|
In places they are five stories high and
their length from north to south is more than 1,600 meters. Work
on the grottoes began in 366, the second year of the reign of Jianyuan
of the pre-Qin Dynasty. In total there are 492 caves dating back
to 16 dynasties including 16 Kingdoms, Northern Wei, Western Wei,
Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Xixia and Yuan.
In the caves there are 45,000 square meters of murals, 2,415 color
sculptures and some 4,000 celestial figures. In addition there are
five timber buildings from the Tang and Song dynasties and 50,000
documents and cultural relics. The grottoes are a treasury of arts
including architecture, painting and sculpture as well a treasure
house of documents and cultural relics. They were listed as one
of the world's cultural heritages in 1987.
Murals from various periods reflect social
life, clothing, production, ancient architecture, music, dance and
acrobatics and are a historical record of cultural exchanges between
China and other regions. The images in the grottoes are a valuable
reference for the study of ancient Chinese society from the fourth
century to the 14th century.
The murals of the Mogao Grottoes are of high
historical and artistic value. Those from the Tang Dynasty achieve
the highest artistic perfection with strong figures that are well
shaped and proportioned and featuring attractive lively images.
The painted statues in the Dunhuang Grottoes
focus on integration of color and form leaving space for color and
lines to supplement each other. Bright colors exaggerate the characteristics
of the subjects.
The most impressive caves are Cave 96, 17,
130, 158, 259, 285, 200 and 428.
Included in the UNESCO world heritage list
in 1987.
|
