Wenshu Hall of Geyuan Temple

Wenshu Hall of Geyuan Temple

To the best of my knowledge the Wenshu Hall of Geyuan Temple is the oldest known Liao Dynasty building.It dates to the first decade of the Liao Dynasty.But oddly the Yelu family temple was Confucian.

Mongols are not Turks and Turks are not Mongols

Mongols are not Turks and Turks are not Mongols and certainly neither are German. 

Hulagu, grandson of Genghis Khan and founder of the Mongol Ilkhanate, seated with his Christian queen Doquz Khatun of the Khereid clan

NCBI The National Center for Biotechnology Information part of the US Government under the National Institute of Health confirms Turks and Mongols are two separate groups
"The Turks and Germans were equally distant to all three Mongolian populations. These results confirmed the lack of strong genetic relationship between the Mongols and the Turks despite the close relationship of their languages (Altaic group) and shared historical neighborhood. This study has provided useful population data for genetic and anthropologic studies bridging eastern and western populations." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12753667

Couched within some very important information is one glaring error Machulla HK, Batnasan D, Steinborn F, Uyar FA, Saruhan-Direskeneli G, Oguz FS, Carin MN, Dorak MT. state,"the close relationship of their languages (Altaic group)".

Turks are part of the Altaic group but Mongols are not. Mongols are in a separate language group since they originate in Northern Siberia in the Yenisei river basin. Machulla et al assume that Mongols are from Mongolia and Turks are from the Altai Mountains in Mongolia so they must be one. Mongols are in a separate group that includes the Manchu, Mongols, (so-called) Native Americans and others.

King Hetum I of Little Armenia Visits the Great Khan

 King Haithon I of Little Armenia Visits the Great Khan 

King Hetum and his predecessor Queen Zabel

In the year of our Lord 1254 King Hetum I the ruler of Little Armenia was summoned by Batu Khan to attend him and then travel to see Mongke the new Great Khan.  Little Armenia was a key Mongol ally dating back to 1243 when they backed the Mongols under Baichu against Kai Khosrau (Ghiyath-al-din Kay-Khusru II, son of Kai Kubad) the father of the Sultan of Rum at the battle of Erzincan.

Erzincan was the key point in history when the Seljuk Sultan(s) of Rum and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia became vassals of the Mongols. The Seljuk became vassal by defeat. This meant that they had a very low status in the hierarchy of Mongol vassals. They were neither particularly respected or trusted. King Haithon I was not a defeated vassal. Haithon switched sides at the battle of Erzincan. Kai Khosrau had trusted Hetum with his camp and his Harem. Along with helping the Mongols to a great military victory Hetum delivered Kai Khosrau’s wives and concubines into the hands of the Mongol general Baichu.

Not long after Erzincan Sempad the Constable had traveled on behalf of his brother Haithon to pledge allegiance to the Mongol Great Khan. At the same time Guyuk named David Narin king of Georgia and his cousin David Ulu the ruler to his east also paid. They paid homage and gained Mongol recognition of their rank and domains. Sempad the Constable was rewarded with a number of cities for his brother’s Kingdom that had been lost to the Seljuk Sultan of Rum. Obviously restoration off cities guaranteed by Mongol power and troops was a great gift.

The problem was that Sempad the Constable had pledged on his brothers behalf to the short lived Great Khan Guyuk son of Ögedei and the last Ögedeid Khan. Sempad had been present as an ambassador at the Kuraltai in August of 1246, outside Karakorum. Guyuk was formally selected as Great Khan August 24 and Sempad pledged fealty to him personally as opposed to the Mongol empire. At that point in time fealty was pledged and owed to the man rather than to some sort of abstract concept of state. This made Hetum of Cilicia an ally of the Ögedeid line of leadership.

But Guyuk had a very short reign. At the time off his death Guyuk was marching west with an army to confront his cousin Batu who was marching east with an army.  Batu was a grandson of Genghis Khan by his son Jochi. His ulus was the Golden Horde, which ruled Rus, Volga Bulgaria, Cumania, and south into the Caucasus region.

Guyuk and Batu had fought on the same side in the Russian campaigns. Guyuk  led his cotaimans rps in the Siege of Ryazan and the long siege at the Maghas, the Ossetian capital. On this campaign Guyuk and Batu clashed over tactics. Guyuk demanded a more aggressive direct approach who brought him into conflict with his cousin Batu. Güyük was a morose mean spirited drunk who called out Batu at the victory celebration. Before the assembled Mongol elite Guyuk cried, "Batu is just an old woman with a quiver". Güyük and Büri, a prince and cousin of the Chagataid line fled Batu’s ordu and earnjned his undying enmity.

Batu tried to block Guyuk’s election as great Khan but he failed. So when Guyuk died Batu moved to take his revenge on the Ögedeid and Chagatayid branches of the Mongol Royal Family. He engineered the election of Mongke at a Kuraltai but it was deemed to be improper so a second Kuraltai was called another where Mongke was named Great Khan.

Since Mongke was the first Great Khan from the Toluid line it was important that an ally even one as obscure as Little Armenia come to Karakorum and pledge his fealty to Mongke and the Toluid line.

It is my belief that Batu and Mongke wanted to solidify the empire. Mongke Khan was the first Great Khan from the Toluid line. He had just dealt with a revolt of the Ögedeid and Chagatayid princes. 

After Mongke's second Kurultai where he was elected Great Khan, Oghul's son Khoja and Ögedei's favorite grandson Shiremun attempted a coup d'etat that failed. At this point Mongke and his ally Batu moved to block any opposition.

Batu Khan summoned King Hetum to the court of the Great Khan

  Hetum had to travel in disguise because the Mongols had been backing King Haithon against the Seljuk in his ongoing border war. At Kars he met with Baichu leader of the Mongols in what was about to become IL-Khanid Persia. Reaching Baichu meant safety since Rum or as we call it now Anatolia was the western frontier. The Mamluk power extended up to and at times into Anatolia. Once Haithon was with Baichu he was under the protecion of the Great Khan.

From Kars Hetum traveled north to Derbend and then on to Batu’s camp on the Volga north of the Caspian. He left Batu’s ordu May 13th 1254. On the way Haithon met Hulagu at Talas. Hulagu Khan was named IL-Khan and was on his way to take the west to create Modern Persia as the IL-Khanid Empire. Hulagu was brother of Mongke. The strategy was to secure the Empire for the Toluid line. When Mongke sent his brother Hulagu Khan to Persia and his brother Kublai Khan to China is was to cut of his enemies, With Batu as his ally and his brothers in place he could hold off other claimants to the throne.

N.B. Hulagu was tasked with destroying the power of the Muslim Caliphate in Baghdad and the Ismaili Muslims who are usually referred to as the Assassins in Persia. I think he was also put in place to cut off the Chagatayid Mongols from gaining Persian and Iraq. 

The Court of Möngke Khan (1251–1259). Please note the Silver Tree fountain in front of Tumen Amugulang Palace, it was made of silver and was made by a French silversmith from Paris. I will try to find the reference of the silver tree fountain King Hetum would have drunk from this ffountain.

"Master William the Parisian William Buchier) had made for him a great silver tree, and at its roots are four lions of silver, each with a conduit through it, and all belching forth white milk of mares. And four conduits are led inside the tree to its tops, which are bent downward, and on each of these is also a gilded serpent, whose tail twines round the tree. And from one of these pipes flows wine, from another cara cosmos, or clarified mare's milk, from another bal, a drink made with honey, and from another rice mead, which is called terracina; and for each liquor there is a special silver bowl at the foot of the tree to receive it. Between these four conduits in the top, he made an angel holding a trumpet, and underneath the tree he made a vault in which a man can be hid. And pipes go up through the heart of the tree to the angel. In the first place he made bellows, but they did not give enough wind. Outside the palace is a cellar in which the liquors are stored, and there are servants all ready to pour them out when they hear the angel trumpeting. And there are branches of silver on the tree, and leaves and fruit. When then drink is wanted, the head butler cries to the angel to blow his trumpet. Then he who is concealed in the vault, hearing this blows with all his might in the pipe leading to the angel, and the angel places the trumpet to his mouth, and blows the trumpet right loudly. Then the servants who are in the cellar, hearing this, pour the different liquors into the proper conduits, and the conduits lead them down into the bowls prepared for that, and then the butlers draw it and carry it to the palace to the men and women."

William of Rubruck's Account of the Mongols

Hetum reached Mongke’s court in Karakorum September 13th 1254. Meeting Mongke Khan on the next day.  All told Haithon and Party spent less than three months in Karakorum

Haithon returned to Armenia in late July 1255.

 I will deal with Hetum at the court and how it affected Armenia and the world in a later article.

Originally I used the name Heithon and also Haithon. But at the suggestion of a trusted friend I switched to Hetum. 

Nadir Divan-Beghi Madrasah Feng Huang

Nadir Divan-Beghi madrasah, at the Lyab-i Hauz in Bukhara. The Madrasah was originally built to be a Caravanserai but on the day of its dedication in 1622 it was declared by the ruler Imam Quli-khan (1611-1642) to be a Madrasah primarily for Sufi mystics.

Hauz means Pond. These ponds were the main source of drinking water going back into ancient times. For sanitary reasons the Soviets drained and filled in most of the ponds in the city but left this one as part of the historical setting.

I include this Google maps view of the Magak-i Attari Mosque in the Lyab-I Hauz complex. It is of special significance since it was used as both a mosque and synagogue in the same time frame and the site was earlier used for idol worship and there was even a temple to the moon god Mokh.

Cathay, Karakorum and William of Rubruck

Cathay and Friar William of Rubruck

King Louis IX of France dispatching Friar William

Friar William of Rubruck a Belgian Franciscan Monk from the Flemish region of France accompanied his King Louis IX in 1248 on the Seventh Crusade. King Louis sent William on May 7, 1253 to convert the Tartar to the One True Faith. At least he did so nominally; Louis also wanted to gauge the chances of using the Mongols to defeat the Muslims. Rather than just a simple Franciscan Friar we must see William as both a spy and an agent provocateur.

Karakorum Mongolia on Google Maps

Karakorum and Taipei (Peking) are 2251 Kilometers by car and it would have been much further  765 years ago

Friar William of Rubruck’s  Description of Karakorum

“Of the city of Caracarum (Karakorum) you must know that, exclusive of the palace of the Chan, it is not as big as the [J: not as fine as the] village of Saint Denis, and the monastery of Saint Denis is ten times larger than the palace [J: is worth ten of the palace]. There are two quarters in it; one of the Saracens in which are the markets, and where a great many Tartars gather on account of the court, which is always near this (city), and on account of the great number of ambassadors; the other is the quarter of the Cathayans, all of whom are artisans. Besides these quarters there are great palaces, which are for the secretaries of the court. There are there twelve idol temples of different nations, two mahummeries [mosques] in which is cried the law of Mahomet, and one church of Christians in the extreme end of the city. The city is surrounded by a mud wall and has four gates. At the eastern is sold millet and other kinds of grain, which, however, is rarely brought there; at the western one, sheep and goats are sold; at the southern, oxen and carts are sold; at the northern, horses are sold.”

By this the west confused China and Cathay

On the basis of this the name Cathay was taken in the West to mean China. There is a fundamental difficulty with this. Karakorum was not in China and the Cathayans were not Chinese. Friar William was speaking of the Khitan people so when he wrote of “Cathayans” what he really meant was Khitan. So when he said, “the other is the quarter of the Cathayans, all of whom are artisans” he was actually referring to the art of the Khitan people.

In the Persian Mongol and IL Khanid period trade flowed to and through Karakorum. When the Armenian nobility traveled to the court of the great Mongol khans they did not visit China. They visited Karakorum. The same can be said for the Seljuk Princes. The silks and robes and the gold and gilt figures were most certainly of Khitan origin. It is often assumed that the early visitors would have received Song Dynasty Blue and White Porcelain from Jingdezhen. This however was a mistake since the blue of the Jingdezhen porcelain was Huihui qing or Persian Blue. This blue was from cobalt which was imported from Persia and was not available to China until the Yuan Dynasty in the early 14^th century.

Yelu Chucai a Khitan Nobleman was the key administrator for both Genghis Khan and his son and successor Ögedei Khan. Yelu Chucai would have been the one to oversee Imperial gifts to visitors such as the Armenians and the Seljuk. Chucai being a Khitan who lived and worked in Karakorum where then do we suppose that are he sourced the gifts? 

Feng Huang in a Safavid Era Carpet

Here we have a late 16th century Southwest Asian Rug usually attributed to Persia. Scholars usually claim it has a Simurgh or Phoenix and they point to it as transplanted Chinese art. I believe that is an over simplistic error in judgement and I will explore some of the reasons why.

The key to this is the Feng Huang;

This long tailed bird is the classical Liao Khitan configuration of a Feng Huang. Compare the features of the Feng Huang with those of  this detail from the Zhang Shiqing's Tomb, East Wall in East Chamber (Liao Dynasty) 1093 - 1117, Xuanhua Xian, China..

Also compare this to 

Please note the neck in each of the 3 images. The same neck even though it is separated by thousands of miles and over 500 years. 

Western scholars desperately want to turn this distinctive bird into a Simurgh or Senmurv. 

As we can see in a classical Sasanian Simurgh they re very different creatures. The Persian Simurgh looks more like a winged or flying squirrel While the Liao Feng Huang is like a cross between a Herron and a Bird of Paradise.

World Politics in 641 AD

T’ang Emperor T’ai Tsung 627-650 AD

In the reign of the second T’ang Emperor T’ai Tsung 627-650 AD conquered all the tribes to the west up to the Caspian Sea and south of the Hindu Kush. In simple terms he took all the way over to Turkmenistan, south into Persian Khorasan and most of Afghanistan possibly even into modern day Pakistan. He created satrapies which by the distance were defacto vassal states.

Don't ask it only leads to trouble.

At the same time Abū al-Qāsim Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim popularly known as the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his followers were exploding out of the Arabian Peninsula.

The Persians were getting pressure on all sides and Khosrau II was defeated by the Emperor Flavius Heraclius. In the image above we see Khosrau loses his crown and submits to Heraclius

Flavius Heraclius and his father over threw Phocas the usurper (One could say the empire lost Phocas). In 610 Heraclius began his reign in his own right. Heraclius had an ongoing fight with his neighbors to the east. He drew heavily on the flagging reserves of the empire and united with Khazars a Jewish Turkish tribe.  He was able to defeat the Persians in 628 under Khosrau II to stabilize his eastern border but at the same time he was under growing pressure from the Muslim threat to the south.

In about 640 Heraclius reached out to China. After the death of Mohammad the Arabs pushed out and were a problem. The Sasanians were still a problem and Heraclius wanted to put his two sons (by different mothers) on the throne to succeed him.  The embassy reached T’ang Emperor T’ai Tsung in 641. Outside of possible trade benefits no real improvents seemed to come from the trip.

On a side note Heraclius made Greek the official language of Byzantium. He tried to fix the schism with the Nestorian Christians. He is also venerated by Muslims who think he was Mohammad’s pen pal and possibly a Muslim himself. Heralius is alluded to in the Koran:

Surrah 30

30:2 The Romans have been defeated 3 In the nearest land. But they, after their defeat, will overcome. 4 Within several years. To Allah belongs the command before and after. And that day the believers will rejoice 5 In the victory of Allah.. He gives victory to whom He wills, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful.

Cherub and Heraclius receiving the submission of Khosrau II; plaque from a cross (Champlevéenamel over gilt copper, 1160–1170, Paris,Louvre).

The Shroud of Saint-Josse Persian Samit Cloth

One fascinating Persian Textile is the Shroud of Saint-Josse (English Joyce). It is a Persian Sasanian Silk Samite cloth dating to Circa 960. I get that date because the cloth is inscribed “blessing and happiness be upon Chief Abû Mansûr Bukhtekin, may Allah extend his years”. We know that Abû Mansûr Bukhtekin was a Turkish general aka Emir who was executed for rebellion in 961.

Saint Josse b. 600 d.668 and was reinterred about 1134. When he was reinterred he was shrouded in this magnificent cloth. The samit was a gift of King Stephen of England or his father Stephen Blois, count of Boulogne. Stephen Blois was a leader with Godfrey of Bouillon in the First Crusade. It is assumed that Stephan Blois brought this home from the First Crusade since he died in the second crusade. Blois married the daughter of William The Conquer and was an important nobleman in both England and France.

N.B. Glubb Pasha (John Bagot Glubb) long time head of Jordan’s Arab Legion named his son Godfrey after Godfrey of Boulogne. Young Glubb did not seem to appreciate his father’s sentiment since he abandoned his name when he forsook his God and abandoned his faith.

 

John Bagot Glubb

Faris formerly Godfrey Glubb right.

Liao Dynasty Gyrfalcon taking a Swan Crystal Toggle

This rock crystal toggle from the Metropolitan Museum of Art which they tittle  "Shape of Hawk Attacking a Swan"Accession Number: 2004.202. This toggle dates to the  Liao dynasty 907–1125 AD and i suspect the second half. This  is a gift to the Met by Jack Jacoby. 

A Liao Toggle is basically equivalent to the Japanese Netsuke. A cord was attached to the toggle and to a container. It functioned like a pocket and as jewelry.

The Gyrfalcon Falco Rusticolus Image Ólafur Larsen derivative work:  

The smaller bird is a gyrfalcon the largest of the falcon family and highly prized by the Khitan of the Liao Dynasty.  

The larger bird is a Tundra Swan which is very close if not the same breed as a bewick’s Swan.

The Khitan used the Gyrfalcons as a special Swan hunt twice a year.  The Gyrfalcons would take the Swans and the largest would be presented at the Khitan Ancestral Temple.  

The Swan Hunt is a bit of a mystery. The Khitan were primarily Buddhist and to a lesser extent Tengri.  I contacted the great Asian Historian and expert on Tengri H.B. Paksoy and he sees no parallels in Tengri to the Swan Hunt and Temple Sacrifice.  So then we look to Buddhism. Buddha opposed animal sacrifice and it is frowned upon in Buddhist practice but it is not entirely unheard of. It is more common in Taoism but if we follow Russell Kirkland in “Taoism: The Enduring Tradition” the Liao dynasty stopped short of open opposition to Taoism they avoided it and did nothing to encourage it.  This is the opposite of the Yenisic dynasty the Jurchen who overthrew the Liao and embraced Chinese custom and religion.

The Khitan were a Siberian people from the diaspora of the people of the Yenisei River. Many scholars treat the Khitan as some sort of second class Chinese. This is short sighted view and dismissive of a significant ethnic strain.

Notes from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Toggle in Shape of Hawk Attacking a Swan
Period: Liao dynasty (907–1125)
Date: 10th–11th century
Culture: China
Medium: Crystal
Dimensions: H. 1 in. (2.5 cm); W. 1 in. (2.5 cm); L. 3 in. (7.6 cm)
Classification: Hardstone
Credit Line: Purchase, Jack Jacoby Gift, 2004
Accession Number: 2004.202
Provenance: Capital Gallery , Hong Kong, until 2004; sold to MMA
http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/72574

Zandaniji Silk

Zandjaniji Silk

Central Asian tribes on China’s border received silk from the Chinese which they traded westward. This created weaving along the silk route which spawned new and creative woven silk products including one type we know as Zandaniji from the town of Zandan or Zandana near Bukhara in what is now called Uzbekistan. Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Jafar Narshakhi's History of Bukhara written 943-944 AD (332 AH) attributes these originally to Zandan and then spreading to other towns in the region.

Confronting lions and palm tree, fragment of a textile said to be from Zandana, near Bukhara, Uzbekistan, eighth century. Silk compound twill, 2' 11” x 2' 9 1/2” The Islamic World Gardiner

Here we have a few examples of Zandanijian silk Brocade. This is a type that we have a large number of extant examples from the churches and cathedrals of Europe to the graves of Tibetan chieftains in Reshui, Dulan County, Qinghai Province, China..

V&A Pattern woven polychrome silk Central Asia 800 to 1000 AD

From the V&AYellowish ground (possibly originally red) and dark greenish patterns with symmetric decoration consisting of two roundels containing a confronted pair of lions, palm-trees and other symbols. Addorsed foxes and hounds occupy the space between these roundels and a stylized tree possibly a date-tree divides the plane symmetrically. Samite: 1/2 twill, 1 binding, 3 pattern warps, 3 pattern wefts; warps silk undyed and weft silk undyed, tan, blue and blue-green.

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O84925/woven-silk-unknown/

Color is important in these. They often use Chinese colors particularly chartreuse, orange, and pink.  at the same time Persian silks are thought to be primarily dark blue and gray.

Production began in the pre Islamic period from the 5th century on. The production continued  well into the post  Islamic conquest likely into the period of the Mongol invasion.

The Verdun cathedral Zandaniji now in the V&A

V&A Descriptive Line:

Middle East, Textiles; Fragment, yellow and green compound silk twill with confronted lions in roundels, Sogdian Central Asia, possibly Bukhara, Uzbekistan, 800-1000

8th Century Central Asian Tiger and Archer Silk Roundel

A look at an
8th Century Central Asian Tiger and Archer Silk Roundel
by
Barry O'Connell and 

Montgomery Boice "Monty" O'Connell

In the Imperial Household Agency's Shosoin Treasure House collection they have  artifacts from Emperor Shōmu-tennō  (701–756) and Empress Kōmyō (701–760), as well as arts and crafts from the Tempyō period (729 - 749) of Japanese history. Beyond just Japanese artifacts are treasures from many areas including this important piece of Central Asian art: 

 

PLATE IV. Compound twill-weave silk. Lion hunt roundel design: lth.191.3 cm, w. 70.8 cm. 8th century, Tang China (?). Shōsōin, Nara.

The Current State of Scholarship on this Piece

From Encyclopedia Iranica: JAPAN xi. COLLECTIONS OF PERSIAN ART IN JAPAN:“

An important textile in the Shōsōin is a fragment of silk brocade depicting confronted equestrians shooting lions set within a pearl roundel”. “This textile pattern that was originated in the Sasanian empire and diffused westwards to Europe and eastwards to China and Japan (Otavsky, pp. 185-95; Ackerman, pp. 3074-78, figs. 1138 and 1139; see also ABRIŠAM).”

http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/japan-xi-collections-of-persian-art-in-japan

Lions or Tigers?

I find the citation problematic in a few regards particularly the “Lion”. I am not an expert on big Asian cats so I asked my son Montgomery Boice O'Connell to take a look. Here are Monty’s comments: 

“The Pearl Roundel has an animal with stripes on the side of the face.  Markings on the body are not close to the markings of a leopard or jaguar.  Leopards and jaguars do not have vivid stripes on the face.  Lions have none of these markings and if it was a lion where then is the mane?  The end result is that it can only be a Tiger.  The markings match that of a tiger and not a lion or any other large Asian cat." Montgomery Boice O'Connell

I think Monty makes the point that it is a Tiger and not a Lion clearly and succinctly. Why then would the Japanese make such an obvious mistake? This textile was copied in Japan for the Shōmu Banner. When it was created the artist substituted Lions in the place of the Tigers. Neither animal was found in Japan so it is likely that the artist drew what was familiar to him. Why the original is noted as having Lions is no more than sloppy scholarship and possibly cultural arrogance.

This piece is in the Shosoin Treasure House collection and dates to the reign of the Emperor Shōmu. It is a Japanese copy in the style of a Central Asian Compound Twill Weave Roundel and very probably it is based on the piece here in question. The Japanese artist took some liberties with the design. The horse gains the wings of the Sasanian Flying Squirrel design (see below) and the face and armor suitable to Japan. Could the figure on horseback be the Emperor Shōmu? 

Tang China (?)

The attribution to “Tang China?” is troubling as well. Imagine if we were looking at a painting painted a Frenchman in Paris in 1942 during the Nazi occupation. Would we feel comfortable with an attribution to "Nazi Germany (?)"?

The Roundel weave is a Compound Twill Weave in Silk. This is not a Chinese weave. China produced a Tabby weave in their rather narrow Han weave roundels. 

I am still working out exactly where these Roundels are from. I believe th is a type of Roundel at different designs are from different areas. One design that I believe is from Persia as in West of Bokhara is what I jokingly refer to as the Flying Squirrel type:

Sassanid silk twill textile of a Simurgh in a beaded surround, 6–7th century. Used in the reliquary of Saint Len, Paris

This Simurgh is in a Western Asia Persian Sassanian style it is very different than the Eastern Phoenix or Feng-huang:

Liao Dynasty Khitan Feng-huang