(Chinese Grotto Art Series) Dunhuang Grottoes

Author: Sun Zhijiang et al. Photography
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-02-01
Features: This album is one of the albums on Chinese cave art. The photographer has used a series of exquisite photographs to authentically recreate this most magnificent group of cave art. It consists of Dunhuang—the pearl of the Silk Road, a treasure trove of historical, cultural, and artistic heritage—murals and sculptures (comprising Mogao, West Thousand Buddhas Cave, and Yulin Cave, with each photograph introducing the location, era, and brief description, enabling readers to deeply understand the immense charm of the caves during their visit). Dunhuang is located in the Gobi Desert at the eastern edge of the Taklamakan Desert in the western end of the Hexi Corridor in northwestern Gansu, China, an oasis irrigated by snowmelt from the Qilian Mountains. The Hexi Corridor is a key route of the ancient Silk Road, and Dunhuang serves as the gateway to the western end of this route. The name Dunhuang originated in the Han Dynasty, meaning: "Dun, great; Huang, prosperous." In the second century BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian as an envoy to the Western Regions, opening the famous trade route to the West—the Silk Road. In 111 AD, the Dunhuang Commandery was established. From then on, Dunhuang gradually became a vital hub on the ancient Silk Road. Historians refer to it as the general hub of the Silk Road. Chinese culture and products, especially silk, were transmitted from here to Central Asia and Europe, while foreign culture, goods, and products, especially Indian Buddhism, were introduced to the Central Plains from here. Buddhism excels at using artistic imagery to propagate and explain the teachings of the Buddha. After blending with the traditional culture of the Chinese nation, it left behind numerous cave cultures along the Silk Road. Among them, the Dunhuang Caves, represented by the Mogao Caves, are historically significant, rich in content, vast in scale, and well-preserved. The Mogao Caves (commonly known as the Thousand Buddhas Caves) were established in 366 AD and underwent expansions and renovations during the Northern Liang, Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Uyghur, Western Xia, and Yuan dynasties and local regimes over more than ten historical periods, forming a magnificent cave complex. There are currently 492 caves, over 2,000 painted sculptures, and more than 45,000 square meters of murals. Among them, the murals are the most abundant. Themes such as portrait paintings, Buddhist scripture stories, Buddhist transformation paintings, Buddhist historical paintings, traditional mythological paintings, donor paintings, and various decorative patterns are the most common. The murals of different periods reflect the social lives of various ethnic groups and social strata at different times, such as royal processions, singing and dancing, music, agriculture and fishing, martial arts competitions, foreign envoys attending meetings, and the lives of merchants from various countries along the Silk Road. Foreign scholars have them as "libraries on the walls." In the early 20th century, the hidden chamber of the Mogao Caves was discovered, containing nearly 50,000 handwritten documents and other artifacts, including over a thousand silk paintings, woodblock prints, embroideries, and calligraphy artworks. If these artworks were displayed one by one, they would form a grand gallery stretching over 25 kilometers. The Mogao Caves are carved into Quaternary marine lake sedimentary gravel rock, which is not very solid. Although they have endured earthquakes and collapses for thousands of years, the cliff faces from the Tang Dynasty have been largely preserved due to the region's low rainfall and arid climate. In the 1940s, China established the first Dunhuang Art Research Institute in the Mogao Caves. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, comprehensive repairs and reinforcements were carried out on the Mogao Caves, rescuing 39 caves, over 1,800 square meters of murals, and over 200 painted sculptures. As part of the Dunhuang Art, the West Thousand Buddhas Cave and the Yulin Cave in Anxi have been renovated and are now open to the public. The Dunhuang Caves are a treasure of the Chinese nation and also a cultural heritage of humanity. In 1961, the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang were listed by the State Council as a first batch of national key cultural relic protection units, and in July 1991, they were approved by UNESCO to be included in the "World Natural and Cultural Heritage" list. Faced with the brilliant Dunhuang art, this small album can only select representative works from different historical periods for a simple introduction, allowing readers to gain a preliminary impression and understanding of the Dunhuang Cave art.