 Journey into Gansu Province (3) |
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The Story of Chang Sha na
Chang Sha na is a professional scholar working for the Alumni Association of Europe and America and the China Art Association. She is also a professor and advisor in the Academic Department of the Academy of Arts and Design at Tsinghua University. In China, she is known as “daughter of Dunhuang.” As part of her father's continuing legacy, she works for the preservation of the frescoes inside the Mogao Caves.
Chang Sha na was born Lyon, France, in 1931. As a child, she spent much of her days studying Romance languages and the frescoes at the grottoes outside of Dunhuang city, also known as the Mogao Caves. Her father, Chang Shu hong, planted his family there in 1943, as he buried himself in the study of the art within the caves.
Chang Shu hong came to Dunhuang from Chongqing in 1942, during the War of Resistance to Japan. He once said that in a dream, heavenly maidens (the fei tian) had flown down from the walls of the grottoes and spoke to him. He was 40 years old at the time, and had already been in Dunhuang for two years. He dedicated most of his life to the study and preservation of the Dunhuang Mogao Caves, battling against treacherous weather conditions and natural environmental conditions that were detrimental to the frescoes within the grottoes.
Chang Sha na's mother, feeling neglected and unhappy, left her husband and children in 1945. Chang Sha na was 14 years old and had to leave school in order to care for her brother. Chang Sha na's father encouraged her studies of art, and she quickly gained recognition alongside her father. In 1945, she and her father first earned recognition in Lanzhou, making their study all the more worthwhile. Her work mainly consisted of facsimiles of the frescoes within the Dunhuang grottoes.
In 1948, Chang Shu hong took his children to Nanjing in order to broaden his and his daughter's artistic integrity. That same year Chang Sha na left for the United States in order to further her artistic talent abroad. She attended the Art Institute of Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, and eagerly returned to the new China in the 1950s.
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
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| Agatha So |
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| Agatha So is an American living and working in Beijing. She has been working with PD Online since September 2007. After traveling throughout China and within Beijing for almost two years now, this country still remains fascinating to her in so many ways. She has spent more than a year traveling throughout China and within Beijing. She would like to share her experiences with you, and welcomes any comments or feedback you may have. |
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