Brief introduction of scenic spots in Mogao grottoes:
Mogao Grottoes, commonly known as Thousand Buddha Cave, is located at the eastern foot of Mingsha Mountain, 25 kilometers southeast of Dunhuang City, Gansu Province. It was built in the second year of Jian Yuan in the former Qin Dynasty (AD 366), and has been ordered to preserve 735 caves of various types, such as Beiliang, Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Xixia and Yuan, which lasted more than 1000 years, including 492 murals and painted plastic caves. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, there were 45,000 square meters of murals, more than 2,400 colored sculptures and 5 wooden eaves.
In 1900, more than 50,000 pieces of classics, history, books, collections and other documents from the Western Jin Dynasty to the Song Dynasty were found in the Tibetan Sutra Cave (now 17 Cave). Mogao Grottoes is the largest Buddhist cave temple in the world with the richest content, the most exquisite art and the most complete preservation. The art of China Grottoes originated in India. The traditional grottoes in India are mainly stone carvings, while the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang are mainly clay murals because the rocks are not suitable for carving. Generally, the whole cave used to be round, and then it gradually faded into high plastic, shadow plastic and wall plastic. Finally, with the mural as the background, the two arts of plastic and painting were combined.
There are more than 1,000 caves in the Tang Dynasty, and there are 492 existing caves, including 32 caves in Wei Dynasty, 247 caves in Tang Dynasty, 36 caves in the Five Dynasties, 45 caves in Song Dynasty, 8 caves in Yuan Dynasty, 45,000 square meters of murals and 241. Mogao Grottoes is the largest existing "world art treasure house", and 19871February was listed as a world cultural heritage by UNESCO. The artistic features of the Mogao Grottoes are manifested in the organic combination of architecture, statues and murals. Cave-shaped organizational system is divided into Zen Cave, Palace Cave, Tower Temple Cave, Dome Cave and Shadow Cave. Colored plastics are divided into round plastics, floating plastics, shadow plastics and good plastics. Murals are divided into statue paintings, historical paintings, story paintings, Buddhist historical paintings, architectural paintings, landscape paintings, animal paintings, decorative paintings and other different contents, which systematically reflect all aspects of cultural exchanges between the East and the West in more than ten dynasties, such as Sixteen Kingdoms, Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Xixia and Yuan Dynasty, and have become rare cultural treasures for mankind.
The largest cave is more than 40 meters high and 30 meters square. The smallest one is not tall enough. Statues are clay sculptures and colored sculptures, with a single image and a group image. Buddha statues are among people, with disciples, bodhisattvas, heavenly kings and mighty men standing on both sides, ranging from 3 to 1 1. Maximum 33m, minimum 10 cm. More exaggerated colors are used to express the characters' personalities, and their expressions are different. Murals include Buddha statues, Buddhist monuments, classics, myths, patron saints and other themes and decorative patterns. The oldest map, Wutai Mountain map, is more than 40 square meters. From a flower, a leaf, a god and a Buddha to the travel map of Zhang Yichao and his wife showing the activities of local historical figures at that time, the composition is fine and lifelike. This cave is resplendent and magnificent. If the pictures are arranged at a height of 2 meters, a gallery with a length of 25 kilometers can be formed, which is the largest and richest grotto art treasure house in China. Since 1900, more than 50,000 volumes of religious and secular documents in Buddhist scriptures were discovered in the Mogao grottoes, Dunhuang art has shocked the whole world, and "Dunhuang studies" has become a world-renowned school. Unfortunately, due to the ignorance of the Taoist king who presided over the Mogao Grottoes at that time, almost all these treasures were stolen abroad. Now, at the foot of Sanxian Mountain opposite the Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang Research Institute has built the Dunhuang Art Exhibition Center with Japanese donations, and copied some original large grottoes, making the viewing contents of tourists in the Mogao Grottoes more colorful.