The splendid legendary Dunhuang frescoes are to be found in the deserts of China! Dunhuang is located west of Hexi Corridor, an important junction of the “Silk Road.” It is also known as “the city where the Chinese and foreigners met” in history, for it is where the Buddhist culture was first introduced into China, and where Chinese, Indian, Greek and Islamic cultures converged together. The unique historical and spatial background of Dunhuang created not just a multicultural society, but exotic and beautiful art! As Northern Liang and Northern Wei reigned over the whole country with “Buddhist Ideology,” they eagerly dug out caves and made Buddhist statues. For a thousand years, Dunhuang frescoes, the great aesthetic achievements of multiculturalism, shone with their absolute mineral colors. During the peak of Sui and Tang dynasties, strong, bright and solemn colors were applied to the frescoes, which were an unusual spectacle of its time. Images of Flying Apsaras were first found in the caves dug during the Sixteen Kingdoms, and the last images of them were painted during the Yuan Dynasty. The length between these two periods is over one thousand years. More than 6,000 images of Flying Apsaras are preserved. In these attractive images, Apsaras worship Buddha with singing and dancing. iii Their slim and graceful figures suggest the sincerity of praising the Three Precious and the joy of learning about Buddhist dharma. The beauty of Flying Apsaras brought strong energy to the Dunhuang arts. Although they are not the major characters in the Buddhist frescoes or sculptures, their significance in the Brahmaa chants shall not be neglected, as The Lotus Sutra states, “joyfully, do sing of Buddha’s qualities with odes and praises, even if they only use the weakest voice; such people have already gained the utmost Way to Buddhahood.” Ranging from the dynasties of North Liang, North Wei, West Wei and North Zhou to Sui and Tang, this study focuses on the presentations of “Flying Apsaras” of different periods at Dunhuang and explores the revolution of these visual presentations. It also includes the following aspects: the origin and significance of Flying Apsaras, music and dancing, stylistic influence and Sinification, and the characteristics of Flying Apsaras in different periods of time. By collecting and analyzing varied studies, the accumulated experience and resources of those nameless painters from various dynasties will be demonstrated. By exchanging or mixing media like gouache, color ink, and porcelain painting, these painters gave life to the frescoes of Flying Apsaras! An exploration of the contemporary background of arts will open up a new page for postmodern arts through a new interpretation of Flying Apsaras!
