On the whole, China’s history is overwhelming. When you realize that the artifacts you are looking at are nearly two thousand years old, your head can start to spin a little. And by artifact I don’t just mean a little glimpse at life past – a knife, a bowl – I mean entire buildings. Entire cities and civilizations. Take a look at the UNESCO website, it really puts it in perspective just how much history is contained in that place. You realize not only that China is old, but also that it is huge.
Now that I’m back in Canada I find myself reminiscing a lot about the places I saw, the people I experienced. What little we have of ancient history here, in Canada, is barely acknowledged and our more modern history is often a source of contention; being somewhere that is lauded for being ancient is a unique experience. Somehow, without really setting out to do so, I managed to make it to all three grottoes that are considered to be the China’s (or the world’s) most supreme examples of ancient Buddhist cave art. Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, Yungang Grottoes in Datong and Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang.
Mogao Caves
In addition to being the oldest, Mogao Caves are also the most unique of the three grottoes. The primary reason for this is the prime real estate that they occupy on the Silk Road. This means that the art in the caves is a unique amalgamation of not only Han Chinese and the associated Buddhist traditions, but also the arts of Turkey, Tibet and other Chinese ethnic minorities (many westerners don’t realize that China has 56 distinct ethnic minorities). Also, Dunhuang (the town nearby) was a cosmopolitan centre that would often be cut off for months at a time from other parts of the Middle Empire and people from across Asia would end up mingling here. Devotees of many different religions could be found here. Due to this, the construction of these Buddhist caves began in 366 AD even though Buddhism wasn’t to be recognized by the state for another 78 years! The majority of construction actually occurred between the 5th and 14th centuries. In total today 492 caves are being preserved – a big job considering that most of the art at Mogao is painted, not carved. There are more than 45,000 square metres of murals and 2,000 painted sculptures requiring regular TLC! (The paint must always look, “So fresh!”) Also cool is the fact that in 1990 the Library Cave was discovered. The manuscripts and relics it contained are considered to be the world’s greatest discovery of ancient Oriental culture.
Yungang Grottoes
Datong, the town nearest the Yungang Grottoes, was the capital during the Northern Wei Dynasty. And as is typical for political, economic and cultural centres, your city needs to have something to show for itself. Thus, in 460 AD (with a hefty stack of government funds in hand) the monk Tan Yao began the work of carving the Five Caves (the central component to these grottoes). The majority of the work on the caves was finished by 525, but some low ranking officials and monks clung to the idea and continued digging and carving for years to come. Later on during the Liao dynasty some wooden fronts were constructed on some of the caves, turing them into temples, which were later destroyed during war. In total the caves stretch for 1 km east to west. There are 252 caves containing 51,000 statues. The largest of the the caves are U-shaped containing enough space to house a 13-15m tall sculpture. And unlike Mogao, here the 1000-Buddha motif on the outer walls is carved rather than painted. That’s right, 1000 tiny hand-carved Buddhas adorn the walls of each of the larger caves!
Longmen Grottoes
Longmen are the most recent of the three grottoes. Work on these caves began in 493 AD when the Emperor decided to move the capital to Luoyang. (Yup, that’s right, the government put all this money into developing an amazing attraction for their capital city -Datong- and then they went and moved their capital just a few decades later!) Unlike the other two grottoes, the construction of this one took place over 4 centuries. Though most of the work was done during the late 5th century to the mid-8th century. The setting for this one is particularly beautiful. It occupies a 1 km stretch along the Yi River and over the years, caves ended up being carved on both the east and west banks. There are 2,345 caves and niches carved. They contain 110,000 Buddhist stone statues, more than 60 stupas and 2,800 inscriptions carved on steles. (In case you didn’t notice, that’s a lot!)
If you’re looking for travel destinations, I highly recommend any of the three. My favourite though was the Mogao caves, I’m not entirely sure why, but I think it had something to do with the fact that each of the caves had a tiny little door. An entire hillside of tiny doors in the sandstone.
[All facts are sourced from the UNESCO website.]
The Great Gallivant 