Li Qiang. 2019. Silk Road: The Study of Drama Culture (Series on China’s Belt and Road Initiative III), trans. Gao Fen, New Jersey. (αποσπάσματα με εμβόλιμες παρατηρήσεις)
Δ. Ν. Κονιδάρης, konidaris@ieee.org, DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.19345.70241
Abstract
Silk Road: The Study of Drama Culture by Li Qiang
offers a comprehensive interdisciplinary exploration of how theatrical
traditions emerged, transformed, and circulated along the vast network of the
Silk Road. Spanning fourteen chapters, the work traces the origins of Chinese
dramatic forms—such as Yanshi puppet theatre, Nuo masked ritual, Buddhist
music–dance plays, and Dunhuang bianwen—and demonstrates their deep
entanglement with the religious, artistic, and performative cultures of India,
Central Asia, Persia, and the Greco-Roman world. Drawing on historical
geography, philology, archaeology, ethnology, and comparative theatre studies,
Li Qiang challenges the long-held view that Chinese drama evolved in isolation.
Instead, he documents extensive exchanges in instruments, masks, performance
modes, narrative structures, and ritual functions, highlighting the roles of
Buddhist transmission, nomadic intermediaries, Hellenistic–Kushan cultures, and
Central Asian diaspora communities.
By analyzing rare manuscripts, mural evidence,
dramatic fragments, and archaeological finds—such as the Kuqa Sarira box
depicting Dionysian-like masked dancers—Li demonstrates clear cultural linkages
between ancient Greek tragedy–comedy, Sanskrit drama, Persian ritual, and East
Asian theatrical traditions including Japanese gigaku. The book situates
Chinese drama within a broader trans-Eurasian continuum, showing how artistic
practices migrated both eastward and westward, generating hybrid forms across regions
from the Tarim Basin to Nara, Japan.
Ultimately, the monograph establishes the study of
Silk Road drama culture as a distinct academic field, illuminating how
centuries of intercultural contact shaped the evolution of Asian and Eurasian
theatres. It provides a panoramic synthesis of historical evidence, offering
new perspectives on the formation of classical Chinese opera and on the shared
performative heritage of the civilizations connected by the Silk Road.
Contents
About the Author
About the Translator
Acknowledgments
Preface One
Preface Two
Epilogue
Chapter 1Origin of the Silk Road Drama Culture1
1.1Natural Geography and Primitive Drama Culture
1.2Exchanges Between Yanshi Play and Western Regions
Drama
1.3Nuo Play and Nuo Culture of the Western Regions
1.4Northern Drum and Wind Music and Beidi Music-dance
Play
1.5Western Hu Music and Drama Art of the Western
Regions
Chapter 2Grand Music of the Tang and Song Dynasties
and Zhezhi Group Plays
2.1Exploration of Grand Music of the Tang and Song
Dynasties
2.2Origin of Zhezhi Dance
2.3Formation of Zhezhi Group Dance
2.4Development of Zhezhi Group Play
Chapter 3Mount Wutai and Buddhist Opera in the Western
Regions
3.1Origins of Buddhism in Mount Wutai and Music–dance
Play
3.2Buddhist Music in the Tang and Song Dynasties and
Temple Music of Tibetan Buddhism and Han Buddhism
3.3Journal of Mount Qingliang and the
Paintings of Mount Wutai at Dunhuang
3.4Drama Performance Sites of Buddhist Temple and Its
Opera
3.5Buddhist Opera in Han and Tibetan Buddhist Temples
and Sai Opera
Chapter 4Dunhuang Secular Music–dance and Buddhist
Opera
4.1Silk Road: Meeting Place of Religious Cultures
4.2Dunhuang Literature and Buddhist Secular Arts
4.3Ancient Dunhuang Music Scores and Dance Scores
4.4Buddhist Opera in Dunhuang Manuscripts and Murals
Chapter 5Maudgalyayana Culture in Dunhuang Studies
5.1Maudgalyayana and Maudgalyayana Sutras
5.2Maudgalyayana’s Original Stories and Maudgalyayana
Bianwen
5.3Maudgalyayana Bianxiang Treasure Scrolls and
Maudgalyayana Opera
5.4Dunhuang Zen and Buddhist Poems, Lyrics and Operas
5.5Five Fold Melody, Siddhirastu and
Zhugongdiao
Chapter 6Religious Culture in Tibet and Tibetan Play
6.1Origin of Tibetan People and Bon
6.2Tang Princesses’ Marriages into Tibet and
Hindu-Tibetan Cultural Encounters
6.3Tang Emissaries to Tibet and the Tang-Tibetan
Alliance Tablet
6.4Influence of The Sutra of the Wise and
Foolish on Variations of Buddhist Dramatic Performances
6.5Buddhist Classics in Tibetan and Tibetan Play
Chapter 7Expedition to the Western Regions and
Buddhist Music–dance Plays
7.1Zhang Qian’s Expedition to the Western Regions and
Mahadur
7.2Records about Buddhist Countries and
Buddhist Music–dance Plays
7.3Music–dance of the Western Regions in Records
About the Western Regions in Great Tang
7.4Buddhist Classics and Poetic Texts of Music–dance
Plays
7.5Adaptation of Pathaka to the Theatrical Plays
Chapter 8Exploring Rare Manuscripts of Buddhist
Dramatic Pieces in the Western Regions
8.1Discovery of Three Sanskrit Dramatic Pieces
8.2Discovery of Maitrisimitnombitig
8.3Close Reading of Maitrisimitnombitig Manuscripts
in Qarasahr
8.4Academic Value of Dramatic Manuscripts from the
Western Regions
Chapter 9Exchange of Music–dance Plays Between Central
Asia and Western Asia
9.1Grassland Silk Road and Central Asian Cultures
9.2Music–dance Plays and Variety Plays in the Liao,
Jin and Yuan Dynasties
9.3Music–dance Plays and Zhugongdiao in Western Xia
9.4Mesopotamia and Babylonian Drama
9.5Koran and Arabic Music–dance Plays
Chapter 10Study of Drama Between the East and West
10.1Primitive Totem Arts and Wrestling Plays
10.2Introduction of Drama from India and the Western
Regions
10.3Horse Plays and Monkey Plays
10.4Formation and Development of the Song–dance Plays
in the Western Regions
Chapter 11Indian Religious Culture and Sanskrit Drama
Arts
11.1Shiva Vedic Deities and Sodicva
11.2Rise of Indian Buddhism and Sanskrit Drama
11.3Eastward Spread of Sanskrit Drama
11.4Puppet Plays and Shadow Plays of Ancient China and
India
Chapter 12Persian Religious Culture and Eastern Drama
12.1Ancient Persian Manichaeism, Persian Music–dance
Variety Plays
12.2Manichaean Culture, Persian Music–dance Variety
Plays
12.3Ancient Persian Drama Culture
12.4Ferdowsi’s Shah Nameh and Eastern
Opera
12.5Introduction of Persian Music–dance Plays to
Central China
Chapter 13Eastward Spread of Ancient Greek and Roman
Drama Culture
13.1Dionysus and Ancient Greek Tragicomedy
13.2Alexander’s Eastward Conquests and the Grand
Hellenistic Arts
13.3Gandhāra Arts and Eastern Drama
13.4Eastward Spread of Roman Drama and Its Variations
Chapter 14Exchanges and Enhancements of Eastern and
Western Drama Culture
14.1Eastern Peoples’ Migration and The Orphan
of Zhao
14.2Western Messengers and the Eastward Introduction
of Western Asian Religious Culture
14.3Westward Introduction of the Music–dance Plays of
Central China
References
Index
Preface Two (p. xxv-xxix)
New Developments in the Drama Culture Along the Silk
Road
Qu Liuyi
In 2003, Professor Li Qiang
wrote The Ethnic Plays, which laid an academic foundation for the
new discipline of studying ethnic plays. Six years later, Professor Li compiled
the new monograph Silk Road: The Study of Drama Culture. Although
many other monographs had been published in the six years (including those
published in cooperation with others), Silk Road: The Study of Drama
Culture is of great academic value, and has opened the way for the
establishment of the new discipline of studying the drama culture along the
Silk Road. I have written a commentary entitled Spring Wind Arrives
Suddenly Overnight for Ethnic Plays, and will also write a commentary
entitled Silk Road Flowers in Full Bloom for Drama Culture Along the
Silk Road, metaphorically hinting that readers will have a panoramic view
of the drama along the Silk Road. The Ethnic Plays and Silk
Road: The Study of Drama Culture are brand new companion pieces for
the academic studies.
Up to the present and
throughout the world, the Silk Road has surpassed all other routes in areas of
coverage, historical duration, and cultural significance. From Xi’an, the Silk
Road meandered westward through the Qinling Mountains, Hexi Corridor, Gobi
Desert of the Western Regions, Pamir Mountains, Tigris and Euphrates basins,
Asia Minor, and the Mediterranean, before reaching the international passage of
Venice, Italy. This not only served as a medium for economic, religious, and
ethnic cultural exchanges between the Asian, European and African continents,
but also witnessed the music, dance, acrobatics, magic, Quyi, literature, fine
arts, and other historical culture of various countries along the Silk Road.
More interestingly, the beautiful culture of drama has also been preserved
along the cross-linked Silk Road.
In line with the current
prevalent concept of historical geography and studies of cultural regions,
Professor Li explored a new road, delving deeper into and reviewing the history
of communication between Chinese and foreign drama cultures which have reaped
fruitful outcomes that readers will have a panoramic view of the drama
along the Silk Road. The Ethnic Plays and Silk Road:
The Study of Drama Culture are brand new companion pieces for the
academic studies.
In line with the current
prevalent concept of historical geography and studies of cultural regions,
Professor Li explored a new road, delving deeper into and reviewing the history
of communication between Chinese and foreign drama cultures which have reaped
fruitful outcomes. Readers were surprised to discover that the
traditional literary arts of China were all related to the Silk Road, where
Yanshi’s puppet plays, masked Nuo plays, Buddhism music–dance plays, and
religious ritual plays associated with Chinese traditional operas were bred;
Sanskrit plays, highly praised in Kushan in the Western Regions, and Zhezhi
plays, prevalent in the Tigris and Euphrates basins of Central Asia, shaped the
patterns of exchanges between Chinese and foreign drama cultures after being
introduced into the Central Plains.
A past theory, since shown to
be invalid, propounded that the traditional Chinese drama developed
independently as an art form, not as a result of or scarcely related to foreign
factors. However,
the enormous amount of historical evidence about foreign music–dance plays
in Silk Road: The Study of Drama Culture revealed that the
primary musical instruments used in accompaniment, such as pipa, konghou,
suona, bili, cymbals and various drums originated in India and Persia at the
middle and lower segments of the Silk Road and were brought into the Chinese field
of music–dance plays. Seven out of the nine Sui and Tang dynasty ensembles
arose from those of ancient minority ethnicities, such as Samarkand music,
Qiuci music, Shule music, Chotscho music, and Xiliang music. The role
appellations of Mo (middle-aged male character), Dan (female character), Jing
(painted-face character), Zhuanghu (official character), Banglao (character of
thief and villains) and Base (character of Jiyue musicians) in traditional
Chinese operas as well as performance forms of music-dance plays such as Botou,
Sumozhe, Daibian (mask dance), Lion Dance, Zhugongdiao, Huxuan, and Huteng were
all influenced by the drama culture along the Silk Road.
This academic monograph,
published by Xinjiang People’s Publishing House, is composed of 14 chapters,
with over 500,000 words and 62 exquisite illustrations. Its contents cover
studies about domestic operas and foreign plays, as well as the comparative studies
of drama in China and other countries. In the book, there are seven chapters
about drama culture in China, including grand music of the Tang and Song
dynasties and Zhezhi dance, Buddhist operas of Mount Wutai and the Western
Regions, Dunhuang secular music-dance, Buddhist operas of Dunhuang,
Maudgalyayana culture in Dunhuang studies, Turpan religious culture and Tibetan
plays, and some rare editions of Buddhist operas in the Western Regions.
Besides, there are five chapters about drama culture in other countries,
including the exchange of music-dance plays between Central Asia and Western
culture, Indian religious culture and Sanskrit drama arts, Persian religious
culture and eastern drama, plus the eastward spread of ancient Greek and Roman
drama culture. Also, there are two chapters comparing domestic and foreign
drama, such as the study of drama between the East and West, and the exchanges
and enhancements of Eastern and Western drama culture. All the chapters,
well-organized and illustrated, complement each other and result in a
masterpiece of organic cultural unity. It must be noted that this monograph
gives prominence to the key points in a fluent style, which makes it highly
readable and informative to the readers.
Perhaps the most compelling
feature of this book lies in its introduction of the ethnic plays of various
countries from northwest and west, and from China and abroad along the Silk
Road that have been long overlooked by Chinese opera and drama scholars, particularly
the lack of profound and comprehensive investigations of the ancient and
abundant religious and secular arts cultures. Therefore, the author expounds
convincingly on the objective rules of the origin, formation, and development
of Chinese music–dance plays based on the abundance of historical facts and
materials about exchanges of dance cultures between China and neighboring
regions, states, and ethnicities. As the relationship of Chinese traditional
operas and international culture is also explored, this book boasts a broad
academic vision. Meanwhile, the book employs scientific and original research
methods, which on the basis of the traditional Chinese textology and philology,
include relatively advanced research methods, such as ethnology, science of
religion, archeology, and culturology, and adopts the scientific approach to
maintain consistency while analyzing written materials and unearthed relics to
verify the ethnic and state drama cultures along the Silk Road. This has
achieved abundant academic results.
From a historical and
realistic perspective, the academic studies about the Silk Road manifest
enormous potential. The ancient Silk Road was an international passage of
worldwide significance spanning Asia and Europe that communicated the politics,
economy, military, and culture of various countries through the media of silk
thread and silk fabrics. In human history, the Silk Road has been a bond
connecting the ancient civilizations of China, India, Egypt, Babylon, Greece,
and Rome. It was also the only route across the Asian, African, and European
empires of Macedonia, Persia, Mongolia, and Ottoman, as well as the birthplace
of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam, the world’s three major religions, as well as
Shamanism, Zoroastrianism, Nestorianism, Manichaeism, Arkaim, and other
religious cultures.
Upon further research, it has
been noticed that the Silk Road refers not only to the overland Silk Road (i.e.
the dessert, oasis, and prairie Silk Roads) but also to the maritime Silk Road
and southern plateau Silk Road. The five branches of the Silk Road radiated
from the birthplace of Chinese civilization and arched over the oriental and
occidental areas of the world like five resplendent bridges which enabled the
ancient theatrical arts of various countries and ethnicities to be standardized
and exchanged with each other, thus spawning relatively independent and stable
theatrical cultures with unique artistic styles and characteristics.
Represented by the three major classical dramatic systems of Greek and Roman
plays, Indian Sanskrit plays, and Chinese opera, supplemented by the plays of
Egypt, Babylon, Hebrew, Persia, Arabia, Japan, North Korea, Southeast Asia, as
well as the Western Regions, a grand system of drama cultures along the Silk
Road were constructed for the oriental hemisphere.
Silk Road: The Study of Drama
Culture encapsulates
directly the research findings and academic heritage of numerous Chinese
dramatic historians and critics in the 20th century. It draws on and compiles
valuable historical materials utilizing the massive volumes of Chinese and
foreign historical classics and academic materials, and by virtue of its broad
cultural vision and innovative concept, opens up a new field for academic
studies about the drama culture along the Silk Road.
The Silk Road undoubtedly
deserves its recognition as a world cultural heritage which will increasingly
draw the attention of people around the world, including special attention from
the academia of various countries. This emerging cross-disciplinary field
integrating the Silk Road and drama culture, named Study of Exchanges of the
Silk Road Drama Cultures will have worldwide appeal due to its vigorous
vitality and new cultural orientation.
The author is a researcher of
China Theatre Association, a renowned theatrical artist, a member of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage Preservation Committee of the Ministry of Culture,
and honorary president of the Minority Theatre Society of China as well as
China Nuo Play Research Institute.
...
The play Botou,
derived from the Western Regions, maintained its original features of
wearing masks even after being circulated eastward to Japan via the Silk Road.
In the well-preserved Japanese ancient book, Ancient Music of Shinzei,
Botou dancers wore malicious masks with one hand touching the ground and the
other holding a short stick, disheveled hair covering their faces, and making
offerings and worshipping the god and ghost, so as to increase the fearful and
tragic sensation of the original drama. In the drama Damian, or
Prince of Lanling, influenced by the dramatic culture of the Silk Road, the
scene of the protagonist dancing with a mask and the representation of war
scenes could more vividly reflect the characteristics of Nuo play, including
worshiping ancestors, divinities, and the deceased.
Θέατρο Gigaku[NOTE01]
Sumozhe, also called Pohuqihan play, was popular in the
ancient Western Regions. According to the records in The Miscellaneous
Morsels from Youyang, and The Sounds and Meaning of Tripitaka in
the Tang Dynasty, the play was performed with animal masks and singing and
dancing both day and night. It was also described that the performers’
appearances resembled beast faces or ghosts or deities, contrived with various
masks. The local customs alleged that the play was often used to drive devils
away to keep them from eating people. According to the unearthed ancient
documents and relics, this form was a truly typical western exorcism opera.
{spp 326, p. 6: The Sumozhe is described here as “originated from the Hu
barbarians from the Western Seas” (benchu Haixihu 本出海西胡), or the “countries of the Western Seas” (Haixiguo 海西國), indicating that the ritual came from the Western
(Hellenistic/Roman) world, as located there by the Chinese sources from the Han
to the Tang dynasties.}
At the beginning of the 20th
century, the expedition team, led by Japanese Otani Kozui, unearthed a Sarira
box of colored patterns in the old Soubachi temple of Kuqa, namely
Zhaoguli Temple in Records of the Western Regions in the Great Tang. Later,
Japanese scholar Kumagaya confirmed that it was Sarira container of a Qiuci
Buddhist monk from the 7th century. On the Sarira box was painted the Nuo
sacrificial music-dance, composed of 21 figures, with six performers
hand-in-hand and two dancers holding sticks. Led by one male and one female
priest, holding dancing Mao (ancient flags with yak tails), they were all clad
in colorful armor wearing various batou masks, dancing to the music and praying
to the deities, which was extremely lifelike and vividly portrayed.
SARIRA BOX
- BUDDHIST RELIQUARY[NOTE03]
Decoration
of the Buddhist casket from Subashi, Kucha[NOTE05]
Various figures were clearly
seen in the Sarira box, including handsome warriors with square capes, mighty
bearded generals wearing helmets, and many exorcism dance performers wearing
ear-pricked rabbit heads, hook-nosed eagle heads, hairy monkey faces and
pocket-shaped pointed caps, and all kinds of masks. In the long sacrificial
patrol queue, all the Qiuci artists wearing animal tails were singing, dancing
and looking around, either holding objects or bare-handed. There were eight
persons in the band accompanying the exorcism sacrifice playing hammer drum,
harp, pipe, or a blowing horn of copper, and also five nomadic children
carrying drums and clapping, which formed a rather splendid performing team of
divinity and Buddhist worship.
The famous German female
scholar Feng Jiaban verified the figures on the Sarira box as an acrobatic
drama performing a mask play:
The Sarira box was painted
with a parade procession, with all acrobats wearing animal masks and in bizarre
costumes followed by musicians playing konghou (an ancient plucked stringed
instrument) and beating drums.27
From an appended drawing,
which was stolen by the archeologist Grunwedel of the German expedition and
published in the book Ancient Buddhist Relic Sites in Xinjiang of China,
we detected a wooden mask which came from the ancient Buddhist site in Kuqa. We
have also discovered more historical evidence from the Kuqa sites:
Douldour–Aqour and Soubachi, described in the third volume of The
Pelliot Archeological Periodicals, stating that the French Pelliot
archeological team dug out a wooden Sarira box related to the ancient exorcism
plays in Kuqa, Xinjiang in 1906. The outer wall of the Sarira box was
painted with four Hu comedians with animal masks, two of whom were playing pipa (a
four-stringed Chinese musical instrument) and Ruanxian (a plucked Chinese
stringed instrument), and the other two were dancers sometimes looking up or
bending down to sing and dance, whose zoomorphic masks were dog-headed and
monkey-headed batou, made of cloth. On the basis of the costumes, masks, and
musical instruments of the musicians, the Sarira box is considered as the same
cultural relic that was stolen by the Japanese Otani Kozui expedition. The
cultural relics share the same subject content, which is Sumozhe, the exorcism
play to drive devils away to keep them from eating people.
Aristophanes'
'The Birds' in Beijing: Blending Greek drama with Chinese culture
p. 5:
Kophen {Το Βασίλειο του Κωφήνος – Jibin και οι ανταγωνισμοί Σακών, Yuezhi, Ελλήνων και Han}, directly related to the countries in the
Western Regions, called Kashmir or Kasperia in the Tang dynasty, was the
birthplace of Mahāyāna school of Indian Buddhism and also the cradle of Indian
classical Sanskrit drama. Alexandria Prophthasia {Αλεξάνδρεια η Προφθασία ή εν Δραγγιανή) … founded by Alexander the Great during an
intermediate stop between Herat, the location of another of Alexander's
fortresses, and Kandahar… is mentioned by Strabo 11.8, 15.2}and Great Yuezhi were the sites of Greek and Roman
drama culture, which were important conduits of the Silk Road cultural
exchanges in history.
p. 26:
Kophen and Sindhu, contiguous σε επαφή με to the Western Regions, were governed by ancient
India and had frequent cultural communications with the oriental countries,
particularly Kophen, at the downstream section of the Kabul River and Kashmir
region, which was the only route connecting the Western Regions, Middle Asia,
Western Asia and the Indian subcontinent to the Western countries. Due to its
proximity to the Bactrian empire, governed by the Greeks, this ancient country
was deeply influenced by the western culture, which organically
p. 188:
During the period of the Tang
and Song dynasties, the monks in Mount Wutai created Sumozhe, on the basis of
Buddhist music-dance and acrobatics. Sumozhe is the typical form of
Buddhist song-dance play of opera
Chapter 13, p. 717
p. 723:
Pan etc
Fragment of
wall painting, Female with a mouth cover (padam)[NOTE07]
1,800-Year-Old
Ritual Mask Discovered During Monorail Construction In Japan[NOTE09]
p. 742:
Han dynasty with the sound of
camels."34 ‘Hera’ mentioned above was the wife of Zeus, and Ixion was
unfortunately punished by being changed into a ‘half-man, half-horse creature’
because he molested lien in the forest. A comparative study of Ixion's image,
disposition and experience, compared to those of Dionysus, reveals that the
introduction of ‘Dionysus, God of Wine’ into eastern drama culture is to some
degree actually an integration of these two Greek gods.
We can still see presently in
Shosoin and Horyuji Temples in Todaiji, Nara of Japan, more
than 300 pieces of ancient Greco - Roman style masks for drama
characters introduced from the West. Masks like "Drunk Hu,"
"King of Drunk Hu" and "Attendants of Drunk Hu" are
obviously affected by Gandhara art. Dung Xijiu analyzed in his article, The
Eastward Spread of Mask Dance along the Silk Road that:
1895 illustration of gigaku masks belonging to
Horyu-ji temple in Nara. PUBLIC DOMAIN
The masks of "King of
Drunk Hu' and "Attendants of Drunk Hu” clearly bear the facial
characteristics of people from Xinjiang of Central Asia, such as high noses,
deeply set eyes and red faces (which might be a result of their drinking).
Xinjiang is abundant in grapes and people there are good at making wine with
it. Whenever there are banquets and gatherings, people get drunk and dance
joyfully .. Japanese gagaku (ancient imperial court music/ Gigaku, Buddhist
Mask Theatre https://disco.teak.fi/asia/gigaku-buddhist-mask-theatre/) still
preserves the program of Hu Drinking Wine, in which the masks used are similar
to those of "King Tao of Drunk Hu" and “Attendants of Drunk Hu"
because they are both from the Silk Road.
An in-depth
study may further uncover the following conclusion that such masks prevailing
in the East actually originated from Gandhara art and Dionysus of ancient
Greece.
Khotan in Xinjiang of China
was adjacent to the mountains and rivers of Kushan and Gandhara, and they once
shared a common destiny. Therefore, it is quite reasonable that there was a
significant Hellenistic influence
on performing arts and drama in Khotan.{NEXT PAGE IS 743}
p. 743:
According to Professor
Abdushukur Muhammatimin who has studied the cultural relics of Hu play in
Japan:
We have discovered some
pottery painted with lines in relief depicting drama characters in Khotan, the
history of which can be traced back to the early centuries. There are images of
people holding pipa and bili, images of people disguising themselves as monkeys
and other various comedians and images.... That I saw in Tokyo was usually the
images of people with full beards, funny mouths and eyes.
He then integrated it with the
cultural relics of drama unearthed in Central Asian countries and said:
In the ruins of Haer Chaxiang
Castle, which belonged to the Kushan dynasty historically, the ruins of
Badakhshan near Bukhara, and the ruins of Afrasiyab Palace near Samarkand,
masks worn by the actors, and figures in masks have been unearthed, many of which
were like ancient Cypriots, with their thick hair and beards, similar to the
characters from comedy. In the ruins of Afrasiyab Castle, the standing relief
of actors with masks in hand and peaked caps, as well as the reliefs of young
actors with no headdress who looked like Greeks, have also been excavated. All
these reliefs may possibly have been built in the Hellenistic era.35 {Qu Liuyi and Li Xiaohi ng (eds.), Drama
and Its Occurrence in the Western Regions (Urumqi: Xinjiang People's
Publishing House, 1992), 2-5}
According to the large number
of historical documents and cultural and artistic relics, we can prove that in
the Qin dynasty and at the beginning of the Han dynasty, various
ancient Greek drama and formative arts, in their maturity, were indirectly
introduced to some Asian countries along the Silk Road in Europe, Asia
and Africa. However, an in-depth review of the history reveals that the ones
that had significant cultural exchanges with Chinese classical drama art are
the ancient Greek tragedy and comedy, as well as the Roman arts.
34 Chen Pengiu, History Collection (Shanghai: Shanghai
Bookstore, 1998), 179.
35 Qu Liuyi and Li Xiaohing (eds.), Drama and Its
Occurrence in the Western Regions (Urumqi: Xinjiang People's Publishing House,
1992), 2-5.
p. 749: Li Xuan Harpalus Άρπαλος, γιος του Μαχάτα, θησαυροφύλαξ, Πυθιονίκη & Γλυκέρα
Pyrrhic play – Breaking up the
Enemy’s Front - pozhen - Music of Prince of Qin Breaking up the Enemy's
Front
p. 753:
Dionysus!!! .. Suzhonglang {song – dance playlet μουσικο – χορευτικό παιχνίδι} .. Butoh (舞踏 Butō) is a form of Japanese dance theatre 753 AD
p. 753:
The author summarized this
phenomenon in Dionysus Cult, Song of Goats and Western Drama: After the long
and dark Middle Ages, and with the prevalence of Christianity across Europe,
the ceremony play developed from the alternation of ...
p. 753:
The most notable feature is
that stories of Dionysus were transferred from the realm of gods and kings to
the realm of ordinary people. Later on these Dionysus stories filled with joy
and grief were introduced to the Eastern countries, yet modified with some
subtle changes according to their unique national psyche and customs.
Academic circles have not
discovered the origin of Botu, which was considered as one type of song—dance
plays in the Western Regions. According to the Old Books of Tang:
Records of Music: "Botou originated from the Western Regions. The
story tells one of the Hu men was killed by a tiger; his son hunted the tiger
down and killed it. The dance is a simulation of the scene." Yuefu
Miscellany: Dreams states chat "according to Botou, a man was
killed by a tiger and his son went up to the mountain for his father's corpse.
The mountain has eight zigzags, so the play has eight levels. The performers
wear plain clothes crying and pretending to suffer from the loss."
According to the remaining Botou Dance found in Japan, which was introduced in
the 5th year of Tenpyo-shoho (753 BC) along the Silk Road, together with the
play of Xinxi Music, the performers with their high noses and deep
eyes, wearing long hair covering their faces, were obviously influenced by the
image of ancient Greek Dionysus. Also, the masks of the performers in Damian (or
Painted Face), Sumozhe and Magic White Horse,
popular in Hu-oriented states of Northern Asia, were totally different from
those worn by the ancient Chinese people. The image of a drunk male character
in Suzhonglang, popular in the Yellow River Basin from the Southern
and Northern dynasties to the early Tang dynasty, probably had somewhat
imitated the performance form and makeup artistry of the western Dionysus
rites.
In the 6th year of the Taiping
Heavenly Kingdom (981 AD) in the Northern Song dynasty, Zhao Jonk, Emperor
Taimng sent Wang Yande as an envoy to the Western Regions. According to
the History of the Song dynasty: Biography of Chotscho (Gaochang),
"residents are of the Song Dynasty: Biography of Chotscho (Gazichang),
"residents are seen enjoying the happy gathering." The King of
Beiting welcomed him with "music, banquets and plays, till
dawn." The Journey to Xizhou records that "Qihan Hu
plays,” performed by actors with masks, were prevalent there, "As for the
musical instruments, there are "pipa and..
p. 754:
.. Women wear a kind of oil
cap, worn in the performance of Sumozhe. All of these were clearly affected by
the western Dionysus. Later, Sun Zhongrui, the Ceremonial Master of the Jin
dynasty personally visited Chotscho and witnessed that..
ΠΡΟΣΑΡΤΗΜΑ
Α’ ΓΙΑ ΔΡΩΜΕΝΑ – ΠΑΡΑΣΤΑΣΕΙΣ ΠΕΡΑΝ ΤΟΥ ΔΡΑΜΑΤΟΣ
Παρενθετικά σημειώνουμε
ότι το θέμα των δρώμενων - παραστάσεων που δεν εμπίπτουν στα άκαμπτα όρια
της δραματικής δραστηριότητος έχει απασχολήσει από μακρού την επιστημονική
κοινότητα, με την μάλλον επικρατούσα μέχρι πρόσφατα άποψη να τείνει να αποδώσει
την προέλευσή τους στην Άπω Ανατολή. Όμως ο Todisco θεωρεί ότι οι υπάρχουσες
μαρτυρίες μάλλον υποδηλώνουν μιάν αντίστροφη πορεία της πρακτικής στο τσίρκο
κ.λπ., από την Δύση στην Ανατολή.4_51a1 Από τα ταυροκαθάψια της Μινωικής
Κρήτης, στους κυβιστητῆρες του Ομήρου (Il. 18.605, Od.4.18)
που χορεύουν ή κινούνται ανάποδα, στηριζόμενοι στα χέρια τους, τους
κωλοβαθριστές, που βαδίζουν σε ξύλινα ξυλοπόδαρα, τους σκανδαλιστές, που δρούν
επί τραπέζης η ελλαδική παράδοση περιλαμβάνει πολλούς τύπους παρα-δραματικής
τέχνης, για να μην αναφερθούμε στα νευρόσπαστα, Plat. Laws 1.644d
(μαριονέτες)!4_51a2 Η προαναφερθείσα εισαγωγή διασκεδαστών και εν γένει
καλλιτεχνών της παρα-δραματικής τέχνης από την Σελεύκεια επί τον Τίγρη, τον
Μιθριδάτη και την εξελληνισμένη Βακτρία μέσω της Οδού του Μεταξιού και των
‘βαρβάρων’ Hu επιβεβαιώνει το γεγονός της από τα δυτικά μεταλαμπαδεύσεως αυτής
της τέχνης στην Κίνα!
Άλλωστε
και οι ίδιοι οι Κινέζοι ερευνητές φαίνεται να προσχωρούν σε τέτοιες θέσεις,
εγκαταλείποντας τις παλαιότερες που θεωρούσαν την ανάπτυξη του δράματος και των
παρα-δραματικών τεχνών στην χώρα ενδογενή και άμοιρη ξένων επιδράσεων. Έτσι οι
αναγνώστες έμειναν έκπληκτοι όταν ανακάλυψαν ότι, κατά την άποψη του καθηγητού
Li, οι παραδοσιακές λογοτεχνικές τέχνες της Κίνας σχετίζονταν με τον Δρόμο του
Μεταξιού, όπου αναπαράγονταν τα κουκλοθέατρα του Yanshi, τα θεατρικά έργα Nuo
με μάσκα, τα μουσικοχορευτικά έργα του Βουδισμού και τα θρησκευτικά
τελετουργικά έργα που σχετίζονται με κινεζικές παραδοσιακές όπερες. Τα
σανσκριτικά θεατρικά έργα, που εγκωμιάστηκαν ιδιαίτερα από τους Kushan στις
Δυτικές Περιφέρειες, και τα έργα Zhezhi, που κυριαρχούσαν στις λεκάνες του
Τίγρη και του Ευφράτη της Κεντρικής Ασίας, διαμόρφωσαν τα πρότυπα των
ανταλλαγών μεταξύ των κινεζικών και ξένων δραματικών πολιτισμών μετά την
εισαγωγή τους στις Κεντρικές Πεδιάδες.4_51a3
Αναφορικά
με το δράμα στην Κίνα ο Li Qiang αποδίδει ισχυρές συσχετίσεις του με τους
λεγομένους βαρβάρους Hu, οι οποίοι απεδέχθησαν, απερρόφησαν και διέδωσαν στην
Κινεζική ενδοχώρα Ελληνικές κ.ά. επιδράσεις από τις Δυτικές Περιοχές, ήτοι -
κατά τον Christopoulo - από τις χώρες των δυτικών θαλασσών ή
τον Ελληνιστικό/Ρωμαϊκό κόσμο, όπως εντοπίζεται εκεί από τις κινεζικές
πηγές από την περίοδο των Han έως αυτήν των Τανγκ.4_51a4 Επί παραδείγματι στο
τελετουργικό Sumozhe αναγνωρίζεται 'ειδωλολατρική' πτυχή που καταδεικνύει ότι
αυτό απετέλη ένα διονυσιακό είδος τελετουργίας που προερχόταν από την
εξελληνισμένη Κεντρική Ασία και αναμείχθηκε με Βουδιστικά στοιχεία.4_51a5
THEATER
MASK inspired a fountain spout; this representation shows the traditional mask
of the
cook-slave character in Greek comedies that may have been performed at Ai
Khanum.
Ο
καθηγητής Li περαιτέρω πιθανολογεί ότι οι μάσκες που υιοθετεί και σήμερα το
Ιαπωνικό θέατρο και διασώζονται στα ιερά Shosoin and Horyuji στην Nara έλκουν
την καταγωγή τους από την Γανδαρινή τέχνη και τον Διόνυσο, θεωρεί δε ότι:
υπήρξε
σημαντική ελληνιστική επιρροή στις παραστατικές τέχνες και το δράμα στο Khotan.4_51a6
Ομοίως
ο Abdushukur Muhammatimin, μελετητής των πολιτιστικών επιδράσεων των έργων των
Hu στην Ιαπωνία θεωρεί ότι η αρχαία ελληνική τραγωδία και κωμωδία, καθώς και οι
ρωμαϊκές τέχνες ήταν αυτές που κυρίως επηρέασαν την κινεζική κλασική δραματική
τέχνη!4_51a7
Κεραμεικές επικολλητές μάσκες απο την Khotan[NOTE50]
Συλλογή Stein,
V&A Museum[NOTE55]
Σύμφωνα
με την ανάλυση για το θέατρο gigaku του γνωστού θεατρολόγου Benito Ortolani η
προέλευση των μασκών και των παραστάσεών του φαίνεται να υποδεικνύει ότι
προέρχονται από μακρυά, με τις υιοθετούμενες εκεί μάσκες να εκτιμώνται ως
ανάλογες με κωμικές του ελληνικού θεματολογίου,4_51a8 και τους μύθους να
βασίζονται συχνά σε ελληνικά υποδείγματα. Έτσι το επεισόδιο του βαρβάρου
Konron, των γυναικών του βασιλείου Wu και του Rikishi έχει θεωρηθεί ελληνικής
καταγωγής.4_51a9 Άλλωστε οι χαρακτήρες της Ήρας και Ίριδος θα μπορούσαν, κατά
τον ίδιο, να απετέλεσαν τα πρότυπα για το δράμα το σχετικό με τις γυναίκες του
βασιλείου Wu, οι σάτυροι για τον Konron, ο Ηρακλής για τον Rikishi.4_51a10 Η
πιθανότητα υπάρξεως μιας μακράς γραμμής επιρροών που εκτείνεται από την Εγγύς
Ανατολή έως την Ιαπωνία μέσω Κίνας — όπου ταξίδεψαν νομαδικοί πληθυσμοί που
συνεδύαζαν την δυτική τέχνη της ξυλογλυπτικής προσωπείων με την ινδική
μυθολογία και την βουδιστική πίστη — παραμένει τόσο συναρπαστική και όσο η
εκπληκτική παρουσία ενός ελληνικής εμπνεύσεως κίονα στον ναό Hōryū-ji της Nara,
ή η ανακάλυψη στην Ιαπωνία του φτερωτού αλόγου, παραβαλλόμενου με τον Πήγασο,
σε διακοσμητικά σχέδια σύγχρονα του gigaku.4_51a11
Dancers
from the Villa of Cicero, Pompeii, 1st century CE
National
Archaeological Museum of Naples[NOTE90]
ΠΡΟΣΑΡΤΗΜΑ
΄Β’: ΔΙΟΝΥΣΙΑΚΕΣ ΤΕΛΕΤΟΥΡΓΙΕΣ ΚΑΙ ΧΡΥΣΟΥΣ ΖΕΥΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΚΙΝΑ
Ο
René Sieffert είχε ήδη γράψει το 1997 ότι αυτές οι μάσκες και τα θεατρικά έργα
μπορεί να προέρχονταν από την ελληνιστική Κεντρική Ασία, αλλά όπως οι
περισσότεροι σύγχρονοί του, δεν μπορούσε να παραδεχτεί ότι οι ίδιοι οι Έλληνες
ήταν η κύρια αιτία για την εξάπλωση αυτών των Διονυσιακών λατρειών και εθίμων
από τις ελληνικές πόλεις που ιδρύθηκαν στην Κεντρική Ασία, την Ανατολική
Κεντρική Ασία και την Ινδία. Οι άνθρωποι που συμμετείχαν σε αυτά τα φεστιβάλ,
από την Ινδία, την Κεντρική Ασία, την Κίνα έως την Ιαπωνία, ήταν πράγματι
επίσης Ινδοί, Σάκες, Σογδιανοί, Πάρθοι, Τοχάροι, Κινέζοι, αλλά αυτές οι
θρησκευτικές Διονυσιακές εορτές αρχικά θεσμοθετήθηκαν από τους Έλληνες και το
θέατρό τους και ξεκίνησαν από αυτούς από την εποχή της πολιτιστικής αναμείξεως
της Κεντρικής Ασίας κατά τις ελληνοβακτριανές, ινδοελληνικές και κουσανικές
περιόδους που έχω ήδη περιγράψει σε προηγούμενα άρθρα που αναφέρονται παρακάτω
(και στο σημ. 6).[NOTE100]
A casket found by the Japanese
Otani expedition in 1903 in the northern part of the Tarim, next to the great
Stupa of Subashi in Kucha and dating from the sixth–seventh centuries, has been
described in detail in a substantial article by Astrid Klein of Leipzig.7 Six
dancers and musicians are depicted on that casket in a style similar to that of
the paintings of the Kucha cave temples. Masked dancers and musicians are
represented in a Dionysia-like festival that she associates with the Sumozhe
(most probably the Indian Samaja, or theater), following Pelliot, who
demonstrates that the Chinese names of Poluozhe (婆羅遮) in Kucha (Qiuci 龜弦), or Pomozhe (婆摩遮) in Karashar (Yanqi 焉耆), are ultimately identical to Sumozhe (蘇摩遮) or Samozhe (䬃麿遮).8
Curiously, Klein
does not make any reference to Indo-Greek and Greco-Bactrian traditions,
seemingly forgetting about five hundred years of Hellenistic and Kushana
existence in the region, and instead says the scene is to be understood as
inspired by a “dramatic fertility ritual of the Turkic tradition.” Klein
herself, however, clearly points out its Dionysian origin, yet, whether
deliberately or accidentally, omits discussing it (Klein 12–13):
"The Persian name kusa or the
Turkic name kösa nishin were [sic] widely used to denote a festival in which a
series of masked dramas presided over by a temporary king helped expel the
winter."
Kusa is a
folkloric figure of medieval and modern Iran represented as an ugly man dressed
in rags, holding a cow (the symbol of Dionysos) in one hand and a fan in the
other, calling for summer in the middle of winter. In medieval times, the
festival was marked by the peoples’ walking in the streets of Persia, where
this figure was seen wandering with a mule or a donkey in winter, drinking
wine. People threw water on him, and in turn he threw mud at them while
shouting “warmth, warmth!” The folkloric kusa festival is mentioned mostly by
Islamic authors,9 and it is a continuation of the Dionysian rituals in Persia,
considered to be a part of the national heritage and celebrated in the
northwestern and central Iranian villages by Persian-, Turkish-, Kurdish-, and
Lori-speaking populations. [NOTE105]
The scene depicted on the Otani
casket shows dancers in typical Kuchean dress. The origins of these festivals
are clearly Hellenistic, and they occurred at an earlier date in the Tarim,
when the Tocharian, Sogdian, and Khotanese local populations became Hellenized,
at the time of the Greco-Bactrians.12 Then came the influence of the Buddhism
of the Indians, Indo-Greeks, and the Kushana, all of which took place long
before the invasion of the Göktürks in the region.
The masks on the
Otani casket were inspired by ones found in Hellenistic Bactria, the faces on
ceramics and statuettes of Yotkan (second–fourth centuries), the funerary mask
of the “Yingpan man,” and the masks found in Khorezm in Uzbekistan by S. P.
Tolstov.13 Resembling a depiction of a dance from the “followers of Dionysos”
or the Thiasos (θίασος), the central figure of the Otani casket is bearded
(Figure 7), and, though Kuchean/Persian in its representation, the actor/dancer
is most likely disguised as Dionysos himself, masked and with sheep-like ears.
His appearance is sometimes compared with that of the Japanese mask of the
“Drunken barbarian king” Suiko-o (醉胡王), or the “Drunken Hu
barbarian” (酒胡子), that survived earlier in the Japanese theatrical
rituals from the Tang dynasty and was represented as a Sogdian-like figure
(Shoso-in 正倉院, Nara, eighth century). Klein (p. 17) argues a
representation similar to King
Shapur I (241–272 AD) and influenced by Sassanid Persia, but Shapur was often
portrayed as a Greek hero on silver plates or bowls from Sassanid-ruled
Bactria. The silver ewer found in Guyuan County, in Ningxia in 1983, in the
tomb of Li Xian (李賢 502–569 AD), general governor of the Northern Zhou
dynasty, was described as being of a Kushano-Sassanian or an end-of-Kushana era
style (Figure 11) by Wu Zhuo,14 but instead shows a Greek mythological scene
demonstrating the extensive Hellenistic influence and reference to the arts
that seem to have remained in that area (Tarim Basin–Gansu
corridor–Qinghai–Ningxia), for reasons that I will develop later. The scene
does not represent a “Rome-influenced story,” as Wu Zhuo writes, but rather is
clearly the “Judgment of Paris,” as the central figure is offering an apple to
the goddess Aphrodites, and Hermes is depicted with his causia
hat. Though Hellenistic-influenced,
the figures do not have typical Greek features, and that silver ewer may have
been made in Bactria during Kushano-Sassanian rule. [NOTE110]
Young children seem to have
participated to these cults and festivals, and Gaulier supposes that they were
involved in funeral ceremonials as well (Gaulier 177). Children are represented
in the Otani casket holding the drum and wearing a chalmys-like cloak, and the
semi-naked children on the funeral painting of Kucha (Musée d’État de
l’Ermitage, Leningrad) wear a sort of silk chalmys, standing next to a tomb.
They remind us of the winged Erotes (ἔρωτες/cupidon), companions of Aphrodites
(Eros himself being the most famous of them). The “Yingpan man,” probably a
merchant living during the fourth century, whose remains were found in the
Tarim, wore a funerary mask with a golden diadem. His dress has Hellenistic
designs on its cloth, depicting Eros-like figures (similar to the putto
[plural: putti] of the Italian Renaissance period), who wear the chalmys and
are hunting sacrificial goats and bulls. The scene also exhibits pomegranate
trees, showing that scene is set in the world of the dead before resurrection
(Figure 4).23 The “Yingpan man” is
also holding a small dress, as if to wear it in the future when he will be
reincarnated in a newly born child. The local Bactrians, Sogdians, and
Tocharians were naturally attached to Rome because they had been Hellenized
earlier, probably seeing themselves somehow as having a similar ancestry
lineage or at least a cultural affinity with Romans, as they shared similar
gods from the third century BC to the third century AD, and perhaps the
funerary dress was locally made. That attachment of the Bactrians to Rome
explains why King Kanishka I (78–144 AD) sent an embassy to emperor Hadrian
(76–138 AD) to secure diplomatic and cultural ties,24 and in any case, the
constant presence of these Erotes in Gandharan art and in the Tarim Basin in
various forms does not make them “foreign” at all, but entirely part of the
local religion, artistic tradition, and belief system including purification
and reincarnation. A Hellenistic gilt bronze cup from Datong (大同) in Shanxi dating from the first-second century AD
shows Eros among grapes, demonstrating that his cult existed in northwestern
China and that he was not “exotic” in the region (Figure 4).[NOTE115]
Gaulier compares the Otani casket
(Figure 7) to a “Bacchic procession of Classical Greece” (Gaulier 166). She
describes the scene as “the hibernation and the miracle of the awakening of
nature,” exactly like the Dionysian festivals and religious rituals. The two
women represented on the casket are holding the pomegranate, or side (Σίδη),
symbol of all rebirth, derived from the mystery cults of Demeter (Δημήτηρ) and
her daughter Core (Κόρη), which will eventually mix with the symbol of the
Lotus33 in Dunhuang (Gaulier 167). Klein merely describes the “phallic symbol”
and the “plant-like object,” without detail, as Dionysian ritual objects, but
seems to miss the point that their interpretation as the “resurrection of man”
and the “cleansing through water” 34 (Klein 13) were at the very core of
Greek/Hellenistic religion and mysteries.[NOTE120]
ΣΗΜΕΙΩΣΕΙΣ
[NOTE01]. https://www.miho.jp/booth/html/artcon/00000440.htm
[NOTE03]. Tokyo National
Museum, TC-557. 6th–7th century, Reportedly found in Subashi, China
https://www.tnm.jp/modules/r_collection/index.php?controller=dtl&colid=TC557&lang=en&fbclid=IwY2xjawOHioVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETBzVFJOZFNtclZLMHVkQmlCc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MghjYWxsc2l0ZQEyAAEeoR8BPj-7zy6dG5YbeWmM4PuZy2rxbLr5i4vSEw0107cTOcfRgnkiwPsPaGg_aem_ZLb5NJI7Y2lVN-w0rfYdSw
[NOTE05]. Good 2011, fig. 9.
Decoration of the Buddhist casket from Subashi, Kucha.
[NOTE07]. MET 45.99.1, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/324017 https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/fragment-of-wall-painting-female-with-a-mouth-cover-padam/mQFKJx9AfkgaMg?hl=en
[NOTE09]. Kaleena Fraga 2025.
4_51a1. Todisco 2013; Lambrugo
2016; Κονιδάρης 2022.
4_51a2.
Lambrugo 2016, pp. 729-730; Τσιτσιρίδης 2004. Ο τελευταίος μεταξύ των
διασκεδαστών περιλαμβάνει επίσης στους μίμους, κιναίδους, κιναιδολόγους,
γρύλλους κ.α.
4_51a3. Li Qiang. 2019, pp.
xxv-xxix.
4_51a4. Christopoulos 2022, p.
6.
4_51a5. Christopoulos 2022, p.
6, n. 4. Άλλωστε, σύμφωνα με τον
Christopoulos, ο Pelliot θεωρεί ότι ο όρος sumozhe προφερόταν όπως ο samaca (ή
somaca) στην Τοχαρική και πιθανώς προήρχετο από την Σανσκριτική λέξη για το
θέατρο (Christopoulos 2022, p. 8, n. 8).
4_51a6.
Li Qiang 2019, p. 742. Την ισχυρή Ελληνική επίδραση στην Khotan βεβαιώνει και
η Valenstein (Valenstein 2007, pp. 65-66, fig. 85, n. 47).
4_51a7. Li Qiang 2019, p. 743.
[NOTE50]. International
Dunhuang Program, IDP MAS.14, https://idp.bl.uk/collection/96F7D60A915A40E29A226274E32C0D93/?return=%2Fcollection%2F%3Fmedia%3Dyes%26classification%255B%255D%3DArtefact%26form%255B%255D%3Dplaque
[NOTE55]. Head Fragment, 3rd century - 6th century,
<https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O136180/the-stein-collection-head-fragment-unknown/#object-details>
4_51a8. Ortolani 1985, p. 326;
Tsaras, Chrysafidis and Giouzepas 2016, p. 51, n. 12. Από
την άλλη ο Mathew (Mathew 2015, p. 12) ανακαλύπτει αναλογίες τριών μασκών του
θεάτρου nō με ισάριθμες εικονιζόμενες στον γνωστό ελικωτό κρατήρα του Προνόμου
(!), βλ.
<https://www.carc.ox.ac.uk/carc/resources/Introduction-to-Greek-Pottery/Keypieces/redfigure/pronomos?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1bdsP0tLO4OijfTiGNrAwnGacWfs8w935hVjdAySIO1B1rko4YhIpXhnk_aem_AchRxgu9MBjYbLUmtW64GmkwA-BbC7Gp1C2w9edSI4_Z_hI8T7ePtkmeJwAJpYUd-Q83SJ4rtaGMSqgP38F6NLuJ>.
type to the first three masks
shown on the Pronomos vase:
4_51a9.
Η μάσκα (BM 1957,1120.1) είναι αυτή του βαρβάρου Konron, ο οποίος στο δράμα
προσπαθεί αδέξια να ερωτοτροπήσει με την υπέροχη Go-Jo, πριγκίπισσα του
Κινέζικου βασιλείου του Wu.
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1957-1120-1 &
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigaku}
4_51a10. Ortolani
1990, p. 36. Ακόμη η μάσκα του πτηνού Karura στo ιερό Horyuji παραβάλλεται με
τον Garuda κι αυτός με την σειρά του με τον Δία - αετό (επί παραδείγματι
αρπάζοντα τον Γανυμήδη). Το γενικώτερο θέμα περιστρέφεται γύρω από
χαρακτήρα με απειλητική πτηνόμορφη κεφαλή, ο οποίος συνήθως απειλεί με βίαιη
αρπαγή. Η απεικόνιση ανευρίσκεται παλαιότερα στην Ινδική όπου έλαβε χώραν ο
εικονογραφικός δανεισμός ή απομίμηση στοιχείων του Μύθου της Αρπαγής του
Γανυμήδη από τον Δία - Αετό.
Το
σχετικό απόσπασμα έχει στο πρωτότυπο ως εξής:
Whichever might be the
immediate origin of gigaku masks and performances, several questions about
their remote origin remain open. A study of the characteristics of the gigaku
masks reveals that they represent myths and types which are certainly not Chinese.
The face masks seem to be connected with the carving art of the Scythians. The
head masks have occasioned many attempts to prove the existence of a bridge
between the theatre of China and Japan, and the theatre of Greece and Rome,
across the Near East and India. As a matter of fact, a close comparison or some
gigiaku masks with late Roman comic masks presents some striking similarities.
One hypothesis sees in the episode of Konron, the women of Wu and Rikishi a
transformation of a Greek myth.{The mask is that of the barbarian Konron, who
in the drama clumsily attempts to court the lovely Go-Jo, princess of the
Chinese kingdom of Wu.
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1957-1120-1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigaku} {There are two wrestler archetype
characters, the Kongō (金剛) or "Vajra-yakṣa" who is open-mouthed,[10]
and the Rikishi (力士) who is closed mouthed.[10][11] These two are said to
be analogous to the two Niō or guardian gate statues, who respectively form the
open and closed A-un shapes in their mouths.} Hera and Iris would be the models
for the women of Wu, satyrs for Konron, Heracles for Rikishi. The possibility
of a long arch stretching from the Near East to Japan — traveled by nomadic
populations who combined the western art of carving masks with Indian mythology
and Buddhist faith— remains as intriguing and fascinating as the surprising
presence of a Greek modeling of a pillar in the Horyuji temple of Nara, or the
discovery in Japan of the winged horse, possibly a Pegasus-motif, in decorative
patterns contemporary to gigaku.6
4_51a11. Ortolani
1990, p. 36, n. 6. Σημειώνεται επίσης ότι έμπροσθεν του ναού Tachibana-dera
(Tachibana Temple) υπάρχει ένα χάλκινο άγαλμα αλόγου που ονομάζεται Kurokoma
(Μαύρος Πήγασος) που ήταν το αγαπημένο άλογο που ο Shōtōku Taishi χρησιμοποιούσε
για να ιππεύσει σε διάφορες τοποθεσίες για να διαδώσει τον Βουδισμό. Λέγεται
επίσης ότι ο Πρίγκιπας πήγαινε συχνά με αυτό το άλογο στην Ikaruga (ναός
Hōryū-ji) και ότι το άλογο είχε θαυματουργές δυνάμεις, συμπεριλαμβανομένης της
ικανότητας να πετάει. Με τον Shōtoku Taishi στην πλάτη του, ο Kurokoma πέταξε
για τρεις ημέρες και σε όλη τη χώρα, χωρίς να κουραστεί. Ο Shōtoku Taishi
ανήγειρε ένα πέτρινο μνημείο γιά το άλογο, το οποίο σχολίασε αργότερα ο μεγάλος
βουδιστής μοναχός Kōbō Daishi (774-835) κατά τη διάρκεια του ταξιδιού του στον
ναό Tachibana. Βλ.
<https://en.japantravel.com/nara/asuka-03-tachibana-temple/2186>.
[NOTE90].
Επισκόπηση AI:
Η εικόνα είναι ένα τμήμα τοιχογραφίας που απεικονίζει τέσσερις ορχόμενες
Μαινάδες.
Πρόκειται
για ρωμαϊκή τοιχογραφία του 1ου αιώνα μ.Χ. Πιστεύεται ότι προέρχεται από τη
βίλα του Boscoreale,
κοντά στην Πομπηία. Οι Μαινάδες ήταν ακόλουθοι του θεού Διονύσου και συχνά
απεικονίζονταν σε εκστατικούς χορούς.
Η
τοιχογραφία εκτίθεται στο Μητροπολιτικό Μουσείο Τέχνης της Νέας Υόρκης.
[NOTE100]. Christopoulos 2022, p. 43.
[NOTE105]. Christopoulos 2022,
pp. 7-8.
[NOTE110]. Christopoulos 2022, pp. 13-14.
[NOTE115]. Christopoulos 2022, pp. 18-19.
[NOTE120]. Christopoulos 2022, p. 22.
ΒΙΒΛΙΟΓΡΑΦΙΑ
Kaleena Fraga. 2025. “1,800-Year-Old
Ritual Mask Discovered During Monorail Construction In Japan,” < https://allthatsinteresting.com/ancient-japanese-ritual-mask
> (17 Nov. 2025).
https://www.amazon.in/Silk-Road-Culture-Chinas-Initiative/dp/9813202955?asin=B07RT4Y8KV&revisionId=f465afab&format=1&depth=1
https://www.kobo.com/ww/en/ebook/silk-road-the-study-of-drama-culture
https://books.google.gr/books?id=eeaWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA751&lpg=PA751&dq=Li+Qiang,+1999,+Dionysus+Cult,+Song+of+Goats+and+Western+Drama,+Xinjiang+Arts+5&source=bl&ots=HN13efvbdK&sig=ACfU3U3OVFUD8JdqFssKatgwsLJcvNew1g&hl=el&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiIw8HeoKztAhUmsKQKHf75BR8Q6AEwAHoECAEQAg#v=snippet&q=Ixion&f=false
Li Qiang. 2019. Silk Road: The Study of Drama
Culture (Series on China’s Belt and Road Initiative III),
trans. Gao Fen, New Jersey.
Li Qiang, 1999. “Dionysus Cult, Song of Goats and
Western Drama,” Xinjiang Arts 5, 1999 {Journal of Xinjiang Arts Institute?}
China: The Early History of Chinese Theatre,
<https://disco.teak.fi/asia/the-early-history-of-chinese-theatre/>
https://altaica.ru/LIBRARY/Pelliot/Pelliot_Tokharien%20et%20Koutcheen_Journal%20Asiatique_224%201934.pdf
Pelliot, P. 1934. "Tokharien et
Koutchéen," Journal Asiatique 224 (1934), pp. 23-106.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/25791051
Shoichi Inoue. 2000.
"Interpretation of Ancient Japanese Architecture: Focusing on Links with
World History," Japan Review 12, International
Conference: The Global Meaning of Japan: European and Asian Perspetives, pp.
129-143.
https://himalaya-arch.com/images/lettre-du-toit-du-monde/Lettre-TDM-ENGLISH-29.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0LUUcpf-OJHBIDoG2DR7efKr8GzHEYWfmwbnmpLBj0Kg-dc6QXovhetPM
Pannier, F. 2019, "Study
on the Diffusion of a Type of Mask through Greece, India and Japan," Lettre
dy Toit du Monde 29, pp. 1-15.
https://www.byzantinemuseum.gr/en/temporary_exhibitions/older/?nid=2371
ΒΥΖΑΝΤΙΝΟ & ΧΡΙΣΤΙΑΝΙΚΟ ΜΟΥΣΕΙΟ The globally touring photo exhibition &
short-film series, "Road of Light and Hope" presents "visions
towards unity" through select artwork as evidence of the
interconnectedness of East and West, throughout which "The Eurasian Trail
of Wisdom" stands out in bold relief.
While Nara was the ancient
capital of Japan, it was de facto the easternmost terminal of the Silk Road.
If we were to seek a cultural
link connecting its westernmost terminus, Rome, with Nara, it might be found in
the sculptural art works from the eighth century, embodying the ideals of the
human spirit as well as the free and vivid movements influenced by the
classical style of ancient GREECE.
Some examples would be:
Buddhist statues influenced by HELLENISTIC culture; the Vairocana Buddha whose
origins can be traced along the Silk Road to the ancient GRECO-Bactrian
Kingdom; Fukūkensaku Kannon which some believe may have a Greek origin via Shiva,
one of the principal Indian deities, who is possibly connected to HERCULES in
Greek mythology; Gigaku masks whose origins go back to the comic mask theatre
of ancient GREECE, brought all the way to Japan via the "Oasis Silk
Road", while becoming intermingled with the folklore and dance of Sogdians
(middlemen along the trade routes) and various mask theatres along the Silk
Routes both by land and sea.
https://www.byzantinemuseum.gr/en/museum_news/press_releases/?nid=2374
The lecture will be supported
by a theatrical performance with masks Gigaku by the dancer Shunso, former
soloist dancer of the National Ballet of Cuba and of the Czech Republic. The
photographs of Gigaku theatrical masks from the Buddhist temple of Todaiji in
Nara, Japan, are displayed in the current exhibition. These masks are thought
to have originated from the ancient comic Greek theatre and bear witness to the
cultural interactions and influences brought into contacts along the ancient
trading route of the Silk Road connecting China and Greece.
https://books.google.gr/books?id=ge8cWl8OT3gC&printsec=frontcover&hl=el#v=onepage&q=Greek&f=false
Ortolani, B. 1990. The
Japanese Theatre: From Shamanistic Ritual to Contemporary Pluralism,
Princeton University Press.
https://www.mukogawa-u.ac.jp/~iasu2016/pdf/iaSU2016_Proceedings.pdf
Tsaras, G., E.
Chrysafidis, D. Giouzepas. 2016. "Traditional Noh Theatre and Ancient
Greek Tragedy: Comparative Study towards a common
Performance," Archi-Cultural Interactions through the Silk Road.
4th International Conference, Mukogawa Women’s University, pp. 49-52.
https://www.academia.edu/1503231/An_account_of_the_Dionysiac_presence_in_Indian_art_and_culture
Peterson, S. 2011-2012. “An
account of the Dionysiac presence in Indian art and culture,” <
https://www.academia.edu/1503231/An_account_of_the_Dionysiac_presence_in_Indian_art_and_culture>
(17 March 2019).
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3047209?read-now=1&seq=10#page_scan_tab_contents
Rowland Jr., B. 1949.
"The Hellenistic Tradition in Northwestern India," The Art
Bulletin 31 (1), pp. 1-10.
p. 6
These sculptures, the earliest
examples of classical art from India, revealing the survival of Hellenic and
Hellenistic types in Augustan art, bring to mind a statement of Professor
Rostovtzeff’s: "In their new homeland, influenced strongly by Greek art
and less significantly by Indian, they [the Sakas] created a peculiar
Graeco-Iranian art. This art may have influenced to a certain extent the
development of that peculiar hybrid art which we call, after Toucher, the
Graeco-Buddhic) art of the Gandhara region.38 I would even amplify Professor
Rostovtzeff's theory to say that, before the comparatively settled conditions
that succeeded the advent of the Parthians, Greek art could scarcely have
existed in these regions. The finding of the many scattered pieces of
Hellenistic sculpture throughout Iran and in the Parthians' Indian domains
seems to indicate that the Philhellenism of the Parthians was of a thicker
fabric than is indicated by their use of Greek inscriptions and cultivation of the Greek drama, and
strengthens the theory that Parthia, more than the semi-mythical Bactria, kept
alive the tradition of classic art in the Middle East and was responsible for
its transmission to India. Under the Parthians, Iran, politically as well as
artistically, still hung in the balance between Europe and Asia: its fate as an
oriental power was not really sealed until the Sasanian period. As we have
seen, Sir John Marshall's later excavations in the cities of Sirkap and Taxila
have led him to the conclusion that Parthian rule and semi-Greek culture
continued in the Punjab until about A.D. 65, the earliest possible date for the
advent of the Kushans.39 "There is," says Sir John Marshall,
"abundant evidence to show that much of this [Greek] influence was
directly due to the Parthians.40 And again, "Whatever the Kushans had of
Graeco-Roman ideas or Graeco-Roman culture must have come to them by way of
Parthia.41 I would add that probably they found this culture largely
ready-made. It may have excited their interest and respect for the west and led
to the establishment of even closer artistic relations with Rome under Wima
Kadphises and his successors, a conclusion favored, of course, by the trade
route between India and the Graeco-Roman orient. It is interesting to note in
this connection Foucher's remarks on the three or four generations necessary
for the mingling of Hellenism and Buddhism to produce the earliest works of the
Gandhara school.42 These generations would seems to fall naturally
https://archive.org/details/internationalbib0000beni_o2o1/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater
Ortolani. B. 1999. International
Bibliography of Theatre 1997, New York.
https://www.didaskalia.net/issues/12/3/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0wmqwp2rSpZqSKLk2F4JZIUvLML8I7qP1ew8dlClVeu3-x3eccdtCZwHE_aem_Acguc_3K4lnFrY2rJ3OJ8ZeVxjRCzWcrXK-lnB8XE0k5qv8hfJrOZPF26AN2e_hyBEeNLAQAW1_t2IxujnQSwq-9
https://www.didaskalia.net/issues/12/3/DidaskaliaVol12.03.pdf
Mathews, G. 2015. "ADIP -
The Masks of Nō and Tragedy: Their Expressivity and Theatrical and Social
Functions," Didaskalia 12 (3), pp. 12-29.
https://idp.bl.uk/collection/96F7D60A915A40E29A226274E32C0D93/?return=%2Fcollection%2F%3Fmedia%3Dyes%26classification%255B%255D%3DArtefact%26form%255B%255D%3Dplaque
https://himalaya-arch.com/images/lettre-du-toit-du-monde/Lettre-TDM-ENGLISH-29.pdf?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1fJNL_isnlHoBavhzneMNivchMxV7rPaDdSpgJNymmpuLpu8rCqUWhDvE_aem_Acj1IbvJmnDFoqc9U4xWPDdnZsUYNV6g2xxIYgtWreyYeCDKjr7PtyfwGuWQJ4204sCWBeee2Y9TT-4-BF7fODZm
Pannier, F. 2019. "Study on the diffusion of a
type of mask through Greece, India and Japan," Letter Du Toit Du
Monde 19, pp. 1-15.
https://www.academia.edu/68580198/An_Ancient_Greek_City_in_Central_Asia?uc-g-sw=11370862
Paul Bernard, P. 1982. "An Ancient Greek City in
Central Asia," Scientific American, pp. 148-159.
Sieffert, R. 1997. Theatre
Classique, POF.
https://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp326_dionysian_rituals_china.pdf
Christopoulos, L. 2022.
"Dionysian Rituals and the Golden Zeus of China," Sino-Platonic
Papers 326, pp. 1-123.
https://www.persee.fr/doc/arasi_0004-3958_1973_num_28_1_1076
Gaulier, S. 1973. “Aspects
Iconographiques des Croyances Eschatologiques dans le Bassin du Tarim d’après
deux documents de Pelliot,” Arts Asiatiques 23, pp. 165–84. École
Française d’Extrême-Orient.
Astrid Klein, “The Masked Dance
Drama sumozhe: Proposal on the Scenes and Individual Characters Depicted on the
Ōtani Casket from Subashi,” in Proceedings of the 5th International
Conference of the SEECHAC: The Image as Instrument and as Reflection of Ritual
in Central Asia and the Himalaya: From Antiquity to the Present,
L’Orientale, Naples, 5–7 November 2018, ed. Anna Filigenzi, Constantino
Moretti, and Charles Ramble. Series Maior, University of Naples L’Orientale,
forthcoming.
https://seechac.org/colloque-2018-abstracts/?fbclid=IwY2xjawOHk99leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETBzVFJOZFNtclZLMHVkQmlCc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MghjYWxsc2l0ZQEyAAEeBWWLh6mgpaEutDPsAvxUzWrmjr2bx8j6L2SX1cIdAsVBCUCQx_PoGBfIpl0_aem_rz_NJ8WJyFhlFqxdlo9GcA#:~:text=Numerous%20exquisite%20scroll%20paintings%20and%20repouss%C3%A9s%20survive,grand%20and%20prestigious%20family%20ceremony%20for%20posterity
https://austriaca.at/0xc1aa5572%200x003e7722.pdf
Allinger, E., F. Grenet, C. Jahoda,
M. -K. Lang, A. Vergati, eds. 2025. Interaction in the Himalayas and Central
Asia, Processes of Transfer, Translation and Trans formation in Art,
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SEECHAC Colloquium, 25–27 Nov. 2013, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna.
https://www.academia.edu/129920473/Up_from_the_Ice_a_Look_at_Dress_in_the_Iron_Age_Altai
Good,
I. 2011. “Up from the Ice — a Look at Dress in the Iron Age Altai,” The Silk
Road 9, pp. 146 – 153.
researchgate.net/publication/397702801_Silk_Road_The_Study_of_Drama_Culture?_sg%5B0%5D=pGQFzd6FRw64rJhE8_J-MlkySQBOSVigBxC7iwBHX2KLW2pQxbDSEPaQMXFRAUwPgyeyCyJlLXgcUSmlBEqfAwCTOae-yiPunTmQrKZB.AcgSmnEwViu4XANfiSygFT3S-fmWCnS1BJLNtc117WT5ahXIBIozUP_nR0Bn303hTWV9Pnp8HfND4XZv9zevqw&_tp=eyJjb250ZXh0Ijp7ImZpcnN0UGFnZSI6Il9kaXJlY3QiLCJwYWdlIjoicHJvZmlsZSIsInByZXZpb3VzUGFnZSI6InByb2ZpbGUiLCJwb3NpdGlvbiI6InBhZ2VDb250ZW50In19
