Chinese military official
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Feng Hetu (封和突 Fēng Hétū, 438-501 CE) was a Chinese military official and a minister of the Northern Wei dynasty. He probably was of Xianbei ethnicity.[1]
A Sasanian-style plate with hunting scene, from the tomb of Feng Hetu. Shanxi Museum. It is dated the 3rd-4th century CE, and was probably manufactured in northern Afghanistan.[1] The man spears a boar to the right, while holding back another with his right foot.[2] It is highly similar to other known Sasanian plates.[3]
Another foreign silver vessel from the tomb of Feng Hetu. Shanxi Museum.
His tomb was discovered partially destroyed in Xiaozhan village, west of Datong.[1] It contained three silver vessels of foreign origin.[1] One plate especially has Sasanian-style designs, and is thought to have been manufactured in Northern Afghanistan or Southern Turkmenistan.[4] It is nearly identical in composition to another plate which has been found in Kabul.[5] The plate is dated the 3rd-4th century CE, and probably belongs to the artistic production of the Kushano-Sasanians.[6]
The tomb also had an epitaph, giving a summary account of the life of Feng Hetu.[1] He died in Chang'an in 501, and was re-buried in his native Datong in Xiaozhan village (小站村) in 504.[1] The epitaph reads:
Northern Wei art came under influence of Indian and Central Asian traditions through the mean of trade routes. Most importantly for Chinese art history, the Wei rulers converted to Buddhism and became great patrons of Buddhist arts.[8]
Carter, M.L. "Encyclopaedia Iranica". iranicaonline.org. A gilt silver plate depicting a princely boar hunt, excavated from a tomb near Datong dated to 504 CE, is close to early Sasanian royal hunting plates in style and technical aspects, but diverges enough to suggest a Bactrian origin dating from the era of the Kushano-Sasanian rule (ca. 275-350 CE)
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