Natural creation - the embrace of the Mingsha Mountain and the cliff
The artistic wonders of the Mogao Caves are rooted in a unique natural environment.
The Mingsha Mountain and Dangquan River: The grotto complex is backed by the Mingsha Mountain and faces the Dangquan River (which has now dried up). The dry climate and stable cliff bodies (composed of gravel layers from the Jiuquan system) provide unique conditions for the thousand-year-old preservation of murals and painted sculptures. When visiting, gazing at this vast Gobi Desert and sand dunes, one can truly understand the persistence of the ancestors in creating a Buddhist kingdom here to console their souls.
- Light and Shadow and Climate: The Dunhuang area enjoys intense sunlight and scarce precipitation. The interior of the cave, however, can maintain a relatively constant temperature (about 15℃) throughout the year, providing a micro-protective environment for fragile cultural relics. When visiting, stepping from the scorching outdoors into the shady cave is not only a transformation of physical sensations but also the beginning of a time travel.
Humanistic Craftsmanship - A Symphony of Architecture, painted sculptures and murals
The Mogao Caves are a comprehensive art form integrating architecture, painted sculptures and murals. Each cave is a museum of its own system.
Cave architecture: The combination of function and aesthetics
The forms of caves have evolved with The Times and their functions. The early Zen grottoes (for monks to meditate and practice) and the central pagoda pillar grottoes (for believers to circle around the pagoda and view images), influenced by India, gradually became Sinicized into the inverted Dou Ding hall grottoes (resembling an upside-down conical hat, which was the mainstream form after the Sui and Tang Dynasties), as well as the Buddha altar grottoes with built-in Buddha altars that allowed believers to circle around and worship. The largest caves, Cave 96 (a nine-story building) and Cave 130, are large statue caves. Inside, there are giant Buddha statues, and outside the caves, there are magnificent wooden eaves for protection.
- Colored sculpture art: The eternal life of clay and wood
The painted sculptures of the Mogao Caves are the main body of grotto art. From the slender Buddha statues with a Gandhara style in the early days to the precisely proportioned, elegant and luxurious Bodhisattvas and heavenly Kings of the Tang Dynasty that exuded a human touch, a clear thread of the Sinicization of art has been presented. Don't miss the following:
Cave 96, "The Great Buddha Statue" : Standing at 35.5 meters tall, it is one of the largest indoor clay Buddha statues in the country, imposing and majestic.
The Nirvana Statue in Cave 158: A relying Buddha of the Middle Tang Dynasty, measuring 15.8 meters in length, with a serene and peaceful expression, is a masterpiece depicting the "Nirvana" state of the Buddha.
Cave 45 Bodhisattva Statue: A representative work of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. The Bodhisattva's posture is in an elegant "S" shape, with a smile on her face and plump skin. She is hailed as the "Venus of the East".
- Mural Corridor: An encyclopedia on the wall
The 45,000-square-meter murals form a vast visual library. Its content can be divided into seven major categories, among which three highlights are the most attractive:
1. The solemn and exquisite "portrait painting" and the graceful and dynamic "Flying Apsaras" : The flying Apsaras are not deities but the gods in charge of music and flower distribution in the Buddhist world. The flying apsaras of different dynasties, ranging from the clumsy and heavy ones in the early days to the light and graceful ones in the Tang Dynasty, with their dress ribbons seemingly dancing and fluttering to the music, are the most touching artistic symbols of Dunhuang.
2. The "Original Life Story Paintings" and "Sutra Transformation Paintings" with rich plots: For instance, in Cave 257, "The Original Life of the Nine-Colored Deer King" tells the story of the deer king saving people and human greed. In the painting, the nine-colored deer holds its head high and chest out, neither humble nor arrogant. The "Sutra Transformation paintings" transform profound Buddhist scriptures into grand scenes, such as the "Eastern Sutra Transformation of the Medicine Buddha" and the "Western Pure Land Transformation" in Cave 220. With pavilions, terraces, and singing and dancing, they depict a magnificent and splendid Buddhist world.
3. Vivid and realistic "secular life paintings" : Murals are not only fantasies of the Buddhist kingdom but also mirrors of ancient society. The rain-drenched farming scene in Cave 23, the topographic map of Wutai Mountain in Cave 61, the wedding scene, and the scene of the school physically punishing the student, etc., vividly record the thousand-year history of customs from productive labor to weddings, funerals, and other ceremonies.
- The Cave of the Thousand Buddhas (Cave 17) : A Century of Joys and sorrows of a nation
This small cave, which is only a few cubic meters in size, was once the studio of the eminent monk Hong Bian. After being sealed up in the 11th century, it unexpectedly preserved over 50,000 documents and silk paintings from the 4th to the 11th century AD. Its content is all-encompassing, including not only Buddhist scriptures but also Taoist classics, Nestorianism documents, government archives, folk contracts (even a divorce agreement called "Divorce Letter"), land deeds and account books, etc. It is hailed as the "encyclopedia of the Middle Ages". Its discovery and dispersion marked the beginning of the sad history of modern Chinese academia and directly gave rise to the internationally renowned discipline - "Dunhuang Studies".
Photography and Visiting Tips:
Photography is strictly prohibited inside the cave (flashlights can cause irreversible damage to the thousand-year-old pigments). Please record with your eyes and heart.
From the outside, one can capture the magnificent appearance of the nine-story building, the sense of vicissitude of the cliffside plank road, and the ancient-style buildings within the scenic area.
It is recommended to visit the Dunhuang Grottoes Cultural Relics Protection and Research Exhibition Center to view eight 1:1 replicas of the best caves. Photography is allowed here, making it a great place to make up for any regrets.
