Research On The Costumes Of Donors Of Sui Dynasty Dunhuang Grottoes

There are more than 100 caves in the Sui dynasty Dunhuang Grottoes,among which there are abundant donor's portraits and various textile motifs showing on the murals and painted sculptures,which reflect the styles of costumes of male and female from officials and nobles to the common people,and the development of dyeing,printing and weaving technology of textiles.This is a comprehensive research of these materials by methods of image identification,classification statistics,textual research and comparative analysis.Firstly,based on the research of previous scholars on the archaeological stages of the Sui dynasty Dunhuang Grottoes,and after repeated field investigations and comparisons,the Sui caves and specific stages of the Mogao Grottoes and West Thousand Buddha Caves were clarified.Based on the complete investigation and statistics of all the images of donors,1813 figures in 48 caves with clear clothing images were selected as the samples of this research.Among them,there are images of 118 Bhikkhus,46 Bhikkhuni,808 male and 841 female donors.From the early,middle and late stages of Sui dynasty,12 headdresses,5 categories and 9 types of clothes,2 kinds of waistband and 3 categories of footwear of male donors;7 kinds of hair styles,3 categories 7 types and 9 styles of garments,1 category 3 types of footwear of female donors,4 kinds of objects holding by the donors were identified.The different arrangements and spatial relationships of the donors' images in the caves were explored,which may represent different construction methods raised by the sangha,the influential and privileged families and the religion organizations of common lay people.Then,combining with historical documents and archaeological discoveries,Gauze-Covered Cap(??),Pingjin Ze(???)and Kerchief(??),Futou Headscarf(??),Hehuan Cap(???),Juanqun Hood(????),and Peaked Cap(???),etc.;Ku Xi(??,caftan with pants)and Lan Pao(??,robe with elongated hem),as both formal dress and normal dress;costumes used only for ceremonial dress,such as robe with overlapping collars,and wide sleeves Ru jacket with long skirt(??),waist belt made of fabric or leather,fabric shoes and boots,matched of male donors were researched.The costumes of female donors,such as different hairstyles,various skirts and Pei Bo(women's long scarf)with different styles and details,as well as the matching high-head fabric shoes,were also researched.A comparison according to time between costumes of donors and textile motifs in Sui dynasty Dunhuang Grottoes,with the donors'costumes in the Northern dynasties and early Tang dynasty Dunhuang Grottoes was made.Then,another comparison according to geographic positions between the costumes of donors in Sui dynasty Dunhuang Grottoes with archaeological discoveries from multiple regions along the Silk Road of same period was accomplished.The following characteristics were found:Headdresses and hairstyles of donors of Sui dynasty Dunhuang were mainly inherited from the Han tradition of the central plains,on the contrary,clothing style and details of theirs,textile motifs were greatly influenced by foreign textile design.Furthermore,the donors' images were placed in the original context of the caves,conducted some case studies triggered by this costumes research.Including identity and origin of the donors of Cheng family in Cave 62 of Mogao,and the characteristics of the Buddhist grottoes which may be regarded as “family cave” was discussed.The portrait of official Wang Wentong,who is the main donor of Cave 281,was presented to introduce the problems in using of publications and replicas of Dunhuang murals in the study of costumes,and then made some comments.Distinguishing and analyzing the exotic textile motifs depicted in Cave 420,such as the motifs of fighting scene,horse with wings,wild boar,etc.in a pearl roundel,and combined animal in opposite waves,which may be the representatives of the so-called “Persian brocade”.The design and construction of this cave were greatly influenced by central and western Asia.Finally,from the Sui dynasty Dunhuang Grottoes,the most important changes of the costumes of donors were that,Ku Xi was admitted into the etiquette costume system,the waist position of women's skirts raised above the breast line.In addition,imitation and absorption of foreign style textiles motifs,which affected the traditional textile processing of China.As a result of progress of dyeing and weaving technology in Sui dynasty,the wearing method of the Pei Bo and the materials which Ku Xi made of were changed.Evolution of costumes may also have an impact on people's lifestyle and related living space.The aesthetics of clothing in the Sui dynasty Dunhuang was formed by the comprehensive influences of accumulation of Confucian culture from the central plains,prosperous trade along the Silk Road,and multi-ethnic interaction,and so on.