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| The Mogao Grottoes |
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Located on the eastern slope of Rattling Sand Mountain (Mingshashan)
southeast of Dunhuang County in Gansu Province, the Mogao Grottoes
(also known as Thousand Buddha Cave) is one of three noted grottoes
in China and also the largest, best preserved and richest treasure
house of Buddhist art in the world.
In AD 366, during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, a monk named Yue Seng chiseled
the first cave here. The endeavor continued through later dynasties,
including the Northern Wei (386- 534), Western Wei (535-556), Northern
Zhou (557-581), Sui (581-618), Tang (618-907), Five Dynasties (907-960),
Song (960-1279), Western Xia (1038-1227) and Yuan (1279-1368), resulting
in the fantastic group of caves that can been seen today.
Today, 492 caves still stand, containing some 2,100 colored statues
and 45,000 square meters of murals. These murals, if joined together,
would cover a length of 30 kilometers. The caves vary in size. The
smallest one just allows a head's space, while the largest one stretches
from the foot to the top of the mountain, having a height of over
40 meters. The colored statues also differ in size, ranging from a
few centimeters to 33 meters high, embodying the remarkable imagination
of their makers.
Despite years of erosion, the murals are still brightly colored, with
clear lines. Through pictures of different styles and schools drawn
in different historical periods, they tell Buddhist stories and ways
as well as life in the secular world. All these, plus a largest quantity
of Buddhist sutras and relics kept in the caves have provided valuable
material for a study of ancient China's politics, economy, and culture
and arts, as well as its science and technology, military affairs,
and religion, documenting national history as well as cultural exchanges
between China and the world.
In 1987, UNESCO placed the Mogao Grottoes under the protection of
the world cultural heritage list. |
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