Longmen Grottoes were dug in the Northern Wei Dynasty when Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital to Luoyang (A.D. 493). After that, they were continuously built on a large scale in the Eastern Wei Dynasty, the Western Wei Dynasty, the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty for more than 4 years. They are located on the east and west mountains (Longmen Mountain and Xiangshan Mountain) on both sides of the Yihe River in Luolong District, Luoyang City, Henan Province, with a length of 1 km from north to south. Today, there are 2,345 caves. Among them, "Longmen 2" is the essence of calligraphy in Wei Bei, and Chu Suiliang's "The Monument of Yique Buddhist Shrine" is a model of regular script art in the early Tang Dynasty.
? There are more than 5 large and medium-sized caves in the Northern Dynasties and Sui and Tang Dynasties on the cliff of Xishan Mountain. Guyang Cave, Binyang Middle Cave, Lianhua Cave, Huangfugong Cave, Weizi Cave, Putai Cave, Huoshao Cave, Cixiang Kiln, Ludong Cave, etc. are representative caves in the Northern Wei Dynasty. The representative caves of the Tang Dynasty are Qianxi Temple, Binyang South Cave, Binyang North Cave (the above two caves were decorated in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the Buddha statues were completed in the Sui and early Tang Dynasties), Jingshan Temple, Cliff Sanfo Shrine, Wanfo Cave, Huijian Cave, Fengxian Temple, Pure Land Hall, Ryugeji and Jinan Cave. Dongshan Mountain is full of caves and shrines in the Tang Dynasty, among which there are 2 large and medium-sized caves, such as Erlianhua Cave, Kanjing Temple Cave, Dawanwu Buddha Cave (also known as Leigutai Cave) and Wangdong Cave in Gaoping County.
? According to Wei Shu, Longmen Grottoes were dug behind Yungang Grottoes. Since ancient times, the color of Longmen Mountain has been listed as the crown of the eight scenic spots in Luoyang. Bai Juyi, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, once said, "Luodu has four suburbs, and the mountains and rivers win, and Longmen is the first." Longmen Grottoes are dug between the cliffs that depend on mountains and rivers. It began around the time when Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved from Pingcheng (now Datong City, Shanxi Province) to Luoyang. At that time, Emperor Xiaowen deeply felt that the capital was biased towards the north, which was not conducive to rule, and Luoyang, located in the Central Plains, had superior natural conditions. In order to control the Central Plains, Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital Pingcheng (now Datong, Shanxi) to Luoyang in the eighteenth year of Taihe (494), and at the same time opened the prelude to the construction of Longmen Grottoes. During this period, the Northern Wei Dynasty unified the North, and foreign religious Buddhism became the spiritual pillar of ideological rule. Since then, there have been restorations and sequels in Eastern Wei and Western Wei, Northern Qi and Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Northern Song and Ming Dynasties, among which the excavation activities in Northern Wei and Tang Dynasties were the largest, lasting for 15 years. Among all the caves in Longmen, caves in the Northern Wei Dynasty account for about 3%, those in the Tang Dynasty account for 6%, and those in other dynasties only account for about 1%.
The Longmen Grottoes have been seriously damaged by man-made chisels since their construction. During the Tang Wuzong period, the movement to destroy the Buddha made the grottoes difficult. Historical travel notes in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China recorded that grotto statues were seriously stolen at that time. In addition, when the government of the Republic of China moved the capital from Nanjing to Luoyang, it also bombed a large number of foothill shrines when it built a road under the Longmen West Mountain. Due to the emptiness of war management, from 193s to 194s, the statues of Longmen Grottoes were hacked crazily, and many headscarves, inscriptions and reliefs were bought by Japanese and American cultural relics merchants.
? In 1961, the State Council announced Longmen Grottoes as the first batch of key cultural relics protection units in China.
? In 1982, Longmen Scenic Area was announced as the first batch of national-level scenic spots in China.
? In November 2, UNESCO listed Longmen Grottoes in the World Cultural Heritage List, and the World Heritage Committee commented: "The grottoes and shrines in Longmen area showed the largest and best plastic arts in China from the late Northern Wei Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty (AD 493-97). These works of art that describe Buddhist religious themes in detail represent the highest peak of stone carving art in China. " Longmen Grottoes lasted for a long time and spanned many dynasties. They reflected the development and changes in many fields such as politics, economy, religion and culture in ancient China from different aspects with a large number of physical images and written materials, and also made great contributions to the innovation and development of China Grottoes.
? In January 26, Longmen Grottoes was awarded "National Civilized Scenic Area" by the Central Civilization Office, the Ministry of Construction and the National Tourism Administration.