From India to Dunhuang:A Study of the Images Derivation of the Gandharva and the Kinnara
Gandharva and Kinnara in the ancient Indian myths and legends are the main images of the Flying Apsaras.As two music and dance gods of the Eight Heaven Dragon Gods,they are mostly appeared on the top of the stupas and in Buddhist statues of cave temples.In early Indian cave stat-ues,the image of the two gods have undergone Gandhara,Motsutra and other stylistic changes which have distinguished gender differences.In the Sui Dynasty murals at Dunhuang,the images of the two gods were absorbed a lot of local cultural elements such as Daoist priest,folk acrobatics,and Chinese gigaku.So their sculptures not only differed greatly from the ordinary Indian image,but also represented as the two gods combined as one or indistinguishable images.These changes can be described as from the"sculptures"to"imagery",and they reflect the localization trajectory of Buddhism in China.
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