Flying Apsaras Awards
television award
The China TV Drama Flying Apsaras Awards (Chinese: 中国电视剧飞天奖; pinyin: Zhōngguó Diànshìjù Fēi Tiān Jiǎng), also known as Flying Apsaras Awards, or simply Feitian Awards, is a biennial awards ceremony honoring excellence in Chinese television. Named after the Gandhanra, aka "Flying Apsaras", the design of the trophy is based on ancient carvings of the Flying Apsaras found inside the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang. It is the longest-running television award ceremony in China as well as the highest government honor in the industry.
History
The awards were first held in 1981 and presented by the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China. The event was subsequently taken over by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television and the Motion Picture and Arts Committee of China. In 1983, the awards were renamed Feitian, literally "flying Apsaras". The awards ceremony was originally held to honour television series only. However, four acting categories were created in 1984: Outstanding Actor, Outstanding Actress, Outstanding Supporting Actor, and Outstanding Supporting Actress. Director, writer, cinematography, and music categories were added in 1993.
The event has undergone several category reforms.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Flying Apsaras Awards” is television award. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Flying, Apsaras and Awards, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “television award” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q724606. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1981, 1983, 1984 and 1993.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Flying Apsaras Awards”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Flying Apsaras Awards primary sources, Flying Apsaras Awards archive and Flying research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Flying Apsaras Awards”?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Flying Apsaras Awards” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.