Dunhuang has been an important town on the Silk Road since ancient times. It was once quite prosperous, and there were many cave temples around it. In addition to the Mogao Grottoes, there are West Thousand Buddha Cave, Yulin Grottoes and East Thousand Buddha Cave. * * * together form Dunhuang Grottoes, of which the West Thousand Buddha Cave and the East Thousand Buddha Cave are usually considered as branches of Mogao Grottoes and Yulin Grottoes. The West Thousand Buddha Cave is located on the cliff on the north bank of Danghe River, more than 30 kilometers southwest of Mogao Grottoes, with a total length of 2.5 kilometers. There are 22 caves in Northern Wei Dynasty, Northern Zhou Dynasty, Sui Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, Five Dynasties, Xixia Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty, with murals of about 800 square meters and 34 painted sculptures. Its cave shapes, statues and murals are very similar to those of the Mogao Grottoes, but due to
Although Luo Zhenyu, Wang Guowei, Liu Bannong and others collected and copied Dunhuang documents in Beijing, London and Paris as early as the early 20th century, the real protection of the Mogao Grottoes began in the1940s. From 194 1 to 1943, the famous painter Zhang Daqian dated, numbered and painted the caves. 1943, the National Government nationalized the Mogao Grottoes and established the Dunhuang Art Institute, with Chang Shuhong as the director, to systematically protect, restore and study the Dunhuang Grottoes. 1950, the Institute was renamed Dunhuang Cultural Relics Institute, which was still presided over by Chang Shuhong. By 1966, about 400 caves have been reinforced, and 5 Tang and Song wooden eaves have been repaired, and the surrounding 10 square kilometers have been designated as the protection scope. 1984, China government further upgraded Dunhuang Cultural Relics Research Institute to Dunhuang Research Institute, enriched scientific and technological strength, carried out sand control projects, and actively used digital technology and other technologies to strengthen protection. Due to the potential damage of carbon dioxide produced by breathing to murals, the number of tourists in Mogao Grottoes has increased in recent years, so the number of tourists per day should be limited. The Mogao Grottoes is one of the largest art treasures in the world.
According to some ancient books, there are more than 1000 grottoes here. So far, there are at least Mogao Grottoes, Thousand Buddha Cave Grottoes in the west and Thousand Buddha Cave stone carvings in the east in Dunhuang area.
Mo Kao Grotto at Dunhuang
Grottoes, Yulin Grottoes and Wudian Grottoes. There are more than 700 existing Mogao Grottoes alone, and the number will increase with the excavation of archaeological work in the future; Among these caves, only those with murals or statues are numbered, and so far there are 492 caves.
In the existing 492 caves, more than 45,000 square meters of murals from the Sixteen Kingdoms, Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Uighur, Xixia, Yuan, Qing and Republic of China have been preserved. If these murals are arranged horizontally by one square meter, the length can reach 45 kilometers, which is a vast and exquisite and unparalleled historical gallery. Among the 492 caves in the Mogao Grottoes, 3,390 colored sculptures of past dynasties are still preserved, including 2,088 round sculptures and 65,438 shadow sculptures. And more than 0 wooden buildings 10 in Tang, Song, Qing and Republic of China. In addition, in 1900, Buddhist scriptures caves were discovered in the Mogao grottoes, and more than 50,000 Buddhist classics, economic documents, literature, science and technology, historical and geographical materials, silk paintings, paper paintings, weaving and dyeing embroidery and other cultural relics from the 4th to 10 century were preserved.
The largest Dunhuang Grottoes: No.61Cave of Mogao Grottoes, with a horizontal area of13m.
The highest Dunhuang Grottoes: The 96th Cave of Mogao Grottoes is 9 stories high. The Maitreya Buddha statue inside is 33 meters high, and the nine-story building outside has become the largest building in the Mogao Grottoes, which is also the symbol of the Mogao Grottoes.
The smallest Dunhuang grottoes: Cave 37 of Mogao Grottoes is too small for people to enter.
The total painting area of Dunhuang Grottoes is 45,000 square meters only in Mogao Grottoes. If compared with a painting with a vertical height of 1 m, the horizontal length is 45 kilometers. This scale makes Dunhuang Grottoes the longest and largest gallery in the world.
The excavation of the Mogao Grottoes is due to a monk with a musical name. It is said that in 366 AD, Le Zun traveled here and suddenly saw the golden light on Mingsha Mountain, just like a thousand Buddha caves. He realized something, so he chiseled the first grotto on the cliff. Since then, many merchants on the Silk Road have made a wish to dig grottoes here in order to pray for a smooth road ahead and developed commerce, and asked folk artists to draw the images of the gods they worshipped. From the Sixteen Kingdoms to the Yuan Dynasty, the excavation of the Mogao Grottoes lasted 10 dynasties.
With a pilgrimage-like mood, we climbed the long plank road, and under the dim light of flashlight, the treasures accumulated in Mogao Grottoes 1200 years were presented one by one.
The cave walls are covered with murals and colored sculptures related to Buddhism, and solemn Buddha shadows are flying in the sky ... The mysterious and solemn atmosphere is suffocating. The most striking thing is a large number of exquisite mural art.
There were not many murals in the Mogao Grottoes during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, mainly Bunsen paintings and story paintings depicting karma, penance and good deeds, and Buddhist story paintings and narrative paintings propagating the life story of Sakyamuni, which were concentrated in the earliest excavated caves 272, 275 and Baer 6. At that time, the mural figures were semi-naked, their movements were extremely exaggerated, and their faces and spirits were full of quiet and mysterious colors, which had quite the artistic conception and style of Western Buddhism.
The content of murals in the Northern Wei Dynasty has increased a lot, not only the stories of Bunsen and Buddhism are richer, but also the stories of karma with bizarre content and twists and turns. The Bunsen Story of the Dead King in Cave 254, the Bunsen Story of Prince Sana 'a and the Bunsen Story in Cave 257 have deeply attracted tourists.
"The Story Map of King Peeby Benson" tells a bloody test that King Peeby experienced. In order to save pigeons from the eagle's mouth and prevent the hungry eagle from starving to death, he vowed to save the bodies of all beings and was willing to cut off his own fresh meat to feed the eagle. However, the harsh eagle demanded that the cut fresh meat should not be lighter than the pigeon, and the corpse cut all the meat, but it was still not enough. He made a final effort and stood on the scale by himself. As a result, the earth shook, the gong swayed, colorful flowers scattered in the sky, and eagles. The corpse of Wang Bensheng in Cave 254 is the most wonderful story in Mogao Grottoes. In the middle is a tall corpse. King Pi split the painting in two and looked at his bloody calf. The smaller pictures around him describe the eagle chasing pigeons, pigeons asking Pi Wang for help, and the pain of their families. Composition organically combines things that happened in different time and space into one picture, making the center prominent and orderly, showing the author's superb painting skills, and it is worthy of being one of the most perfect combined Bunsen paintings in Mogao Grottoes.
The original story of Prince Sana 'a depicts the touching story of Prince Sana 'a who gave his life to feed the tiger. The prince and his brother went hunting in the middle reaches of the mountain and saw the mother tiger give birth to seven cubs. It was only seven days ago, and they were very hungry. The prince was merciful and persuaded his two brothers to leave, so he stripped off his clothes and jumped down the mountain to feed the tiger. But the hungry tiger has no strength to get close to him. He climbed up the cliff again, stabbed his neck with a bamboo pole and bled, then jumped down. The hungry tiger licked his blood and vomited his flesh. When his two brothers came back to see him, they burst into tears. They cleaned up their brother's bones and reported to their grieving parents. Then they built a stupa and enshrined the prince's body on it, which made Sana 'a complete as soon as possible. In the Bunsen picture of Prince Sana 'a in Cave 254, the characters' expressions are vivid and vivid, and have turned into deep earthy tones over the years, showing a gloomy and mournful tragic atmosphere, which makes people stop for a long time.
Many people are familiar with the story of nine-color deer. The story picture of bunsen burner, the king of deer in Cave 257, unfolded a continuous plot with a long banner, vividly depicting a series of storylines, such as the king rescued the drowning man, the princess dreamed of the deer, the king offered a reward, the drowning man tipped him off and led the king to hunt, the king told the story of rescuing the drowning man, the king gave up the pursuit and the princess was angry. This story of Cave 257 is the most perfect comic book Bunsen story painting in Mogao Grottoes, with strong lines, prominent center and distinct layers, which can be called a classic of the Northern Wei Dynasty!
The mural figures in the Northern Wei Dynasty have changed their faces from oval to slightly slender. The lines drawn are more skillful and round, which is quite wonderful. The accumulation of colors has gradually improved, making the characters more real and amiable.
In the Mogao Grottoes in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, a new kind of Buddha painting appeared. Bodhisattvas are short and strong, with half-naked upper bodies or frocks, heavy skirts around their waists and large towels on their shoulders. Their noses, eyes, eyebrows, teeth and chin are all white, which looks like a special dress, strange and novel. During this period, Cave 290 also preserved the largest Buddhist story painting in Mogao Grottoes, and it was also the best early grotto mural in the world. This 27-meter-long mural tells people the life story of Sakyamuni, from being born under the bodhi tree in the white elephant, to being married in a contest, traveling in four doors, asking for heaven under the tree, and then going out of the city to become a Buddha. Exaggerated and bizarre legends contain stories of practicing Buddhism, reminding people of the suffering in the world and the truth of becoming a Buddha. Sui and Tang Dynasties is another prosperous stage of Buddhism development after the Northern Wei Dynasty. In addition, at that time, the national strength was strong, the society was prosperous, and the artistic achievement reached its peak. More than half of the existing caves in Mogao Grottoes were built in Sui and Tang Dynasties. Different from the previous generation's emphasis on the origin and interpretation of Buddhism, the murals in this period mainly focus on "change" and providers, or show profound Buddhist classics, or depict portraits of cave-openers, which are radiant.
The Pure Land Change in Cave 320 is a work in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. In the middle of the picture is a vast pool of seven treasures, carved columns and painted rings, and various lotus flowers are in full bloom. Buddha and bodhisattva sit on the lotus, with kind eyes; The boys in the swimming pool are playing. At the top of the treasure pool, the blue sky is clear, surrounded by colorful clouds, the Buddha is flying, dancing and the sky is soaring. Under the wings of Bao, musicians are playing all kinds of musical instruments, maiko's crown skirts and dancing the Hu dance in the western regions. The whole mural presents a happy and peaceful scene in the western paradise.
There are more than 100 large-scale classic paintings in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, such as Beijing Change in Cave 420, Baoyu Classic Change in Cave 32/kloc-0 and Maitreya Classic Change in Cave 329. All abandoned the gloomy and tragic mood in the early days and replaced it with a bright and cheerful atmosphere. The dancing, the treasure mountain full of gold, silver and pearls, and the light and bright pool water all reveal people's beautiful fantasies about a happy and peaceful Buddhist world. The characters in murals have distinct characteristics of the modeling era: men take off their coats, which are very wide and elegant; Women are plump and colorful. Bodhisattva, in particular, is dignified and quiet, gentle and lovely, gentle and kind, which especially adds a little beauty to women in real life.
On the murals of Mogao Grottoes, beautiful flying can be seen everywhere-the urban sculpture of Dunhuang is also the image of a flying fairy playing the lute. Tian Fei is a god who serves Buddha and Indra, and he can sing and dance well. On the wall, flying in the vast universe, some holding lotus buds, straight into the sky; Some swooped down from the air like meteors; Some pass through tall buildings, just like Youlong; Others sway in the wind. The painter has created a beautiful and ethereal imaginary world for people with his unique tortuous long line and harmonious interest.
Hot colors and flying lines, in the warm and emotional description of the ideal kingdom by these northwest painters, we seem to feel their inexhaustible passion for galloping in the desert wasteland. Perhaps it is this passion that breeds the imagination advertised in murals!
Outside the Mogao Grottoes, the boundless desert reflects the dazzling sunlight. Climbing Mingsha Mountain, there are sand dunes at the foot, and the wind and sand blow around the mountain and roar past; The curved crescent spring lies quietly at the foot of the mountain. Dunhuang, the once prosperous ancient city, is now in ruins. Sandstorms buried the years and the ancient Silk Road, but they could not annihilate the long history and splendid culture here. The Mogao Grottoes, which have condensed human wisdom for thousands of years, will continue to attract the imagination and exploration of generations. ...
Hope to adopt
thank you