Chinese had a long history of jade using, but before the Tang Dynasty, because the turmoil in China, for a few centuries, the trade of jade material was interrupted. So Jade was at a very low point, but by the Tang Dynasty, China was unified as one country. By this time, China had a frequent trade with the Northwest, so a lot of material, especially jade, came into China. The jade industry was revived.

Jade was one of the most prestigious materials used by the aristocrats. The Tang emperor actually made hundreds of jade plaques for the belt and gave them as gifts for his officials and also the imperial family members. Here you will see all these square plaques, on each one of them is a raised image of a musician. They are musicians who came from Central Asia. And here you will see the central musician playing all kinds of musical instruments that also shows how much influence that Central Asia had on Chinese music.