyemiaowan at Dunhuang (Ⅳ) - Impressions of the Silk Road Based on Bricks with the Motif of a Non-Chinese Merchant Leading a Camel
胡商牽駝塑像磚=bricks with an impressed motif of a non-Chinese merchant leading a camel; 胡=hu (non-Chinese); 粟特胡商=Sogdian merchants; 胡服=non-Chinese costumes; 壁畫與牽駝磚上的絲路世界=Silk Road depicted in murals and impressed on bricks
The motif of a non-Chinese merchant leading a camel impressed on the bricks from Foyemiaowan at Dunhuang was a very popular theme in north China in the Tang dynasty. These bricks depict not only non-Chinese merchants in distinct features, but also the different goods that were transported in various containers along the Silk Road. This paper examines the changes in connotation of the words "hu(nonChinese)" and "hushang(non-Chinese merchants)" in historical documents, the early history of the Sogdians, the ethnic identities of the non-Chinese merchants pictured leading camels, and the influence of Sogdian costumes on clothing in the Central Plains during the Tang dynasty. A comparison of this motif with images of non-Chinese merchants in Dunhuang murals suggests that the depictions printed on the bricks is closer to the actual life and appearance of the non-Chinese merchants, the difference in impression of non-Chinese groups most likely being due to the widespread secularization of the local Dunhuang populace and the strong sense of religious purpose of the Sogdian people.
