Overview of Buddhist Grottoes in Gansu on the Ancient Silk Road

During the period of Emperor Wudi of the Western Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian made a mission to the Western Regions and opened up the Silk Road. The contacts between the Central Plains Dynasty and the western countries became more and more frequent. In the Han Dynasty, Buddhism, which originated in the South Asian subcontinent, was introduced to China along the Silk Road. Today, Gansu Province is located in the throat of the ancient Silk Road, bordering the Western Regions in the west and Chang 'an in the east, which is one of the places where China came into contact with Buddhism earlier. The Han bamboo slips "Fu Tu Li" unearthed at Xuanquanjia site in Dunhuang proves that Buddhism was introduced into Hexi area as early as the Eastern Han Dynasty.

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the country was divided, the society was in turmoil, wars were frequent, and the people were miserable. People believe in Buddhism in order to seek spiritual comfort in this world and liberation in the afterlife. In order to strengthen ideological control, rulers of all ethnic groups also vigorously promoted Buddhism, so Buddhism flourished in China. Liangzhou area in Hexi Corridor, which is located at the throat of the Silk Road, and Kyoto area of the Central Plains Dynasty at that time became the center of Buddhism development. Chinese and foreign eminent monks traveling along the Silk Road, such as Zhu Fahu, Kumarajiva and Dharmaksema, often translate and give lectures in Dunhuang and Liangzhou.

The art of Buddhist grottoes in China also rose at this time. Because of its special geographical location, Gansu has preserved many large Buddhist caves with earlier excavation time and longer duration. There are 205 large and small grottoes in Gansu Province, among which the famous ones are Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, West Thousand Buddha Cave, Guazhou Yulin Grottoes, Yumen Changma Grottoes, Sunan Manjusri Grottoes, Horseshoe Grottoes and Jinta Temple Grottoes, Wuwei Tiantishan Grottoes, Yongjing Bingling Temple Grottoes, Tianshui Maijishan Grottoes and Qingyang North Grottoes.

Among them, the Mogao Grottoes, located on the cliff at the eastern foot of Mingsha Mountain, 25 kilometers southeast of Dunhuang City, Gansu Province, are the largest and longest. They were built in 366 years before Qin Jianyuan. After the construction of the Sixteen Kingdoms, Northern Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties, Song Dynasties, Xixia Dynasties and Yuan Dynasties, there are 735 grottoes, more than 2,400 painted sculptures and 45,000 square meters of murals.

Bingling Temple Grottoes are located on the cliff of Jishishan, about 40 kilometers southwest of Yongjing County, Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province. There are 2 16 existing grottoes, and nearly 800 statues from the Western Qin Dynasty to the Yuan and Ming Dynasties are preserved, with a mural area of about 1000 square meters. There are also 4 large cliff stone carvings and stone tablets 1 block. 169 Cave contains the inscription of the first year of Jian Hong in the Western Qin Dynasty (420 years), which is the earliest cave with a clear chronology in China.

Maijishan Grottoes, located in Maiji District, Tianshui City, Gansu Province, was founded in the late Qin Dynasty and has been excavated and expanded for generations. There are 2 1 1 existing grottoes and more than 7,200 statues of different sizes. Maijishan sculpture is rich in content and famous for its exquisiteness. It is known as the "Oriental Sculpture Exhibition Hall".

The above three grottoes have been included in the "World Cultural Heritage" list. The West Thousand-Buddha Cave, Yulin Grottoes, Tiantai Mountain Grottoes and North Grottoes Temple have preserved a large number of exquisite statues and murals of various times, and are listed as national key cultural relics protection units.

If the Silk Road is compared to a shining golden thread, then the grottoes in Gansu are like bright pearls strung on this thread. These grottoes are located on the Silk Road. In each era, they are interrelated and have their own characteristics.

During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, cave temples, as one of the Buddhist centers, appeared earlier in Hexi. Mogao Grottoes, Tiantai Mountain Grottoes and Bingling Temple Grottoes all have caves in the Sixteen Kingdoms Period. Tiantai Mountain Grottoes may be the "Liangzhou Grottoes" recorded in history, which had a great influence on the later construction of the Central Plains Grottoes. The earliest existing grottoes are CaveNo. 169 of Bingling Temple Grottoes. There are 24 niches in the grottoes, most of which were made by the Western Qin Dynasty. The sixth niche is engraved with the words "the first year of Jian Hong".

The statues and murals in these caves are simple and rich in style, with strong artistic characteristics of the western regions. For example, the figures in the northern cool murals of the Mogao Grottoes all use the Western-style light and shade method (that is, the concave-convex method) to express the three-dimensional sense of the figures' faces and limbs. There are bodhisattvas with long curly hair and shoulders, and there are niches with Greek Ionian capitals. These are the initial features of the art of Buddhist grottoes in China.

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, political, economic and cultural exchanges between countries along the Silk Road became more frequent and in-depth. Ambassadors from the south to the north not only brought the art and culture of the western regions to the Central Plains, but also spread the seeds of Chinese civilization along the Silk Road. From the excavation of Gansu Grottoes in this period, we can see that the Wei and Jin Dynasties was the peak of the excavation of major grottoes in Gansu, and the more popular Central Tower Grottoes at this time were influenced by India's "Zhiti Grottoes". After Yao Tan presided over the excavation of Yungang Grottoes, Yungang Grottoes combined the traditional art of Han Dynasty with the unique artistic style of ancient Indian Gandhara and tantra art, which had an impact on all large stone grottoes in China. In the late Northern Wei Dynasty, due to the localization reform carried out by the rulers, a fresh and elegant artistic style of "showing bones and clearing images" appeared, which was popular in major grottoes and reflected in the corresponding grottoes of Mogao Grottoes, Bingling Temple Grottoes, Maijishan Grottoes and North Grottoes Temple.

Sui and Tang Dynasties were the heyday of Silk Road communication. The prosperity of national strength laid the foundation for foreign exchanges, and the attention of the rulers provided convenient conditions for the exchange of the Silk Road. According to records, Yang Di the Great sent envoys to Hexi in the fifth year of Daye (60 1), summoned envoys from 27 countries in Zhangye and held grand trade activities. Julian's hunting patterns from Persia can be seen in the gorgeous skirts of the Sui Dynasty caves in Mogao Grottoes. During the period of Emperor Taizong, Xuanzang, a monk, traveled from the Silk Road through Central Asia to India to learn from the scriptures and give lectures, which promoted the exchange of Buddhist culture between China and India.

Sui and Tang Dynasties is the golden age for the development of temple murals in China, and it is also the glorious age for grottoes in Gansu. There were more than 300 caves in the Sui and Tang Dynasties alone. Due to the frequent and in-depth exchanges, the face of Buddhist art is more similar. The main content of cave murals in this period is the Yijing paintings, which are beautifully drawn and consistent with the temple murals in Beijing and Beijing recorded in the literature in terms of theme and expression. The production of statues also reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty, with harmonious proportion, beautiful posture and distinctive personality. For example, in a group of statues in Cave 45 of Mogao Grottoes, Buddha Sakyamuni is solemn, Ye Jia is self-serious, Ananda is meek and respectful, the threatened bodhisattva is S-shaped, elegant and dignified, and the king is mighty and powerful. The statue of Tang Dynasty in the fifth cave of Maijishan is similar to that in Mogao Grottoes.

After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty began to decline, Tubo invaded the western regions, and wars continued in the northern region, and the Silk Road gradually declined. The communication between the Central Plains and Hexi region is restricted. Bingling Temple Grottoes, Maijishan Grottoes and Beigrottoes are close to the Central Plains, and they are more closely related to the Buddhist Grottoes in the Central Plains. The Mogao Grottoes and Yulin Grottoes in Hexi were relatively stable politically during the Tubo period and the rebel rule. The rulers believed in Buddhism, and the construction of grottoes was still active, retaining a large number of exquisite murals in the late Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty.

From Xixia to Yuan Dynasty, many sculptures and murals were left in Mogao Grottoes and Yulin Grottoes. The Shuiyue Guanyin in the second cave of Yulin Grottoes is particularly famous. Painted in Xixia period. In the picture, the moonlight is dim and Guanyin is leisurely, creating a profound artistic conception. After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Maijishan Grottoes and Bingling Temple Grottoes in Hexi were rebuilt and redrawn.

Mogao Grottoes, West Thousand Buddha Cave, Yulin Grottoes, Tiantai Mountain Grottoes, Bingling Temple Grottoes, Maijishan Grottoes and North Grottoes Temple ... These large and small grottoes scattered along the Silk Road, after more than 1,000 years and spanning more than 3,000 miles, are not only the crystallization of religion, culture and art, but also the witness of the history of the Silk Road. The Buddhist art in the Western Regions and the traditional art in the Central Plains influenced and merged with each other in Gansu Grottoes, forming a splendid art in Gansu Grottoes.

Cartography: Chu Meng Tian