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Driving westward for 16 kilometers from Datong, Shanxi Province, You will arrive at the foot of Wuzhou Mountain where grottoes in diff erent sizes are scattered from east to west for some one kilometer.
Datong, more than 300 kilometers away from Beijing, used to be West Capital of the Liao Dynasty (907 - 1125). Five hundred years earlier, the founding emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386 – 534 AD) established his capital here and ordered the construction of Yungang Grottoes.
No. 5 and No. 6 grottoes are the double connected grottoes in one set, consisting of the front chamber and the back chamber. The Buddhas of the Past, Present and Future are the main statues on the north wall of the back chamber. The sitting Buddha in the middle, 17 meters in height, is the largest Buddha statue in Yungang Grottoes. The four walls of the grotto are all covered with Buddhist shrines and statues. Two statues of Buddha sitting under papal trees stand on each side of the arch gate whose top is decorated with relief statues of lissome fl ying goddesses. There are five four-storey towers in front of the two grottoes which were rebuilt in 1651.
No. 7 Grotto houses six statues of heavenly beings with elegant and natural appearances, and thus it is called “Grotto of Six Beauties”. The statue of Skanda, in the shape of five heads and six arms and fl ying on the holy bird, is a perfect combination of West and Oriental art. No. 9 to No. 13 grottoes are generally called “Five Magnificent Grottoes”, as splendid colored clay paintings were created on the surface of stone statues during the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911). There are many figurines on the top of the three-layer shrine. The smallest one is only two centimeters tall.
No. 12 Grotto is called “Music Grotto”, because on its top, there are numerous musician gods holding various kinds of instruments. In No. 13 Grotto, the statue of Maitreya Buddha is supported by the statue of a mighty man under his right arm. Three Buddhist statues in this grotto were stolen and now are collected in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, USA.
Many stone statues in Yungang Grottoes have been cut and stolen and are now displayed in Western or Japanese museums. Those damaged statues are scars on hearts of Chinese people which remind us of past imperialist invasions time and again.
No. 16 to No. 20 grottoes are called “Five Grottoes of Tanyao”, which are the oldest in Yungang Grottoes. These grand-size grottoes were built under the supervision of senior monk Tanyao. In No. 18 Grotto, the standing statue of Buddha wears kasaya on which numerous Buddhist figurines are carved on its wrinkles. The outdoor grand Buddha statue in No. 20 Grotto is the landmark of Yungang Grottoes.
No. 5 to No. 20 grottoes house the masterpieces of Yungang Grottoes while statues in other grottoes are almost beyond recognition due to serious erosion and artificial damage. Yungang Grotto Temple consists of 45 grottoes which house 1,100-strong Buddhist shrines and some 50,000 Buddhist statues in diff erent sizes. These exquisite statues assimilate diverse styles of Chinese art and the art from the rest of the ancient world, presenting distinctive artistic appeal.
Yungang Grottoes
Yungang Grottoes means a fascinating attraction to everybody, not only because it enjoys grand scale and exquisite statues, but also because it has witnessed the rise and fall of past dynasties for more than 1,500 years. Most grottoes in Yungang were completed before 460 AD when the Northern Wei Dynasty moved its capital from Datong to Luoyang. The five massive stone statues in “Five Grottoes of Tanyao”, with the height of 4 to 5-storey buildings, are based on the images of five emperors of the Northern Wei Dynasty, as artisans were instructed that “The emperor is the incarnation of Buddha.”
In 500 AD after the capital was moved to Luoyang, Longmen Grottoes began to be built. But those Buddhist statues in Longmen showed so notable infl uence of Han culture in central China that noblemen of Xianbei who established the Northern Wei Dynasty continued to
expand Yungang Grottoes as their spiritual identities. In 533 AD, the dynasty was overthrown and Xianbei people as an independent ethnic group no long existed. In 2001, Yungang Grottoes was included on the World Heritage List. These time-honored grottoes has embraced the fresh spring.
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