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Longmen Grottoes, built during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, flourished in the Tang Dynasty and finally ended in the late Qing Dynasty. It is the longest excavated grottoes in history, and it is also called "Three Grottoes in China" with Mogao Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes.
About 60% of the thousands of statues in Longmen Grottoes were built in the Tang Dynasty. Fengxian Temple is the most representative grottoes in Longmen Grottoes in Tang Dynasty. The nine statues on the cliff not only show the exquisite stone carving skills of ancient craftsmen, but also show the powerful national strength of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. When we stand in front of the Buddha and stare quietly, it seems that we can imagine the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.
Longmen Grottoes not only have exquisite grotto statues and rich calligraphy of inscriptions, but also show the beauty of art through literature, music, humanities, religious architecture, medicine and other forms. It is "the largest open-air stone carving art museum in China".
Longmen Grottoes were excavated before and after Emperor Xiaowen moved to Luoyang in the Northern Wei Dynasty. After the construction of the Western Wei Dynasty, the Eastern Wei Dynasty, the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty, there were 2,345 grottoes 1 km, more than 65,438+10,000 statues and more than 2,800 inscriptions.
Since its completion, Longmen Grottoes have suffered two most serious man-made damages. The first is the "Huichang Law Difficulty" that was publicly destroyed by the government during the Tang Wuzong period. At present, many destroyed relics in Longmen were formed at this time.
The second time it was destroyed by the Republic of China, the government of the Republic of China made preparations for moving the capital from Nanjing to Luoyang, and when building roads near the Yihe River west of Longmen Mountain, it also blew up a large number of foothill shrines.
During this period, a large number of private thefts appeared, led by Japanese and American businessmen who bought cultural relics openly, and the people set off a crazy piracy movement. It was at this time that the famous Longmen Grottoes "The Empress's Ceremony" was stolen to America.
Longmen Grottoes has the largest number of ancient forest of steles in China, which Wuyi called in Qing Dynasty: "Longmen is both a stone carving Buddha field and an ancient forest of steles".
There are more than 2,860 inscriptions in the whole cave, among which Chu Suiliang's Twenty Longmen Inscriptions, One Que Buddhist Shrine Inscription and Longmen Inscription are famous, which fully show the essence of China calligraphy art such as Wei Bei and calligraphy style.
Twenty products of Longmen are selected from 20 statues of the Northern Wei Dynasty, of which 19 are in Guyang Cave and only one is in Cave 660 (Cixiang Cave) outside Laolong Cave. Its style combines the strengths of North and South calligraphy, and it is vigorous and powerful, forming a unique artistic beauty.
Now, when we come here, the existing statues can still bring a visual feast and spiritual baptism, but those treasures that have disappeared in the past will be preserved in history by future generations.