Millennium Mogao, Dream Buddha Palace

It was a dream, and it was a place that haunted all travel enthusiasts. Unlike Tibet, it allows you to escape from the hustle and bustle of the world and make a pilgrimage to the holy land of the soul; Unlike Jiangnan, there are ink and wash styles of people with small bridges and flowing water; It's even less like the dim light of a metropolis, which makes people feel unfinished and intoxicated. All it has is the grandeur and desolation of "lonely smoke in the desert, the long river setting the yen", the lofty sentiments of lashing the desert, galloping the Gobi and crossing the ancient and modern Silk Road, and the camel bells of the caravan still ringing in its ears. It is Dunhuang.

Dunhuang, formerly known as Shazhou, is a famous cultural city with a history of more than 2,000 years. Located in the vast Gobi in western Gansu, the westernmost end of Hexi Corridor. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, with the opening of the Silk Road, Dunhuang entered its heyday, known as one of the "four counties in Hexi" and became a famous town on the ancient Silk Road. "Dun, Da, Huang and Sheng" showed its prominent position at that time.

The history of Dunhuang is a dream that lasts for thousands of years. Ancient scrolls, solemn Buddhist shadows, elegant flying squares, beautiful music and dance gestures ... Dunhuang, a mysterious world that never lacks legends, is waiting for people who love Dunhuang to explore and discover. The Mogao Grottoes, Crescent Moon Springs and Ya Dan Geopark all show the world the vast customs and timeless classics of Dunhuang. Among them, the Mogao Grottoes are the treasures in China's artistic aesthetic world and the holy land of China's mural art. Some experts say that sandstorms are seriously eroding the Mogao grottoes, and the Mogao grottoes will disappear one day. It's a thousand years old. Will there be another millennium? All this drives the chivalrous man to enter Dunhuang as soon as possible to visit the Millennium Mogao Grottoes and the Dream Buddha Hall.

Along the Qinghai-Gansu Ring Road, we started from Dachaidan to Dunhuang, passed the "Dangjinshankou" at an altitude of 3,860 meters, and went from qingqing grasslands to the vast Gobi Desert to experience the different landscapes in the northwest. After a long journey, I finally entered Dunhuang.

The first thing that caught my eye was the rolling Mingsha Mountain, a low tower in the desert, and I was in a trance. In my mind, I flashed a scene of Wang Wei's deep parting in "Advise you to drink more and go out of Yangguan for no reason". Imagine how amazing the Mogao grottoes are with their backs to them.

On the cliff at the eastern foot of Mingsha Mountain, 25 kilometers southeast of Dunhuang City, a long plank road twists and turns with grottoes of all sizes. The walls of the grottoes are covered with murals and colored sculptures related to Buddhism, dignified Buddha shadows, smart flying ... solemn and mysterious, amazing. Here, it is the largest treasure house of Buddhist art in the world-Mogao Grottoes.

Mogao Grottoes, also known as "Thousand-Buddha Cave", is one of the three treasure troves of grottoes in China, and is regarded as the most valuable cultural discovery in the 20th century. The Mogao Grottoes are divided into five floors, about 1600 meters long from north to south. It was founded in the first year of Taihe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 366). According to records, there was a monk with excellent virtue who went west with a crutch, saw a thousand buddhas shining and realized something, so he chiseled the first grotto. From the Sixteen Kingdoms to the Yuan Dynasty, the excavation of grottoes lasted for ten dynasties 1500 years. Today, the grottoes in Lezun have long been indistinguishable, while the Mogao Grottoes have been eroded by wind and sand, and more than 750 caves in ten dynasties have been preserved, with 45,000 square meters of murals and 3,000 colored sculptures, and 5 wooden buildings with eaves in the Tang and Song Dynasties. In addition, 40,000 to 50,000 handwritten documents and various cultural relics, including thousands of silk paintings, prints, embroidery and a large number of calligraphy works, have been found in the cave of Tibetan scriptures. If all the works of art are arranged one by one, it will be a world-class gallery over 25 kilometers long.

This is a profound comprehensive art hall composed of architecture, painting and sculpture. It is the largest and best-preserved treasure house of Buddhist art in the world and is known as the "Pearl of Oriental Art". 1987 The Mogao Grottoes are listed as a world cultural heritage by UNESCO and the most important cultural relics protection unit.

It took 30 minutes to drive from Dunhuang downtown to the southeast, and it was getting closer and closer to the Mogao Grottoes. I was inexplicably excited. As soon as I got off the bus, a heat wave hit my face, blinding people with dazzling sunshine overhead, and almost everyone was sweating. There is Dangquan River in front of Mogao Grottoes, and the dry riverbed is green at both ends, showing tenacious vitality.

Facing the high temperature of 38 degrees, we walked across the stone bridge to the Mogao grottoes, where tall and straight poplar trees grew together in clusters, with roots connected to roots and crowns connected to crowns. The fat leaves blocked the dazzling sunshine and brought a shade to pedestrians from afar.

Through the Woods, the winding long plank road grottoes suddenly appeared in the field of vision, and a blue sign was nailed to the wall of each grottoes. Silent and solemn Buddha statues and dancing pipa stand quietly in these caves of different sizes and ages, and let the dust and sand of history bring us through ancient and modern times. After thousands of years of baptism, the nine-story pagoda, the landmark building of Mogao Grottoes, still stands tall.

I have been to many places and really appreciate the tourism management of Mogao Grottoes. Here, professional tour guides from Dunhuang Research Institute lead tourists to explain. They are all dressed up, which is very orderly. There are ten tourists in each episode, who are guided into the scenic spot by the tour guide. The tour guide gave everyone a receiving earphone so that everyone could listen to the explanation clearly.

There are hundreds of caves, large and small, and it is impossible to open all of them for sightseeing. Only some caves are opened every day, and each tour guide's tour route is different, so that each team can stagger, so that the scenic spot will not be congested, and every tourist can enjoy it better, and at the same time, the cultural relics will be protected. Sometimes you will encounter a precious cave that is rarely opened but just opened that day. That is good luck. We were lucky enough to visit nine caves.

What a beauty. The walls are full of wind, clothes are flying, and graceful flying is vividly displayed in front of us. There is also a solemn Buddha statue in the cave, which is magnificent and magnificent, showing the superb skill level of ancient times. It's really a thousand-year-old Dunhuang wall, a peerless painting through the ages. These Buddha statues and murals that have gone through thousands of years have subverted my vision just by visiting. What drove those craftsmen to come here in succession? The design of the ceiling caisson is so wonderful, how many good men and women have trodden lightly on the Xixia Shi Zhuan at its feet through the ages?

Tian Fei is a bodhisattva who serves the Buddha and can sing and dance well. Thousands of years ago, craftsmen presented us with a beautiful and ethereal imaginary world. Seeing these discolored and faded Tian Fei, I suddenly felt sour, and those traces that were stripped and stolen by robbers from several countries were even more indignant. There is a 25-meter-high giant Buddha in the nine-story tower. The commentator said that it was built for a rich family at that time, and it took 1 meter a year to build it. It took 25 years to build. If there is knowledge underground, the rich man must be deeply gratified. Maybe he scattered millions of wealth, but it was admired by later generations, and now it is priceless.

As a treasure house of art, the Mogao Grottoes is a beautiful scenic line, which brings together the artistic fashions of different times. Dunhuang Tang Dynasty art represents the most glorious era of Buddhist art in China. The blending of foreign art and China national art has made Dunhuang Tang Dynasty art unprecedentedly colorful. A majestic giant Buddha more than ten meters high; A small bodhisattva with dexterity and exquisiteness of only ten centimeters; Great changes with grand scenes and dense characters; One figure painting with vivid image and distinct personality is impressive.

Most of the flights here came from the Tang Dynasty. They are colorful and lifelike, neither like Greek winged angels nor like ancient Indian goddesses. China artists use long streamers to make their elegant and light female bodies fly all over the sky. The flying geisha bodhisattva with "playing the pipa" painted on the mural of "Watching Life Endlessly" in Cave 1 12 is the most beautiful dance in Dunhuang art, playing the pipa is actually playing music and dancing, showing the sudden momentum of playing the pipa stunt. The flying geisha bodhisattva, holding a pipa, is half naked and ostentatious, with a skirt like a prince and a geisha, and his armbands jingle in the flying. Suddenly, she spun out of her crotch and made a stunt of "playing the pipa". Flashlight lighting is not allowed in Mogao Grottoes, and even mobile phone lights can't be turned on. The flashlights used by the narrators are all special electroluminescent, otherwise it will have an impact on the murals. The camera flash will do great damage to the murals. For these well-trained lecturers, it is difficult to introduce as many Mogao treasures as possible to tourists, and it is also necessary to prevent some people full of strong curiosity from touching the murals with their hands, let alone secretly taking pictures. After all the tourists in each group leave the cave, the narrator will finally come out and lock the door before moving on to the next cave.

Because photos are not allowed in the cave during the visit. Chivalrous people can only use the power of the Internet to add the graceful and solemn Buddha statue to this travel book, hoping to let more friends know about this art treasure house of China and even the world.

Speaking of Mogao Grottoes, I have to mention one person. Her name is Fan Jinshi, a Jiangnan woman born in a bustling metropolis, high flyers, Peking University. At the age of 25, she went all the way to the depths of the desert filled with yellow sand, and has been with Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes for more than half a century.

This is a spiritual fit, a life experience, and a spiritual wait. Fifty-two years later, Fan Jinshi's Wu Nong Ruan Yan has already been blown hard by the northwest wind, but when it comes to the beauty of Dunhuang at first sight, it is still full of soft light. When she stood on the desolate Gobi desert and stood in front of the ninth floor of the towering Mogao Grottoes, that kind of beauty jumped out instantly, and she could not give up the beauty of Dunhuang. She changed from a young girl to a beautiful long hair. She is ashamed of her family, her children and herself, but she is worthy of Dunhuang. Mr. Ji Xianlin said that she sacrificed her life for Dunhuang, and her merits were boundless. And she herself said that there is only one Dunhuang in the world, and we can't protect it well. We are all sinners of history.

1998, she just became the president of Dunhuang Research Institute, and the authorities intend to list Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes. Fan Jinshi was worried and determined: Mogao Grottoes are the property of the state and human beings and cannot be traded. She ran around quietly, telling people about the fragile situation of the Mogao Grottoes and repeatedly stressing the importance of protection. Finally, a listing storm of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes finally subsided. The Mogao Grottoes survived, but the situation is really not optimistic. With the increasing fame, tourists flock here. The arrival of each tourist will affect the changes of temperature, humidity and air in the cave, and accelerate the fading and salinization of murals. Fan Jinshi was on pins and needles at the thought that the amazing artistic treasures of thousands of years might be destroyed.

In 2003, the Mogao Grottoes pioneered the "travel reservation system" in China, and the number of people entering the grottoes was controlled. Many people don't understand, saying that Fan Jinshi doesn't make money is stupid. But Fan Jinshi made up his mind: I think many things in the world are done by fools. Nothing can be done without a little stupidity.

Limiting the number of people can only cure the symptoms, not the root cause. In order to let more people appreciate the beauty and shock of Dunhuang and protect the treasures that are not easy to inherit, Fan Jinshi thought of using modern technology. Ten years, countless days and nights of persistence and polishing, a unique high-definition image maximum "Dream Buddha Palace" was released. The film is placed outside the cave, but it can also make everyone feel the Millennium beauty of the Mogao Grottoes. In response to the initial results, the digitalization process of Dunhuang has also accelerated. On April 20 16, the website of "Digital Dunhuang" was launched. People all over the world can enjoy 30 classic caves and 4430 murals in a square inch of computer. More importantly, even if these vicissitudes pass away in the baptism of history, the image can always retain its former glory.

In the long journey of protecting Dunhuang, there are countless people like Fan Jinshi who have taken root in the desolate desert for a lifetime just because they have seen it for a thousand years. They have been integrated with Dunhuang, accustomed to the quietness and simplicity there, accustomed to the depth and nature there, and their love has long been rooted in this yellow sand.

In this impetuous society, there are always some people who have been watching for beauty all their lives. Indeed, many great events in the world were accomplished by this admirable "stupid" scholar.

After bidding farewell to the Mogao Grottoes, we continued to another special place five kilometers south of Dunhuang, that is, the rolling Mingsha Mountain and the clear crescent spring. Shaquan * * * is a wonderful place, which has been known as the "desert wonder" since ancient times.

Mingsha Mountain and Sha Feng are one after another. The mountain is like a dragon winding and glittering, just like a golden mountain. Mingsha Mountain was once called "Shajiao Mountain". Located on the edge of Tengger Desert, together with Shapotou in Zhongwei County of Ningxia, Xiangshawan in Dalat Banner of Inner Mongolia and Bakun Town in Bakun Kazak Autonomous County of Xinjiang, it is one of the four famous mountains in China.

When you come to Mingsha Mountain, you must ride a camel and feel the pride of the desert. The camel team here is only allowed to be a team of six people, and the camel at Toufeng is led by the guide in front. Sitting on a soft hunchback, heading deep into the desert.

The delicate yellow sand is rippled by the breeze, just like walking through the sand sea. The blue sky overhead, the yellow sand in my eyes, and the striking green on the sand ridge in the distance hit my eyes in such a clear color. Should there be such an experience in life, listening to camel bells jingling in the yellow sand desert, wandering in the vast Gobi desert, and feeling the divine power of nature in the vast world?

For the safety of tourists, these tour guides also act as professional photographers, always fixing the best moments for every visitor to Mingsha Mountain. On the way, the bag lying in the desert aroused our curiosity. It turned out that the staff cleaned camel dung at any time. Everyone in the northwest who works in the scenic spot is doing his bit to protect this desert.

In a green basin surrounded by Mingsha Mountain peaks, there is a crescent-shaped clear water, which is the crescent spring. Fire and water are always incompatible, and desert springs are hard to exist. But the crescent moon spring falls in the yellow sand like a crescent moon.

A curved clear spring, rippling blue waves, green as jade, has been lying quietly in the arms of Shashan for thousands of years. Although it is often attacked by crazy storm sand, it is still full of blue waves and flowing water! Spring is in quicksand, the drought is not over, and the wind blows the sand, which is quite spectacular. Scholars of all ages have admired this unique mountain spring landform and desert wonders.

Crescent Spring in Mingsha Mountain, where the yellow sand is adjacent to the clear spring, has a poem sung by the ancients: "Wan Li has clear sky, blue sea and blue sky, and beautiful crescent spring. Yinshan is surrounded by mountains, and a pool of clear water is green! " The artistic landscapes of Mingsha Mountain, Crescent Moon Spring and Mogao Grottoes are integrated, which is the "two wonders" of Dunhuang South China and has become a tourist attraction that people in China and even the world yearn for.

Back to the crescent moon spring, clear as a mirror, holding up the yellow sand and raising it high against the breeze, the crescent moon spring can't afford to lie drunk in ancient and modern times. Dunhuang, the temple of culture and the Dunhuang of mankind, is a sacred place full of dreams. The story about it has a long history, and it may have been a thousand years since it turned around.