grotto

Most of the ancient relics in DAZHUSHAN are from the Sui and Tang Dynasties. They are small-sized caves, commonly known as "stone houses". They are carved on high rocks and contain relief sculptures of Buddha statues. According to legend, there are 99 Grottoes in DAZHUSHAN, but most of them have been destroyed, and only three are well preserved.

grotto

This entry is compiled and applied by "popular science China" Science Encyclopedia

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Grottoes were originally a form of Buddhist architecture in India. Buddhism advocates seclusion, so monks choose to dig caves in remote places of high mountains for practice.

Most of the Indian Grottoes have a square hall as the core, a circle of pillars around them, a few square "meditation rooms" carved on three sides, and a colonnade outside.

At first, Chinese grottoes were built in imitation of the system of Indian grottoes, mostly in the Yellow River Valley in northern China. Longmen Grottoes, Mogao Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes are known as the three largest Grottoes in China, followed by Maijishan grottoes. The number of Longmen Grottoes is not only the largest in China,

It is also rated as "the highest peak of Chinese stone carving art" by UNESCO.

Grotto art

Buddhist Architecture

From the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) to the Sui Dynasty (581-618) and the Tang Dynasty (618-907), it was the heyday of cave digging, especially in the Tang Dynasty, many large grottoes were built, which gradually decreased after the Tang Dynasty. During this period, the Yellow River Basin was the political, cultural and economic center of China.

Religious culture

Grotto art is a kind of religious culture, based on Buddhist stories, flourished in the Wei and Jin Dynasties and flourished in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. It absorbed the essence of India's art of the art of the art of trundo, and integrated the traditional techniques and aesthetic taste of Chinese painting and sculpture, reflecting the process of Buddhism and Its Sinicization. It is a valuable material for studying China's social history, Buddhist history, art history and the history of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries.

The main existing Grottoes in China are the works of Wei and Tang dynasties or the early Song Dynasty, among which the four famous grottoes are Yungang in Datong, Longmen in Luoyang, Maiji Mountain in Tianshui and Dazu in Chongqing.

Buddhist art

Grotto art is closely related to Buddhism. Grotto art serves the people who believed in Buddhism at that time. Because of the different classes and classes of people who believe in Buddhism, they belong to different sects of Buddhism. Therefore, in terms of the subject matter of statues and murals, they should also make statues according to their own sects. Therefore, the development of grotto art varies with time and place. For example, in Xinjiang grottoes, except for the caves opened in the Tang Dynasty or later Han Dynasty, which painted some changes in the Mahayana sutra, there were no statues reflecting the stories in the Mahayana sutra in the other caves excavated in the early period. Among these grottoes, the statues that remain today are mainly individual images such as Sakyamuni and Bodhisattva, followed by story portraits such as Buddha's original life and Buddha's original behavior (i.e. how to practice hard, endure humiliation and seek relief). Most of these portraits were created according to the scriptures of Sheng Wen Zang. They are the same as the records of foreign businessman Zhu pulezi's study of Mahayana Buddhism, and they are also completely consistent with the records of Mahayana religion in the southern piedmont of Tianshan recorded by FA Xian and Xuan Zang.

Grotto art is a kind of Buddhist art, which reflects the Buddhist thought and the process of its occurrence and development. The images, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, Dharma protectors, as well as the various story images of Buddha's behavior and life are created through the life images of specific people. It does not directly reflect the social life as other arts do, but it reflects the life scenes of people in different historical periods and classes. This should be a characteristic of grotto art.

Main Grottoes in China

Longmen Grottoes

brief introduction

Longmen Grottoes is located 12 kilometers south of Luoyang City, Henan Province. It is a place with beautiful scenery. There are two green mountains in the East and West, and the Yi River flows slowly northward. From afar, it looks like a natural gate que, so it was called "Yi Que" in ancient times. Since ancient times, it is the first landscape of youlongmen.

history

Longmen Grottoes were first excavated around the time when Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved his capital to Luoyang (493 AD). Later, after the eastern and Western Wei dynasties, the Northern Qi Dynasty, and the Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties, they were continuously constructed on a large scale for more than 400 years. It is densely distributed on the cliffs of the East and West Mountains of Yishui, with a length of 1 km from north to south. There are 2345 caves and niches, more than 2680 inscriptions and inscriptions, more than 70 pagodas and more than 110000 statues.

Among them, the largest Buddha statue, Lushena Buddha, is 17.14 meters high, and the smallest one is only 2 cm. All these reflect the high artistic attainments of the ancient working people in China.

In the Sui Dynasty, Yang Guang, emperor of the Sui Dynasty, once climbed Mang Mountain in the north of Luoyang and saw yique in the south of Luoyang from a distance. He said to his attendants, isn't this the gate of the real dragon emperor? Why didn't the ancients build their capital here? A minister flattered to answer, the ancients do not know, just waiting for your majesty you. After hearing this, Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty built the eastern capital of the Sui Dynasty in Luoyang. The main gate of the Imperial Palace was opposite to the yique. From then on, the yique was called Longmen by people.

Fengxian Temple is the largest of the Tang Dynasty Grottoes in Longmen, with a length of more than 30 meters and a width of more than 30 meters. According to the inscriptions, the cave was excavated during the reign of Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi and Empress Wu Zetian in the Tang Dynasty and was built in 675 ad. The Buddha statues in the cave clearly reflect the artistic characteristics of the Buddha statues in the Tang Dynasty, with plump face, drooping ears, perfect shape, serenity, tenderness and kindness. The seated statue of Lushena Buddha in the middle of the Grottoes is the largest one in Longmen Grottoes. It is 17.14 meters tall, 4 meters high in head, and 1.9 meters long in ears. It is full-bodied, grand in appearance, smooth in clothing lines, and highly artistic. It is really a masterpiece of art. According to the Buddhist Scripture, Lushena means light everywhere. This statue of Buddha has beautiful eyes, slightly tilted mouth, a smile, a slightly lower head and a slight look down. It looks like a wise and kind-hearted middle-aged woman. It is respectful and fearless. It has been commented that in shaping this Buddha, she perfectly combines noble sentiment, rich feelings, open mind and elegant appearance. Therefore, she has great artistic charm. On both sides of the statue, there are two disciples, JIAYE and Ananda, who are docile and devout. The two Bodhisattvas are kind and cheerful. The king of heaven held the pagoda in his hand, and it was very strong. And the image of Hercules is more moving. His right hand is akimbo, and his left hand is ten, majestic and lifelike.

Mogao Grottoes

brief introduction

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. Located in Dunhuang at the western end of the Hexi Corridor, Mogao Grottoes is famous for its exquisite murals and statues.

history

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 formed a huge scale,

value

At present, 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 cheated and stolen, and a large number of cultural relics were lost. 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.

Yungang Grottoes

brief introduction

The Yungang Grottoes, located in Datong City, Shanxi Province, belong to the national key cultural relics protection unit. There are 252 niches and more than 51000 statues in the Yungang Grottoes, representing the outstanding Buddhist grotto art in China from the 5th century to the 6th century. Among them, tanyao grottoes, with rigorous and unified layout and design, is a classic masterpiece of the first peak period of Chinese Buddhist art.

history

Yungang Grottoes have a history of more than 1500 years. It was built in 460 AD and was excavated by Tan Yao, a Buddhist monk at that time. The existing Yungang Grottoes are one of the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units announced by the State Council in 1961.

structure

The whole grottoes are divided into three parts: the East, the middle and the West. The niches in the grottoes are like honeycombs, and the large, the middle and the small grottoes are densely embedded in the middle of Yungang. Most of the eastern grottoes are built with pagodas, so they are also called pagoda caves. Each of the central Grottoes is divided into two chambers. The main Buddha is in the middle, and the cave walls and roofs are full of reliefs. Most of the Western grottoes are small and medium-sized grottoes and small niches, which were built a little later. Most of them are works of the Northern Wei Dynasty after they moved to Luoyang. The whole grotto is magnificent, solemn in appearance, exquisite in carving and prominent in theme.

Grotto sculpture

The religious figures in the grotto sculptures have different expressions. In terms of carving techniques, it inherits and develops the fine tradition of art in the Qin and Han Dynasties, absorbs the beneficial elements of Gandhara art, and creates a unique artistic style of Yungang, which is extremely valuable for the study of sculpture, architecture, music and religion.

Stretching about one kilometer from east to west, there are 53 large and small grottoes, with more than 51000 Buddha sculptures. It is one of the largest Grottoes in China. Together with Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang and Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, it is known as the three largest Grottoes in China

Chinese PinYin : Shi Ku