A comparative study of the motifs of inscriptions and birds on Samanid pottery (Nishabur, 3rd and 4th centuries A.H.) with Tang pottery in China (Changsha, 7th to 10th centuries AD) based on Gestalt theory

Pottery in the Samanid period (3rd and 4th centuries AD) was one of the most important artistic periods, and the importance of these pottery is due to the presence of various inscriptions in Kufic script and the use of birds in calligraphy. The open-mindedness of the Samanids, along with the promotion of Islam and the extensive connections of the Samanids in different regions, provided the basis for the expansion of science and culture and the prosperity of the period. On the other hand, due to Iran-China connections, the Persian language had influences on that region which equally reached China. This shows the closeness of the two Kufic and Chinese scripts in terms of form, and although both regions had special values and rules for calligraphy, so far, no focused research has been done on the influences of these two scripts on each other. In this regard, the question has been raised that the variety of Kufic lines and simplified bird motifs in Samanid pottery have similarities with the Tang pottery motifs and its thinking.This article aims to know the common visual and semantic features of calligraphy and other pottery motifs of the two regions of Neishabur and Changsha, based on the assumption that the intercultural relations between these two civilizations in form and content are based on the cycle of time, the cycle of nature and especially the relationship between man and the world. This research is descriptive and analytical, and Gestalt design principles have been used in an adaptive manner. Gestalt, or the totality of perceived experience, is the rules that determine the relationship between forms; principles that have been used the most in visual arts. At the same time, what we have experienced in the third century BC in Chinese philosophy and in the language of Lao Tzu, and in Iran in the third and fourth centuries of Hijri in the thought of Ikhwan al-Safa, has been seen later in the twentieth century. Gestalt design principles show that these principles were considered centuries before and after Christ and during the Islamic period in Iran. The sampling method was non-random and purposeful, and for this purpose, five bowls from each region (Neishabur and Changsha) were studied on desk. The results of this research showed that the motifs of both Neishabur and Changsha pottery follow similarities, continuities, common fates and other Gestalt design principles and both regions are influenced by Daoist (Chinese) and Islamic (Iran) thinking.  In the meantime, considering the presence of works of Chinese pottery found in Iran and the relations established between Iran and China, it can be seen that there are traces of Chinese thought In Iran and its art.