Why is Dunhuang said to be a profound treasure house of art?

Dunhuang is famous all over the world for its "Dunhuang Grottoes" and "Dunhuang Murals". It is called a treasure of Chinese art for the following reasons:

Dunhuang Grottoes-Mogao Grottoes

< p> Mogao Grottoes, also known as the "Thousand Buddha Cave", is located in the east of Dunhuang County. It is the largest and most famous Buddhist art grotto in China. It is distributed on three or four levels on the cliff of Mingsha Mountain, with a total length of 1,600 meters. There are 492 existing grottoes, with a total mural area of ??about 45,000 square meters, and 2,415 clay sculptures. It is the largest and richest Buddhist art holy site in the world. In 1987, it was listed as a World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. It is one of the four major grottoes in China. The Mogao Grottoes began in the Pre-Qin Dynasty during the Sixteen Kingdoms period and continued to be excavated through the Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui and Tang dynasties. There are now 492 caves in existence.

In the Dunhuang caves, countless murals were painted - Dunhuang murals

Dunhuang murals have shaped more than 2,000 painted Buddha statues, becoming a huge treasure house of Buddhist culture and art. Dunhuang murals include statues, sutras, stories, Buddhist historical relics, gods and monsters, portraits of donors, etc. They are rich in content, rich in color, and of various shapes. They are truly brilliant and lifelike. For example, "Female Providers of the Late Tang Dynasty" shows three aristocratic women providing support, standing on a gorgeous felt blanket. They all have large sleeves and skirts, light gauze and silk drapes. They are gorgeously dressed, wearing cloud-head shoes, with their arms clasped together. Or hold it in hand to make offerings, which is full of interest in life. In terms of painting techniques, many murals not only use traditional Chinese painting techniques such as "gossamer painting", "iron line painting", "orchid leaf painting", "nail head rat tail painting", etc., but also create original outlines in brown, Apply color and blend, and then use white dots to dye the raised parts. This is a Western painting method with excellent three-dimensional effect. The younger generations of painters were so impressed that they came to copy and learn from it one after another.

In addition, Dunhuang posthumous writings are extensive in content and diverse in form. Especially hand-copied scriptures are particularly precious. The calligraphy styles of each historical period, despite the trends of the times, have their own characteristics. The scroll "The Nature and Character of the Tathagata of the Mahaparinirvana Sutra of the Northern Dynasties" on display this time was written by a master of writing scriptures and is a masterpiece among the Dunhuang writings of the Northern Dynasties.

Dunhuang is a relay station for ancient Chinese and Western culture, art, and economy; it is the intersection of civilizations in Eurasia; it is a pearl on the Silk Road; it is a treasure house of Buddhist art; it is an art museum in the desert. It has gone through many vicissitudes of life, withstood wind and rain, and its treasures have been scattered to more than ten countries and regions around the world. I hope these "world cultural heritages" shared by all mankind can be passed down for generations to come.