The Artistic Value of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes

The Mogao Grottoes, commonly known as the Thousand Buddha Cave, is a national key cultural relic protection unit and is regarded as the most valuable cultural discovery in the 20th century. It is located in Dunhuang at the western end of Hexi Corridor and is famous for its exquisite murals and statues. It was founded in the pre-Qin period of the Sixteen Countries, and established its capital in the Sixteen Countries, Northern Dynasties, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Xixia and Yuan Dynasties, forming a huge scale. There are 735 caves, 45,000 square meters of murals and 2,465,438+05 clay sculptures. It is the largest and richest Buddhist art shrine in the world. In modern times, the Tibetan Sutra Cave was discovered, which contained more than 50,000 ancient cultural relics, from which the subject of Dunhuang studies was derived. However, in modern times, the Mogao Grottoes were defrauded and stolen, and a large number of cultural relics were lost, and its treasures were seriously damaged. 196 1 year, Mogao grottoes was announced as one of the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units. 1987, Mogao grottoes was listed as a world cultural heritage. It is one of the four largest grottoes in China.

Overview of Evolution The Mogao Grottoes are located on the cliff at the eastern foot of Mingsha Mountain, 25 kilometers southeast of Dunhuang City, Gansu Province, China, facing east in front of Dangquan River, with a length of 65,438+0,680 meters from north to south and a height of 50 meters. The caves are strewn at random, row upon row, up and down to five floors. It was built in the Sixteen Kingdoms period. According to the Tang Dynasty's "Li Kerang Rebuilds the Monument of Mogao Grottoes", in 366 years, two years before the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, monks passed by this mountain and suddenly saw the golden light shining like a million buddhas, so they dug the first cave on the rock wall. Since then, Zen master Fariang and others have continued to build caves here to practice Zen, which is called "desert grottoes", meaning "high places in the desert". Later, it was renamed "Mogao Grottoes" because "desert" and "mo" are very common. During the Northern Wei, Western Wei and Northern Zhou Dynasties, the rulers believed in Buddhism, and the construction of grottoes was supported by princes and nobles and developed rapidly. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, with the prosperity of the Silk Road, the Mogao Grottoes flourished, and there were more than 1,000 caves in the Wu Zetian period. After the Anshi Rebellion, Dunhuang was occupied by Tubo and Guiyi Army successively, but the sculpture activities were not greatly affected. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Xixia and Yuan Dynasty, the Mogao Grottoes gradually declined, only the caves of the previous dynasty were rebuilt, and there were few new buildings. After the Yuan Dynasty, with the abandonment of the Silk Road, the Mogao Grottoes also stopped construction and gradually disappeared into the world's field of vision. It was not until the fortieth year of Kangxi in Qing Dynasty (170 1) that people paid attention to it again. In modern times, people usually call it "Thousand Buddha Cave".

There are 735 caves in the Mogao Grottoes from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, which are divided into north and south areas. The Southern District is the main body of the Mogao Grottoes, where monks engage in religious activities. There are 487 caves, all of which have murals or statues. There are 248 caves in the North District, of which only 5 caves have murals or statues. The other caves are places where monks practice, live and bury after death, with living facilities such as heatable adobe sleeping platform, stove kang, flue, niche and desk lamp. There are murals and statues in 492 caves in the two districts, including 45,000 square meters of murals, 24 clay colored sculptures, 5 wooden cornices in Tang and Song Dynasties, and thousands of lotus columns and floor tiles.

[Edit this paragraph] Artistic features

Mogao Grottoes is a large-scale cave temple with murals as the main part and statues as the auxiliary part, which integrates painting, sculpture and architectural art. Its grottoes mainly include Zen Grottoes, Central Pagoda Grottoes, Palace Grottoes, Central Buddhist Grottoes, Four-walled Three-niche Grottoes, Elephant Grottoes and Nirvana Grottoes. These caves vary greatly in size, with the largest cave 16 reaching 268 square meters and the smallest cave 37 being less than one foot high. The original wooden temples outside the grottoes were connected by corridors and plank roads, but many of them no longer exist.

The murals of the Mogao Grottoes are painted on the walls, roofs and shrines of the caves, with profound contents, including seven themes: Buddha statues, Buddhist stories, Buddhist historical sites, changes, supernatural beings, patrons and decorative patterns. In addition, there are many paintings that show all aspects of social life at that time, such as hunting, farming, textile, transportation, war, architecture, dance, weddings and funerals. Some of these paintings are bold and broad, and some are bright and magnificent, reflecting the artistic styles and characteristics of different periods. Most of China's paintings before the Five Dynasties have been lost. The murals in the Mogao Grottoes provide important objects for studying the art history of China and extremely valuable images and patterns for studying the ancient customs of China. According to the calculation, if these murals are arranged at a height of 2 meters, they can be arranged as long as 25 kilometers.

The cliff where the Mogao Grottoes are located has soft soil and is not suitable for making stone carvings. Therefore, the statues of Mogao Grottoes are all made of wood except for four giant buddhas with stone tires. Statues are all Buddhist gods and Buddhists, and there are many combinations such as single portrait and group portrait. Group images are generally centered on the Buddha, with disciples and bodhisattvas standing on both sides, ranging in number from 3 to 1 1. The forms of colored plastic include round plastic, floating plastic, shadow plastic and good plastic. These statues are exquisite, vivid, imaginative and highly accomplished, and they complement each other with murals.

It is a nine-story canopy, also known as the "North Elephant". It is located in the middle of the cliff cave, with the same height as the top of the cliff, which is magnificent. Its wood structure is red, the eaves are high, the outline is patchy, and the eaves ring with the wind. In the meantime, there is a sitting statue of Maitreya Buddha, 35.6 meters high, painted with stone tires and clay sculptures. It is the third largest sitting Buddha in China after Leshan Giant Buddha and Rongxian Giant Buddha. The space for accommodating the giant Buddha is large at the bottom and small at the top, and the plane is square. There are two passages outside the building, which can not only be used to watch the nearby giant Buddha, but also be used as the light source for the head and waist of the giant Buddha. The roof of this cave existed before the first year of Tang Wende (888), when there were five floors. It was rebuilt in the fourth year of Gande in the Northern Song Dynasty (966) and in the Qing Dynasty, and changed to four floors. 1935 was rebuilt again, forming the current 9-layer model.

On the murals of the Mogao Grottoes, beautiful flying can be seen everywhere-the urban sculpture in Dunhuang is also the image of the flying fairy who plays the pipa. Tian Fei is a god who serves Buddha and Indra, and he can sing and dance well. On the wall, flying in the boundless 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; Some people roll with the wind, carefree. The painter presents a beautiful and ethereal imaginary world to people with his unique winding long line and harmonious interest.

Gorgeous colors and flying lines, in these northwest painters' passionate and emotional descriptions of the ideal heaven, we seem to feel their inexhaustible passion for riding and running in the desert wasteland. Perhaps it is this passion that breeds the imagination promoted in murals!