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| Longmen Grottoes |
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The Longmen Grottoes, located near Luoyang, Henan Province, are a
treasure house of ancient Buddhist cave art. The grottos were hewed
and carved during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), when the rulers
relocated their capital at Luoyang near the end of the 5th century.
At that time Buddhism was spreading east into China and was venerated
by the imperial court. The Buddhists adopted the practice of carving
rock temples, dedicated to the Buddha.
The construction of the Longmen Grottoes began in 493 during the reign
of Emperor Xiaowen and continued through the successive six dynasties,
including Tang and Song, for a span of over 400 years. Altogether
there are 1,352 caves, 785 niches, more than 97,000 statues of the
Buddha, Bodhisativas, and Arhats, and 3,680 inscribed stone tablets
along the 1-km-long cliff of Mt. Longmen on the west and Mt. Xiangshan
on the east of the Yihe River south of Luoyang.
One third of these cave sculptures belong to the Northern Wei Dynasty
and two thirds to the Tang Dynasty. The style of sculpture, the design
of clothing and the facial expression on statues, as well as carving
methods show little foreign influence, rather they exhibit the pinnacle
of development of Chinese grotto art. The 11 Buddha statues in the
Binyang Cave, typical Northern Wei carvings, represent a style in
transition from the simple and compact depictions in the Yungang Grottoes
of Datong, Shanxi Province, to the vigorous and realistic Tang Dynasty
sculptures.
While the cave sculptures of the Tang Dynasty are of a vigorous, elegant
and realistic style, the stone statues in Fengxian Cave, carved under
the edict of Empress Wuzetian (reigned 690-705), can be considered
as the most typical of the period. These are composed of a 17.14-meter-high
statue of Vairocana Buddha, and a series of pairs of Bodhisattvas,
heavenly kings, protectors and worshippers. The huge statue of Vairocana
Buddha is today praised as being the quintessence of Buddhist sculpture
in China.
On November 30, 2000, the Longmen Grottoes were approved by the
24th UN Heritage Commission to be put on the List of World Cultural
Heritage. |
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