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DUNHUANG Inspired by an Ancient Muse 18 CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Tuesday, November 12, 2019 | 19 LIFE DUNHUANG Inspired by an ancient muse The Mogao Caves — part of the ancient Silk Road — provide endless inspiration for designer Xiong Ying, helping her to take her fashion house, Heaven Gaia, to new levels on the international stage, Chen Nan reports. Great Hall History set in stone Digging in designs reflect • In 366, the first cave is carved by Yuezun, a Bud­ dhist monk who happens to visit Dunhuang. inspiration from • The first large­scale boring of grottoes begins in Dunhuang during the Northern Liang (401­439) Gansu caverns kingdom period. • Rulers of the Northern Wei (386­534), Western Wei (535­556) and Northern Zhou (557­581) By LIN QI dynasties follow Buddhism and contribute to the [email protected] expansion of the grottoes. When construction of the Great Hall of the Peo­ • Booming trade along the ancient Silk Road gradu­ ple began in 1958, then­premier Zhou Enlai sug­ ally helps the Mogao Caves become prominent in the gested while overseeing the project that talented seventh and the eighth centuries. During the reign of young Chinese have the opportunity to partici­ empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty (618­907), pate. more than 1,000 caves exist at the site. Chang Shana, then 27, was among the artists chosen. A teacher at the Central Academy of Arts • Dunhuang is ruled by the Tibetan Tubo regime and Design (now Tsinghua University’s Academy from 781 to 848, who dig 56 caves. of Arts and Design) at the time, Chang got the chance after being noticed in China’s art world for • Local warlords govern Dunhuang from 848 to her accurate copies of the mural paintings inside 1036, creating many family grottoes. Dunhuang’s caves in Gansu province. Chang’s studies of the intricate patterns and • The Western Xia (1038­1227) regime of the Tan­ motifs on the murals and Buddhist statues led her gut people control Dunhuang, carving 77 new to incorporate these elements when designing art­ caves. works that used traditional Chinese crafts, such as porcelain, enamel ware and silk items. • About 10 surviving caves are carved after Mon­ Chang was assigned to gols conquer the Western Xia in 1227. The carving the team designing the ceil­ of new caves stops following the decline of the Silk ing of the state banquet Road in the 14th century. room at the Great Hall. Her designs of the ceiling pat­ Outsiders look in terns employed the sym­ • 1900: The “library cave” is found by Wang Yuan­ metrical floral motifs and lu, a Taoist guarding the Mogao Caves at the time, the color scheme of Dun­ followed by swarms of Western explorers, who later huang, and stood out scatter documents around the world. among other proposals. Chang Shana But despite the elegance, • 1907: British scholar Marc Aurel Stein visits Dun­ her drawings were viewed huang for the first time, taking 24 boxes of docu­ as “not functional”. ments and five boxes of other cultural relics back “Zhang Bo, one of the architects, said the home with him to “study”. designs looked quite beautiful but didn’t meet the practical requirements of a banquet space,” Chang cons from the relics in Dunhuang — one of China’s big­ toes at Mogao that span over a millennium. In 1987, the caves Qiang’s designs, where he combined it with elements of tra­ She also dedicates the brand to Chinese women, who she says • 1908: French Sinologist Paul Pelliot arrives in recalls. gest treasure troves of art, dating back a millennium — were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. ditional Chinese ink paintings. are “full of love and wisdom”. Dunhuang and develops the first numbering sys­ “He said I should take into consideration the were taking on a new, chic look on the runway as Chinese During her 10­day journey, Xiong took photos, visited muse­ “Gaia is the ancestral mother of all life, and she represents tem for the caves. He also takes away key manu­ ceiling’s air vents and lights, and the overall archi­ fashion designer Xiong Ying presented her spring/sum­ ums and drank in the gorgeous murals, which later served as Skills passed down over generations the beauty of women. For me, Chinese women are beautiful scripts, estimated to be in the “thousands” by tecture and the materials to be used.” Imer collection for 2019 at the Hotel Salomon de Rothschild in her muse. Xiong is a native of Changde, Hunan province, and says and have unique fashion tastes,” says Xiong, who loves fashion the Chinese government. Chang, now 88, says she later worked closely Paris on Sept 28, 2018. Two years later, she returned to Dunhuang with her design that her interest in the fashion industry started from an early styles from across the ages but especially the Tang Dynasty with architects and engineers for months to inte­ Elements from Dunhuang’s murals, including nine­colored team in tow to begin preparations for her 2019 collection. age. When she was 4 years old, she watched her mother and (618­907). • 1914­15: Russian scholar Sergei Oldenburg visits grate the patterns with the building’s structure, deer, flying apsaras (angel­like beings known as feitian in Chi­ The collection received positive feedback on social media. grandmother sewing and making clothes together at home. Dunhuang and takes away manuscripts and murals. including its bases. nese) and ancient musicians playing the pipa, or Chinese Fans were wowed by Xiong’s talent for bringing the ancient From flowers to butterflies, themes in their embroidery Homage to traditional Chinese culture The Great Hall opened in 1959. lutes, all came alive through Xiong’s contemporary­design aes­ murals alive and her dedication to showing Chinese culture to patterns kept changing and developing over time, which By 2008, Xiong had made a name for herself as a fashion • 1924: Langdon Warner from the United States The project helped Chang’s career to reach a thetics in 78 sets of outfits and accessories. the world. always surprised Xiong as a child. stylist and had a regular client base of artists, celebrities and steals 26 murals and several Buddhist statues. new height as a designer and educator. She retired Xiong’s collection was delicate, light and breezy. It featured The 78 outfits and accessories were chosen from over 300 Xiong learned embroidery and sketching skills from her TV hosts, including Chinese singer­songwriter Huo Zun. as the dean of the Central Academy of Arts and such techniques as dip­dyeing, Suzhou embroidery, tapestry works that took Xiong and her team about a year to finish. She mother and grandmother, and enjoyed designing and mak­ “Her designs bring traditional Chinese culture to life • 1920s: Dunhuang studies begin to appear as a Design in 1998. She also designed decorations for work and hand painting on textiles, such as silk and chiffon. returned to Dunhuang again after the fashion show in Paris, ing clothes for her dolls. through her contemporary aesthetic. I love the variety of ele­ new discipline in parts of the world. In China, scholar some other spaces at the Great Hall in 2006 and “It is a different approach, and I drew my inspiration from “to pay respect to the holy site”. “For me, it’s an accessible craft to start, and hand embroi­ ments in her works, such as the hanfu (traditional ethnic Han Chen Yinke uses the term “Dunhuang studies” for 2008. Again, she adopted the patterns from Dun­ my trip to Dunhuang,” the Beijing­based designer says. “There She adds that her exploration of Dunhuang will never end, dery is both fun and relaxing,” says Xiong. attire) and her use of gradually fading ink,” says Huo, who has the first time in 1930, while in the English­speaking huang. are personal involvement and memories, and there are all since the site provides her with infinite inspiration for imagi­ “I have never formally studied fashion design, but it was a been wearing Xiong’s designs for around two years. world, it becomes known as “Tunhuangology”. It was her father, Chang Shuhong (1904­94), a these other layers intermingled, which make the idea of luxury nation and creativity. skill that I picked up and mastered naturally.” In 2016, Xiong presented her 2017 spring/summer collec­ painter and the founding director of the Dunhu­ even more interesting. The collection is not just about expen­ Xiao Qiang (pseudonym) is one of 50 designers working at Before launching her fashion brand, Xiong also traveled to tion at Paris Fashion Week. The series, which featured a mix • 1941­43: Renowned painter Zhang Daqian stays ang Academy, who inspired her to follow Dun­ sive materials and complicated techniques but also history Xiong’s fashion brand. In 2017, the 30­year­old traveled to Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces to learn Suzhou embroidery, of ceramics and silk, was inspired by Yuanmingyuan, the roy­ in Dunhuang and makes replicas of the murals. huang’s art. and personal experience.” Dunhuang with Xiong to seek inspiration. one of the oldest and most­famous embroidery techniques in al summer resort in Beijing during the Qing Dynasty (1644­ Chang Shana was born in France, and her par­ Xiong launched her own fashion label, Heaven Gaia, in 2013 His first impressions of Dunhuang were of the paintings of China. 1911). • 1942: A large­scale scientific exploration orga­ ents returned to China amid wars. They went to to present traditional Chinese culture to the world through Zhang Daqian, an artist who traveled to the cave complex to She still has a large wooden box stored in her home in Chang­ In 2017, Xiong staged a fashion show on the theme of inher­ nized by the government is completed in Dunhu­ Dunhuang, where Chang Shuhong decided to cat­ fashion design.
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