Flying, as the name suggests, is the god who flies in the sky.
Growing up, we have read countless poems and seen countless pictures, and we are no strangers to the title or image of "flying sky". Even at the moment when there are more gorgeous visual stimuli, "Feitian" still attracts everyone's attention with its unique charm.
The lintel of Cave 10 of the Yungang Grottoes is decorated
Whether it is the magnificent Yungang Grottoes or the exquisitely decorated Dunhuang Grottoes, we can see this unique "flying sky" image: they fly freely in the sky, with a beautiful posture, when the Buddha said, they scattered flowers from the sky, or played musical instruments, gently sang and danced, making the solemn atmosphere of Buddhist grottoes and monasteries relaxed and happy.
The flying sky in the north wall of Cave 313 of Mogao Caves
Whether it is the Dunhuang series of running shoes launched by The National Tide Li Ning, or the flying theme set launched by the popular mobile game Shine Warm, or the Dunhuang series of puzzles launched by the fruit shell store, or even the traditional flying dance broadcast by Henan Satellite TV, we can be pleasantly surprised to see it: the ancient flying sky in the impression can also lead the fashion trend in the 21st century, and even inspire the practitioners of all walks of life to inspire waves.
There's a lot more to explore about flying, and there's more to it than that.
Mogao Caves Cave 148 Six-Armed Flying Sky (Zhao Shengliang Painting)
Feitian, as a specific deity, must be different from the Buddhist gods such as Buddha, Bodhisattva, and Heavenly King, so what kind of divinity is Feitian in Buddhism? What are their functions? Why do Buddhist grottoes and monasteries have so many flying skies carved or painted?
This "Flying Art" can lead us through the journey of Feitian along the way, as well as the characteristics and development of flying images in various places.
For a long time, there have been many different views on the identity of Feitian in the academic circles, such as some scholars who believe that Feitian is the "Heavenly Man" of the Buddha's world, some think that it is the general term for the Eight Parts of the Heavenly Dragon, and some think that it is the "Qian min Po" and "Jinnara" in the Eight Parts of the Heavenly Dragon.
So, what exactly is Flying? I'm afraid I have to find the answer from the Buddhist scriptures. The earliest Buddhist scriptures that record feitian are the Puyao Sutra (308) translated by the Western Jin Dynasty Zhu Fa Protector, and the later Translation of the Collected Sutras of the Buddha's Benxing Sutra by the Sui Dynasty And some Buddhist scriptures of the Tang Dynasty can also be found.
The north wall of Cave 217 of Mogao Caves travels through the flying sky in the pavilion
At the same time, in the era when Feitian was extremely popular, we can also see the records of Feitian in the inscriptions and other works written by some literati:
"The mountain god offers fruit and also perches on the platform of dew; the goddess of heaven holds incense, that is, the pavilion of flying flowers."
——Wang Bo, "Monument of Fuhui Temple, Yuanwu County, Zizhou"
"Amitabha Buddha sits in the center, Guanyin is around the two great masters, the heavens and people are looking up, and the family is surrounded."
——Bai Juyi, "Painting Western Frames"
The "heavenly goddess" and "heavenly man" in the ancient text are what we now call "flying heaven", and Chinese have gradually integrated these legendary gods and immortals with the "heavenly people" (Absharro) derived from Indian mythology in daily life, perhaps in the eyes of Chinese, this image of flying freely in the sky is consistent with the image of the gods in their minds!
The upper part of the south side of the west wall of Cave 158 of Mogao Caves flew into the sky
The first chapter of The Art of Flying Is about the Celestial Daughter in Indian mythology, and in many stories about the Celestial Maiden, the Celestial Nun is often a beautiful and seductive woman, often sent by the gods to use seductive abilities to achieve a certain purpose. Therefore, the goddess in Indian art is often a pair of men and women, the story is mainly based on love legends, murals or sculptures are often naked, the action is intimate, and the gender tension is very strong.
Goddess of the Ganges (Collection of the Delhi National Museum)
In some of the early grottoes in China, it is not difficult to find that Fei Tian is more or less carrying the shadow of the Indian goddess Absaro. However, due to the influence of Confucianism, the image of feitian has become more subtle, and the sense of gender has been greatly weakened. At the same time, after the exploration of generations of artists, the image of China's flying sky has become more and more three-dimensional and complete, and the characteristics of flying lightly and flying have also been more vividly expressed.
"With the development of art, people gradually found the secret to make the flying sky take off, that is, to give it a light body, to have a naturally fluttering streamer or dress, so the flyers also put on the fashion, the streamer lengthened, the short skirt was replaced by a long skirt. In this way, it is getting farther and farther away from the face of India's flying sky, and this is the beginning of the flying sky towards Sinicization. ”
——The Flying Art, Chapter 5 The Flying Sky of the Yungang Grottoes
The upper part of the north wall of Cave 290 of Mogao Caves flew into the sky
The period of rapid growth of the image of Feitian in the land of China actually reflects the development of artistic aesthetics and the changes in society throughout the era. In the early days, grottoes across the country had their own regional characteristics, but they also influenced each other. In the Sui and Tang dynasties, under the influence of the art of the Central Plains, the styles of various regions began to gradually unify, and the gorgeous colors were combined with strong line drawings. Especially in the Sheng Tang Dynasty, the political stability is unprecedented, Buddhism has also achieved unprecedented development, in these murals flying in the sky, we can appreciate the spirit of the grace and generosity of the Sheng Tang art, as well as the skillful skills and abundant creativity of the artists.
The top of the open window of the 10th cave of the Yungang Grottoes flew into the sky
From ancient times to the present, the unrestrained flying sky has pinned on the beautiful visions and fantasies of many people, and has become the source of inspiration for many people's daily lives. There are many things you can talk about about feitian, including the drawing methods of flying in different dynasties, as well as the aesthetic changes of feitian in different eras, etc. Open the "Flying Art", this tour is still waiting for you to come to observe it in person.
The Table of Contents page can be enlarged
Author: Zhao Shengliang
Zhao Shengliang is currently the Party Secretary of Dunhuang Research Institute.
He graduated from the Department of Chinese of Beijing Normal University in 1984, received his Ph.D. in Literature (majoring in Art History) from Chengcheng University in Japan in 2003, was selected as a "leading talent" in Gansu Province in 2009, and became the president of the Dunhuang Research Institute in May 2019.
He has been appointed as a visiting researcher at Tokyo University of the Arts, a visiting professor at Tainan University of the Arts, and a visiting researcher at Princeton University. Engaged in the research of Dunhuang art and Chinese art history, he has published more than 100 papers and published more than 20 books, mainly including "Dunhuang Mural Landscape Research", "Gansu Grottoes", "Dunhuang Grotto art overview", "Dunhuang Grottoes Art History (Sixteen Kingdoms Northern Dynasty)", "Dunhuang Grottoes Art Brief History" and so on.