印度乾闼婆不是中国飞天的原型

India’s Gandharva is not the Prototype of Chinese Flying Celestials

印度乾闼婆不是中国飞天的原型,是印度佛教神话中的音乐神。从汉译佛经中可知,乾闼婆“善巧弹琴,作乐歌舞”“手执琉璃之琴”,以乐舞娱佛。从图像中看,乾闼婆的形象特征为手持维那琴,头上有五髻。目前学界普遍认为乾闼婆是中国飞天的原型之一,而作为中国飞天最主要的特征“飞行”姿态,并未见于印度中世纪以前的乾闼婆形象中。因此,对于凌空飞舞的中国飞天来说,其来源不应是印度乾闼婆。

Gandharva is the God of music in Indian Buddhist mythology. In the Chinese translation of Buddhist sutras, Gandharva is good at playing the piano skillfully, singing and dancing, and holding a glaze harp in her hand, entertaining Buddha with music and dance. From the image, the image of Gandharva is characterized by holding a vena in her hand, and she has five topknots on her head. At present, the academic circles generally believe that Gandharva is one of the prototypes of Chinese Flying-celestials. As the most important feature of Chinese Flying-celestials, the "flying" attitude is not seen in the image of Gandharva before the Middle Ages in India. Therefore, the source of Chinese Flying-celestials should not be the Indian Gandharva.