Mogao Grottoes
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Northwest China (西北) » Gansu (甘肃) » Dunhuang (敦煌) » Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟)Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟) | |
| Address: | Dunhuang, Gansu |
| Phone: | 937-8869008 |
| Price Range: | 80 RMB (November through April) ~ 160 RMB (May through October) |
| Hours: | 8:00am to 6:00pm. Closed on some rainy days. |
| Tourist Rating: |  |
| Short Description: | Also known as "the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas". It's about 25 km south of downtown Dunhuang, in the valley of Daquan. It's about 50 meters high in 5 stories on the cliff of the east side of Mingsha Moutain. It's one of the three grottoes in China. |
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| A Rich Repository of Buddhist Art / Mogao Caves |
[edit] Description
Mogao Grottos (莫高窟) is the largest, best preserved and richest treasure house of Buddhist art in the world. There are about 2,100 colored statues and 45,000 square meters of murals in 492 caves. The caves vary in size, and the colored statues also differ in size, ranging from a few centimeters to 33 meters high, embodying the remarkable imagination of their makers.
Today the murals are still brightly colored, with clear lines after hundreds years of erosion. The pictures of different styles and schools from different historical periods tell Buddhist stories and life in the secular world.
The Mogao Grottos are the best known Buddhist grottoes among the three famous ancient sculptural sites in China (the other two are Longmen Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes).
The grottos were started by a Buddhist monk in 366 AD with a vision to host a thousand Buddhas. Many pilgrims going to and coming from the west stored their scripture collections, and painted murals inside the caves.
[edit] Direction
The grottoes is located at 25 km (or 15.5 miles) southeast of Dunhuang, an oasis city on the Silk Road, in Gansu province.
Dunhuang is about 1140 km from Lanzhou, the biggest city in Gansu. It takes about 14 hours by train from Lanzhou to Dunhuang.
[edit] What to see
Although there were originally about 1000 caves, only thirty main caves are open to the public. The rest are either not in good condition, or not of public interests. The caves are all labeled with numbers above the doors. Visitors will need to take flashlights as the caves are not lit inside to preserve the murals.
The thirty opened caves can be divided into 4 major groups according to the time they were constructed. They are Northern Wei Caves (386-581), Sui Caves (581-618), Tang Caves (618-906), Later Caves (906-c.1360).
- Northern Wei Caves (386-581)
- India-style structure, small in size with a large column in the center. Cave 101, 120N, 135, 257, 428.
- Sui Caves (581-618)
- Extensive use of gold and silver colors; bold Wei brushwork with intricate, flowing lines. Cave 150, 427.
- Tang Caves (618-906)
- With square floors, tapering roofs and worship niches against the back wall. Cave 1, 51E, 70, 96, 139A, 148.
- Later Caves (906-c.1360)
- With central altars. Mural subjects often include Tibetan-style figures and mandalas. Cave 465.
[edit] Flying Fairies
Flying fairies is a symbol of Dunhuang's art.
In almost all the caves of the Mogao Grottoes there are large numbers of Flying fairies flying in all directions with the help of their flowing garments and colorful dancing bands. Some are soaring high up into the clouds, with lotus buds in their hands; some diving from the sky like meteors; some drifting elegantly through high pavilions like dragons; some floating leisurely in the wind, natural and graceful.
Later the postures of Flying fairies were introduced into Chinese dance, giving rise to many outstanding works of dance.
[edit] Artistic Features of the Mogao Grottoes
The artistic features of the Mogao Grottoes lie in the harmonious blending of architecture, sculpture and fresco. The painted sculptures in the cave reflect masterful skills and rich and romantic imaginations; the frescoes have magnificent and infinitely varying compositions of pictures, gaudy and complicated coloring, and dense and smooth lines, emitting extremely strong artistic appeal.
The forms of the grottoes are diversified, including mainly meditation grottoes, grottoes with central pagoda columns, hall-type grottoes, grottoes with Buddhist altars in the center, grottoes with four walls and three niches, grottoes of great statues, and nirvana grottoes, etc.
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