A detail of the mural from the tomb of Han Xiu and his wife, featuring a male and a female dancer Photo: PROVIDED TO CSST

The term “wu yan” in Tang Dynasty (618–907) murals generally refers to the carpets or mats used in dance performances. References to these carpets are scattered across surviving texts, while visual depictions have been found exclusively in grotto murals, Tang tomb murals, ceramic decorations, and stele reliefs.

Styles and patterns

Tang Dynasty murals depicting Hu people [generally refers to a diverse group of non-Han ethnic groups in ancient China, primarily from Central Asia and the Eurasian Steppe] dancing on carpets encapsulate the urban life of these communities at that time. In the murals from the tomb of Li Daojian [great-grandson of the first Tang Dynasty Emperor Li Yuan] in Weinan, Shaanxi Province, female dancers with hair buns and wide-sleeved robes dance gracefully on felt carpets. One round, yellow-stained felt carpet is adorned with “lian-zhu” patterns, or interconnected-bead patterns [a decorative pattern characterized by a series of interconnected beads or pearl-like motifs, often forming a continuous chain or circular design]. On another carpet rests a lion, indicating lions had been tamed for performances at that time. These murals date to the period when the Tang Empire received lion tributes from the Western Regions. The round felt carpets under the dancers in the murals of the tomb’s eastern wall have been identified as originating from West Asia and Southeast Europe, given to Tang by Persia as tributes.

According to the excavation report of the tomb of Tang Prime Minister Han Xiu and his wife, the mural on the eastern wall of the tomb measures 392 cm wide and 227 cm high, depicting 14 people. The northern part of the mural features a female music troupe consisting of five women and one man. From north to south, the first is a standing female musician, followed by three female musicians sitting cross-legged on a rectangular felt carpet. The center of the carpet is decorated with four-petaled floral patterns consisting of black dots. The inner border features long strips outlined with double black lines, embedded with beaded motifs, while the edges are adorned with tassel-like designs drawn in black. A konghou harp player in a long striped dress sits cross-legged on another felt carpet, while a male and a female dance on two circular carpets. These dance carpets are decorated with beaded patterns in the inner circle, wide petal-shaped decorations in the middle circle, and more beaded patterns in the outer circle. The carpets in the murals of the Han Xiu couple’s tomb are believed to be Persian brocade dance carpets, tributed by the Kasmira Kingdom [an ancient kingdom located near the Khyber Pass].

The murals of the mid-Tang Yulin caves [a Buddhist cave temple site in Guazhou County, located some 100 km east of the Mogao Caves] depict both round and square felt carpets, as well as more elaborate ones featuring a smaller square within a larger one. These carpets are considered woolen embroidered dance mats made from materials sourced from Sogdiana. The author believes that Sha and Gua prefectures [in present-day Dunhuang and Jiuquan], located at the hub of the trade routes, achieved self-sufficiency in the production of silk textiles and felted woolen carpets during the flourishing Tang era. The dance mats depicted in the murals of the Dunhuang and Yulin Caves were widely sourced of the time, and were usually carried by Sogdian and Persian musicians and dancers.

Ceramic decorations and stele images also offer valuable pictorial data for studying Tang Dynasty dance carpets. In 735, a man named Wang Xuande (649–702) and his wife Lady Gao (649–723), were buried near present-day Weinan, Shaanxi Province, as stated in their epitaph. This epitaph was engraved on a stone tablet and was surrounded by vivid stone carvings, one of which depicts music and dance performances. This scene features a female dancer in Tang-style dress and a bearded male dancer performing on a rectangular felt carpet. Surrounding them are eight female musicians playing the pipa, konghou harp, and zither on the left carpet, and eight male musicians with bili reed instruments, sheng reed instruments, and vertical flutes on the right carpet. The two bearded males among them were likely Hu people. Archeological findings suggest that Wang Xuande’s family was ordinary, and lived in a remote village. These carvings indicate that during the Kaiyuan era, watching Hu people perform music and dance was commonplace.

Localization of Tang dance carpets

Building on traditional Chinese textile crafts, Tang artisans incorporated features of Hu dance carpets, achieving localized production with traditional bird and floral motifs, so as to meet Tang people’s demand for dance carpets.

In the early Tang era, weaving materials were primarily imported. Tang felt carpets were categorized into three styles based on the techniques and materials used. “Gan zhan” carpets were produced through matting, condensing, and pressing wool fibers together using heat and moisture to create a dense, durable fabric. The other two types included woven carpets and mixed wool-silk carpets. The wool-silk carpets, woven with silk, gold and silver threads, and wool, featured localized production in designs, colors, and craftsmanship. Palace dance carpets, with complex patterns and large sizes, were usually made of silk and wool, providing protection for dancers’ feet. These palace carpets were specially made by the official weaving department or provided as annual tributes from local regions.

Tang weaving techniques drew upon Sassanian felt carpet craftsmanship and design, with circular beaded patterns dividing the woven carpets into several decorative units. Various felt carpets excavated from Tang tombs with bird, deer, pig, flowers, ducks, and mandarin ducks encircled by beaded motifs exhibit typical Persian and Byzantine styles.

To satisfy the Tang society’s needs for entertainment, Tang artisans absorbed the Hu people’s techniques in felting, weaving, and knitting, using multi-colored weft threads to create richly patterned and brightly colored dance carpets.

Wu Tie is an associate professor from the School of New Media Art at Xi’an Polytechnic University. Zhu Limin is a professor from the Xi’an Academy of Social Sciences.