Longmen Grottoes

Longmen Grottoes is located on both banks of the Yi River, 13 kilometers south of Luoyang City.

Here the two hills stand facing each other and the Yihe River washes its way northward through the gorge. It seems to be a natural gate, historically called “Yique”, later in Sui Dynasty renamed “Longmen”.

The carving work at Longmen began in Northern Wei Dynasty when Emperor Xiaowen moved his capital to Luoyang (493 A.D.). It lasted more than 400 years. At present there are over 2,300 caves and niches, more than one hundred thousand Buddhist images and over 300,000 characters of inscriptions. The grottoes and niches in the two hills are known at home and abroad for their large numbers, massive scales, variety of subjects, delicate carving and profound meaning. With their original imperial style and the style of central China, the grottoes created during the Northern Wei Period and the Tang Dynasty reached the pinnacle of the development of stone carving at that time and differed from grottoes created earlier. The site has been known as the “forest of ancient steles” for the biggest number of steles and inscriptions ever seen in any of the grottoes in the world. It is rare in the art of stone carving so far as the extensive coverage of the various sects of Buddhism, and even Taoism, as the subject matter of the grottoes is concerned. The large numbers of materials in kind and literary data have reflected, from different angles, the developments and changes of Chinese politics, economics, religion, culture, and other aspects in ancient times, and have made important contributions to the creation and development of the Chinese art of stone carving. Longmen Grottoes have been the choice of the imperial members and nobles of the Northern Wei and Tang Dynasty to make vows and create statues. It can be said that Longmen Grottoes are mainly embodiments of imperial wills and behaviors.

Among all the caves, Fengxiansi Cave, the largest one, is the most representative works of sculpture art of Tang Dynasty. The Empress, Wu Zetian, donated 20,000 strings of coins from her face power expenses. It was completed in the second year of Shangyuan (675 A.D.). The open niche was carved in accordance with Avatamsaka Sutra. The main Buddha Vairocana is 17.14 meters in height, with his head 4 meters tall and her ears 1.9 meters long. He is graceful, poised and shakable. This statue embodies the great material and spiritual strength of Tang Dynasty, demonstrates the supreme level attained in the art of stone carving in Tang Dynasty.

Located in the World Heritage of the Longmen Grottoes Scenic Zone, Xiangshan Temple began to be built in Northern Wei Dynasty. Wu Zetian held a poetry meeting in Tang Dynasy and left over a good story of obtaining a silk robe with excellent poems. Bai Juyi, a great poet of Tang Dynasty, was not only indulged in the hill and the river in Longmen, but also loved the quietness of Xiangshan. He lived in Xiangshan for 18 years and named himself “the hermit of Xiangshan”. Bai Garden, located to the north of Xiangshan Temple, is the tomb of the great poet. The garden is now an ideal place of condoling the famous poet.

Longmen Grottoes was promulgated a key national cultural relic unit for special protection by the State Council in 1961. In 1982, it was promulgated one of the first group of scenic zones to be protected at the state level by the State Council. In November 2000, Longmen Grottoes was inscribed on World Heritage List by UNESCO.

Publishes at : 07-09-22 00:01

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