When I visited "The Splendor of the Khitan Dynasty" at the University Art Museum, Tokyo, I got a funny feeling that Japan somehow wanted to preserve good diplomatic relations with this mighty Empire. This makes perfectly good sense given this state's great military strength and strategic position in North East Asia, but absolutely no sense chronologically as the Khitan Empire (907-1125 ) has long since ceased to be.

Despite having nothing to fear from the nonexistent Khitan embassy, the exhibition treads warily and shows too much deference. It also makes scant mention of the Khitans' once fearsome military reputation. At times the show even comes across like a tourist promotion.

The show is divided into four sections: Nomadic Art, Inheriting Tang Traditions, Cities in the Steppes, and A Buddhist Country under Azure Skies. They all sound a warm, friendly, positive note, and they create a narrative of gradually enriching cultural and social progress that sits uneasily with the historical facts of the Empire's decline and sudden downfall in 1125. A narrative that steered closer to the turbulent currents of history would have painted a far more interesting picture.