The journey of painted clay

Thousands of years ago, Neolithic painted pottery culture from the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River traveled westward along the Hexi Corridor — in today's Gansu province — before spreading across the northern and southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains in what is now the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Here, it blended with local traditions and continued radiating further west.

Artifacts demonstrating this remarkable journey are on display in an exhibition that opened on April 10 at the Xinjiang Museum.

The exhibition, From the Yellow River Basin to Tianshan Mountains: Tracing the Westward Journey of Prehistoric Painted Pottery, features 175 sets of pottery from the collections of the Gansu Provincial Museum, Xinjiang Museum, and 13 other cultural heritage institutions across the two provincial-level regions. The exhibition, running through July 10, was previously displayed at the Gansu museum.

Against ocher and reddish-brown surfaces, ancient craftspeople expressed extraordinary creativity.

Delicate geometric grids, flowing spirals, fish motifs, petals and abstract deity patterns reveal a striking command of line and form. Elegantly curved vessels and animal-shaped decorations, including eagle and goat heads, further testify to the imagination and skill of prehistoric artisans.

Based on years of archaeological findings, the exhibition traces the spread of painted pottery craftsmanship across thousands of kilometers from east to west over more than 3,000 years.

Wang Nannan, director of the exhibition department at the Gansu Provincial Museum and one of the exhibition's curators, says Gansu and Xinjiang are geographically linked and share deep cultural roots, exemplified by the westward expansion of painted pottery culture, which carried early people's aesthetic ideals and passion for life.

Both Xinjiang and Gansu have a significant east-west expanse: Xinjiang stretches nearly 2,000 kilometers and Gansu about 1,500 km.