Cave 323, Mogao Grottoes, Early Tang Period (618-704 A.D.)

It is one of the representative caves excavated in the early Tang period. States inside the niche has lost its original appearance due to restoration in Qing Dynasty. The south and the north walls are painted with abundant Buddhist historical stories.

The painting depicting Zhang Qian's Mission to the Western Regions on the north wall, though discrepancies exist with history, provides valuable visual material for researching the history of the Silk Road and the history of cultural exchange between China and the western world.

Each story is painted in a combined pattern, containing four or five scenes which are varied in size and interleaving. There is no demarcation between scenes or stories; instead, landscapes and architectures are painted as background, wherein human figures are placed, thus producing integrity. It is a masterpiece of the landscape and figure paintings of the Tang Dynasty.

A piece of blank is noticeable at the center of the south wall, it is vestige left over by American Landon Warner who pasted away the wall painting in 1924.

Publishes at : 07-08-15 22:30

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