The restoration of the North Liang Horizontal Flying Sky Mural of the Tiantishan Grottoes was unveiled

On December 15, the reporter learned from Wuwei City that the horizontal flying sky traveled through a thousand years of time - the North Liang Feitian Mural of the Tiantishan Grottoes was recently unveiled.

The horizontal flying image in this mural is the most complete Northern Liang flying sky mural found and restored in the Tiantishan Grottoes. The hairstyle, facial features, face shape, busts, glitter, shawl, and long skirt worn in this flying body are basically the same as those worn by the Standing Bottle Bodhisattva unveiled in 1960. The flying head is inward, the feet are outward, and although the waist is slightly curved downward, it is exactly like a bodhisattva lying horizontally in the upper part of the niche. The whole flying sky, whether it is online drawing, coloring, smudging, styling, as well as looks, moods and other aspects are very skilled, reproducing the unique characteristics of early Buddhist mural art.

The successful restoration of this Beiliang Feitian mural provides a good physical material for the study of early Buddhist art, is a major achievement in the restoration of the relocated murals of the Tiantishan Grottoes, and is also a major discovery in the archaeological research work of the grotto temple in China.

Wuwei Tiantishan Grottoes, built in the Northern Liang Period during the Sixteen Kingdoms period of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was built successively during the Northern Dynasty, Sui and Tang Dynasties, Western Xia to Ming and Qing Dynasties, with a history of more than 1600 years. In October 2015, the tiantishan grottoes relocation murals, painted sculpture protection and restoration project was officially launched. The restoration project was carried out by the Cultural Relics Protection Technical Service Center of Dunhuang Research Institute.

Correspondent Cai Jianhong Lanzhou Daily all-media reporter Luo Huansu text/photo