Wind Deities in Dunhuang and Their Possible Iconographical Connections with Chinese Fengbo and Sogdian Weshparkar
Some iconographical traits borrowed from other cultures began appearing in Dunhuang paintings since at least the sixth century CE.For example,scholars have already determined that a cloth drape blowing in the wind above the heads of various deities in Dunhuang murals was borrowed from Greco-Roman art,possibly through contact with Buddhist art from Gand-hara or Kushan coinage.Wind deities in Dunhuang have often been depicted holding a"wind horn"that they used to blow the wind.This attribute also appeared in Greek art,and was a primary characteristic of the Chinese wind deity,Fengbo.Interestingly,it was also one of the attributes of the Sogdian wind god Weshparkar,although the wind deities printed on coins from Kushan such as Vado,Vesho and Anemos are not shown with wind horns.This study investigates this curious phenomenon of varying artistic heritage and depiction,with special attention paid to attribute of the wind deities in Dunhuang paintings,and to several in-teresting parallels between Chinese and Sogdian art.
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