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- Foreigners as Tomb Figurines
Facial features and type of clothing have to be studied in order to decide whether a tomb figurine depicts a Chinese or a foreigner, (whom the Chinese refer to as �hu;� or barbarian). This distinction can often be made with tomb figurines which have pronounced racial features, but examining the garments is a more tricky exercise, as during the Tang dynasty foreign fashions, especially those from Persia and Central Asia, were en vogue.
Non-Chinese people were first depicted in tomb figurines under the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534) for the simple reason that the ruling class, the Toba clan of the Xianpei proto-Turkic tribe, where themselves non-Chinese. They had conquered north China and ruled with the help of Chinese officials for about 150 years. It is among their military tomb figures that we find most foreign types with beards, bulging eyes, large noses with flared nostrils, and grimaced faces (figs. 26, 27).
A relatively large number of tomb figurines from the Tang dynasty have been found representing foreigners. They are direct results of Tang China�s extensive international trade, which was conducted by sea and overland. In a series of campaigns held by the second Tang emperor, the surrounding barbarians were subjugated, becoming either loyal allies or vassals. In the west, the Chinese empire reached as far as the Pamir mountaints.
The Tang capital of Changan (modern Xi�an), with a population of one million, was crowded with people from all over Asia. Thousands of these foreigners were members of the official embassies which came periodically from all over Asia, and still larger numbers of them were merchants, monks and entertainers. Most of the embassies were actually set up for commercial purposes.
Priests of a wide variety of religions resided in the capital and held services in their respective temples or churches. A large section of the population was Buddhist and many temples had been erected with imperial patronage. Manechaists and Nes- torians, probably the first Christians in China, lived and worshipped in Changan. Foreigners largely lived in separate quarters and inter-marriage with Chinese women was forbidden by imperial edict. There were many other restrictions on them as well.
Changan was not the only city where foreigners resided. The secondary capital, Luoyang, also had a large foreign community. Other places, like Canton in the south and Yangzhou on the Yangzi River, were important harbours for maritime trade. Here, Arabs, Persians, Indians, Malays and others from various South Sea lands resided and waited for favourable winds to carry them home with Chinese silks and ceramics, which they had exchanged for their spices, drugs, precious stones, ivory and exotic woods. Up to this day, mosques still exist in these cities, which attest to the long-lasting influence these trade relations had on China and its culture.
The merchants, who traded in Changan, came via various caravan routes passing through such oasis cities as Turfan, Kucha and Kashgar. It is these merchants, with their Bactrian camels, which became the most popular type of foreigner to be depicted as tomb figurines. A large number of these tomb figurines have curly beards, pronounced noses and unusual attire. The foreigners are usually depicted free-standing beside a camel, but sometimes they are riding the camels, and on rare occasions a whole orchestra of bearded foreigners can be found on the camel�s back (fig. i).
Foreign grooms, who tended to the horses and camels, must have been numerous in the employ of wealthy Chinese households, for they were also a popular subject for tomb figurines. They are usually depicted with their arms raised as if they
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