Early on the morning of June 22, 1900, in synchronicity with the timing of the summer solstice in Dunhuang, China, a Daoist monk discovered what is now known as the “Library Cave” within the fabled Mogao Grottoes, bringing to light hidden wisdom on the longest day of the year. This event sparked fresh interest in Dunhuang which, at the nexus of Silk Road caravan routes, served as a pilgrimage and worship site for almost one thousand years, shaped by a variety of spiritual traditions. The tumultuous events in the first half of the twentieth century, including the Boxer Rebellion, the demise of the Qing Dynasty, the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese Civil War, the establishment of the People’s Republic, and various border conflicts, impeded research into the newly unearthed materials. From the late 1970s, the discoveries fueled an impulse to recreate “the historical memory and identity of China in contemporary moments of contestation and transformation” (8). In her book, Staging Tianxia: Dunhuang Expressive Arts and China’s New Cosmopolitan Heritage, Lanlan Kuang methodically examines the development of this innovative performance genre inspired by the complex, layered heritage of Dunhuang. With research spanning more than two decades, Kuang deciphers the Dunhuang metacultures in nine chapters, emphasizing the core concept of tianxia (“all under heaven”), reflecting the ancient Chinese vision of world order rooted in Confucian and Daoist thought—central to understanding historical perspectives on governance. She approaches the question of how traditional elements are studied and shaped to represent modern China through various lenses—archeology, poetry, ethnomusicology, archival research, interviews, geography, philosophy, and participant observation. Kuang gained access to the archives of the Dunhuang Academy as well as some of the most restricted caves, enriching her multidisciplinary research with images of the cave murals, photographs of dance reconstructions, documentary script notations, and a chart linking specific caves to dynasties.
Kuang raises the curtain on her subject with a description of the 2020 dance-drama, A Grand Dream of Dunhuang, at New York’s Lincoln Center, a work inspired by the extraordinary cultural contents of the Library Cave. This production embodied the expressive art genre known as Dunhuang bihua yuewu (“Dunhuang mural music and dance”), now embraced as a vibrant symbol of China’s multi-ethnic heritage, a cosmopolitanism that would have been unthinkable during the years of the Great Cultural Revolution (1966-76). The strife between the Chinese empire and the non-Han populations of its borderlands dates back millennia, but at times commerce and diplomacy won out over military conflict. Located at the edge of the Taklamakan Desert, Dunhuang proved ideally situated for cultural exchange. The painting in the grottoes first began in 366 CE and continued for over a thousand years into the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368). But the creative height was during the “Golden Age,” the famously cosmopolitan Tang Dynasty (618-907), when Sogdian merchants brought China rare luxuries and spellbinding dances from their Central Asian homeland. Murals, sculptures, poetry, and scrolls from the caves have inspired this new Dunhuang performance genre and eventually a special Chinese classical dance genre. These efforts, supported by a bank loan, served the pragmatic goal of “soft diplomacy,” as noted by the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Cai Wu: “Efforts should be made to build competitive international cultural brands and promote the influence of Chinese culture” (5).
In chapter 2, “Tianxia, Chinascapes, and Dunhuang,” Kuang examines the ancient concept of tianxia, the guiding principle of a China-centered global order. She discusses how this vision shaped imperial state policies in the past, especially relations with non-Han ethnic populations. In this modern iteration, the traditional role of the performing arts in connection with governance is newly configured. Dunhuang expressive arts came to be shaped in harmony with modern China, providing a fresh identity.
Golden treasures await dance enthusiasts in chapter 3, “Imagining Dunhuang: Literary Topography,” with translations of Tang Dynasty poetry describing music and choreographies from the Sogdian homeland. Kuang shares verses of the celebrated poet Bai Juyi (772-846), who wrote about performers dancing to strong forceful tempos with galloping steps. He described spins as quick as the wind and fluttering skirts, reflecting the movements of the hypnotic Sogdian Whirling Dance. Another Tang poet, Liu Yanshi (d. 812), described a “Western barbarian” performer, Hu Teng Er (742-813), who danced with “lifted eyebrows” and “head tipped right and left,” movements that can be seen in Central Asian dance today. These and other vivid poems all provided rich choreographic inspiration for future depiction in Dunhuang arts. Just as the Wild West was the American frontier, so were the borderlands of China’s West viewed as places to encounter foreign cultures, ideas, peoples, sounds, and dangers—an exotic territory that birthed a distinct genre known as “frontier poetry.” Artistic creations from the Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties have been incorporated into staged performances of Dunhuang bihua yuewu to reflect the modern Chinese nation, exemplifying “concepts of Chineseness and the creation of Chinascapes” (9).
In chapter 4, “Institutionalizing Dunhuang bihua yuewu: Past and Present,” Kuang introduces the institutions and individuals of past dynasties who incorporated the arts of Dunhuang into a device for state-building, presenting multi-ethnic artists in performances of these exotic musical suites and compositions. Here we should pause in appreciation for past Chinese archivists who left records like the Old Book of Tang, documenting musical suites from India and Korea, the whirling dance of “barbarian” Hu Xuan, as well as musical suites from Bukhara, Kashgar, and Samarkand. Kuang uses the example of Tang emperor Taizong (626-649), who recognized “the intricate link between authoritative rule and the performing arts presented at state ceremonies” (85). In cosmopolitan Tang, this artistic adaptation and cultural synthesis embodied ideals of inclusivity, welcoming foreign performers, along with their music and dance, into the imperial court.
Chapter 5 focuses on “Creating Dunhuang bihua yuewu: Key Concepts and Terms.” Returning to the present, Kuang introduces the work of contemporary artists determined to preserve and promulgate the cultural legacy of Dunhuang. The discoveries stimulated new creativity, inspiring Siluhuayu (“Along the Silk Road”), one of the first works crafted after the Great Cultural Revolution. This production included the now iconic dance, “Playing Pipa in Reverse Position,” inspired by one of the cave’s paintings, that of a woman holding a lute behind her back while standing on one leg, with the other knee raised and the foot flexed. The image captures the timeless, playful virtuosity of a skilled musician pushing the limits of performance technique. Professor Gao Jinrong developed the first Dunhuang dance training system, which she dubbed the Ancient Dance Movement, based on pictographic images. Here the author goes beyond the role of the observer, exploring the process of the ethnographer’s “being vs becoming” by embodying the dance movements through training with Professor Gao. Kuang reminds readers that in China, from ancient times as early as the Zhou dynasty (1046 BCE to 256 BCE), music and dance, and even shamanic rituals, were incorporated into court occasions.
The esteemed art of calligraphy also intertwined with the institutionalization of Dunhuang biha yuewu, as depicted by dancers using the movements of their bodies to paint a huge scroll in the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which highlighted many elements of Dunhuang heritage. Kuang compares the “image to stage” process with the “static to dynamic trace of the brush” and cites famed calligrapher Chiang Yee, who described the art as “an adventure in movement very similar to good dancing” (105). Kuang “discovered dance notations were transcribed in textual narrative form” that date from the Tang dynasty (618-907), now called Dunhuang dance notation. The murals “remain the closest thing we have to an iconographic interpretation of the archeological materials” (19). While the debate continues about whether dance can truly be reconstructed from archeological images, the painstaking, multi-disciplinary approach of Chinese specialists proves convincing.
Chapter 6, “Staging Dunhuang Arts in Context(s): Case Studies,” examines three of the most iconic and memorable choreographies: Lotus Aloft, Flying Apsara, and The Thousand-Handed and Thousand-Eyed Avalokitesvara. The latter two are easily accessible online and well worth the search. Astounding productions blend the technical excellence of the dancers with exquisitely detailed costumes, majestic orchestral accompaniment, and sophisticated videography to create sublime, other-worldly visions.
Other facets emerge in chapter 7, “Being-in-the-Field: Staged Dunhuang Arts and Intertextual Representations,” where the author discusses her own engagement with the genre and the various media through which it is presented. Vocabulary presented its own challenges, from translations of the multi-lingual texts found in Dunhuang, dating from different eras, to the process of learning specialized dance vocabulary.
Chapter 8, “Nation Building: Dunhuang Meta-elements in Peking Opera and Beyond,” examines stage performances of Dunhuang arts in various media, from new documentaries to folk drama. Kuang observes that the choices made in various staged performances of Dunhuang bihua yuewu “not only reflect the country’s policy priorities but also illuminate its cultural development tendency and subsequently, the country’s grand design…aligning with the state’s overarching vision” (164).
In chapter 9, “Coda: China’s New Cosmopolitan Heritage,” Kuang cites Chinese philosopher Zhao Tingyang, who embraces the tianxia system as “an alternative concept of the political as the art of changing hostility into hospitality” (171). Throughout her detailed analysis, Kuang emphasizes China’s enduring understanding of the vital connection between art and the state, and the roles both play in supporting a national identity. In the past, the concept of tianxia was manifested by incorporating the creativity of multi-ethnic artists, dancers, and musicians into the imperial court of the Son of Heaven. Today, these artistic legacies of Dunhuang are embraced as evidence of a diverse and inclusive heritage—the “Chinascapes”—in harmony with the Chinese government’s aspirations for the Belt and Road Initiative promoting global trade and cultural understanding.
One question arises for this reader. Contemporary China, still officially an atheist state, now financially supports the preservation and development of Dunhuang bihua yuewu, a genre based on Buddhist and Daoist art. Can the historical images of the Mogao Caves, designed for meditation and religious instruction, be presented on stage without potentially igniting the deeper spiritual message that inspired them?
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[Review length: 1670 words * Review posted on October 31, 2025]