Information about Feitian Mural

Feitian, an ancient and modern term. It includes ancient flying apsaras and modern flying apsaras. The ancient Feitian is the business card of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, Gansu Province, a symbol of Dunhuang art, and an immortal work of art. Just see the graceful flying sky. People will think of the art of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes. Among the 492 caves in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, almost all have flying apsaras painted on them. A total of more than 4,500 bodies. There are so many of them that it can be said that they are the most preserved grottoes among the Buddhist grottoes and temples in the world and in China. Modern Feitian refers to the Shenzhou series carrier rockets launched by Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Modern Feitian is the pride and pride of modern people, because it symbolizes the greatness and prosperity of our motherland and is the embodiment of a country's comprehensive national strength. Being born in Feitian's hometown and growing up in Feitian's hometown is the pride and pride of Feitian people. Feitian, let the world know about Feitian, and let Jiuquan, the hometown of Feitian, go to the world.

[Edit this paragraph]Origin of the name

The name of Dunhuang Feitian comes from the fact that in Buddhism, the sacred figures who are reborn in the pure land of heaven are called "heavens", such as "Great Brahma", "Gongde Tian", "Good Talents", "Thirty-three Heavens", etc. Tang Zangzhong said: "Foreign gods are also called heaven." In Buddhism, the gods flying in the sky are called Feitian. Flying apsaras are often painted in Buddhist cave murals. In Taoism, mythological figures who ascend to heaven are called "immortals", such as "leading immortals", "celestial immortals", "barefoot immortals", etc., and gods who can fly in the air are called flying immortals. . Volume 622 of Song Dynasty's "Taiping Yulan" quotes "Tianxianpin": "Flying in the clouds, deified with a light move, I thought it was a heavenly immortal, but I also flew into the clouds and flew to the immortal."

Meaning:

1.Fly into the sky. Tang Dynasty Li Yong's "Rifu": "When he first went to the sea, he was harmonious, and suddenly he flew into the sky and became bright." Tang Dynasty Wei Zhizhong's "Baiyun Wuxin Fu": "I only saw the remnant of the Han Dynasty, flying around in the sky."

2. Abbreviation for "Flying Dragon in the Sky". It is a metaphor that the king conquers the world, which is like a rising dragon. The words come from "Yi Qian": "In the Nine Five Years, the flying dragon is in the sky." Kong Yingdashu: "It is like a saint with dragon virtues, soaring and occupying the heavenly position." Tang Huangtao's "Zhou Yi Long Xing Fu": "Once flying to the sky, thunder breaks through Yin Xin country.”

3. Gods flying in the air in Buddhist murals or stone carvings. In Sanskrit, God is called "Deva". Because "Deva" means heaven, it is translated as Feitian. Xu Chi's "Goldbach's Conjecture: Under the Qilian Mountains": "There are lotus flowers on the top of the cave. On the four corners, there are flying sky."

[Edit this paragraph] Feitian in Buddhism

Feitian is the incarnation of Gandharva and Kinnara in Buddhism. Gandharva, free translation is the God of Heavenly Songs, Kinnara, free translation is the God of Heavenly Music. They were originally the gods of entertainment and singing and dancing in ancient Indian mythology. They were a couple. They were later absorbed into Buddhism and became one of the eight gods of heaven and dragon. The task of the Gandharvas is to spread fragrance in the Buddha's kingdom, offer flowers and treasures to the Buddha, live in the flowers, and fly in the heavenly palace. The task of Kinnara is to play music, sing and dance in the Buddhist kingdom, but cannot fly in the sky. Later, Gandharvas and Kinnara were mixed together, without distinction between men and women, with no separation of functions, and they merged into one body and became flying gods. Nowadays, the music played in the Tiangong in the early days is called "Tiangong Jiyue", and the music played in the Tiangong in the later period is called "Feitian Jiyue".

The characteristic feature of Dunhuang Feitian's style is that it does not have wings or feathers, and relies on the clouds instead of relying on clouds. Instead, it relies on the flowing clothes and flying ribbons to soar in the sky. Thousands of shapes, ever-changing. This is the Dunhuang Feitian image developed and created on the basis of the national tradition, absorbing and integrating the achievements of foreign Feitian art.

In the early Dunhuang period, flying apsaras were mostly painted on the chessboard corners on the top of the caves, on the caisson decorations on the top of the caves, on the upper edges of Buddhist niches and on the heads of the main characters in Jataka story paintings. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, the scope of Feitian's paintings expanded to include the sermon picture and both sides of the Buddhist niche. Although the image of Feitian still retains the characteristics of Feitian in the Western Regions, it has changed and gradually transformed into Feitian in Dunhuang. For example, the figure at the back of the north wall of Cave 226 in the Northern Wei Dynasty shows flowers scattered all over the body. The face shape changes from oval to elongated but plump. The nose is full and the mouth is small. The facial features are well-proportioned. The body is slender. The dress is fluttering and flying across the sky. It is bold and generous. , the momentum is like a flying crane, the flowers are fragrant, the posture is graceful, and the movement is very strong. Feitian in the Sui Dynasty was in a period of integration, exploration and innovation. Mainly manifested in different body shapes, slender figure, moderate proportions, soft waist and graceful posture. Some faces are delicate and some are plump and round. The clothes are different, some are half-naked, some wear long-sleeved robes, and some wear short robes. There are different flying styles, some flying solo, some flying in groups, some flying up, some flying down, some flying against the wind, some flying with the wind... By the Tang Dynasty, Dunhuang Feitian had completed the process of absorbing and integrating Chinese and foreign art, completely formed its own unique style, and reached the pinnacle of art. The four murals of the caves of the Tang Dynasty are filled with large-scale Sutra paintings. Feitian is not only painted on Zaobing, Buddhist niches, and four drapes, but most of them are painted in Sutra paintings. The Buddha was preaching in the middle of the Paradise. Flying heavens were flying around in the sky. Some of them stepped on colorful clouds and slowly landed; some raised their heads and waved their arms and soared into the sky; some held flowers in their hands and soared into the sky; some held flower trays and flew across the sky. Wander. The skirts swinging in the wind and the fluttering ribbons make Feitian fly so light, clever, free and charming. Feitian after the Five Dynasties and Song Dynasty had no innovation in styling dynamics and gradually became formulaic. Although the styles and characteristics of Feitian are different, they are not as good as the previous ones, and they gradually lose their original artistic life.

The grottoes in the Dunhuang area preserve many images of flying gods that lasted for more than a thousand years from the 4th century AD (Sixteen Kingdoms) to the 14th century (Yuan Dynasty). They are treasures of national art and a dazzling wonder in Buddhist art.

[Edit this paragraph] The symbol and development of Feitian

Flying immortals are often painted in tomb murals, symbolizing that the soul of the owner of the tomb can ascend to heaven. After Buddhism was introduced to China, it communicated and merged with Chinese Taoism. In the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, when Buddhism was first introduced, the flying gods in murals were also called flying immortals. There was no distinction between flying immortals and flying immortals. Later, with the further development of Buddhism in China, although the flying gods of Buddhism and the flying immortals of Taoism were integrated with each other in artistic images, in terms of names, only the flying gods in Buddhist cave murals were called flying gods. Dunhuang Feitian is the flying god painted in the Dunhuang Grottoes, and later became a special term for Dunhuang mural art.

[Edit this paragraph] The artistic image of Dunhuang Feitian

From the artistic image of Dunhuang Feitian, it is not the artistic image of one culture, but a complex of multiple cultures. Although the hometown of Feitian is in India, Dunhuang Feitian is the culmination of Indian culture, Western Region culture, and Central Plains culture. It is a flying apsara with Chinese cultural characteristics that has been integrated into one through long-term exchanges and events between Indian Buddhist heavenly beings and Chinese Taoist feathered beings, as well as the flying apsaras from the Western Regions and the flying apsaras from the Central Plains. It is a flying apsara that has no wings, no feathers, no round light, relies on colorful clouds instead of relying on colorful clouds, and relies mainly on fluttering dresses and flying ribbons. Dunhuang Feitian can be said to be the most genius creation of a Chinese artist and a miracle in the history of world art.

[Edit this paragraph] The characteristics of the times of Dunhuang Feitian

Feitian in Dunhuang murals appeared at the same time as the Huai Cave was built. Starting from the Sixteen Kingdoms, it went through ten dynasties and lasted for more than a thousand years until it disappeared with the construction of the Dunhuang Grottoes at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. In this long history of more than a thousand years, due to changes in historical circumstances such as the change of dynasties, the transfer of political power, the development and prosperity of the economy, the frequent exchanges of Chinese and Western cultures, Feitian's artistic image, posture and artistic conception, style and taste have all changed. Constantly changing, different eras and different artists have left us Feitian with different styles and characteristics. For more than a thousand years, Dunhuang Feitian has formed a unique history of evolution and development. Its evolution history is generally consistent with the entire Dunhuang art development history and is divided into four stages.

[Edit this paragraph] Rise period

From the Northern Liang Dynasty of the Sixteen Kingdoms to the Northern Wei Dynasty, about 170 years, the Dunhuang Feitian during this period was deeply influenced by the Apsaras from India and the Western Regions, and was generally a Western Region-style Feitian. However, the characteristics of Feitian in the two dynasties during this period were also slightly different. In the Northern Liang Dynasty of Mogao Grottoes, most of the flying Apsaras were painted on the top of the cave, in the decoration of the caisson on the top of the cave, on the upper edge of the Buddhist niche and on the head of the subject of the Jataka story painting. Its modeling and artistic characteristics are: round head, oval face, straight nose and big eyes, big mouth and big ears, round earrings, bun in a bun, or a mandrel or an Indian five-jeweled crown, and a short and stout figure. The upper body is half-naked, with a long skirt wrapped around the waist and a large scarf draped over the shoulders. Due to the sfumato technique, the color changes, resulting in a white nose bridge and white eyeballs. It is similar to the Feitian in the grottoes such as Qiuci in the Western Regions, in terms of shape, face, posture, color, and painting skills. look alike.

The flying apsaras with the most Northern Wei style are the two flying apsaras painted on the north wall of Cave 254 above the story painting of "The King of Corpses" and the two flying apsaras on the back of the north wall of cave 260 above the illustration. The outstanding features of this four-body apsara are: a round head, an Indian-style five-jeweled crown, and a slender face. Due to discoloration, it has a white nose bridge, white eye circles, and a small face. The upper body is half naked, and the legs are slender, forming a "U" shape with a large opening. Dresses fluttered, scarves flew across the sky, and flowers fell from the sky all around. Although Feitian's body and streamers have changed color, the smudges and lines of Feitian's dress and ribbons are very clear. Feitian's flying momentum is dynamic and powerful, and his posture is free and graceful.

[Edit this paragraph] Innovation period

From the Western Wei Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, it lasted about 80 years. During this period, the Feitian of Dunhuang was in the stage of communication, integration, innovation and change between Buddhist heavenly beings and Taoist feathered beings, and the Feitian of the Western Regions and the Feitian of the Central Plains. It was a combination of Chinese and Western Feitian. The Feitian of the Western Wei Dynasty in Mogao Grottoes is generally painted in the same position as that of the Northern Wei Dynasty. It’s just that during the Western Wei Dynasty, two types of Feitian with different styles and characteristics appeared, one was the Western Regions-style Feitian and the other was the Central Plains-style Feitian. The Western Region-style Feitian inherits the shape and painting style of the Northern Wei Dynasty Feitian. The biggest changes are: Gandharva, as the god of incense, scatters flowers and flies into the sky, picks up various musical instruments and flies in the air; Kinnara, as the god of singing and dancing, performs musical instruments in the heavenly palace, breaks out of the sky fence and also flies in the sky . The two gods merged into one and became the later Feitian, also known as Sanhua Feitian and Jiyue Feitian. His representative works include the Four-Body Musical Flying Apsara above the Buddhist niche on the west wall of Cave 249.

The Central Plains-style flying apsaras are a new type of flying apsaras created in the Mogao Grottoes by the Central Plains art style brought from Luoyang when Wang Rong of Dongyang was the governor of Guazhou (ancient Dunhuang). This kind of flying apsara is a fusion of Chinese Taoist flying immortals and Hindu flying apsaras: the Chinese Taoist flying immortals have lost their wings, bare their upper bodies, wear necklaces around their necks, long skirts around their waists, and colorful ribbons on their shoulders; the Indian Buddhist flying immortals have lost their wings The round light and the Indian crown were tied up, and the Taoist crown was put on. The character image is promoted to have a Central Plains "beautiful bones and clear image" shape, with a slender figure, a thin face and a long neck, a wide and narrow forehead, a straight nose, beautiful eyes, thin and bright eyebrows, an upturned corner of the mouth, and a slight smile. The most representative one is the twelve flying apsaras on the upper floor of the south wall of Cave 282. These twelve flying apsaras, with their heads tied in double buns, their upper bodies exposed, long skirts tied around their waists, and colorful ribbons draped over their shoulders, have slender figures and form a wide-open horizontal bow shape. They fly against the wind and play waist drums, clappers, flutes, horizontal flutes, reeds, and other instruments. Pipa, ruanxian, harp and other musical instruments. The surrounding ceiling is spinning and the clouds are drifting, setting off the flying sky, flying in the wind, as light as a swallow, taking care of each other, free and happy, roaming in space.

The Northern Zhou Dynasty was a minority regime established by the Xianbei people in the northwest. Although its rule was short, many caves were built in the Mogao Grottoes. The rulers of the Xianbei people believed in Buddhism and had good connections with the Western Regions, so the Western Region-style flying apsaras appeared again in the Mogao Grottoes. This new flying apsara has the style of the apsaras from the Qiuci, Kizil and other grottoes, with a round face, a strong body, and long legs. He is short, has a round head, wears an Indian crown, has an exposed upper body, has large breasts and a round navel, wears a long skirt around his waist and a scarf around his shoulders. The most striking thing is that the face and body were dyed using a concave and convex blending method. Due to discoloration, five white spots appeared: white edges, white nose bridge, white eye sockets, and white chin. The flying posture is in an open "U" shape, the body is short and strong, and the movement is simple, almost returning to the characteristics of the flying apsara painting style of the Northern Liang period of Mogao Grottoes. However, the image is much richer than that in the Northern Liang period, and there are many Jiyue Feitian.

The Feitian with the most Northern Zhou style is the Feitian in Cave 290 and Cave 428. Feitian in these two caves. He has a strong body, a plump face, a round head, and wears an Indian crown. His facial features are white, his upper body is exposed, he wears a long skirt around his waist, and a scarf around his shoulders. His body is dyed thickly with uneven smudges, and his breasts are enlarged and his navel is discolored due to discoloration. more prominent. The Ji Le Tian Fei in Cave 428 has rich shapes. Some play the pipa, some the harp, some the transverse flute, or some the waist drum. They are vivid in image and graceful in posture. Especially the flying figure on the west side of the south wall, holding a recorder in both hands and kicking the purple gold crown with both feet. The long belt flies from under the body, and the ceiling is falling all around. Its flying posture is like a nimble swallow swooping down. The Sui Dynasty was the era when the number of flying apsaras in Mogao Grottoes paintings was greatest, and it was also an era when the flying apsaras in Mogao Grottoes had the largest variety and richest postures. In addition to the flying apsaras painted in the Northern Dynasties, the flying apsaras of the Sui Dynasty were mainly painted around the caisson on the top of the cave, around the upper level of the cave, and on both sides of the niches on the west wall. They mostly appeared in groups. The style of the flying apsaras in the Sui Dynasty can be summarized into four different styles. Same. Regional characteristics are different. In the caves of the Sui Dynasty, there are both Western Region-style flying apsaras and Central Plains-style flying apsaras. What’s more, today’s style is a combination of Chinese and Western styles.

Face shapes and body shapes are different. There are round faces and delicate faces; there are strong and slender bodies. But most of them have slender figures, moderate proportions, soft and slender waists, and graceful figures. The clothes are different, some are half-naked, and some are like Zhangzhi; some are wearing sleeveless short skirts, and some are wearing wide-sleeved long skirts; some are wearing crowns, some are wearing buns, and there are also bald monks. Flying style. The flying postures are different, some are flying up, some are flying down, some are flying with the wind, and some are flying against the wind, some are flying solo, and some are flying in a group, but the flying posture is no longer in a "U" shape. The body stretches more freely. Generally speaking, Feitian in the Sui Dynasty was in a period of communication, integration, exploration, and innovation. The general trend is to develop in the direction of Sinicization, which laid the foundation for the complete Sinicization of Feitian in the Tang Dynasty. The Feitian with the most Sui Dynasty style is the Feitian in Cave 427 and Cave 404. Cave 427 is one of the large caves in the Sui Dynasty. It is also the cave with the most paintings of flying apsaras in the Sui Dynasty. The four walls of this cave are surrounded by flying apsaras on the railings of the Tiangong Palace, with a total of 108 bodies. These 108 flying apsaras all wear crowns on their heads, with half-naked upper bodies, necklaces, bracelets, long skirts around their waists, and colorful ribbons around their shoulders. Many of them have the legacy of the shapes and costumes of the apsaras from the Western Regions. Although the skin color has darkened, the image is still very clear. Some have their hands clasped together, some are holding lotus flowers, some are holding flower trays, some are scattering flowers, and some are holding musical instruments such as harps, pipas, flutes, and harps, facing a Flying around the cave. Its postures are diverse, its body is light, its long flowing skirt and flying ribbons are curled up in the wind. All around Feitian, floating clouds and falling flowers are flying, which is very dynamic and full of life. Cave 404 is a medium-sized cave from the middle and late Sui Dynasty. The four walls of the cave are painted with heavenly palace railings, and the flying sky surrounds the cave. Just like the flying apsaras in Cave 427, they have different postures. Some are holding lotuses, some are holding flower trays, some are scattering flowers, and some are holding various musical instruments. They are flying against the wind in one direction, with light bodies and graceful postures. But there have been great changes in jewelry and clothing: there is no round head, no crown, some have a peach-shaped fairy bun, some have a double-ring fairy bun, some have a fairy boy bun, the face is egg-shaped, and the eyebrows are clear. Rice has a slender figure, light and soft clothes, and long and wide towels. The clothes, face, and body are like those of Feitian in the early Tang Dynasty, and they have been completely Chineseized.