Longmen Grottoes

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Central China (华中) » Henan (河南) » Luoyang (洛阳) » Longmen Grottoes (龙门石窟)

Longmen Grottoes (龙门石窟)
Address:	Longmen Town, Longmen District, Luoyang City, Henan Province., Luoyang, Henan
Phone:	0379-65980502
Web site:	http://www.longmen.com
Hours:	7：30-18：30( spring, summer, autumn) 7：30-17：30 ( winter)
Level:	AAAAA
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[edit] Description

Overlooking Yi River (伊河) and sandwiched between Mount Xiang (香山) to the east and Mount Longmen (龙门山) to the west, the Longmen Grottoes are located 12km to south of Luoyang. The grottoes covers a distance of one km from north to south. The grottoes acquired its original name of Yi Que (伊阙) (que means a pair of column-like structures serving as the entrance of some Chinese buildings), because it's located on the cliffs of two high hills, separated by the Yi River. Most of the caves are to the west side of the river.

Longmen Grottoes hosts numerous such historical relics as art, music, religion, calligraphy, medicine, costume and architecture. The whole complex of grottoes boasts 1352 caves, more than 100,000 statues, 40 pagodas and 3600 Buddhist inscription tablets. The peaceful Yi River meanders its way through the south of Luoyang, cutting through steep cliffs on both sides where thousands of Buddhist statues stand and peer out of the cliff side.

The carving of the grottoes began in the 5th century when the Wei dynasty moved its capital from Datong (where they created the famous Yungang Grotto) to Luoyang. During that time, Chinese Buddhism was reaching its first peak, and the emperors were pious believers. Carving continued after the Wei dynasty and the Tang Dynasty witnessed the second peak of Buddhist belief. More than half of the works seen today date back to this period. Longman Grottoes enjoys such reputation as the "Imperrial Caves", and has received unparalleled attention and patronage from the emperor and nobility. It is listed under United Nations' World Heritage because of its cultural, historical, artistic and religious values. Sadly, many of the Buddha statues were defaced by some alleged statue collectors.

Longmen Grottoes, Yungang Caves and Mogao Caves are regarded as the three most famous treasure houses of stone inscriptions in China. The grottoes and niches of Longmen contain the largest and most impressive collection of Chinese art of the late Northern Wei and Tang Dynasties (316-907). These works, entirely devoted to the Buddhist religion, represent the high point of Chinese stone carving. The sculptures of the Longmen Grottoes are an outstanding manifestation of human artistic creativity. The Longmen Grottoes illustrate the perfection of a long-established art form which was to play a highly significant role in the cultural evolution of this region of Asia. The high cultural level and sophisticated society of Tang Dynasty China is encapsulated in the exceptional stone carvings of the Longmen Grottoes.

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