Longmen Grottoes
●Heritage type: Cultural heritage
●Heritage selection criteria: Longmen Grottoes is based on the World Cultural Heritage selection criteria C(I)(II)( III) Selected into the World Heritage List.
●World Heritage Committee evaluation:
The grottoes and Buddhist niches in the Longmen area represent the largest and most outstanding grottoes from the late Northern Wei Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty (493-907 AD) in China. Plastic arts. These artistic works that describe religious themes in Buddhism in detail represent the highest peak of Chinese stone carving art. Longmen Grottoes are a national key cultural relic protection unit.
● Overview of the Grottoes:
The Longmen Grottoes are located 12 kilometers south of Luoyang City. They are one of the three major grottoes in my country, along with the Yungang Grottoes in Datong and the Thousand Buddha Cave Grottoes in Dunhuang. one.
Longmen is a place with beautiful scenery. There are two green mountains in the east and west facing each other, and the Yishui River flows slowly north. Looking from a distance, it looks like a natural gate, so it was called "Yique" in ancient times. The present "Yique" has become the first sight when visiting Longmen since ancient times. Bai Juyi, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, once said: "The most beautiful scenery in the suburbs of Luoyang is Longmen."
The Longmen Grottoes were excavated around the time Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved the capital to Luoyang (AD 494) and have a history of more than 1,500 years. Later, through the Eastern and Western Wei, Northern Qi, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Song and other dynasties, large-scale construction continued for more than 400 years. It is densely spread on the cliffs of the east and west mountains of Yishui, with a length of more than 1,000 meters from north to south. There are more than 1,300 grottoes, 2,345 Buddhist caves and niches, more than 50 pagodas, and more than 100,000 Buddha statues. The largest Buddha statue is 17.14 meters high, and the smallest is only 2 centimeters. There are also more than 3,600 inscriptions on statues and inscriptions from past dynasties, all of which reflect the high artistic attainments of the working people of ancient my country. Among them, Binyang Middle Cave
, Fengxian Temple and Guyang Cave are the most representative.
The Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Henan are located in the southeast of Luoyang City. They are distributed on the cliffs on both sides of the Yishui River, with a length of 1 km from north to south. The Longmen Grottoes were first excavated during the Northern Wei Dynasty and have been built for more than 400 years. There are more than 2,300 cave niches and more than 100,000 statues in existence. It is a model of ancient Chinese sculpture art
Wei Caves - In 495 AD, Wei Clan Qiu Huicheng began to dig Guyang Cave in Longmen Mountain. 500- -In 523, Emperor Xuanwu of Wei and Emperor Xiaoming of Wei successively excavated three large grottoes in the north, middle and south of Binyang Cave. The construction of Shiyang Cave and Binyang Cave cost more than 800,000 labor. They also excavated Yaofang Cave and the caves excavated in the Eastern Wei Dynasty. Lotus Cave and other grottoes. The grottoes of the Northern Dynasties are all in Longmen Mountain. The construction of Guyang Cave took more than 50 years from Huicheng to the end of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, showing many Chinese art forms. The posture of the Giant Buddha has also changed from the majestic and formidable of Yungang Grottoes to the gentle and approachable of Longmen Grottoes. The Buddha statues represented by the main Buddha in Binyang Zhongdong Cave have smiling faces. The Longmen Grottoes show more Chinese artistic Buddha statues than the Yungang Grottoes.
Tang Grottoes - the most prosperous period was the Tang Dynasty, accounting for more than 60% of the total number of grottoes. The grottoes excavated during Wu Zetian's reign accounted for the majority of the grottoes in the Tang Dynasty, which is related to her long-term presence in Luoyang. Fengxian Temple is the most representative Tang cave. The two Bodhisattvas are 70 feet tall, and Kasyapa, Ananda, Vajra, and Shenwang are each 50 feet tall (the length of the Tang Dynasty). The scale is the largest among the Longmen Grottoes. It took four years and Wu Zetian paid 20,000 yuan himself.
Longmen Twenty Pieces is a precious masterpiece of Wei stele style calligraphy art. It represents the Wei stele style, with a straight and generous shape and a strong and powerful momentum. It is a font in the transition from official script to regular script. There are nineteen characters in Guyang Cave.
There are three caves in Binyang Cave. Binyang Middle Cave is a representative work of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-512 AD). This cave took 24 years to complete, making it the longest cave to be excavated. There are 11 large Buddha statues in the cave. The main wall of the cave is carved with a statue of Sakyamuni, with disciples and Bodhisattvas standing on the left and right. The Buddha and Bodhisattvas have thin faces, large eyes and flat necks. The texture of their clothes is carefully carved, showing obvious traces of the art of the Western Regions. There is a flying sky sculpture on the top of the cave, which is strong and elegant.
It is said that there is also a relief "Picture of Emperors and Empresses Paying Respect to Buddha" on the two walls of the cave entrance. It has a unique shape and beautiful composition. It was later stolen and is now placed in the New York Museum in the United States. The inscriptions written by the calligrapher Chu Suiliang, the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty, at the entrance of the cave are worth a look.
The Ten Thousand Buddhas Cave is located to the south of Binyang Cave. The cave is rich in carvings. The north and south stone walls are covered with small Buddha statues. Many Buddha statues are only one inch or a few centimeters high, and there are more than 1,500 of them. The Bodhisattva statue on the front wall sits on an octagonal lotus seat with a girdle. There are four strong men on the waist, with lotus on their shoulders. The back wall is engraved with 54 lotus branches, each with a Bodhisattva or donor sitting on it. On the top of the wall are relief figures of musicians, all graceful and lifelike. There is also a statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva on the south wall of the entrance. It is holding a pure bottle and holding a dust tail. Its body is round and plump, its posture is graceful, and it is very expressive.
Fengxian Temple is the largest grotto among the Tang Dynasty Grottoes in Longmen. According to the inscription, the cave was excavated during the Wu Zetian period of the Tang Dynasty and lasted three years. The Buddha statues in the cave clearly reflect the artistic characteristics of Buddhist statues in the Tang Dynasty. They have a plump face, drooping ears, and a perfect, serene, gentle, and friendly form, which is extremely moving. The seated statue of Lushena Buddha in the center of the grotto is the largest Buddha statue in the Longmen Grottoes. It is 17.14 meters tall, with a head height of 4 meters and an ear length of 1.9 meters. It has a plump shape, a majestic appearance, smooth clothing lines, and a high degree of artistic appeal. On both sides of the Lushena Buddha statue are two disciples, Kassapa and Ananda. They are docile and pious, and the two Bodhisattvas are kind and cheerful. The King of Heaven holds the pagoda in his hand, looking tall and strong. Legend has it that the face of the Lucena Buddha was built based on Wu Zetian's face.
The Vajra Hercules statue is more impressive than the Hercules statue next to the Lushena Buddha statue. It is a treasure in the Longmen Grottoes. It was discovered near the Jinan Cave when the cave soil was cleared in 1953. It was stolen and chiseled. What was left behind failed to be transported away. I saw the Vajra Warrior's eyes bulging, glaring forward, clenching fists with both hands, and the muscles on his chest, hands, and legs bulging high. The whole statue is rough and bold in shape, strong and powerful, and impressive.
Guyang Cave is the earliest and richest cave among the Longmen Grottoes. It is also another representative cave of the Northern Wei Dynasty. There are many Buddhist niches and statues in Guyang Cave. Many of these Buddhist niches have inscriptions recording the name of the person who created the statue, the date and reason for the statue. These are precious materials for studying the calligraphy and sculpture art of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Most of the milestones in the history of Chinese calligraphy, the "Twenty Products of Longmen", are concentrated here. "Twenty Pins of Longmen" represents the style of the Wei stele, with its upright and generous fonts and strong momentum. It is the essence of the calligraphy art of Longmen Grottoes stele inscriptions and has always been highly praised by the world.
There is also a prescription cave with 140 prescriptions engraved on it, reflecting the achievements of ancient Chinese medicine. Carving some medicinal prescriptions on stone tablets or caves, which are also found in other places, is an important way for ancient medical achievements to be passed on to later generations.
Longmen Grottoes also retain a large number of physical historical materials in religion, art, calligraphy, music, clothing, medicine, architecture, and Chinese and foreign transportation. Therefore, it is also a large stone carving art museum.
●Cultural heritage value: a "milestone" of Chinese grotto art
The Longmen Grottoes are large-scale and majestic. The statues in the cave are exquisitely carved and rich in content and themes. They are known as the world's most beautiful grottoes. One of the great repositories of classical art. With its own systematic and unique sculpture art language, it reveals various laws and regulations of sculpture art creation. The grotto art before it retained more elements of Gandhara and Mosulua art, while the Longmen Grottoes inherited the Indian grotto art, closely followed the style of the Yungang Grottoes, and was closely related to the advanced and profound Han culture in Luoyang, Wei, Jin, and the Southern Dynasties. It was excavated by the integration of history and culture. Therefore, the sculpture art of Longmen Grottoes has been integrated with the understanding and strong pursuit of the national aesthetic consciousness and form from the beginning, making the grotto art show a trend of Chineseness and secularization, which can be called a "milestone" showing the transformation of Chinese grotto art.
Royal style
Longmen Grottoes is the place where the royal nobles of the Northern Wei and Tang Dynasties gathered the most statues. The royal family had abundant manpower and material resources. The grottoes they excavated must be large-scale and magnificent, and brought together the essence of grotto art at that time. Therefore, the Longmen Grottoes are very representative.
The excavation of these caves is a reflection of the royal will and behavior, and has a strong national religious flavor. Therefore, the rise and fall of the Longmen Grottoes not only reflects the rise and fall of the Chinese royal family's worship of Buddhism and religion from the 5th to the 10th century, but also reflects the rise and fall of China's royal family from the 5th to the 10th century. The significance of some political trends and socio-economic developments in history is unmatched by other grottoes.
Twenty Products of Longmen
The title of "Twenty Products of Longmen" came from the Qing Dynasty. There are inscriptions on Fang's statues, nineteen of which are in Guyang Cave and one in Cixiang Cave. "Twenty Pins of Longmen" is the essence of calligraphy art in the Northern Wei Dynasty. The calligraphy art it displays was developed and evolved on the basis of the official script of the Han Dynasty and the official script of the Jin Dynasty. The fonts are dignified, generous, strong and simple, and have both official script and official script. The style and regular script elements are representative of the "Wei stele" style and have a very high status in the history of the development of Chinese calligraphy art.
China Longmen Grottoes Network: / Kunming Xishan Longmen Grottoes
Located at the end of Xishan Scenic Area in Kunming City, starting from Sanqing Pavilion in the north and reaching Datian Pavilion in the south, it is the largest and most exquisite in Yunnan of Taoist grottoes. "Longmen Scenic Spot" is characterized by "strange, unique, dangerous and secluded". It ranks first among the many scenic spots in the West Mountain of Kunming. It enjoys a high reputation at home and abroad and is a must-see for tourists in Kunming. Therefore, there is a saying that "if you don't visit Xishan, you will not reach Kunming, and if you don't visit Longmen, it will be a wasted trip to Xishan."
Go up the stone steps behind Sanqing Pavilion and Xiaoniu Spring, and you will arrive at the "suddenly enlightened place". This is called "Phoenix Rock". There are two stone chambers carved on Phoenix Rock, one upper and one lower. There is a stone table, and the main wall is inlaid with six poems and steles such as "Farewell Picture of Dianchi Lake" and engraved with colorful phoenix seals, with auspicious clouds lingering and colorful phoenixes flying. The craftsmanship is exquisite and detailed, and the image is beautiful and vivid. There are also cliff stone carvings and couplets inside and outside the stone chamber such as "Sea of ??Clouds", "Stone Forest", "Place of Holding the Sea", "A trail of flying red rain, thousands of forests spreading green shade". During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Taoist priest Wu Qinglai spent 14 years digging through the two sections of stone paths from Sanqing Pavilion to the Stone Chamber, and from the Stone Chamber to the "Ciyun Cave" in order to practice asceticism and facilitate all living beings. He also carved a cave and carved a cave with Guanyin, an incense burner, a Buddhist altar and a statue of a god riding a dragon and a tiger on the rock. There is a couplet that says: "The rock was cut to reveal Putuo, and the five hundred miles of Dianchi Lake were returned to the Buddha Sea; When people reach the other shore, they wish that a thousand holy hands will turn into a kind of sail. ""Looking up and smiling five feet away from the sky, I am standing in the middle of the water." "The clouds outside the cave are rolling, and the sun is passing by in the sea." p>
Go south from Ciyun Cave for about 40 meters along the road on the cliff, and you will arrive at "Dragon Gate". Yang Rulan and Yang Jitai and their sons organized more than 70 households of stone workers to complete Longmen. It took 22 years to complete. The essence of the grotto. There is a cylindrical stone square at the entrance with the word "Dragon Gate" written on it and "Yuanbao" engraved on it. It is said that it can bless people with wealth and good luck, so tourists like to touch it with their hands. There is a small semicircular platform at the entrance protected by a stone railing. Standing on the platform and looking out, you can see the sky wind above and the cliff below. The five-hundred-mile Dianchi Lake is vast with mist and steaming clouds. The lake is dotted with white sails, and gulls are flying and swallows are dancing. In the distance, the green mountains are like white clouds, the white clouds are long, the green trees and white houses, and the fertile fields are as picturesque as poetry, which makes people feel ecstatic. Turning around and looking back at the stone chamber, the top of the main door is engraved with the words "Datian Pavilion", the tops of the side doors on both sides are engraved with the words "famous mountain", "stone chamber" and "Tianlinhaijing". The title of the center pillar has a couplet: When it is difficult to move, you must stand firm; Xiaohan, it is better to have a calm mind.
There is an incense burner carved at the door of the stone chamber for worship. In the middle is the Kuixing, which Taoism respects as the god who governs articles, also called Wenquxing; in the north is the Wenchang Emperor, who is the god of fame and position; in the south is the Guan Shengdijun. (Guan Yu), the god of martial arts who dominates the subjugation of demons. The two walls are engraved with pictures of divine horses galloping, and the ceiling is engraved with auspicious clouds and cranes flying together. A flat peach with blue leaves and red fruits is lifelike. The entire project of Longmen is carefully carved on a piece of natural rock. The ingenious conception and exquisite craftsmanship are breathtaking. But if you look carefully, you will find that the pen tip on Kuixing's hand is installed separately.
According to legend, there was a master who participated in the stone chamber carving project. He had an unfortunate marriage. Later, he participated in the dragon gate carving and worked hard with his partners for more than ten years. When he was finally carving the ink pen in Kuixing's hand, he accidentally cut off the tip of the pen, making the originally perfect pen. A work of art leaves something to be desired. He was so sad that he jumped off the dragon gate. The moving story of his dedication to art has been immortalized along with the grottoes and will be praised by future generations.
In 1984, the relevant departments of Kunming City excavated the Longmen circuitous plank road, built the tour road into a small stone forest, and built Yingxi Pavilion and other buildings on the mountain for people to rest and enjoy the scenery, which not only solved the traffic congestion problem, and has opened up a fresh, beautiful and very charming place for tourists.