Images
In the Museum
What can be found in Khotan
An excerpt from The Anglo-American Cyclopaedia, volume XXVII:
After the period of its subjugation to Niya had ended, late in the first century, Khotan became known as a place of bandits and mercenaries.
The Iron Ore of Aksu
An excerpt from The Anglo-American Cyclopaedia, volume II:
The region of the Empyrean mountains near Aksu has a long history of ironworking, due to the abundant presence of the black-ore iron that has been continuously mined there for over three millennia.
Nomads in Lop Nur and Niya
An excerpt from a letter found in Miran cache #25:
To the kala Kunala of pleasant aspect, the vasu Lyimsu sends good health, much, infinite, and thus I write.
I am most disturbed by the reports from my agents in Lop Nur to learn that the Horse Nomads, not content with their successes in Anxi, have now descended upon the caravan roads of Lop Nur and Niya, and prey like wolves of the desert on any caravan that dares travel under the protection of the Green Banner army. In the markets and the streets I have heard many tell that these nomads have called upon their brethren, an uncountable horde of inexhaustible horse riders, and they mean to defy the might of the Middle Kingdom itself.
If these reports be true, what steps are you taking to safeguard your caravans? Will you still travel under the protection of the Green Banners? What offense has the general of the Middle Kingdom committed that angers them so? Are the rumors that he has taken the daughter of a nomadic warlord as concubine true?
Write to me soon with news of this conflict.
Transcribed according to the dictation of the vasu Lyimsu by the scribe Nabylah
Tragedy in Niya
From the Annals of the Oasis Kingdoms:
In the 115th year, the son and heir of the King of Niya was leading a patrol along the oasis trade roads when he was killed in a dispute with soldiers of the Green Banner Army. In retaliation for the loss of his son’s head, King Badal Parsu decreed that fifty of the soldiers of the Green Banner Army should lose their heads also, displayed above the main gate of Niya. This decree was carried out.
Troubles in Jushi
An excerpt from Ban Zhao’s Histories of the Western Hinterlands:
At that season, the laborers of Jushi staged an uprising, refusing to work because of the lack of water. The dry wells and the dry fields caused much strife there.
Truly, the mismanagement of these hinterland kingdoms knows no end! Rejoice that you live in peaceful civilization.
Ceramics of Kucha
Catalog Item #241: Zulaij tile. Its craftsmanship indicates its origin in Kucha, characteristic of the ceramics of that place.
Catalog Item #262: Tableware, Kucha manufacture. The unique ceramic style is instantly identifiable.
Nomad Raids Near Anxi
From the Annals of the Oasis Kingdoms:
That season, the nomads travelled from Yiwu to the region near Anxi, establishing their encampment in the ruins of an ancient and long-abandoned town north of that city.
The armies of the Middle Kingdom made many attempts to dislodge them, sending horse riders and regiments of soldiers. But they were defeated by the nomads’ greater knowledge of the desert and its ways. The horse nomads ambushed their patrols and left the survivors for the vultures.
Mourning in Aksu
From the Annals of the Oasis Kingdoms:
In those days, the people of Aksu dressed in mourning for their queen, attiring themselves as is proper for the Kusinne rites. They prepared olibanum branches for the procession, and set aside their differences as they united in one accord for the solemn commemoration.