Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes is a national key cultural relics protection unit, a patriotic education base, and a world cultural heritage.
Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes is the collective name of Mogao Grottoes and West Thousand Buddha Caves in Dunhuang City, Gansu Province. It is one of the four famous grottoes in China and the largest and best-preserved Buddhist art treasure in the world.
The Mogao Grottoes are located 25 kilometers southeast of Dunhuang City and excavated on the cliff at the eastern foot of Mingsha. In the second year of Qin Fujian's Jianyuan period (AD 366), there were Shamen Le Venerables who came here to see the golden light on the Mingsha Mountain and there were thousands of Buddhas. , Known as Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, commonly known as Qianfo Cave.
The art of Chinese grotto originated in India. The traditional grotto statues in India are mainly stone carvings, while the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes are not suitable for carving because of the rock quality, so the statues are mainly based on clay sculptures. The whole cave is generally round in front, then gradually faded into high plastic, shadow plastic, and wall plastic. Finally, with the mural as the background, the two arts of plastic and painting are integrated. Mogao Grottoes had more than 1,000 caves in Tang Dynasty. There are 492 caves in existence, including 32 caves in Wei, 110 caves in Sui, 247 caves in Tang, 36 caves in Wudai, 45 caves in Song, and 8 caves in Yuan.
In the Northern Dynasties, the main statues in the caves were usually Sakyamuni or Maitreya, and the main statues were flanked by two threatened bodhisattvas or one Buddha, two disciples, and two bodhisattvas. The back of the statue is mostly connected to the mural. The top and four walls of the cave are full of painted murals. Most of the top and upper part are Tiangong music. The lower part is a yaksha or decorative pattern. In addition to the Thousand Buddhas, the murals in the central part mainly draw the stories of Buddhism, Bunsen and karma. Among the stories of this life are cutting meat for pigeons, feeding tigers to the whole body, and Jiulu deer to save oneself, etc.
During the heyday of the Mogao Grottoes in the Tang Dynasty, the style of the 100 caves in the Sui Dynasty was changed from the central tower of the Northern Dynasty to the central Buddhist altar. A combination of one Buddha, two disciples, two kings, or two luxuries appears in Tang. The statue was also shaped by the early "slim bones" to return to the "rich and strong" appearance. The murals in the caves are mainly the illustrations of the big scenes and the simple warped pictures. The largest statues of Mogao Grottoes were all sculpted in the Tang Dynasty, and the big Buddha in Cave 96 is the largest statue in Mogao Grottoes. The murals of the Tang Dynasty are a variety of warped pictures, the scale of which is extremely magnificent, showing the magnificent picture of heaven. The statues of the grottoes had lost their vitality during the fifth dynasty, and the Song Dynasty began to decline.
