Dunhuang Murals · Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties (1)

Author: Sun Peisong
Compiler/Origin:
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1998-07-01
Features: The Dunhuang Grottoes, primarily the Mogao Caves and the Yulin Caves in Anxi, also include the Western Qianning Caves, the Eastern Qianning Caves in Anxi, and the Shuibe Cave. The Mogao and Yulin Caves are listed as national key cultural heritage sites by the State Council, and the Mogao Caves have been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Dunhuang Grottoes were established during the Sixteen Kingdoms period and have been continuously constructed through the Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Western Xia, and Yuan dynasties. Today, they preserve over 500 grottoes, more than 3,000 painted sculptures, over 50,000 square meters of murals, as well as tens of thousands of Dunhuang manuscripts and paper, silk, and brocade paintings unearthed from the caves. They are regarded by academia as an unparalleled treasure trove of Buddhist cave art in the world. The Dunhuang Grottoes are the product of religious activities by Buddhist followers and served as venues for such activities. The excavation of these caves was the fruit of ancient laborers' sweat, while their painted sculptures and murals are the crystallization of artistic creation by ancient craftsmen and painters. The Dunhuang Grottoes are carved into mountain rock, with some featuring cave eaves and trestle bridges as part of their construction. The interiors boast a variety of sculptures and magnificent murals. The-structured caves serve as carriers of Buddhist cave art, with cave types ranging from single-chamber to front-and-back-chamber, central pillar-style, and apse-style, among others. The painted sculptures are idols worshipped by Buddhist followers as the Buddha Shakyamuni and other deities. From a religious perspective, they are the core of Buddhist cave art, but their content is relatively simple and their layout fixed. Murals serve as illustrations of Buddhist doctrines, complementing the core, with diverse content, layout, and vast areas, featuring grand-scale paintings. The profound depth of Dunhuang cave art is primarily reflected in its murals. The themes of Dunhuang murals mainly include portraits of the Buddha, Bodhisattvas, disciples, and heavenly kings, narrative paintings depicting Buddhist stories such as the Life of the Buddha, Jataka tales, and causal connections, Buddhist transformation paintings based on scriptures, historical paintings of auspicious images, eminent monks, and the spread of Buddhism, portraits of donors who funded cave construction and sculptures, as well as various decorative patterns for caves, sculptures, and murals. The architecture, painted sculptures, and murals of the Dunhuang Grottoes each exhibit unique characteristics of their respective eras, with the artistic styles of the sculptures and murals being particularly distinct. The cave architecture and the images of the Buddha, disciples, Bodhisattvas, and heavenly kings, as well as their layout, are designed according to Buddhist rituals. Murals are artistic illustrations of Buddhist doctrines, rooted in the realities of ancient social life and cultural and artistic soil. Although the Dunhuang Grottoes exhibit local artistic styles, they are also the result of the fusion of Chinese and Western cultures, Han Chinese culture, and other ethnic cultures, making them a crystallization of multicultural integration. Therefore, the Dunhuang Grottoes directly reflect the millennium-long gap in Chinese art history from the 4th to the 14th centuries, vividly showcasing the artistic characteristics of each era from the Sixteen Kingdoms, Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Western Xia, and Yuan, as well as the integration, inheritance, and evolution of Buddhist aesthetic thought and traditional Chinese aesthetic thought. Especially the richly illustrated murals serve as visual records of ancient religion (particularly Buddhism), culture, politics, ideology, economy, ethnicity, transportation, science and technology, architecture, utensils, clothing, music, dance, sports, military affairs, folk customs, and production. The multidisciplinary value and cognitive significance of these visual materials are unparalleled, earning them the reputation of a "museum on the wall." Today, the historical value of everything in the Dunhuang Grottoes has far surpassed their religious significance, a fact unforeseen by their original creators. The discovery of the Mogao Caves' Cave of Manuscripts in 1900 unearthed tens of thousands of Dunhuang manuscripts and paper, silk, and brocade paintings, causing a sensation both domestically and internationally. This gave rise to a new and prominent field of study—Dunhuang Studies—and Dunhuang gained worldwide fame as scholars, experts, and visitors from around the world flocked to explore it. The series "Masterpieces of Dunhuang Cave Art" is compiled and published in chronological order, divided into two major categories: murals and sculptures, with a total of 8 volumes for now. This is an attempt at popularizing the essence of Dunhuang art. The Dunhuang Grottoes are a precious cultural heritage of humanity. The publication of this popularized edition of "Masterpieces of Dunhuang Cave Art" contributes to promoting outstanding national culture and inheriting the fine traditions of Dunhuang art. I believe this series will be well-received by a broad readership and praised by academia. June 30, 1998, at the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang.