The caves with undulating heights and depths are truly spectacular; the exquisitely crafted statues are vivid and lifelike; the colorful and dazzling murals. For a thousand years, time has silently passed over this desert, proclaiming to the world the former prosperity and bustle of this place. Among them, murals are the most widespread and deeply ingrained art in Dunhuang.
Dunhuang, known as the “Great Gallery in the Desert,” has 735 caves, more than 2,400 colored sculptures, and over 45,000 square meters of murals. These precious works of human civilization include portraits of Buddha, stories of Buddha's life, myths and legends, Buddhist historical events, and Buddhist scriptures. Despite enduring wind and frost, these brightly colored murals still radiate their brilliance.
To appreciate the beauty of Dunhuang, one must learn to understand the rich world within the murals. The following introductory guide to Dunhuang murals from “Art Culture China” will present the most beautiful side of Dunhuang to you.
In the Dunhuang murals, there is a group of people who believe in Buddhism and funded the excavation of the caves. They not only funded the painting of Buddhist themes but also depicted their own popular ideas and life portraits in the caves. These people are the patrons (Gong Yang Ren, 供养人).
They may have realized early on that they would be models for dressing in the future, so in addition to their devout faith, they made great achievements in the study of clothing. They took wearing true colors as their criterion and played with the trend in their palms, creating two secrets of color matching.
The first is to use similar colors or shades to create a transformation effect. For example, the mural in Cave 98 of the Mogao Grottoes, the two women wear long skirts and deep red sleeves with black accents, and the overall similar colors complement each other to express elegance in a soft way.
The second is the matching of contrasting colors, especially red and blue. In the portrait of the female patron in Cave 9 of the Mogao Grottoes, the three noble ladies are dressed in gorgeous clothing with cloud buns, flower hairpins, and embroidered silk robes, showing extraordinary style, while the other five maids are smaller in size, dressed simply without patterns or inscriptions, standing in the corner. The obvious difference in status and identity creates a shocking effect, conveying the message of hierarchy and status without words.
Obviously, studying color matching alone is not enough to establish a foothold in the ancient fashion. People at that time have taken a different approach and created a brand new style of “The combination of Hu and Han costumes”. First of all, the Hu people followed the trend of Han costumes, which not only spread widely among the common people, but also received the love of the upper class in Dunhuang and the favor of the rulers who vigorously promoted sinicization.
The formal official costumes worn to court all imitated the Han costumes, with a curved collar and wide sleeves. The costumes worn by the nobles and elders often included a Hehuan hat and a wide-sleeved robe, with a belt at the waist, reflecting a free and extraordinary style. Women's clothing also imitated the wealthy women in Jiangnan, with Quju wrapped around the body and a fluttering skirt hem.
At the same time, the Han people also followed the fashion of Hu clothing. From officials to common people, they all wore Ku Zhe (袴褶) as their regular clothing. They wore Long crowns (笼冠) on their heads, tied Diejie belts around their waists, and wore boots on their feet. Such clothing made it much more convenient to go out.
