The Investigation of Celestial Musical Performers of “Pi’pa and Flute” in the Yungang Grottoes

Abstract

<p>雲岡石窟是目前保留北魏原跡最完整的石窟寺群，在《妙法蓮華經》的影響下，石窟寺中可見「三世佛」、「二佛並坐」與「千佛」等佛造像的特色，其中部分的伎樂雕像反映出《妙法蓮華經》的典故，而在這些反映《妙法蓮華經》典故的伎樂雕像中可見「琵琶伎與笛伎」對列作為伎樂供養以表法的圖像，然在北魏之前的音樂史料及圖像中卻幾乎未見「琵琶伎與笛伎」對列的情況。故本文擬就雲岡石窟中「琵琶伎與笛伎」對列的伎樂雕像加以考察，而發現其中仍清晰可辨識的「琵琶伎與笛伎」對列的伎樂雕像至少有41組，實非偶然，然而，這些「琵琶伎與笛伎」對列的伎樂雕像來源為何？本文結合史書及唐詩的記載、同時期其他石窟寺及墓寺壁畫的圖像，還有印度的阿馬拉瓦蒂（Amaravati）的浮雕圖像及其他犍陀羅地區遺址中「琵琶與笛」對列的音樂圖像來加以比對，發現雲岡石窟中「琵琶伎與笛伎」對列有可能是來自西域胡樂與印度的佛教圖像東漸的影響。</p> <p> </p><p>The Yungang Grottoes are the most gorgeous and complete preservation remains of the original site in of the the Northern-Wei dynasty Buddhist Grottoes during. The sculpted murals, such as “trai-lokya buddham,” Prabhūta-ratna and Shakyamuni Buddha, sit side by side??,” along with the “thousand Buddha” which were inspired by the records of the Buddhist Lotus Sutra in the Yungang grottos. This paper aims to examine the sculpted murals in the Yungang grottos showing celestial musical performers of playing “pi’pa and flute”, to see how the people during Northern-Wei dynasty absorbed and expressed the doctrines of Buddhism by through these artistic productions, and how they? [the murals?] provide evidence for the understanding of the Buddhist services of worship following the secularization of Buddhism. In addition, the author will also sorts and identifies all the musical instruments depicted in the sculpted murals of the celestial musical of “pi’pa and flute” performers, to see which shows how they merged the music of the Han people, Xianbei, and Western Regions into a whole, which reflecting the musical culture during of the Northern-Wei dynasty. Finally, the paper will also discusses the Western origin of the ensemble of “pi’pa and flute”, by studying and considers the celestial musical performers in the Yungang grottos through the perspective of musical icons.</p> <p> </p>