The archetypes of the Dunhuang Flying Apsaras were the Indian Gantalva (Fragrant Sound God) and Jinnaro (Heavenly Song God). Gantalva was a male god who was good at music and had a strange fragrance. She lived on music and could fly in the sky. There were different records in Jinnaro. One said that she was a male and ugly, with a human body and a cow's head. There were strange horns on her bones. Another said that she was a kind woman with a pleasant voice and could sing and dance. With the rise of Buddhism, the two gradually became two of the eight heavenly dragons that accompanied the Buddha. In addition, the image of a Taoist featherman with white wings in ancient China legends gradually absorbed Buddhist elements as Buddhism spread and evolved into the image of a flying sky. "Legend of the Flying Apsaras" is equally exciting. Everyone is welcome to click and read it!
The archetype of the Dunhuang Flying Apsaras came from two sources. One was the image of the Indian celestial beings, and the "Fragrant Sound God" and "Heavenly Song God" were the origins of the image of the Flying Heavens. The " Fragrant Sound God " was a male god who was good at music and had a strange fragrance. He lived on music and could dance in the sky. There were different records of the " Heavenly Song God ". One said that it was a male with an ugly appearance, a human body and a cow head, and a skeleton with cow horns. The other said that it was a kind woman with a pleasant voice and was good at singing and dancing. The two accompanied the Buddha. Later, their images merged and became a celestial being who was good at singing and musical instruments. The other source was the image of the Taoist feathermen. In ancient legends, feathermen were gods with white wings. In the pre-Qin period, their wings represented immortality. With the spread of Buddhism, the image of feathermen gradually absorbed Buddhist elements and evolved into the image of flying in the future. In addition, the original form of the Flying Deity, Gandharva, came from India's oldest history and myths and legends, which were recorded in Rig Veda, Mahabharata, and Ramayana. Gandharva was originally represented as a man in Buddhist art. "Legend of the Flying Apsaras" is equally exciting. Everyone is welcome to click and read it!
The original form of the Dunhuang Flying Apsaras was the image of the flying apsaras in the Dunhuang murals. The image of the Flying Apsaras in the Dunhuang murals combined many cultural elements and had a unique artistic charm. From a cultural perspective, these images reflected the religious beliefs, aesthetic concepts, and cultural blending at that time. In modern artistic creation, such as the dance "Dunhuang Flying Apsaras" and Liu Yifei's Dunhuang Flying Apsaras, they were all created based on the images of flying apsaras in Dunhuang murals. On the basis of retaining the charm of the archetype of Dunhuang Flying Apsaras, these creations carried out artistic innovation and cultural integration from different angles, showing various characteristics such as the combination of classical and modern, local and foreign cultures. "Legend of the Flying Apsaras" is equally exciting. Everyone is welcome to click and read it!
Dunhuang Flying Apsaras originated from Dunhuang culture and were an important artistic image in Dunhuang murals. From the point of view of artistic creation, the dance program "Dunhuang·Flying Sky" was adapted from the original dance drama "Dunhuang" arranged by the Central Ballet Troupe. The director Fei Bo went to Dunhuang to collect wind in 2012 and was touched by the watchmen of Dunhuang, and then drew from the story of Dunhuang. There are generations of watchmen in Dunhuang, such as Chang Shuhong, the first president of the Dunhuang Research Institute, who gave up the opportunity to study in France in the 1940s and came to Dunhuang to protect Dunhuang art; Duan Wenjie, the second president, spent half of his life copying more than 300 Dunhuang works; Fan Jinshi, the third president, took root in the desert, carried out grotto archaeological research and innovative management, and built "Digital Dunhuang". The dedication and perseverance of these Dunhuang people became the source of creation, and their stories were condensed into related works. The dance drama "Dunhuang" was revised by the Central Ballet Troupe for 28 drafts and took 7 years to prepare. The main creative team experienced the life of Dunhuang people for 3 months. The dancers used their limbs to pursue the oriental lines. Its picture modeling was based on the real painting environment and situation design of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes. For example, the "lotus" shape symbolized the spiritual character of Dunhuang people such as noble and clean. The art of flying in Dunhuang had a deep cultural foundation. It was a part of China traditional culture and reflected the aesthetic concept of ancient China art. The flying goddesses in the murals were beautiful, their clothes fluttering, their movements light and elegant, their clothes gorgeous, and their ribbons were agile. Their images were extraordinary and elegant, conveying the freedom and elegance of the spirit, becoming a wonderful symbol in China culture. "Legend of the Flying Apsaras" is equally exciting. Everyone is welcome to click and read it!
The Dunhuang Flying Fairy Portrait was a type of portrait with a unique charm. As an important town on the Silk Road and a holy land of Buddhist culture, Dunhuang's flying image was the most dazzling existence in Dunhuang murals, especially the murals related to the Tang Dynasty. Today, Dunhuang Flying Sky Portrait is very popular. In the photo shoot, it would involve clothing selection, makeup, and other aspects. For example, men would choose suitable clothes to present a feminine style when shooting Dunhuang Flying Flying Pictures. For example, Wang Churan's portrait of the Dunhuang Goddess. She was wearing a pink elegant long dress, holding a lute, her hair tied up high, and her eyes were red. She was so beautiful that she could not be compared to others. During the shooting process, the photographer would instruct the photographer to pose in various poses. Although some poses might make people feel uncomfortable, they could still produce good results. At the same time, there were many places that could create a realistic flying experience for tourists, providing gorgeous clothing and dazzling accessories, allowing people to instantly transform into fairies in murals. "Legend of the Flying Apsaras" is equally exciting. Everyone is welcome to click and read it!
I don't quite understand the exact meaning of the expression "Dunhuang Flying Apsaras in person". If you want to ask about the real person related to the photos of Dunhuang Flying Apsaras, Liu Yifei has a set of photos of Dunhuang Flying Apsaras that have become popular on the Internet. Her photos are inspired by the images of the flying apsaras in Dunhuang murals. Both her clothing and makeup are full of Dunhuang cultural elements. Her clothing is bright in color and exquisite in pattern. Her makeup draws lessons from the classic elements of Dunhuang murals, which has both classical and modern fashion sense. At the 2024 Lanzhou Marathon, a woman wearing Dunhuang Feitian clothes ran the entire race. "Legend of the Flying Apsaras" is equally exciting. Everyone is welcome to click and read it!
In 2019, there were many achievements related to Dunhuang Feitian. In the 2019 CCTV Spring Festival Gala, there was a dance called "Dunhuang·Flying Sky," led by Luna, Qiu Yunting and Wang Jiyu, performed by the Central Ballet Troupe and the Ballet Department of the Beijing Dance Academy. This dance was adapted from the original dance drama "Dunhuang" arranged by the Central Ballet Troupe. It combined thousands of years of silk road culture with the art of Ballet, condensing the experiences of the guards of Dunhuang into the story of the male and female protagonists in the play. By showing their protection and feelings for the Dunhuang murals, it reflected the brilliant artistic achievements of Dunhuang. It had both a sense of history and artistic freedom. However, because it was the first time that it boldly combined China Dunhuang culture with Western Ballet art, At that time, the evaluation was mixed. "Legend of the Flying Apsaras" is equally exciting. Everyone is welcome to click and read it!
Dunhuang flying clothes had distinctive characteristics. From some examples, for example, the woman who ran the entire marathon in Dunhuang Feitian clothing had a two-pound headdress, fixed with more than a dozen hairpins and several steel nails, as well as accessories such as a close-fitting tube top, elegant streamers, hand-held musical instruments, oil-paper umbrellas, etc. The Fairy's skirt could be set to a width of 3 meters, and the excess parts could be cut open. The skirt would be about 1 meter long, and because the mesh was too transparent, it might need a layout of 3 layers, 2 layers, and 3 layers. In terms of children's dance costumes, there were Dunhuang flying costumes that included tops, pants, streamers, mid-brows, waist chains, jewelry and other components. In some artists 'styles, such as the Dunhuang Flying Apsaras chosen by Angelababy, their costumes could perfectly present the cultural style of the ancient Silk Road, while Liu Yifei wore gorgeous flying costumes as if she had passed through the murals, full of fairy air. All of these showed the unique charm of Dunhuang Flying Apsaras. "Legend of the Flying Apsaras" is equally exciting. Everyone is welcome to click and read it!
The flying murals in Dunhuang are the artistic treasures of the Mogao Grottoes. The Mogao Grottoes were built in the former Qin Dynasty and had been continuously built through many dynasties. They were huge in scale and contained many caves, murals, and clay sculptures. The image of "Flying Apsaras" in Dunhuang Flying Apsaras Murals had experienced a long process of development and evolution. At first, the image of the flying sky originated from the flying god in Indian Buddhism, but when it appeared in China, it was different from the flying god in Indian Buddhism. During the period from the Sixteen Kingdoms to the Northern Wei Dynasty, the flying gods of Dunhuang were deeply influenced by the flying gods of India and the Western Regions. Their images carried a strong foreign cultural atmosphere. The image of the flying gods of Buddhism in this period was probably a human figure with horns and the ability to ride clouds and fog. After being introduced to Dunhuang, they were created as the image of a gentle and beautiful woman who was dancing in the air and tied with long streamers. From the Western Wei Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, the Dunhuang Flying Apsaras were in the stage of the exchange and integration of Buddhist Heaven and Man and Taoist Feather Man, and the Western Region Flying Apsaras and the Central Plains Flying Immortals. The Sui Dynasty had the largest number of "Flying Apsaras" and the most diverse types. The dynamic description of flying, the changes in limbs and clothing had been greatly improved. During the Tang Dynasty, the Flying Apsaras culture reached its peak, and the image was basically China. The change of line style became the dominant element, and the craftsmen's skills matured, making the image of the Flying Apsaras of this period almost perfect. Although there were modifications in the Xixia and Yuan dynasties, there were no major innovation. Dunhuang Flying Sky Murals had unique artistic features, including natural and agile lines, which were concentrated on the image of Flying Sky, which could show the flying track of the fluttering clothes and the rhythm of music. It had the shape of a weak willow supporting the wind, expressing the beauty of the shape through delicate texture and pen and ink language. The strokes were agile and colorful, and the ribbon enhanced the sense of movement of Flying Sky. At the same time, Dunhuang Flying Apsaras were not only a display of human beauty, but also a symbol of exuberant vitality. They were the product of the combination of romanticism and creative methods, with extremely high aesthetic and artistic taste. Flying Apsaras had missions such as scattering flowers and playing music in the Buddhist Kingdom. For example, some of them held flowers in one hand and scattered them in the other to create a beautiful atmosphere. There were also some who played the pipa, the waist drum, and the empty throat. "Legend of the Flying Apsaras" is equally exciting. Everyone is welcome to click and read it!