China's Lost Tang Dynasty Murals (Art History Documentary)

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In the 1960s, archaeologists working in China made an extraordinary discovery. They unsealed the twelve-hundred-year-old tomb of a princess. Its walls were covered in magnificent murals - an unprecedented glimpse into life during the Tang dynasty.

This documentary tells the fascinating story of the great Empire that made those murals, of the Silk Road that connected it to the world, and of the rebellions and disasters that brought the dynasty crashing down.

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From Raiders of the Lost Art

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[alexkalish]

The Tang dynasty was not just a powerful dynasty, it was one of the great flowerings of fine art in the history of the world. The art, ceramics and poetry of this period are one of the great artistic periods in the history of mankind. This is a wonderful find and treasure.

[euggiemonad]

In the history of ideas, it is originality and authenticity that matters. When the idea flowered does not matter. The Tang period is such a blossom.

[c_c]

Fantastic documentary! I learned a lot from this.

[HANCHANs]

Wonderfully interesting! Thanks for the upload!

[MonsterMacLLC]

It would be nice to see a fully restored version of the mural next to the original.

[funwithFred]

Beautiful ceramics and paintings. The craftsmanship superb.

[andytlwang]

Great piece. The one point I must note to the narration is that Xi'an (Western Peace) is the modern name for the city. So in the context of describing the ancient history, I think Chang'an (Perpetual Peace) would be more appropriate. It's like describing Silk Road and 'Iranian' traders, weird... it should be Persian traders.

[Korwinexile]

Why does a painting of a Qing dynasty emperor appear at 16:47 when the talk is about Gaozong of Tang?

[sharonkaczorowski]

So exquisite…I’m stunned by its beauty.

[a.m.]

I felt I lived this documentary, in the way it was told.. you were brought right in to that world and lived it as it was told

[brainwashington]

The Tang royals were not 'Turkic-speaking' aristocrats, they were ethnic Han aristocrats (hence their surname was Li) who were sent to govern the far flung reaches of the empire in the north west where they intermarried local Turkic-speaking nobles. It is possible that they were multilingual, but there is no evidence of that. All the official records from the Tang dynasty were in the Han Chinese script.
The founder of the Tang dynasty was Li Yuan, whose grandmother was of Turkic descent.

[evapita]

Very informative And excellent Photography

[ufdfzfw]

Please, more documentaries on pre 19th century east asia.

[SandyRiverBlue]

They glanced over the fact that a primary mover for the Tang collapse was that when the rebellious army reached the capital they killed anyone with education and an administrative position. As much as we may despise them sometimes, a country will collapse without the public servants needed to run it. It is not a job that can be done by just anyone.

[BWong]

Accusing Wu Zetian as being cruel and rudeless smacks of shear jealousy of a certain group. Wu had demonstrated her capability as great administrator and leader than many subsequent male leaders. She was dissiplined and strict. Her interest to learn and openness foreign to influences enabled Tang to become.THE Golden Period of China.

[toocutepuppies]

Wonder if a tomb painter ever had to sneak back into the tomb because they forgot to paint the food?

[Orstedxx]

the Tang capital is not Xi An it's Chang An, Xi An is the modern city name.

around 16:45 thats a portrait of emperor QianLong of qing dynasty, their a thousand year apart

[sharonkaczorowski]

It is is an exquisite, extraordinarily beautiful portrayal of the highest of the elite. It is not a portrayal of the life of the majority. From an historical understanding this is very important.

[gobbagu]

Great empires always seem to have the most infrastructure to share

[whilmarkmuca]

imagine the refinery of these artworks from old times. very formal and intricate. how did they discover these kind of art techniques.