Chapter 6 Section 6 Art Treasure House Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, Yungang Grottoes and Longmen Grottoes

There are many types of Buddhist architecture, and caves are one of the oldest forms, known in India as "cave temples".The grottoes were originally the residences of Buddhist monks, and later gradually developed into Buddhist temples.The general grotto temple is to excavate the rock to form a rectangular cave, with doors and windows at the entrance.In the middle of the grotto is the place where monks gather, and on both sides are houses. Later, it developed into two forms: "Worship Cave" and "Zen Cave". The "Worship Cave" is a sculpture of Buddha statues for people to look up and worship; the "Zen Cave" is mainly for monks to practice meditation.From the 4th century to the 8th century AD, places such as Kuqa in Xinjiang, Dunhuang in Gansu, Yungang in Shanxi, Longmen in Henan, and Xiangtangshan in the south and north of Hebei first absorbed the plastic arts of Indian grottoes and built large-scale grotto temples.

Today, Kuqa and Gaochang in Xinjiang, Dunhuang, Yongjing, and Tianshui in Gansu, Yungang in Datong, Shanxi, Tianlong Mountain in Taiyuan, Longmen in Luoyang, Henan, Xiangtang Mountains in the South and North of Handan, Hebei, and Qianlong Mountain in Jinan, Shandong. Foya, Qixia Mountain in Nanjing, Jiangsu, Feilai Peak in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Guangyuan in Sichuan, Dazu to Jianchuan in Yunnan, there are a series of grotto temples distributed in various scenic spots, embellishing our splendid rivers and mountains more majestic and magnificent .Among them, Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, Yungang Grottoes in Datong and Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang are universally recognized art treasure houses.

Mogao Grottoes is located at the east foot of Mingsha Mountain, 25 kilometers southeast of Dunhuang, Gansu Province. It was built in the second year of Jianyuan (AD 366) of the former Qin Dynasty. one.From the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties for more than 1,000 years, people have excavated more than 1,000 caves, so Mogao Grottoes are also called Thousand Buddha Caves.At the beginning, there were wooden eaves corridors in front of each cave, and winding plank roads were erected between the eaves corridors to communicate with each other.From a distance, the Mogao Grottoes look like a group of splendid and majestic palaces.

There are 492 caves in the Northern Wei Dynasty, Western Wei Dynasty, Northern Zhou Dynasty, Sui Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, Five Dynasties, Song Dynasty, Xixia Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty, with more than 45000 square meters of murals, 2415 painted sculptures, five wooden structures in Tang and Song Dynasties, lotus pillars and pavements. With thousands of tiles, it is a comprehensive art treasure house integrating architecture, painting, sculpture and other arts. Because Dunhuang is located in the conglomerate zone, the rocks are relatively loose and not suitable for carving. Therefore, the main artistic creations of Mogao Grottoes are clay colored sculptures and colored murals, and the sculptures and murals are integrated.Sometimes, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, disciples, and heavenly kings use clay sculptures to paint murals, such as Tianlong Babu and Flying Dragon Girl;The two arts are used alternately and complement each other.The colored sculptures in Mogao Grottoes are mainly statues of Buddha, Bodhisattva, disciples, heavenly kings, and warriors.Among them, the tallest "Peking University Statue" is 33 meters high, sculpted in the era of Wu Zetian in Tang Dynasty, with extraordinary momentum; the smallest one is only more than 10 centimeters high, delicate and delicate.These statues are in various poses and with different expressions, with their own characteristics in costumes, movements and expressions of the characters, and a variety of expressive techniques, reflecting the artistic styles of different eras.There are a large number of colored murals in Mogao Grottoes, which are drawn from a wide range of materials. In addition to paintings of statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, paintings of Buddhist stories, paintings of Buddhist historical sites, paintings of scriptures, paintings of donors, paintings of flying dragon girls, and paintings of decorative patterns, there are also Ghosts and ghosts, which represent folklore, etc., reflect from the side the production process, labor hardships, social customs, ethnic relations, the status of people from all walks of life, as well as the architecture, costumes, music, dances and other aspects of different periods.The creation peaks of Mogao Grottoes were during the Northern Dynasties and the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The artistic remains here provide us with a vivid historical picture scroll for understanding the society at that time.

In 1900, another cave with extremely rich collections of scriptures was discovered in Cave 16 of Mogao Grottoes.The cave door is only one meter above the ground, like a cave that was closed before it was completed.Scholars have researched that it is most likely that the Mogao Grottoes were closed before the monks fled when the Xixia people conquered Dunhuang in the early 11th century, and the monks never returned after that. 900 years later, this cave was accidentally discovered by a Taoist priest, which soon caused a sensation in the world.There are a large number of scriptures, documents, embroidery and portraits in the cave, and there are more than 50,000 cultural relics in total.In addition to Chinese manuscripts, there are 1/6 manuscripts in Tibetan, Sanskrit, ancient Khotan, Uyghur and other ethnic languages, as well as hundreds of works of art such as silk paintings and embroidery.In addition to the classics of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, there are also cultural relics and books of nearly 10 dynasties from the 4th to the 14th centuries, including historical books, poems, novels, folk literature, topography, household registration, account books, almanacs, deeds, Letters, petitions, etc.This is a major event that shocked Chinese and foreign academic circles in Dunhuang in this century.These historical relics and art treasures have been stolen in large numbers by the British Stein and the French Pelliot.After the opening of the Buddhist scripture cave, more and more people study Dunhuang, and Dunhuang studies have already become an international specialized knowledge.

The Yungang Grottoes are located at the west foot of Wuzhou Mountain, 16 kilometers west of Datong, Shanxi.The mountains here are stacked and stretched like clouds, so it is also called "Yungang".The grottoes are built close to the mountain, and are densely covered on the one-kilometer-long cliff.There are 53 large and medium-sized grottoes from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Liao and Jin Dynasties. Together with the small grottoes, there are a total of more than 1,100 grottoes. About 50,000 Buddha statues, flying apsaras and supporters have been carved, as well as many birds and animals, towers, pagodas, trees, flowers and plants. pattern.Some of the stone Buddhas are tall and burly, some are solemn, and some are serene. They are one of the most majestic grottoes in my country.

The Yungang Grottoes were excavated in the early Northern Wei Dynasty.After Tuoba Jun (Jun), Emperor Wencheng of the Northern Wei Dynasty came to the throne, he changed his policy of destroying Buddhism by Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, ordered the restoration of Buddhism, and invited the famous monk Tan Yao to Beijing to carry out a series of religious dissemination activities.Wuzhou Mountain is located near Pingcheng, the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty (northeast of today's Datong City), and it is also a sacred mountain for the emperor to pray for blessings. Therefore, Emperor Wencheng ordered Tan Yao to preside over the construction of the grottoes here.The first batch of five caves were excavated, and each cave was carved with a Buddha statue as high as 60 to 70 feet according to the image of Emperor Wencheng and the four previous emperors.These earliest grottoes in Yungang are called "Tanyao Five Caves", which are now numbered as Caves 16-20.The main statue of Cave 16 is Emperor Wencheng.There are black moles on Emperor Wencheng's face and feet, and the statue is also embedded with black stones on the corresponding parts, just like the body of an emperor.Cave 20 is a representative work of Tanyao Five Caves, and also a representative work of Yungang Grottoes sculpture art.The whole cave imitates an Indian thatched cottage, with a horseshoe-shaped plane and a dome.The main Buddha statue is 13.7 meters high, with a majestic shape, a round and plump face, a high straight nose bridge, slender eyebrows, thin lips with a mustache, broad shoulders, and a strong physique, which has the physical characteristics of the Xianbei people in the north.The statues have fully absorbed the essence of Indian Buddhist art on the basis of inheriting the brick shadow pattern technique of the portraits of the Han Dynasty.

After Emperor Wencheng of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the scale of Yungang Grottoes continued to expand, and there were more and more Buddha statues.The fifth cave, which is now numbered, became the center of the entire Yungang Grottoes at that time.The huge stone Buddha in the fifth cave is about 18.3 meters high, the feet are 4.7 meters long, and the middle finger of the hand is 2.3 meters long.There are many Buddha statues lined up on both sides of the Buddha, surrounded by flying stars and supporters. After Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved his capital to Luoyang, people began to dig grottoes on the west bank of Yishui River, 13 kilometers south of Luoyang, following the model of Yungang Grottoes.This process continued until the Song Dynasty, and the grottoes also extended beyond the west bank of Yishui River and spread across the river to the cliffs on the east bank, forming a huge group of grotto temples, which is the Longmen Grottoes.Here, Longmen Mountain and Xiangshan Mountain are "two mountains facing each other, looking like a que", so they are also called "Yique".There are more than 2,100 niches and more than 100,000 statues in the Longmen Grottoes, most of which were carved in the Tang Dynasty. It can be said that Longmen is the center of the cave temple in the Tang Dynasty.The Buddha statues in Longmen Grottoes are deeply influenced by the plastic arts at that time. They have high noses, long eyes, thick lips, plump cheeks, broad shoulders, dignified body, beautiful and elegant clothing, and smooth and sharp folds.There are many inscriptions in the Longmen Grottoes, among which the famous "Twenty Classes of Longmen" is a masterpiece of Wei Bei calligraphy.

The largest cliff Buddhist niche in the Longmen Grottoes is the Fengxian Temple Grotto, which was excavated in the period of Wu Zetian.The shrine is 36 meters wide from north to south and 40 meters deep from east to west. Nine giant statues of Buddha, Bodhisattva, disciples, heavenly kings and strong men are carved on the cliff face.The statue of Lord Buddha Lushena is 17.14 meters high, sitting in the middle of the body (fu skin), with his head slightly tilted forward, his majestic body, condescending, and daunting.However, due to the broad and full forehead of the statue, the intelligent eyes looking down, and the smile on the face, people feel that the Buddha is the embodiment of wisdom, full of kindness and kindness.Therefore, some people think that Lushena Buddha is the incarnation of Wu Zetian.The layout of the whole niche is distinct, with both form and spirit.The heavenly kings and warriors on the left and right sides of the main image are mighty and majestic, in stark contrast to the dignified kindness of the main Buddha on the front, the piety of the disciples and the tranquility of the Bodhisattva.These carvings are highly skilled and can be called the fine works of stone carving art in the Tang Dynasty.

The sculptures and murals of the Grotto Temple are treasures created by ancient Chinese artists who closely combined traditional art and foreign influences, and have a unique artistic style.Most of the sculptures and paintings are based on Buddhist stories, but there are also scenes that reflect the real life of human beings in various eras, which are valuable materials for studying ancient Chinese history.During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the excavation of the Grotto Temple came to an end.After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the development of the commodity economy, the urban economy became more prosperous, and a large number of urban temples emerged, while the excavation of cave temples in remote mountainous areas gradually came to an end. Before 1949, the imperialists coveted the exquisite sculptures and murals of Chinese cave temples. They chiseled Buddha heads, scraped murals, and smuggled them out of the country, greatly destroying these precious heritages, which is very distressing.