The Black Dragon Rises...
In early Tang Dynasty times, central China dominated Asia as the principal civilized state with a high civilization. By the end of the Tang, China was surrounded by several states developing their own sophisticated cultures.

Northeastern China emerged from the early Iron Age with the formation of the Bohai State, A.D. 698-926. Founded by the Mohe people, Bohai encompassed much of modern day Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, the Russian Far East, and parts of Siberia and Korea. Bohai had a capital situated in Ningan County of Heilongjiang.

The Bohai State was tributary to the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907), yet its success foreshadowed the impact later Manchurian peoples (the Jurchen and the Manchus) were soon to have in Asia.

The Bohai State met its end at the hands of the Khitan (or Qidan), a branch of the Mongols. The Khitan eventually conquered most of northeastern China, founding the Liao Dynasty (A.D. 907-1125).

This fascinating period was represented by artifacts including a beautiful tricolour glaze censer (indicative of Bohai ties to the Tang court), a delicate bronze figure riding horseback, a lion's snout architectural detail from the Bohai capital, a solid gold Buddha figure (Buddhism was recognized in the Bohai State), as well as distinctive ceramic and porcelain vessels characteristic of Bohai.

This segment of the exhibition time line was also interpreted through video footage of recent archaeological investigations of Bohai period villages, cemeteries, and an elaborate imperial tomb (Sanling Number 2).

The Liao Dynasty was represented in the exhibition with belt ornaments and other porcelains.