Gandhara art inspires legends

Gandhara, an ancient region spanning what is now northwest Pakistan and parts of east Afghanistan, was historically a crossroads linking India, Persia and other cultural centers as far away as ancient Greece.

Pakistan is home to many archaeological sites left behind by the inhabitants of this ancient melting pot, and a variety of the relics excavated there have been transported to Beijing to be displayed at the exhibition.

The exhibition features a total of 203 artifacts from Gandhara, including stone carvings of the Buddha and various Bodhisattvas, remnants of Buddhist pagodas, gold and silver items and jewelry. The finds represent a large chunk of the region's history, from the 2nd century BC to the 10th century AD.

On loan from seven museums in Pakistan are 173 of the artifacts. The rest are from the Palace Museum, the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing (1368-1911) dynasties, and first traveled to Tibet, from which they were presented as gifts.

Gandhara Buddhist art — which originated in the Kushan Empire, a Central Asian state founded by Indo-European nomads originally from China's Gansu province and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region — is a unique art style that blends Greco-Persian and Buddhist influences. "And that is where its charm lies," says Luo Wenhua, the exhibition's curator.