Dunhuang is today a sleepy, small town at the edge of the Gobi desert in western China.  In the earliest years of the Han Dynasty (205-247 B.C.), however, it had become a thriving commercial trade center, the Gateway to the Silk Road. Indeed, the town's very name evokes the excitement of its origins as a cultural crossroads.

        Dunhuang is a combination of two Chinese words.  The word "dun" means big and "hung" means flash of light.  Dunhuang, accordingly, refers to the "enormous flash of light" produced by the fusion of Chinese and Western cultures brought about by the silk trade two millennia ago.

        Dunhuang became not only a commercial metropolis but also the center of Buddhist art during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-533 A.D.).  It was the 'enormous flash of light' that attracted Chang Ta-chien to the treasure-trove of Dunhuang and spurred his talents.  Similarly, its beckoning was the attraction that tempted the Paris-based Chang Shuhong to abandon his achievements and return to China to guard and devote himself to the art of Dunhuang.

        Today, after the enormous flash first made its debut appearance in the 26th year of the Guangxu reign, artist Zhiwei Tu re-ignites the flame of Dunhuang with his world-class series of paintings titled "Dunhuang Music-and-Dance.”

        In the mid-1980s, upon completion of his post graduate programme at the Guanzhou Art Academy, Zhiwei embarked on a journey to Dunhuang to research and sketch the astonishing riches of the Mogao Caves.  Not only did the rigorous trip to the world-famous Buddhist cave-paintings fail to dampen his ardor for learning the secret of Dunhuang art, the vivid colour of the 2,000 year old murals made a strong visual and spiritual impact on him.  The mystical origins of the Mogao Caves, built in the second year of the pre-Qin period by a monk who is said to have sighted a strange golden light in the image of a thousand Buddha on entering  Dunhuang, moved Zhiwei Tu deeply and prompted him to sketch a painting titled Dunhuang.

        The series of original Dunhuang mural paintings stretches to 25,000 meters and is a rare gem of world art.  In this artistic haven, Tu Zhiwei assimilated the colour, line, and creative inspiration of the great works.  In 1990, having accumulated the essence of the Dunhuang spirit he painted "Dancing While Paying Pipa,” a mammoth oil painting in a magnificent composition.  “Dancing While Playing Pipa" caused a stir in Chicago and within weeks of the exhibition it was bought by a collector for a sizable 6-figure sum.

        Taking Dunhuang as a point of reference, Mr. Tu subsequently created several other oil paintings on closely related themes, among which are "Testing the Score” and "Musical Indulgence."  All are imaginative, superbly crafted, vivid evocations of ancient life in Dunhuang.  "Dancing While Playing Pipa" was a repeated theme of the ancient masters of the Tang and Song dynasties.  Many hundreds of years later, as the Second Millennium comes to a close, Mr. Tu aptly makes another mark in art history with his variation on the ancient theme of “Dancing While Playing Pipa."

        Tu is in his prime.  His natural oil technique and solid foundation in realistic depiction enable him to express himself freely and with great power and joy. Through the Dunhuang Music-and Dance series of oil paintings his passion for painting, his excellent mastery of colour and sense of rhythm, and his zest for life and music shine through brightly.  In the presence of these paintings by Zhiwei Tu, one feels life itself is renourished and reaffirmed by the painter's boundless creative energy and joy.

        In the paintings of this series, the inextinguishable 'enormous flash' of Dunhuang art once again unveils its rich life force and artistic soul.  At the same time, you and I, in appreciation of such remarkable endeavor, are awed and blessed by the inextinguishable soul -- the revival of the glory of the sparkling Dunhuang Music-and Dance art.