Silk Road Religion

Among the cultures of the world, China is well-known for its long uninterrupted development. After the fall of Qin dynasty China was reunited under the rule of Han dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE). During that period, the Chinese people enjoyed peace, prosperity, and stability. The boundaries that were formed by the Qin were still maintained, extended and secured. The Chinese control over strategic stretches of Central Asia led to the opening of the Silk Road. Silk Road is a land route that linked China by trade all the way to Rome. One of the precious goods that were traded was silk, which had been cultivated and woven in China since at least the third millennium BCE. Paper was invented during Han dynasty but it was not used for paintings until later,
The heaven is shown at the top, in the crossbar of the T shape. In the upper right corner is the sun, which is inhabited by a mythical crow; in the upper left a mythical toad stands on a crescent moon and in the middle, is a primordial deity shown as a man with a long snake’s tail—a Han image of the Great Ancestor. Dragons and other celestial creatures swarm below. A gate guarded by two seated figures stands where the horizontal band of heaven meets the vertical band of T shape. The two intertwined dragons loop through a circular jade piece known as a bi divides the vertical segment into two areas. The portion above bi represents the earthly realm. Here, the deceased woman and three attendants stand on a platform while two kneeling figures offer gifts. The portion beneath the bi represents the underworld. Silk draperies and a stone chime hanging from the bi form a canopy for the platform below. Like the bronze bells and stone chimes that were ceremonial instruments dating from the Zhou times. On the platform, ritual bronze vessel contains food and wine for the deceased, just as they did in Shang tombs. The squat, muscular man holding up the platform stands in turn on a pair of fish whose bodies form another bi. The fish and the other strange looking creature in this section are inhabitants of an underworld.
To conclude, I think the type of art that the artists from that period used to create are just mesmerizing. The silk banner summaries their early worldview in such a colorful painting. It reflects the early Han dynasty beliefs and the mythocentric age. I can’t even imagine how difficult it would be to paint on a silk because it is a fabric. It’s not like paper that will stay straight and will not move while