Mogao Grottoes

Mogao Grottoes is a national key cultural relics protection unit, commonly known as the thousand Buddha cave, known as the most valuable cultural discovery in the 20th century, "Oriental Louvre Palace". Located in Dunhuang at the western end of Hexi Corridor, Mogao Grottoes is famous for its exquisite murals and statues. Mogao Grottoes consists of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes digital exhibition center and Mogao Grottoes physical caves.

It was first built in the pre Qin period of the Sixteen States. After the construction of the Sixteen States, the Northern Dynasties, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Xixia, yuan and other dynasties, it has formed a huge scale. There are 735 caves, 45000 square meters of murals and 2415 clay colored sculptures. It is the largest and most abundant Buddhist art holy land in the world. Since modern times, more than 50000 pieces of ancient cultural relics have been found in the Tibetan Scripture cave, which leads to Dunhuang studies, a discipline specializing in the study of Tibetan Scripture cave classics and Dunhuang art. However, in modern times, the Mogao Grottoes were stolen, a large number of cultural relics were lost, and its treasures were seriously damaged. In 1961, Mogao Grottoes was announced as one of the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units. In 1987, Mogao Grottoes was listed as a world cultural heritage. It is one of the four largest Grottoes in China.

Before you go to the physical grottoes, you can watch the theme digital film "Millennium Mogao" and the ball screen film "dream Buddha Palace" in the digital exhibition center. The two films respectively introduce the millennium history of the Mogao Grottoes, so that the audience can enjoy the grottoes.

Mogao Grottoes

Mogao Grottoes, commonly known as thousand Buddha cave, is located in Dunhuang at the western end of Hexi corridor. It was first built in the pre Qin period of the Sixteen States, and then went through the construction of the Northern Dynasties, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Xixia, yuan and other dynasties, forming a huge scale, with 735 caves, 45000 square meters of murals and 2415 clay colored sculptures. It is the largest and most abundant Buddhist art site in the world.

In 1961, the Mogao Grottoes was announced by the State Council of the people's Republic of China as one of the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units. In 1987, Mogao Grottoes was listed as a world cultural heritage.

Mogao Grottoes, together with Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Henan Province and Yungang Grottoes in Datong, Shanxi Province, are known as the three largest Grottoes in China,

The Maijishan grottoes are called the four major grottoes.

On August 31, 2019, the large-scale documentary dialogue between Mogao Grottoes and Angkor Wat, jointly produced by Dunhuang Research Institute and other units, premiered at Dunhuang International Convention and Exhibition Center. Taking the dialogue of Asian civilizations as the theme, the documentary shows the wonderful connection of destiny, culture and art between different civilizations.

In February 2020, in order to pay tribute to the medical workers who are struggling in the front line of anti epidemic, the scenic spot will be open to all medical workers in the country free of charge until the end of 2020.

On May 10, the Mogao Grottoes reopened

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World Cultural Heritage

Heritage Name: Mogao Caves

Selected time: 1987

Selection basis: Cultural Heritage (I) (II) (III) (IV) (V) (VI)

Location: N40 07 59.988e94 49 00.012

Estate number: 440

Heritage Description:

Mogao Grottoes, commonly known as thousand Buddha cave, is located in Dunhuang at the western end of China's Hexi corridor. The pre Qin period, which was founded in the Sixteen States, went through the construction of the Sixteen States, the Northern Dynasties, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Xixia, yuan and other dynasties, forming a huge scale, with 735 caves, 45000 square meters of murals and 2415 clay colored sculptures. It is the largest and most abundant Buddhist art site in the world. In 1987, it was listed in the world heritage list as a cultural heritage.

Mogao Grottoes is the largest and most abundant Buddhist art site in the world. There are 735 caves in the Mogao Grottoes from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, which are divided into the north and the south. The Southern District is the main part of the Mogao Grottoes, where monks engage in religious activities. There are 487 caves with murals or statues. There are 248 caves in the North District, of which only 5 have murals or statues, while the others are places for monks to practice, live and bury after death, with earth Kang, stove Kang, flue, niche, desk lamp and other living facilities. A total of 492 caves in the two areas have murals and statues, including 45000 square meters of murals, 2415 clay colored sculptures, 5 wooden cliff eaves in Tang and Song Dynasties, and thousands of lotus pillars and floor tiles. Selection criteria (I)

It represents a unique artistic achievement and a creative masterpiece of genius. The Mogao Grottoes show a unique artistic achievement, including 492 Grottoes with 5-story buildings on the natural cliff, more than 2000 painted sculptures and 45000 square meters of murals, many of which are masterpieces of Chinese art. Selection criteria (II)

In a certain period of time or in a certain cultural region of the world, it has had a significant impact on the development of architecture, technology, historic art, urban planning or landscape design. From the period of Sixteen States to the Yuan Dynasty, the Mogao Grottoes played a decisive role in the artistic exchanges among China, Central Asia and India.

Selection criteria (III)

It can provide a unique or at least special witness for a lost civilization or cultural tradition. Mogao Grottoes murals and Scripture cave documents record the historical and cultural footprints left by many ancient nationalities in Dunhuang, especially the abundant portraits and Buddhist paintings of Uighur and Xixia donors, as well as the national characters and inscriptions, which provide a physical witness to the disappearance of the Uighur and Xixia Kingdom civilization in Shazhou.

Selection criteria (IV)

It can be used as an outstanding example of a building or group of buildings or landscape, showing one or several important stages in human history. Mogao Grottoes are composed of hundreds of grottoes with different functions, and its oasis environment in the Gobi desert is an outstanding example of Chinese Grotto architecture. The whole process of the formation, development and decline of Buddhist art in Mogao Grottoes represents the brilliant achievements of Buddhist art in China's 16 states, Northern Dynasties, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, song, Uighur, Xixia and Yuan Dynasties.

Selection criteria (V)

It is an outstanding example of traditional human settlements, land use or marine development, representing one or more cultures or the interaction between human and environment, especially vulnerable to damage due to irreversible changes. The Mogao Grottoes, together with its grotto art, show the cultural exchange and interaction between the Central Plains and Han areas along the Silk Road and other ethnic groups such as India, Persia, Central Asia, Sogdian, western regions, Khotan, Tubo, Ganzhou Uighur, Xizhou Uighur, Tuguhun, Xixia Dangxiang Qiang, Mongolia, etc.

Selection criteria (VI)

It has direct or substantial connection with events, living traditions, views, beliefs, works of art or literature with outstanding universal significance. The Millennium Development of Mogao Grottoes is directly related to religion, history and geography, language and literature, ancient science and technology, culture and art, economy, folk custom and nationality. Its existence strongly connects the history of communication across Eurasia and the spread of Buddhism throughout Asia.

World Heritage Committee evaluation:

Mogao Grottoes is located in a strategic point of the silk road. It is not only a transit point for Eastern and Western trade, but also an intersection of religion, culture and knowledge. The 492 small grottoes and cave temples in Mogao Grottoes are famous for their statues and murals, displaying Buddhist art that has lasted for thousands of years.

Evolution of construction

The Mogao Grottoes were first built in the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms. According to the book Li Kerang rebuilt the monument of the Mogao Grottoes in the Tang Dynasty, in 366, the monk lezun passed through the mountain and suddenly saw the golden light shining like ten thousand Buddhas, so he dug the first cave on the cliff. Since then, Buddhist monk Faliang and others have continued to build caves here to practice Buddhism, which is called "desert Grottoes", meaning "the height of the desert". Later, because "Mo" and "Mo" are common, they were renamed "Mogao Grottoes". There is another saying: there is a saying in Buddhism that the merits of building a Buddha cave are boundless. The meaning of Mogao Grottoes is that there is no higher accomplishment than building a Buddha cave.

In the Northern Wei, Western Wei and Northern Zhou dynasties, the rulers believed in Buddhism, and the construction of grottoes was supported by the princes and nobles and developed rapidly.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, with the prosperity of the Silk Road, the Mogao Grottoes were even more prosperous. There were more than one thousand caves in Wu Zetian's time. After the Anshi rebellion, Dunhuang was occupied by Tubo and Guiyi army, but the statue activities were not greatly affected. In the Northern Song Dynasty, the Western Xia Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty, Mogao Grottoes gradually declined, mainly renovating the former dynasty grottoes, but rarely building new ones.

After the Yuan Dynasty, Dunhuang stopped opening caves and gradually abandoned. Jiayuguan was closed in 1528, making Dunhuang a nomadic frontier fortress. In 1718, Xinjiang was pacified. In 1723, Shazhou post was set up in Dunhuang. In 1725, Shazhou guard was changed. In addition, he emigrated from Gansu to Tunhuang to rebuild Shazhou city. In 1760, shazhouwei was changed into Dunhuang County, and Dunhuang economy began to recover. People began to pay attention to the Mogao Grottoes.

In the 26th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1900), a sutra cave was discovered, which shocked the world. Unfortunately, in the specific historical background of the corruption and incompetence of the late Qing government and the invasion of China by Western powers, shortly after the discovery of the Tibetan Scripture cave relics, Western explorers such as Stein, bosihe, juruichao and odenburg came to Dunhuang one after another to defraud a large number of Tibetan Scripture cave texts from Taoist Wang by unfair means

Chinese PinYin : Mo Gao Ku