Details of Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Henan Province?

Longmen Grottoes is one of the four largest grottoes in China. locanabuddha

The other three grottoes are Yungang Grottoes in Shanxi, Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, Gansu and Maijishan Grottoes in Tianshui, Gansu. Longmen Grottoes, a treasure house of Buddhist art, was announced by the State Council as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units as early as 196 1 year, by the State Council as the first batch of national-level scenic spots in 1982, and by UNESCO on October 30th, 2000. Evaluation by World Heritage Committee: The grottoes and shrines in Longmen area show the largest and best plastic arts in China from the late Northern Wei Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty (AD 493-907). These works of art describe the religious themes in Buddhism in detail and represent the highest peak of stone carving art in China. In June 2006, it was awarded the "National Civilized Scenic Spot" by the Central Civilization Office, the Ministry of Construction and the National Tourism Administration. In April 2007, it was rated as the first batch of "5A-level tourist attractions" in China by the National Tourism Administration. In 2009, Longmen Grottoes, as the largest number of existing grottoes in China, were listed in world record association, China, creating the largest number of existing grottoes in China.

Longmen producing area

Longmen Grottoes is located in the south of Luoyang 13km, Xiangshan and Longmen Mountain are far away, and the Yi River flows through it, which looks like a natural gate from a distance, so it was called "Yi Que" in ancient times. Emperor Yang Di of the Sui Dynasty once climbed Mangshan Mountain in the north of Luoyang, and when he saw Yi Que in the south of Luoyang from a distance, he said to his attendants, Isn't this the portal of the real dragon emperor? Why didn't the ancients build their capital here? A minister replied obsequiously that the ancients were not ignorant, but just waiting for your majesty. Yang Di was very happy after hearing this, so he established the capital of the Sui Dynasty in Luoyang, with the main entrance of the palace facing the Yi Que. Since then, a que has been used to being called Longmen.

Past medical history

Longmen has beautiful scenery, pleasant scenery and hot springs. Since ancient times, the color of Longmen Mountain has been listed as the crown of eight scenic spots in Luoyang. Bai Juyi, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, once said: "Luodu has four suburbs, mountains and rivers win, and Longmen is the first." Longmen Grottoes are dug between cliffs close to mountains and rivers. It began about the time when Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved from Pingcheng (now Datong City, Shanxi Province) to Luoyang. At that time, Emperor Xiaowen deeply felt that the capital was northward, which was not conducive to rule. Luoyang, located in the Central Plains, had superior natural conditions, so he moved the capital to Luoyang in 493 AD and began to build the Longmen Grottoes. Longmen Grottoes experienced four hundred years in the Eastern Wei Dynasty, the Western Wei Dynasty, the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty and the Northern Song Dynasty, among which the large-scale construction time in the Northern Wei Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty exceeded 140 years. Therefore, among all the caves in Longmen, the Northern Wei Dynasty accounts for about 30%, the Tang Dynasty accounts for 60%, and other dynasties only account for about 10%. According to statistics, there are 2345 caves and more than 70 pagodas in the East and West Mountains. Longmen Grottoes is the place with the largest number of ancient steles in China, and is known as the ancient forest of steles. * * There are more than 2,860 stone inscriptions, among which the famous Longmen 20 products and Chu 1 Que Buddhist niches are Wei Bei and Lianhua Cave respectively.

Tang Kai is a model and a masterpiece of China's calligraphy art. There are more than 1 1000 Buddha statues in Longmen Mountain, of which the largest Buddha statue is 17. 14 meters high, with a head height of 4 meters and an ear length of10.9 meters. The smallest Buddha statue is in the Lotus Cave, and each statue is only 2 cm long, which is called micro-sculpture. Longmen Grottoes is the most concentrated place where royal nobles made wishes and statues in past dynasties, and it is the embodiment of royal will and behavior. The statues in the Northern Wei Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty reflect very different styles of the times. The statues in the Northern Wei Dynasty lost the rough, majestic and vigorous features of the statues in Yungang Grottoes here, but the flavor of life gradually became stronger and more lively, delicate and gentle. These statues of the Northern Wei Dynasty have slender faces, thin shoulders and straight chests, and clothes lines are carved with straight knives, which are vigorous and simple. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, people advocated thinness as beauty, so the Buddha sculpture also pursued the artistic style of showing bones and clearing images. People in the Tang Dynasty like to take fat as beauty, so the face of the Buddha statue in the Tang Dynasty is round, the shoulders are wide, and the chest is bulging. The carving of clothing patterns is made with a round knife, which is natural and smooth. The sculptures of Longmen Grottoes in the Tang Dynasty inherited the excellent traditions of the Northern Wei Dynasty, absorbed the culture of the Han nationality, and created a vigorous, vivid, simple and natural realistic style, reaching the peak of the carving art of Buddha statues. Longmen Grottoes is also a treasure in the history of calligraphy art. The famous calligraphy masterpiece "Longmen Twenty" is the best calligraphy selected by later northern extension connoisseurs from many stone inscriptions in Longmen Grottoes. These inscriptions not only record the motive and purpose of the statue of the wishing man, but also provide a basis for the archaeological staging of the grottoes. Kang Youwei, a scholar in Qing Dynasty, strongly advocated writing with Wei Bei in the whole society, praising Wei Bei's ten beauties, such as jumping brushwork, natural structure and rich flesh and blood. Today, Wei Bei is widely used as a slogan and decorative text. It can be seen that twenty products occupy a decisive position in calligraphy. Longmen Grottoes is an artistic expression of Buddhist culture, but it also reflects the political, economic and cultural trends at that time. The grotto is a large stone carving art museum, because it preserves a large number of physical materials such as religion, art, architecture, calligraphy, music, clothing, medicine and so on.