The Longmen Grottoes are one of the three largest grottoes in my country, located 12 kilometers south of Luoyang. There is a Yi River here, with Xiangshan and Longmen Mountains on both sides of the river. For more than 400 years from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the late Tang Dynasty, ancient craftsmen dug caves and built temples on these two mountains, making this place a world-famous treasure house of stone carving art. The Longmen Grottoes are 1 kilometer long from north to south and contain more than 97,000 Buddha statues and more than 1,300 grottoes. There are more than 3,600 inscriptions and inscriptions. Fengxian Temple is the largest cave in the Longmen Grottoes, with a length of 30 meters and a width of 30 meters. What is extraordinary about Fengxian Temple is the huge statue of Lushena in the middle. It is really an exquisite artistic masterpiece. The total height of the Lushena Buddha statue is 17.14 meters, the head height is 4 meters, and the ear length is 1.9 meters. According to Buddhist scriptures, Lushana means that light shines all over. This Buddha statue has a plump face and beautiful eyes, the corners of its mouth are slightly raised in a smile, and its head is slightly lowered. When looking down, it looks like a wise and kind middle-aged woman, which makes people respect but not fear. Some people commented that when making this Buddha statue, noble sentiments, rich emotions, broad mind and elegant appearance were perfectly combined. Therefore, she has great artistic charm. The entire sculpture group of Fengxian Temple is a perfect artistic whole. Next to the Lucena Buddha are statues of his disciples Ananda, Kassapa, Bodhisattva Bodhisattva, Hercules, and the King of Heaven. Some of these statues are kind and some are pious. Looking at the statues of the King of Heaven and the Hercules on the side, they have ferocious and aggressive faces, which make the main statues more prominent. Another famous cave in Longmen Grottoes is Binyang Cave. 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 image is Sakyamuni, with a high nose, big eyes, and an elegant posture. It is a masterpiece of stone carving art in the mid-Northern Wei Dynasty. There were originally two large-scale reliefs in the cave, "The Emperor's Worshiping the Buddha" and "The Queen Mother's Worshiping the Buddha". The pictures were centered on Emperor Xiaowen of Wei and the Empress Dowager Wenming, clustered in front and behind, forming a procession of worshiping Buddhas. The composition is exquisite, the carvings are meticulous, and they are of great artistic value. Very high, it is a picture reflecting the life of the emperor at that time. Ke Yi was smuggled to the United States by Americans in collusion with Chinese profiteers before liberation, and is now stored in the Nelson Museum of Art in Kansas City and the New York City Museum of Art. Guyang Cave is also very famous. There are rich inscriptions on statues here, and most of the twelve famous Longmen products are concentrated here. Kang Youwei, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, praised the beauty of calligraphy here as: strong courage, vigorous atmosphere, leaping brushwork, thick stipples, strange and elegant moods, flying spirits, penetrating bones, natural structure, and rich flesh and blood. 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.
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