Origin: The grotto art such as Dunhuang frescoes originated in India. Due to the humid climate and long rainy season in the South Asian subcontinent where India is located, these factors are not conducive to practice; Therefore, in the early days, Indians chose to live and meditate in natural caves that are warm in winter and cool in summer to exercise their body and mind. This architectural method was later spread to China, and Buddhism carried it forward.

In Indian grottoes, the proportion of human body, gesture and facial expression are realistic and ideal. In terms of gender, the characteristics are distinct, and the physiological characteristics of men and women in the congregation are very obvious. China has inherited this tradition, but nude images have been greatly reduced.

On the one hand, the early caves in Dunhuang conform to the Buddhist scriptures: the saints in the Buddhist world are "not men or women", and at the same time, the Confucian ethics holds that being naked is harmful to weathering. After the Sui Dynasty, a female bodhisattva appeared obviously, with a rich and charming face, a green beard on her lips and a no breast on her chest, but gentle and graceful. Like the Central Plains, Dunhuang painters, in order to "please the public", bodhisattva statues are also feminine and secular.

Take the mural "Rebound Pipa" as an example. In Dunhuang frescoes, Rebound Pipa Feitian is the attendant of Buddha and Bodhisattva, whose main function is to "entertain Buddha".

The total number of flying objects in Dunhuang is close to 6,, and flying objects in each era have distinct characteristics of the times, from which we can see the development track of foreign flying objects transforming into Chinese flying objects.

The image of Feitian originated in India. It was originally a strong male, and it was the embodiment of the God of Heaven and Music in Buddhism, as well as the God of Entertainment and Song and Dance in Indian mythology. This was a man and a woman, and later they merged into one, neither male nor female, and then they became women's flying.

Feitian in the early Beiliang Grottoes in Dunhuang is a typical male image with obvious Indian and Western style characteristics.

In the early days, flying in the sky in Dunhuang was mostly painted at the corner of the cave top, near the main characters of Bunsen story paintings, or used as the decoration of algae wells on the cave top. At this time, Feitian has obvious characteristics of the nationalities in the western regions, with dark skin, rough and strong body, straight nose and big eyes. Although surrounded by clothes, it still makes people feel that this is a musician who is about to dance a war dance, and the ignorance has not disappeared.

The flying in the murals of the Mogao Grottoes changed from a slightly clumsy flying posture by waving his arms at first, but ribbons, auspicious clouds and petals floated and flew in droves. During this period, Feitian has been completely feminine.

Extended information:

The bouncing pipa is the most beautiful dance in Dunhuang art. It is vigorous and stretching, swift and harmonious, and the bouncing pipa is actually playing music and dancing, which concentrates the superb playing skills and wonderful dancing skills on the shoulders of this dance position gracefully and charmingly.

It's hard to know whether there really was a singer and talented Langji as a model at the beginning, or whether it was the fantastic imagination and outstanding creation of the painters. In any case, rebounding pipa is an eternal symbol of Datang culture.

Rebound Pipa is found in the Jile Map in Cave 112 of Mogao Grottoes, which is a part of the Pure Land of the West. Writing a ci-poetry lotte accompanied Yue Xian to dance, raising her feet and spinning her body, which made a sudden move when she bounced back the pipa stunt.

It shows that the geisha is carefree and graceful, graceful and graceful, holding a pipa and flying around half naked. The dress and skirt of the heavenly clothes are like Youlong's startled phoenix, swaying and swaying, and the armbands of the necklaces are jingling in the flying, so don't be ridiculous.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Grottoes Art

Baidu Encyclopedia-Dunhuang Murals

Baidu Encyclopedia-Rebound Pipa

Baidu Encyclopedia-Flying.