What are the four major grottoes in the Yellow River Basin?

China's Four Major Grottoes

In terms of scale or artistic achievements, Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, Yungang Grottoes, Longmen Grottoes and Maijishan Grottoes can be called China's four major grottoes.

Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, Gansu Province

Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes is the general name of Mogao Grottoes and Thousand Buddha Caves in Dunhuang City, Gansu Province. It is located 25 kilometers southeast of Dunhuang City, Gansu Province. It was excavated on the cliff at the eastern foot of Mingsha Mountain. In the second year of Jianyuan of the former Qin Dynasty (AD 366), the Venerable Samana Le came to this place and saw thousands of golden paths on the Mingsha Mountain, which looked like thousands of Buddhas. He then had the idea of ????excavating. After that, construction continued, and it became a holy place for Buddhism. . Chinese grotto art originated from India. Traditional Indian grotto sculptures are mainly stone sculptures. Because the rock quality of Mogao Grottoes is not suitable for carving, the sculptures are mainly clay sculptures and murals. The entire cave generally has a round sculpture in the front, and then gradually fades into tall sculpture, shadow sculpture, and wall sculpture. Finally, with murals as the background, the two arts of sculpture and painting are integrated. There were more than a thousand caves in the Mogao Grottoes during the Tang Dynasty, and there are 492 existing caves. The Sui and Tang Dynasties were the heyday of the Mogao Grottoes. The largest statues in the Mogao Grottoes were all sculpted in the Tang Dynasty. The Giant Buddha in Cave 96 is the largest statue in the Mogao Grottoes. The murals of the Tang Dynasty are a variety of sutra-changing pictures, which are extremely grand in scale and show the magnificent scenes of heaven. The Mogao Grottoes are one of the four famous grottoes in my country and the largest and best-preserved Buddhist art treasure house in the world.

Yungang Grottoes in Datong, Shanxi Province

The Yungang Grottoes are located on the north cliff of Wuzhou Mountain in the western suburbs of Datong City, Shanxi Province. The grottoes were dug into the mountain and stretch 1,000 meters from east to west. There are 53 main caves in existence. There are 252 large and small cave niches and more than 51,000 large and small statues. It is one of the largest ancient grotto groups in my country. The Yungang Grottoes were founded in 450 AD. Emperor Xiaowen of Wei ordered Salmon Tong Tan Yao to dig five large grottoes (Caves 16-20), which were later called Tan Yao Five Grottoes. The largest one is Cave 6, which is 20 meters high from the ground to the top of the cave. A large tower pillar about 60 square meters wide stands in the center, which is connected to the top of the cave. The entire tower pillar and cave wall are filled with large and small Buddhist niches and various decorations. Can't find an uncarved space. Most of the Yungang Grottoes were created before Emperor Xiaowen of Wei Dynasty moved the capital to Luoyang. The shape of Buddha statues is generally thick lips, high nose, long eyes, broad shoulders, strong and vigorous, and the physical appearance reflects the characteristics of ethnic minorities. The fifth and sixth caves and Wuhua Cave are rich in content, magnificent and magnificent, and are the essence of Yungang art. While absorbing and drawing lessons from the Buddhist art of Gandhara in India, the Yungang Grottoes sculptures organically integrate the traditional Chinese artistic style and play a very important role in the history of world sculpture art.

Henan Longmen Grottoes

The Longmen Grottoes are located between the cliffs on both sides of the Yishui River, 12 kilometers south of Luoyang City, Henan Province. The Longmen Grottoes were excavated during the Taihe period of the Northern Wei Dynasty (477-499) and continued until the Northern Song Dynasty. Grottoes, large and small, are densely covered like honeycombs on the mountain walls on both sides of the Yi River, with a length of 650 meters. According to statistics, there are 2,345 cave niches and more than 2,800 inscriptions in the east and west mountains. There are more than 40 pagodas, more than 100,000 statues, and more than 2,300 caves and niches. Among them, the largest statue, the Lucena Buddha, is 17.14 meters high, and the smallest is only 2 centimeters. In 1961, it was listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit by the State Council. The Wei Grottoes excavated in the Northern Dynasties are in Longmen Mountain, the most famous of which are Shiyang Cave and Binyang Cave. The majority of the Tang Grottoes were excavated during Wu Zetian's reign. Fengxian Temple is the most representative Tang Grottoes, and its scale ranks first among the Longmen Grottoes. Wu Zetian paid 20,000 yuan. Longmen Twenty Pins is a precious masterpiece of Wei stele calligraphy art. It has a straight and generous shape and a strong and powerful momentum. It is a font in the transition from official script to regular script.

Gansu Maijishan Grottoes

The Maijishan Grottoes are located in the southeast of Tianshui City, Gansu Province. They are named because the mountain looks like a pile of wheat. It was first excavated in the Later Qin Dynasty during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, and was excavated and constructed over generations. There are 194 caves in total. There are more than 7,200 clay and stone statues from past dynasties and more than 1,300 square meters of murals. Among them, the most valuable caves include Niuertang, Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall, Tiantang Cave, Cave 123, Cave 84, etc. One of the distinctive features of the Maijishan Grottoes is that the caves are located in extremely dangerous locations. Most of them are excavated on cliffs, and the caves are all accessible by aerial plank roads erected on the cliff faces. The stone quality of Maiji Mountain is not suitable for carving, and Buddha statues are generally made of clay. From the Sui Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were statues in all dynasties. The large statue was 15 meters high, while the small statue was only over 20 centimeters high. Maijishan Grottoes are famous both at home and abroad for their exquisite clay sculpture art. The large statues here are more than 15 meters high and the small ones are only more than 20 centimeters high. They reflect the characteristics of statues in various eras over the past thousand years and systematically reflect the development and evolution of clay sculpture art in my country.