Eros in China

A Chinese news source, Xinhua Net, has reported that the subject of two small statuettes discovered in the 1980s are probably representations of Eros. These two bronze figures feature a boy whose wings lift upward at the tips, a feature rare among images of Chinese gods. The statues date to about 500 C.E.

This wouldn’t be the first incursion of Hellenic gods into the region. Xinhua Net reports that “British archaeologist Aurel Stein proved in 1907 that several winged angels in the mural paintings in a monastery in west China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region were drawings of Eros at around 200 A.D.” [source]

Apparently, tracing the route of the ancient Silk Road from Greece to Ancient  China is commonly done using similar archaeological findings. If the statuettes’ common identity is true, this means that images of the Gods were traveling along the Silk Road well after Christians took control of the Roman Empire and began their persecution of traditional religion.

Of course, the article didn’t come with images of the statuettes or of the mural painting in Western China. After about half an hour of Google-fu, I believe that the previous murals came from the Mogao Grottoes, which Stein helped save from looting in 1907. A tourist’s account of the region (“Jeremy's Silk Road Journey: Episode 11”) describes his surprise:

[In the grottoes] there is a written copy of the Diamond Sutra, believed to be one of the world’s oldest printed books. There are even some depictions of Greek/Roman deities, such as the goddess Athena and the god Eros. [source]

Stein may also have found Silk Road trade items in surrounding areas. If you have located images of any of these deities or know where I can find them, please post something in the comments.