The following is from a September 20, 2001, lecture by Rong Xinjiang at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities:

* Iranian Sogdians of Central Asia (modern day Uzbekistan) had resilient adaptability, talent for trade (goods from Sogdiana, Persia, India, Africa, Byzantine, etc.), great fighting skills, mastered music and dancing, and were devoted Zoroastrians… their main cities were Samarkand, Bukhara, Kashana, Tashkent, etc…

* To the Chinese, Sogdians were divided into 9 kingdoms and were collectively called “Zhaowu-jiuxing” or “the Nine Surnames from Zhaowu” (Kang Kingdom, An Kingdom, Eastern Cao Kingdom, Cao Kingdom, Western Cao Kingdom, Shi Kigdom, Mi Kingdom, etc.)…

* Iranian Sogdians played a role in spreading Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity, etc… Tang period (618-907) documents mentioned Indian masters defeating “two heterodox masters in Kashmir…[named] Mani, and…Messiah, Jesus Christ”… some Iranian Sogdians mixed with the Turks… as they settled in Chinese territories and intermarried with the Chinese, some Sogdians became “Sinicized”…

* “Amo” in Chinese records could be transliteration of Sogdian “Adbag” or Zoroastrian Ahura Mazda (= Wise Lord)…

* the Chinese loved Persian and Sogdian designs on textiles…

* the Sogdians helped Chinese in wars against the Turks… also Sogdian leaders (called the Sabao) served as envoy to Persia…

* Sogdians engaged in farming, hunting, cultivating vines and making wine, having banquets with dancing, celebrated the New Year…

* standard physical features of Sogdians included “deep eyes and long noses,” some with curly or short hair… they dressed in Sogdian attire (classical Iranian tunic/pants)…

* as merchants and travelers, the Sogdians regarded the camel as symbolism for the god of victory… they built many Zoroastrian fire temples in their cities and colonies… many of their religious artwork show the Indo-Iranian sun god Mithra and Iranian goddess of water Anahita (Nana)…

At the end of the lecture, Xinjiang concluded that learning more about Iranian Sogdians will give us “a deeper awareness of the history of the cultural links between the West and the East…”

[pic pinterest: Tomb of An Jia, Shaanxi, China, showing Sogdian dancers…for educational purposes only]