Yulin Grottoes

Yulin Grottoes is located in Guazhou County, Jiuquan City, Gansu Province, 75KM southwest of Guazhou County, 100km east of Dunhuang City, next to Yulin River (also known as Tashi River).

Yulin grottoes, also known as Wanfo cave, were built in the Northern Wei Dynasty. All of them were excavated on the vertical cliffs on both sides of Yulin River Gorge. It was as spectacular as the ground split. There are 43 caves in Yulin grottoes, which are similar to Mogao Grottoes in content, artistic style and painting form. They are called sister grottoes. Because of its small fame, the caves have been well protected, especially the Xixia frescoes, whose artistic value exceeds that of the Mogao Grottoes. Yulin grottoes, located on the hillsides on both sides of the valley, are divided into East Cliff and West Cliff, which are closed to the public.

Yulin Grottoes

Yulin grottoes, also known as Wanfo gorge, Yulin temple

Shangdongzi

Located 70 kilometers south of Guazhou county (formerly Anxi County) in Gansu Province, it is under the jurisdiction of Dunhuang Research Institute. The cave is built on the East-West cliffs on both sides of the Yulin River Gorge. It is named after the elm trees on the banks.

Yulin grottoes were first built in the Northern Wei Dynasty before Sui and Tang Dynasties. Judging from the style of murals and the titles of visitors' inscriptions, large-scale construction was carried out in Tang, Five Dynasties, song, Xixia, yuan and Qing Dynasties. There are 43 caves in Yulin grottoes, covering an area of 112850 square meters, with a total mural area of 4200 square meters. There are 10856 shops of painted Buddha and Taoism, 244 bodies of painted Buddha and Taoism. Among them, there are 3 caves in Tang Dynasty, 8 caves in Five Dynasties, 13 caves in Song Dynasty, 4 caves in Xixia Dynasty, 4 caves in Yuan Dynasty and 9 caves in Qing Dynasty.

It is a branch of the art system of the Mogao Grottoes, which is similar to the Mogao Grottoes in form, content and artistic style.

In 1961, Yulin Grottoes was announced by the State Council as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

Historical evolution

Yulin grottoes were excavated in the Northern Wei Dynasty.

In the Five Dynasties and the early Song Dynasty, after Zhang Yanchao, the caoyijin family ruled Gua, Sha and other prefectures for more than 100 years. The caoyijin family took advantage of the temporary stability in the Hexi corner to build grottoes and painted murals to whitewash Taiping. Therefore, more caves were excavated in this period, accounting for half of all the caves in Yulin grottoes. Most of the caves and corridors built by the Cao family are painted with huge portraits of their donors.

During the Xixia and Yuan Dynasties, 16 caves were built and rebuilt.

Due to the influence of the tantric school, there are some rare themes such as Shui Yue Guan Yin and Tantric school Mandala.

Architectural features

pattern

overview

There are 43 caves, including 11 in Dongya and 32 in Xiya, covering an area of 112850 square meters. There are four types of caves: the central pillar, the covered bucket roof, the dome roof and the herringbone slope roof. The total area of the murals is 4200 square meters. There are 10856 shops of painted Buddha and Taoism, 244 bodies of painted Buddha and Taoism. Judging from the murals and inscriptions, there are 3 caves in Tang Dynasty, 8 caves in Five Dynasties, 13 caves in Song Dynasty, 4 caves in Xixia Dynasty, 4 caves in Yuan Dynasty and 9 caves in Qing Dynasty.

 

Cave three

The third cave was built in the late period of the Western Xia Dynasty. The contents and arts of Han and Tibetan Nationalities, Xianzong and Mizong are the most mature and typical caves in this period. The cave is rectangular with a dome. There is an octagonal Mandala (Mandala) at the back of the center of the cave, on which there are several Qing sculptures. The lower part of the four walls of the cave is surrounded by a double-layer platform in the Qing Dynasty, on which there are 18 statues of Arhats in the Qing Dynasty. The mandala is painted on the top, the five square Buddha is painted in the middle, the Buddha biography is painted in the center of the east wall, and the Guanyin Mandala, the Tibetan mandala and the xianzongtian Sutra are painted on the north and south sides. From the south wall to the East, there are Mandala, guanwuliangshoujingbian and mandala. From the north wall to the East, there are Mandala, pure land change and mandala. On the top of the Xibi gate are painted the changes of vimo, on the South and north of the gate are painted the changes of Puxian and Manjusri. The north and south walls of the corridor are painted with supporting people.

 

Cave 13

Cave 13 of Yulin Grottoes was built in the Five Dynasties and rebuilt in the song and Qing Dynasties. The cave is divided into front and back chambers, with a bucket shaped roof and a central Buddhist altar. The top of the corridor in the front room collapsed, and there are still murals with back light of Buddha and rocks. The South and North walls of the front chamber corridor are draped curtains drawn in the Five Dynasties period. Under the draped curtains, there are bodhisattvas. On the top of the front chamber, there is a painting of pharmacist bianyipu painted in the Five Dynasties. Dongbi gate on the Song Dynasty draw a map of a shop. On both sides of the gate, there is a Dharma building, a Buddha's light and a broken flower. The South and North walls of the front room are draped curtains drawn in the Five Dynasties. Under the draped curtains are painted the eight divisions of Tianlong, Bodhisattva and yecha. The west wall of the front chamber is a hanging curtain drawn in the Five Dynasties period. The South and north of the gate connecting the main chamber and the front chamber are the shops of Fantian and Tishi. In the north of the gate, there are the male donors drawn in the Five Dynasties period, and in the South of the gate, there are the female donors. The corridor connecting the main room and the front room is a pattern of tuanhua painted by the Song Dynasty. There are two Bodhisattvas on the South and North walls of the corridor painted in the Song Dynasty. Under the curtain are two bodies of Bodhisattvas going to the meeting, and there are three treasures left at the bottom.

 

Cave 25

The main chamber of cave 25 is square, with a Buddhist altar in it, a square front chamber and a long corridor. There are ancient Tibetan inscriptions and wedding pictures of Tubo men and Han women in the Maitreya transmutation. It can be seen that it was built between the 11th year of Dali (776) and the 2nd year of Jianzhong (781) when Tubo occupied Guazhou but not Shazhou. The top of the main room collapsed, and the front room was rebuilt for five generations. The original work is well preserved. The east wall is painted with the "eight Bodhisattvas Mandala" of Esoteric Buddhism, and the South and North walls of cave 25 in the Tang Dynasty are painted with the changes of wuliangshou Sutra and Maitreya Sutra. Both sides of the front wall door are painted with Manjusri and Puxian.

 

The east wall of the front room is opposite to the South and North wall of the front room, which is the king of Liuli and the king of Pishan, guarding the Buddha kingdom.

 

Cave 29

Cave 29 is located in the upper layer of the northern end of the East Cliff of Yulin grottoes. It is a cave with a top of a bucket. It was founded in the Xixia Dynasty and painted murals on the top of the cave in the Yuan Dynasty. The caves suffered from smoke to varying degrees. The murals in this cave have typical Xixia style from content to form, which is a mature work in the late Xixia period.

 

The main wall (North wall) of the cave is in the middle of the Buddha's view. On both sides of the cave, there is a shop of water moon Avalokitesvara, which is often painted in the Western Xia Dynasty. It is recorded in the history of painting that Zhou Fang, a famous painter of Tang Dynasty, created the body of water and moon wonderfully. The Guanyin Bodhisattva in the picture sits on the throne of Vajra. The whole body is shrouded in a layer of translucent round light, which suddenly increases the mysterious atmosphere. There are blue water and red lotus in the front, and Qifeng and Xiuzhu in the back. The picture is quiet and profound, integrating realism, imagination and decoration.

 

characteristic

There are three types of Yulin Grottoes: the central Buddha altar grottoes, the central tower grottoes and the statue grottoes. All kinds of grottoes began in the Tang Dynasty, and then became a regular form. However, there are many deep corridors in front of the upper caves on the East and West cliffs, which are different from the Mogao Grottoes.

 

During the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty, 23 caves were built and rebuilt. Among them, there are three kinds of portraits: the portraits of the rulers of Cao's Guiyijun regime, their families and officials; the portraits of the local rulers of ethnic minorities who married with Cao, such as king and queen of Khotan, Tuyuhun and Murong Guiying's trip; especially the portraits of "dugoudang painter", "zhihuashou" and "duhuagong" ”The portraits of the artists are important historical materials. The contents and styles of murals in the caves of the Five Dynasties and the early Song Dynasty are mostly inherited from those of the previous dynasties. But in some caves, there are rare themes of Dunhuang Grottoes. For example, the Buddhist Scripture changes in the west wall of cave 32 in the Five Dynasties, and the hell changes in the front corridor of cave 19 in the Five Dynasties. In the Vimalakirti Sutra on the east side of the north wall of cave 32, there are cultural and entertainment scenes such as "go".

 

From the Xixia Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, there were portraits of noble officials and attendants of Dangxiang Qiang, Uighur and Mongolian nationalities with different characters and costumes.

 

The murals of the Western Xia Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty have their own unique themes and styles. Due to the influence of the tantric school, there are some rare themes such as Shui Yue Guan Yin and Tantric school Mandala.

 

Cultural relics

Sculpture

The main contents of the painted sculptures are Buddha, Bodhisattva, disciple, king of heaven, strongman and so on, and the forms are round sculpture, floating sculpture and so on. In addition to the 24.35-meter-high sanqizuo Buddha statue in the Song Dynasty of the Great Buddha Hall in cave 6 and the 13 meter long reclining Buddha statue in cave 5, all of them are made of mud and stone. The damage of the painted sculpture is more serious than that of the original one. There are more than 300 statues with heavy makeup. Most of them are isomorphic group images, ranging from three to nine bodies in one shop.

 

There are 14 caves in the Tang Dynasty, of which only the 25th remains intact. On both sides of the main wall door of the front room of the cave are painted the statues of vaisham and vaisham respectively. The remains of Thousand Buddhas can be seen on the top of the main chamber cave. The central part of the wall is painted with the statue of Lushena Buddha and eight Bodhisattvas, such as void Tibet, Maitreya, dizang and Manjusri. The northern side is painted with the statue of Sakyamuni, and the southern side is destroyed.

mural

The frescoes of the early Tang Dynasty in Yulin Grottoes only have remnants, and most of the other 4565 square meters are still well preserved. Most of the murals in Yulin grottoes are from the Tang Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty.

Chinese PinYin : Yu Lin Ku