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The Chinese collection begins with a small
collection of items from the 2nd millenium BC,
notable for its diversity of textiles and embroidery
in good condition, such as those from the Hun
burial at Noin-Ula.
The most important group of works of Far Eastern
art is of course associated with Buddhism: statues
of deities and monks, fragments of wall paintings
of the 5th to 10th centuries from the monastery of
Qian-fuo-dong (‘The Cave of a Thousand
Buddhas') at Dunhuang. Monasteries in the
oases of Eastern Turkestan, now part of China,
provided items dating from the 5th to15th centuries,
which are of great importance in the study of
Buddhism.
Worthy of particular note are objects from the
archaeological complex at Khara-Khoto
(Mongolian for ‘Black City'), excavated by
expeditions led by the Russian explorer P. K.
Kozlov in 1908-1909 and 1923-1926. The
Khara-Khoto collection consists of unique
paintings and sculptures from the period when
Central Asia was dominated by the Tangut state
of Xi-Xia (existed from 982 to 1227) on the
north-western border of the Chinese Empire.
This collection also includes many objects of
Chinese applied art, high quality examples of
those objects which seem so familiar and typically
‘Chinese' to us today – ceramics and porcelain,
metalwork, enamels, ivory, lacquer and jewellery
pieces, over 1,000 pieces of stone-carving and
others.
Traditional Chinese painting is represented by
just a small number of works, the most important
created by the celebrated 20th-century artists Hsu
Pei-hung and Chi'i Pai-shih. There are also over
3,000 Chinese New Year woodcuts, nianhua,
dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
illustrating the entire spiritual culture of ancient
China.
If you enjoyed this collection, you might want to also visit the other collections at the State Hermitage Museum.
Oriental Coins
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Head of a Monk
684-780 AD
Full description
Lacquered Box with a Lid
1736-1795
Full description
Silk Panel
(fragment)
1st century BC
Full description
Buddha in Vajrasana
Late 11th-12th centuries
Full description
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