Dunhuang Grottoes in Gansu include Mogao Grottoes, West Thousand-Buddha Cave and Yulin Grottoes. Among them, the Mogao Grottoes located 25 kilometers southeast of Dunhuang City, Gansu Province, commonly known as the Thousand Buddha Cave, are the representatives of Dunhuang Grottoes. There are also five wooden structures built in Tang and Song Dynasties.
The Mogao Grottoes are located on the cliff at the eastern foot of Mingsha Mountain, 25 kilometers southeast of Dunhuang City, Gansu Province, with five floors up and down, and the south and north are about 16 meters long. It was first excavated in 366, and after more than ten dynasties from sixteen countries to Yuan Dynasty, a large-scale cave group with rich contents was formed. The art of Mogao Grottoes is a comprehensive art that integrates construction, colored sculpture and mural painting. There are 49 caves, 45, square meters of murals, more than 2,4 colored sculptures, more than 4, flying figures, 5 wooden structures built in Tang and Song Dynasties, and thousands of lotus pillars and floor tiles. It is a vast and exquisite comprehensive art hall composed of construction, painting and sculpture. It is the largest and most preserved treasure house of Buddhist art in the world and is known as the "Pearl of Oriental Art". At the beginning of the 2th century, the Cave for the Collection of Scriptures (the 17th Cave of Mogao Grottoes) was discovered, which contained 5, to 6, pieces of scriptures, documents and cultural relics from the 4th to 1th centuries. It attracted great attention of scholars at home and abroad and formed the famous Dunhuang studies.
murals are the largest and richest part of Dunhuang grottoes art, and the most extensive theme is statue painting, that is, all kinds of buddhas, bodhisattvas and heavenly kings worshipped by people are equal in their statements; Buddhist story painting is a comic book based on various stories in Buddhist scriptures; Classic painting is a large-scale classic painting that rose in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, which comprehensively embodies the whole content of a classic and promotes the imaginary fairy world. Buddhist historical paintings, reflecting the theme of combining Buddhist legends and stories in India, Central Asia and China with historical figures; The portrait of the benefactor, that is, the portrait of the meritorious person who opened the cave to create a statue, is a portrait history.
In the murals of the Mogao Grottoes in different times, there are pictures reflecting some production and labor scenes, social life scenes, clothing and accessories system, ancient architectural modeling, music, dancing and acrobatics at that time, and they also record the historical facts of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, providing valuable information for studying the ancient society of China from the 4th century to the 14th century.
The murals in the Mogao Grottoes also have high artistic value, with the highest level in the Tang Dynasty. The most influential caves for visiting are 96 caves, 17 caves, 13 caves, 158 caves, 259 caves, 285 caves, 2 caves and 428 caves. Western scholars call Dunhuang murals "the library on the wall".
The excavation of the Mogao Grottoes began in 366 AD. According to records, a monk with superb virtue traveled westward with a pole and staff, and when he saw a thousand buddhas shining, he realized something, so he chiseled the first grotto. From the Sixteen Kingdoms to the Yuan Dynasty, the excavation of the grottoes continued for ten dynasties, 15 years. Up to now, the grottoes in Lezun have long been indistinguishable, while the Mogao Grottoes have preserved more than 75 caves in ten dynasties after being eroded by wind and sand, with 45, square meters of murals, more than 3, colored sculptures and five wooden eaves in Tang and Song Dynasties. In addition, there are 4, or 5, handwritten articles found in the Tibetan Sutra Cave, which are dedicated to various cultural relics, including thousands of silk paintings, prints, embroidery and a large number of calligraphy works. If all the works of art are arrayed one by one, it will be a world-class gallery spanning 25 kilometers.
The colored sculptures in the Mogao Grottoes are mostly statues of Buddhist figures and their deeds of practicing nirvana. Because of the loose rock in Mogao grottoes, there is no way to carve, and craftsmen use clay sculptures. Clay sculptures before the Tang Dynasty are rarely preserved in other places, so a large number of colored sculptures in Mogao Grottoes are more valuable and hard to get.
In addition, there are traditional national myths and various decorative patterns. From the murals, we can see all kinds of social activities of all ethnic groups and classes, such as imperial trips, farming, fishing and hunting, iron smelting, weddings and funerals, business trips, emissaries meeting, playing the piano, singing and dancing … There are many things in society.
As a treasure house of art, the Mogao Grottoes are a beautiful landscape where artistic fashions of different times converge. Dunhuang Tang art represents the worst era of Buddhist art in China. Foreign art and China's national art are in perfect harmony, and Dunhuang Tang art is unprecedentedly colorful. The majestic and magnificent great Buddha statue as high as ten meters; A small bodhisattva with a dexterity and exquisiteness of only ten centimeters; Huge changes with grand scenes and dense characters; A single figure painting with vivid image and distinct personality is impressive.
Feitian is a beautiful Bodhisattva who is called the God of Sniffing in Buddhism, and is good at playing and flying, and is covered with different noses. Flying in the Tang Dynasty is more colorful and vivid. She is neither like a Greek angel with wings, nor like an ancient Indian goddess walking on clouds. China artists use long streamers to make their graceful and lithe female bodies fly all over the sky. Flying is a gorgeous image of national art. When Dunhuang is mentioned, people will think of magical flying.
Some social life scenes depicted in Dunhuang murals at that time reflect the production activities and social activities in ancient China, such as hunting, farming, textile, transportation, fighting, music and dancing. All kinds of characters in murals retain a large number of information on the clothes and ornaments of people of all ethnic groups in the past dynasties. A large number of pavilions, pavilions, pagodas, palaces, cities, bridges and five existing wooden eaves in Tang and Song Dynasties painted in murals are image patterns and valuable materials for studying ancient Chinese construction. China's sculpture and painting have a history of thousands of years. Many famous painters' works recorded in the history of art have been lost, and a large number of murals and colored sculptures in Dunhuang art provide rich physical materials for the study of Chinese art history.
The Mogao Grottoes were once abandoned in the Ming Dynasty, and attracted people's attention after the fifty-fourth year of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (AD 1715). In the 26th year of Guangxu (AD 19), Wang Yuanlu, a Taoist priest, discovered the Cave of Scripture Collection, which contained more than 4, pieces of scriptures, documents and cultural relics. Since then, the Mogao Grottoes have become more noticeable. In July, 197 and 1914, Stein in Britain took away more than 1, pieces of suicide notes and cultural relics twice. In 198, pelliot, a Frenchman, selected the best documents from the cave of Tibetan Scriptures and took away about 5, pieces. In 191, most of the looted scriptures in the Tibetan Scripture Cave were transported to Beijing and handed over to the Jingshi Library for collection. In the year of 1*** *, Zuicho Tachibana and Ji Chuan Ichiro took about 6 scrolls from Taoist Wang. In 1914, oldenburg, a Russian, took a batch of scriptures from Dunhuang, surveyed the caves and stole the murals of Cave 263. In 1924, American Werner used a specially made chemical glue to uncover and steal 26 murals of Mogao Grottoes. These thefts and damages have caused great losses to Dunhuang cultural relics.
China has established the academic research and protection institutions of the Mogao Grottoes since the 194s. In the 196s, the grottoes were comprehensively reinforced; Since the 198s, the Mogao Grottoes have entered a period of modern scientific protection. Dunhuang Grottoes Cultural Relics Protection Research and Exhibition Center is the only grotto cultural relics protection research and exhibition institution in China. The exhibition department of the center has a video studio and three exhibition areas, where the essence of Dunhuang grottoes art and the general situation of its development process are displayed, providing a favorable premise for people to fully and deeply understand Dunhuang grottoes and Dunhuang Buddhist art.
The Mogao Caves (English name: Mogao Caves) was selected into the World Heritage List (No.:2-4) in December 1987 according to the World Cultural Heritage Selection Criteria C(I)(II)(III)(IV)(V)(VI).
Evaluation by the World Heritage Committee: Mogao Grottoes is located in a strategic point of the Eurasian Continental Bridge. It is not only a transit point for East-West trade, but also the intersection of religion, culture and knowledge. There are 49 small grottoes and cave temples in Mogao Grottoes, which are famous for their statues and murals, showing the Buddhist art that lasted for thousands of years. Festive topic
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