If only Picard had visited the Asian Art Museum

In the third episode of season one of Star Trek: The Next Generation, titled “Code of Honor,” Captain Picard welcomes the Ligonian leader, Lutan, aboard the Enterprise. In the two screenshots below, we see Picard presenting, as a welcome gift, a clay horse sculpture of ancient China:

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Picard identifies the sculpture as a Song-dynasty work of the 14th century (Data corrects him, claiming the 13th century). However, both of them are off the mark. According to my professional eye, this glazed horse should be from the Tang dynasty (618-907)–it is a quintessential Tang horse. Compare it with this one in the collection of the Asian Art Museum:

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Notice the similarities in the glazing colors and the robust form of the horse. The horse was a prized animal in China, especially in the Tang dynasty when it represented the power and might of the empire. The Tang empire is considered to be a golden era in China’s history both in culture and in the military. So it makes sense that Picard would gift the noble Tang horse to Lutan, but I blame the writers of this episode for not having done their homework.  They should have visited the Asian Art Museum!

9 Responses to “If only Picard had visited the Asian Art Museum”

  1. sfmike  on July 2nd, 2010 at 3:04 pm

    Their visiting would probably have violated the space/time continuum.

  2. Nancy  on July 2nd, 2010 at 4:19 pm

    But didn’t Shatner and Nimoy go back in time in one of the movies? If they can do it, so can Picard! Who know that you could find references to Chinese art in Star Trek?

  3. nico  on July 3rd, 2010 at 9:32 am

    It is the stuff of master’s theses: http://www.newstatesman.com/199905310035

  4. Nancy  on July 3rd, 2010 at 1:02 pm

    Why am I not surprised? There are master’s theses written on Buffy so why not Star Trek?

    I seriously covet that horse and if your museum store has a reproduction, it will be mine! Seriously, I love Tang ceramics — aren’t the exquisite dancing women on display on the 3rd floor (?), Tang?

  5. sharky  on July 5th, 2010 at 11:28 am

    As sfmike said it very well could disrupt or even destroy the space/time continuum, much like the episode “Parallels”, where the barriers between realities broke down filling the sector with 85,000 different versions of the Enterprise! Also Picard cannot go back because since Kirk’s time The Federation created the Temporal Investigations Department. (FYI: Kirk has the biggest file in their office-17 Temporal Violations!) However to try and answer why such a obvious mistake was made was not due to their lack of expertise, it was due to popular culture. I am a novice when it comes to asian art, (I know a little and am learning) but even someone with a limited knowledge has heard of the Song dynasty, I have not until recently heard of the Tang Dynasty. While it may have made some become curious and look up the Tang Dynasty. (Mr. Spock made a comment in Star Trek VI that made me search for a dictionary and add the words to my vocabulary) however it was most likely easier for them to reference a Dynasty that has had more commercial exposure.

  6. Dany  on July 9th, 2010 at 8:47 am

    sharky, you’ve given me a revelation! I thought the dynasty that is most well-known in popular imagination was the Ming dynasty (1368-1644); didn’t think it was the Song…I should do a poll.

    I do love the episode “Parallels”, btw.

  7. Gary Soup  on July 9th, 2010 at 9:15 am

    I think you are right about the Ming Dynasty being the most well known by name, since “Ming vase” has long been a cliche for something valuable and cultured. The Tang probably deserves to be the best known, for poetry as well as visual arts.

  8. Dany  on July 9th, 2010 at 9:58 am

    Actually, here is the Tang dancer.

  9. sharky  on July 9th, 2010 at 3:46 pm

    Dany, Gary Soup
    You’re both right! I was referring to the fact that they were showing Asian Artifacts in that episode, ofcourse if they wanted to give a really commercial origin, they would have used the Ming Dynasty name, to use the Song Dynasty was to show that they shied away from the commercial to the well-known. Who knows-maybe in forty years the captain of the Current Star Trek show (and “yes”, I do believe there will be Trek in one form or another even then),will produce an artifact and will give its “ACTUAL place of origin! One can hope! LLAP


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