Gandhara Heritage along the Silk Road: A Pakistan-China Joint Exhibition

Exhibition Period: March 16, 2023 - June 15, 2023

Time: from Tuesday to Sunday 08:30-17:00, closed on Monday

Venue: Wenhua Hall, the Palace Museum, Beijing

Introduction: This exhibition, co-organized by the Palace Museum (Beijing) and the Department of Archaeology and Museums of the National Heritage and Culture Division of Pakistan, is the largest exhibition of Gandhara art held in China to date. The exhibition aims to promote mutual understanding between China and Pakistan, and in particular to make the Chinese people aware of the depth and importance of Gandhara culture.

A total of 203 pieces (sets) of cultural relics from Pakistan and the Palace Museum were selected for the exhibition. Among them, 173 pieces (sets) are Pakistani cultural relics, respectively, from these following seven museums: National Museum of Pakistan, Taxila Museum, Peshawar Museum, Islamabad Museum, Dir Museum (Chakdara Museum), Swat Museum and Hongde Museum. Most of these artifacts were unearthed from archaeological excavations and can date from the 2nd century BC to the 10th century AD. In addition to the familiar Gandhara stone art of early Buddha and Bodhisattva statues, Buddha’s biographical stories, Buddha’s nativity stories, and architectural elements of stupas, there are also gold and silver artifacts and jewelry, which fully demonstrates the stylistic diversity of Gandhara art and its artistic charm, as well as the historical originality of the intermingling of multiple cultures. Thirty pieces (sets) of cultural relics are from the Palace Museum, mostly those from the ancient Gandhara region who entered western Tibet, China, through art centers such as Swat and Kashmir on the Highland Silk Road. These artifacts had a strong influence on the style and art of gold and bronze statuary in the Guge Kingdom, showing the long history of cultural and artistic exchanges between China and Pakistan.

The archaeological sites of ancient Gandhara are mainly located at the southern end of the present-day Hindu Kush and Karakorum Mountains, an important hub of the Silk Road connecting the South Asian subcontinent, where the Mediterranean, Iranian, Central Asian steppe and Indian civilizations met and where multiple cultures collided intensely to forge a colorful civilization. The exhibition is divided into three sections: “The Birth of Gandhara Civilization under Multiple Cultures”, “The Splendor of Gandhara Art” and “The Afterglow of Gandhara Art”. And it will present the charm of Gandhara culture and its influence from the perspective of the development of ancient Gandhara civilization.

Translator: CHEN Nuoqi

Reviewer: TANG Yingqi