What is the historical background of Longmen Grottoes?

Longmen Grottoes, located in the southern suburb of Luoyang13km, is one of the four largest grottoes in China. Here, green mountains and green waters shine brightly. As early as 196 1, it was listed as a national key cultural relics protection unit by the State Council, and was announced as the first batch of national scenic spots by the State Council in 1982. In June 2000, Longmen Grottoes was listed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO. Longmen Grottoes were dug around the time Emperor Xiaowen moved to Luoyang in the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 493), and were built in the Western Wei Dynasty, the Eastern Wei Dynasty, the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, from which they sailed to Naga, with a length of 1 km and more than 2,000 grottoes and10000 statues. This 500-year-old architectural process includes two climax stages: the Northern Wei Dynasty and the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Up to now, thousands of statues preserved in yique mountain and yique mountain are mostly the cultural heritage of these two eras. Among the numerous caves carved in the Northern Wei Dynasty, Guyang Cave, Binyang Middle Cave, Lotus Cave and Cave Temple are the most representative caves. Among them, Guyangdong concentrated a group of statues of royal aristocrats and court ministers in the early stage of the Northern Wei Dynasty's move to Luoyang, which typically reflected the historical model of the Northern Wei Dynasty's national worship of Buddhism. These magnificent and dazzling stone carvings represent the earliest Gandhara Buddhist art style after the cave temple art flowed into Luoyang. Therefore, they are the traditional culture of China, exchanging storks for woks and stealing stirrups. br/& gt； Among the key caves in Longmen Grottoes in Tang Dynasty, the statue niche of Lushena is the most famous cave carved by a group of magnificent art groups. This open niche is based on Huayan Jing, centered on the elegant and magnificent Lushena Buddha, and expresses the ideal artistic conception of the Buddhist world full of peace and harmony with the image of an art group full of modal texture. Because the grand and profound artistic atmosphere of the grottoes infects all sentient beings who pray for a happy life, Longmen area, with Buddhist statues as the main body, attracts many good men and women who come here. Now, the Xiangshan Temple, hidden among the pine and cypress trees in the East Mountain of Longmen, is a Buddhist temple built by the feudal dynasty in the Wu and Zhou Dynasties to house the remains of Indian monk Balado in China. During the following 100 year, Xiangshan Temple was so loud and fragrant that Bai Juyi, a famous local cultural celebrity at home and abroad in the middle Tang Dynasty, married Man Monk and others as "Nine Old People in Xiangshan" to pay for the class fees and the morning mist. In the sixth year of Huichang, Bai Juyi died of illness in the former residence of Ludaoli in Luoyang, and his name was buried next to Xiangshan Temple and Manzhu Tower. Today, Bai Juyi Cemetery on the north side of Xiangshan Temple is the best place for guests from all walks of life to mourn this historical and cultural celebrity. Longmen Grottoes, a cultural heritage full of faith and emotion, is a material reflection of people's wishes for the real world in ancient society with its strange external form and humanistic consciousness. It is the spiritual pursuit and fruitful creativity of the Chinese nation for a better life, which can be thoroughly explained through this historical and cultural landscape.

● Evaluation by the 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, which describe the religious themes in Buddhism in detail, represent the highest peak of stone carving art in China.

● Overview: Longmen Grottoes were selected into the World Heritage List on June 30th, 2000 according to the selection criteria of world cultural heritage C(I), (ii) and (iii). Because the east and west mountains face each other here, Yishui flows through it, which looks like a gate, so it is also called "Yi Que". After the Tang Dynasty, it was often called "Longmen". Located in the transportation hub, with beautiful scenery and pleasant climate, it is a tourist attraction for literati. Because the rock mass where Longmen Grottoes are located is excellent in texture and suitable for carving, the ancients chose to dig grottoes here. Longmen Grottoes, Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, Gansu and Yungang Grottoes in Datong, Shanxi are also called "Three Treasures of Stone Carving Art in China". The grottoes were dug in the Northern Wei Dynasty when Emperor Xiaowen (AD 47 1 ~ 477), and it took more than 400 years to build. So far, it has a history of 1500 years. Longmen Grottoes are about 1 km long from north to south, with more than 300 existing grottoes/kloc-0, 2,345 caves and more than 3,600 inscriptions. Among them, Binyang Cave, Fengxian Temple and Guyang Cave are the most representative. Wei Cave-In 495 AD, Qiu Huicheng, the imperial clan of Wei State, began to dig Guyang Cave in Longmen Mountain. From 500 to 523, Emperor Wu and Emperor Di successively excavated three large caves in the north, south and south of Binyang Cave. The construction of Shiyang Cave and Binyang Cave cost more than 800,000 people, and they also dug Fangzi Cave and Lianhua Cave dug during the Eastern Wei Dynasty. Grottoes in the Northern Dynasties were all located on the Longmen Mountain. Guyang Cave was built for more than 50 years from the Hui nationality to the end of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, showing many China art forms. The posture of the giant Buddha changed from the majestic Yungang Grottoes to the gentle and amiable Longmen Grottoes. The Buddha statue represented by the main Buddha in Binyang Middle Cave is smiling. Longmen Grottoes show more China art Buddha statues than Yungang Grottoes. Grottoes in the Tang Dynasty-the most prosperous period was the Tang Dynasty, accounting for more than 60% of the total number of grottoes. During the reign of Wu Zetian, most of the grottoes were excavated in the Tang Dynasty, which was related to her long-term presence in Luoyang. Fengxian Temple is the most representative grottoes in the Tang Dynasty. The two bodhisattvas are 70 feet high, while Ye Jia, Ananda, King Kong and God King are 50 feet high (the length of the Tang Dynasty). The scale is the first in Longmen Grottoes. It took four years, and Wu Zetian paid 20,000 yuan herself. Longmen Twenty Pieces are precious calligraphy works in Wei stele style. Representing the stele style of Wei Dynasty, it is tall, straight, generous and powerful, and it is a font for the transition from official script to regular script. There are 19 items in Guyang Cave. Binyang Zhongxue is a masterpiece of Northern Wei Dynasty (386 ~ 5 12). It took 24 years before and after the cave was built, making it the longest cave to be excavated. There is 1 1 Buddha in the cave. Sakyamuni is a masterpiece of stone carving art in the mid-Northern Wei Dynasty with exquisite face and natural expression. There are two magnificent stone lions carved in front of the main statue. Two disciples, two bodhisattvas and bodhisattvas stood around and stared at each other with a smile, gentle and sincere. The cave is also carved with reliefs of bodhisattvas and disciples listening to the Dharma, which is lifelike. The description of the flying fairy at the top of the cave is also very vivid. Fengxian Temple is the largest cave in Longmen Grottoes, with a length and width of more than 30 meters each. The extraordinary thing about Fengxian Temple lies in the huge statue of Lushena in the middle, which is really a beautiful artistic masterpiece. The total height of the Buddha statue in Lushena is17.14m, the head height is 4m, and the ear length is1.9m. According to Buddhist scriptures, Lushena means to shine all the time. This Buddha statue, with rich and beautiful eyes, slightly upturned corners of the mouth, smiling face, slightly lowered head and slightly overlooking, looks like a wise and kind middle-aged woman, which is respectable and awe-inspiring. Some people say that when shaping this Buddha statue, noble sentiment, rich feelings, open mind and elegant appearance are perfectly combined, so she has great artistic charm. The sculpture group of Fengxian Temple is a perfect artistic whole. Next to the Buddha statue in Lushena, there are statues of his disciples Ananda, Ye Jia, threatened Bodhisattva, Lux and Heavenly King. These statues, some kind and some pious, look at the statues of Heavenly King and Lux on the side, but they are fierce and aggressive, which makes the main image more prominent. Guyang Cave is the earliest and richest cave in Longmen Grottoes, and it is also another representative cave in the Northern Wei Dynasty. There are many statues of shrines in Guyang Cave, most of which have inscriptions, which record the names of the sculptors at that time, the age and reasons of the statues. These are precious materials for studying calligraphy and sculpture in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Most of the landmark works "Twenty Longmen Poems" in China's calligraphy history are concentrated here. "Longmen Twenty Products" represents Wei Bei, with a straight and generous font and vigorous momentum. It is the essence of calligraphy art in Longmen Grottoes, which has always been respected by the world. There is also a prescription cave with 140 prescriptions engraved in it, which reflects the achievements of ancient medicine in China. Carving some prescriptions on stone tablets or caves, which is also found in other places, is an important way to spread ancient medical achievements to future generations. Longmen Grottoes also retain a large number of physical historical materials about religion, art, calligraphy, music, clothing, medicine, architecture and Chinese and foreign transportation. Therefore, it is also a large stone carving art museum.

● Cultural heritage value: The "milestone" of China Grottoes Art Longmen Grottoes is regarded as one of the greatest treasures of classical art in the world with its large scale, magnificent momentum, exquisite carving and rich contents and themes. With its own systematic and unique language of sculpture art, it reveals various laws and rules of sculpture art creation. Before it, the grotto art mostly retained the elements of Gandhara and Tuodala art, while Longmen Grottoes inherited the remote Indian grotto art, followed the style of Yungang Grottoes, and merged with the advanced and profound history and culture of the Han nationality in Wei and Jin Dynasties, Luoyang and Southern Dynasties. Therefore, the sculpture art of Longmen Grottoes has been integrated with the understanding and strong pursuit of national aesthetic consciousness and form from the very beginning, which makes the grotto art show the trend of China and secularization, which can be called a "milestone" to show the transformation of China grotto art. Longmen Grottoes, with royal style, is the most concentrated place where the royal nobles made wishes and statues in the Northern Wei Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty. Royal aristocrats have abundant manpower and material resources, and the grottoes they presided over must be huge and magnificent, bringing together the essence of grottoes art at that time, so Longmen Grottoes are very representative. The excavation of these caves is the embodiment of the royal will and behavior, which has a strong ethnic and religious color. Therefore, the rise and fall of Longmen Grottoes not only reflects the rise and fall of China royal family's worship of Buddhism from the 5th century to the10th century, but also reflects some political trends and the development of social and economic situation in the history of China. Its significance is unmatched by other grottoes. The title of "Longmen Twenty Products" began in Qing Dynasty. The so-called "Twenty Products of Longmen" refers to the inscriptions of twenty statues selected from Longmen Grottoes in Central and Northern Wei Dynasty, of which 19 is in Guyang Cave and 1 is in Cixiang Cave. "Longmen Twenty Products" is the quintessence of calligraphy art in the Northern Wei Dynasty. The calligraphy art it represents evolved on the basis of the official script of Han and Jin Dynasties. The font is dignified and generous, vigorous and simple, with official script style and regular script factors. It is the representative of "Wei Bei" style and occupies a very high position in the history of calligraphy art development in China. Longmen Grottoes is a large stone carving art museum, because it retains a large number of historical materials on religion, art, calligraphy, music, clothing, medicine, architecture and transportation at home and abroad. The art of Longmen Grottoes provides a lot of precious materials for studying the ancient history of China, especially sculpture, painting, calligraphy, architecture, clothing, music and dance, patterns and social customs of the times.