From Gem to Glass: Liuli’s Long Transformation and the Remaking of Chinese Decorative Arts
Abstrak
This article traces the long transformation of liuli 琉璃 (Sanskrit vaiḍūrya) in China—from imported blue-green gemstones (typified by beryl) to man-made glass and, after the Song, to glazed architectural ceramics. Combining archaeological finds, textual and Buddhist sources, and mineralogical data, it argues that: (1) the wide circulation of Roman–South Asian glass imitations drove a dual shift in China, moving liuli from a natural gem to artificial glass; (2) Buddhist ritual and donation practices “sacralized” glass, integrating it into jewelry, vessels, and sacred spaces; and (3) this shift profoundly reshaped Chinese decorative arts, recasting color-and-light aesthetics and the material toolkit—from Han–Jin beadwork and containers, through Sui–Tang elite display, to the post-Song architectural palette epitomized by liuli tiles. The millennial journey of liuli shows how materials acquire new meanings through global exchange and local reinterpretation, and how man-made glass helped redefine Chinese decorative practice over the course of two thousand years.
Penulis (2)
Yanyan Zheng
Guikun Guo
Akses Cepat
- Tahun Terbit
- 2025
- Bahasa
- en
- Sumber Database
- Semantic Scholar
- DOI
- 10.3390/arts14060147
- Akses
- Open Access ✓