Moving Sands

In his poem "Li Sao", author Qu Yuan describes an aerial crossing of the Moving (or Flowing) Sands on a shamanic spiritual Journey to Kunlun.

"Moving Sands forms one of the obstacles the fictional version of the monk Xuanzang and companions must cross over on their mission to fetch the Buddhist scriptures from India and return them to Tang China.

In the novel Journey to the West the Moving Sand river forms one of the barriers on the way, one of the many difficult areas which the Xuanzang the Monk, Sun Wukong the Monkey, and their companion must cross over.

By the mercy and help of the Buddhist goddess Guanyin, who by forethought and prior preparation made it happen, Xuanzang met his third disciple at the Moving (or Flowing) Sands, who joins them after a brief misunderstanding.

In lines 349-350 of his poem "Li Sao", Qu Yuan describes crossing over through the sky by means of a team of dragons: he soars above all obstacle rivers and hostile terrain at will during his spirit journey.

Oil lamp depicting the Queen of the West in her Heavenly Paradise together with relevant mythological geography and beings. Eastern Han ceramic unearthed at Chengdu , China.
The heroic monk Sha Wujing , as pictured in the Journey to the West
Singing sand dunes near Dunhuang , China, an example of shifting sands due to wind and gravity.