On April 1, 2026, the IAUNRC and the Central Eurasian Studies Department welcomed Dr. Su Chen to give a lecture on "The Spirit, Shade and Shape of Sasanian Women and Its Impact on Female Images along the Silk Road".
Dr. Su Chen is a lecturer at Inner Mongolia University and was a visiting scholar at the IAUNRC during the 2025-2026 academic year. She received her Ph.D. from Peking University in 2023, after a year of doctoral exchange studies at CEUS in 2020. Her research focuses on Iranian history and Sino-Iran cultural exchange along the Silk Road, drawing primarily on Middle Persian and Classical Persian historical sources. She has published papers on topics including the urban history of the Ilkhanate, Sasanian social history, and Persian historiography.
In this lecture, Dr. Chen explored the multifaceted roles and images of Sasanian women through the lens of late antique Persian culture by synthesizing archaeological remains with textual evidence. She pointed out that under the influence of Zoroastrian dualism, the perception of women in ancient Iran was divided into two categories—the “good” and the “evil”—a paradox that deeply informed their figures in religious writing, secular literature, and artistic presentations. She also highlighted the significant presence of female iconography across various materials, including coins, seals, metalwork, and rock reliefs, tracing how these vibrant artistic depictions traveled along the Silk Road into Central and East Asia. At the end of the lecture, she also examined how specific Sasanian visual motifs and formalized patterns left a lasting imprint on the portrayal of women within the Buddhist and secular art of medieval China and Central Asia.
The discussion of the lecture and Q&A covered a range of topics, including: the motif of the dancing women in later Indian art compared to Sasanian and the Euro-Asian production-spread thought; whether there exist female dancers in the garōdmān ("house of the song"); the identification of the divine agents with the iconographic materials, and so on. The lecturer and audience pleasantly exchanged ideas and thoughts.
The IAUNRC is pleased to have welcomed Dr. Chen and looks forward to future collaborations.