SYMBOLIC IMAGERY AND PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS IN DUNHUANG FRESCOES AND CAVE ART

Dunhuang frescoes and cave painting are also popular examples of artistic and cultural iconography, which prescribes Buddhist Taoist Confucian ideologies. The pieces are works of art that after hundreds of years of development in the Great Silk Road, turned into illumination and philosophical commentaries on such issues as cycle of life and death, the interdependent origin and other phenomena in the area of spirituality. Nonetheless, the literature on them remains scanty and a majority of the literature has focused on explaining its aesthetics and its history. This study aims to examine the philosophical and religious ideologies embedded in Dunhuang frescoes, providing insights into their spiritual and cultural significance. It further seeks to analyze the symbolic representations within these artworks, exploring their role in fostering philosophical discourse and functioning as profound metaphysical expressions in religious art. The literature review was performed in respect of the systematic literature review (SLR) methodology, utilizing the peer-reviewed articles available in the scholarly databases. The thematic analysis simplified the pattern recognition process and only data with the inclusion criteria was used. Research findings highlighted the fact that frescoes served to combine culture, expressing metaphysical concepts and eliciting a philosophical discussion. New technologies such as virtual reality in one way or another have made its interpretative accessibility both traditional and modern. Dunhuang frescoes serve as vital texts for understanding religious art’s philosophical dimensions, reflecting a unique synthesis of spirituality, culture, and metaphysical thought. This study bridges gaps between art history, religious studies, and philosophy, emphasizing their modern relevance.