Mogao Grottoes, also called the "Cave
of Ten Thousand Buddhas", are located on the eastern foot of Mingsha Mountain 25
km southeast of Dunhuang in Gansu province. They are one of the four great grottoes
in China and also the largest Buddhist grottoes with with the most aubstantive contents
in the world. Now they have been listed as one of world cultural heritage sites.
Mogao Grottoes, originally built in 366 AD, extend 1,610 m from south to north.
There are 492 caves and 45,000 square m of murals and over 2,000 statues in different
colors.
The caves are different in size and the statues are varied in height. The big statues
are grand and the small ones are refined. The murals are extremely exquisite and
mainly depict the stories of Buddhist scriptures. Their high artistic attainment
and the rich imagination impress visitors with breathless admiration.
Of all the art forms of Dunhuang Grottoes, murals have the largest number and the
richest content. These murals are of great historical and artistic value. The murals
painted in the prime of Tang Dynasty are of the highest attainment. No wonder some
scholars in the west call Dunhuang Grottoes as the "library on walls".
Reference data
Apart from murals and colorful statues, there are a large number of scriptures and
documents that provide precious information for the research of politics, economic,
military affairs, culture, arts, religion and national history of ancient China.
If one joins all the murals of Mogao Grottoes together, they may stretch for 30
km. The murals not only represent national style of China but also absorb advantage
from ancient art of India, Rome, Egypt, etc. it is merging quintessence of both
East and West cultures.