Lacquer is a Chinese craft. The sources know no lacquer made in the steppe, and the finds are all Chinese products that were brought there. They reached the steppe through trade, which brought the Xiongnu empire silks, bronzes and lacquerware from China, and as gifts of the Chinese courts.[1]

In the graves of the Xiongnu

The princely graves of Noin Ula contained Chinese lacquer cups. A Chinese lacquer bowl of 2 BC dates a grave there, with its bow and three-edged arrows.[2] A study of the tamgas of the Xiongnu says that the largest group of tamga-like signs of one type was recorded on the bottoms of the lacquer ware from the mounds of Noin Ula.[3]

Lacquer reached lower ranks than the princes. At Shombuuzyn Belchir in western Mongolia, a cemetery of the local elite from about 50 BC to AD 210, a woman lay in a decorated coffin of wooden planks.[4] Parts of a wooden cart, riding gear, a gilded iron belt clasp and a painted lacquer cup of the Han period lay with her.[4]

Lacquered arms and drums as gifts

In the first month of 521 the Rouran khan Anagui took leave of the Wei court, and an edict listed the gifts that he should receive.[5] Most of the lacquered goods in the list are arms and signals. There are ten red-lacquered and ten black-lacquered lances with plumes and pennants.[5] There are six red-lacquered bows of zhe wood and ten black-lacquered bows, with arrows.[5] There are six red-lacquered and six black-lacquered shields, with swords.[5] There are twenty red-lacquered drums and horns.[5] The list adds four black-lacquered bamboo vessels, each of two sheng, and ten sets of red-painted dishes.[5] The same list is translated in a history of the trade between the steppe and China.[6]

The Wei court gave lacquer to the Gaoche as well. In the Zhengguang period, between 520 and 525, their king Yifu sent a tribute mission.[5] He asked for a vermilion-painted carriage with curtains and cushions, a harness, a parasol and a fan, five blue canopies, five red-lacquered fans and ten drums and horns. An edict granted him them.[5] The two lists show what the court thought a steppe ruler needed for the display of rank, which was lacquered arms, drums and fans.

The drums and banners article treats the use of the drums.

Lacquer on the steppe

The Wei Shu also tells that the Rouran khan Chounu dragged the Gaoche king Mi’etu to death behind a horse, and that his skull was lacquered into a drinking vessel.[5] The practice is treated in the article on the skull cup. The text does not say what lacquer was used or who applied it.

Open points

No source names a lacquer workshop that served the steppe, and no source says what a lacquered cup cost. The finds do not show whether the lacquered cups of the graves were gifts of the court or goods that were traded.

References

  1. ^ al. 2023, p. 1
  2. ^ Werner 1956, p. 47, 51
  3. ^ Bogdanov 2017, p. 8
  4. ^ a b al. 2023, p. 3
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wei Shu, juan 103
  6. ^ Jagchid 1989, p. 171

Sources

Literature

  • Juhyeon Lee et al., Genetic Population Structure of the Xiongnu Empire at Imperial and Local Scales (2023)
  • Joachim Werner, Beiträge zur Archäologie des Attila-Reiches (1956)
  • Evgeniy S. Bogdanov, The Origin of the Tamgas of the Xiongnu (2017)
  • Sechin Jagchid; Van Jay Symons, Peace, War, and Trade Along the Great Wall. Nomadic-Chinese Interaction through Two Millennia (1989)

Related

Cite this article

Yavuz, Emre-E. “Lacquerware.” Turkic Atlas, revised 7 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/institutions/lacquerware/

Last revised: 7 November 2026