Buddhism is one of the three major religions in the world and has been introduced to my country for more than 1,900 years. After Buddhism was introduced into my country, it integrated with Chinese culture and had a profound impact on the development of our country, becoming an im

Buddhism is one of the three major religions in the world and has been introduced to our country for more than 1,900 years. After Buddhism was introduced into my country, it integrated with Chinese culture and had a profound impact on the development of our country, becoming an important part of Chinese culture. After Buddhism was introduced to my country, digging caves into the mountains became the basic architectural form of its temples, creating a new era in the art of grottoes in my country.

There are countless Buddhist grottoes in our country, among which the following five are the most famous, also known as the five major grottoes in China.

1, Mogao Grottoes

Mogao Grottoes, also known as "Thousand Buddha Cave", are located at the foot of Mingsha Mountain 25 kilometers southeast of Dunhuang County. They are named because they are located in Mogao Township. It is the largest and richest Buddhist art treasure house in the world and is known as the "Pearl of Oriental Art".

Former Qin Dynasty In the second year of the founding of Fu Jian (366 AD), Venerable Shamen Le came here and saw thousands of golden paths on Mingsha Mountain, shaped like thousands of Buddhas. He then had the idea of ​​​​excavating, and continued to build after that. The Buddhist holy land has a history of more than 1,600 years. The total length of Mogao Grottoes is 1.6 kilometers. There are 492 existing grottoes, which are world-famous for their statues and murals, displaying Buddhist art that has lasted for thousands of years. The total area of ​​the murals is about 45,000 square meters, with more than 2,100 colorful statues and more than 4,000 flying figures. The grottoes are divided into five floors, and 50,000 to 60,000 precious cultural relics from the 4th to 14th centuries have been discovered. In 1987, they were rated as world cultural heritage .

Since the discovery of more than 50,000 volumes of religious and secular documents in the Mogao Grottoes in 1900, Dunhuang art has shocked the whole world, and " Dunhuang Studies " has become a worldwide prominent study . As a result, Dunhuang Studies was formed, and there was also the Dunhuang Cultural Relics Research Institute.

2, Longmen Grottoes

Longmen Grottoes, located in Luoyang City, Henan Province, is the world's largest treasure house of stone carving art with the most statues. It is rated as "the highest peak of Chinese stone carving art" by UNESCO and ranks among the major grottoes in China. The first one is now a world cultural heritage.

The Longmen Grottoes were first excavated during the Northern Wei Dynasty Emperor Xiaowen's reign, flourished in the Tang Dynasty, and finally ended in the late Qing Dynasty. After more than 10 dynasties, it has been built for more than 1,400 years. It is the longest grotto in the world, with a length of 1 kilometer from north to south. There are 2,345 cave statues and more than 110,000 statues. It is the same as the Mogao Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes. is also known as the three major grottoes in China, and after adding Maijishan Grottoes , it is called the four major grottoes .

Most of the statues in the Longmen Grottoes were built by royal nobles. It is the only royal grotto in the world. It was excavated by Dayu during the flood control . The legend of the fish leaping over the Dragon Gate also happened here. The grottoes combine the essence of grotto art from various countries and can be called the most international grottoes in the world. They were listed as world cultural heritage in 2000.

2, Yungang Grottoes

Yungang Grottoes, located in Datong City, Shanxi Province, were first excavated in the first year of Heping in the Northern Wei Dynasty. After eight dynasties, they stretch 1 kilometer from east to west.

There are 45 main caves in the Yungang Grottoes, more than 51,000 stone statues, and 252 large and small cave niches. They are one of the largest ancient grotto groups in China. They represent the outstanding Buddhist grotto art in China from the 5th to 6th centuries AD and are worthy of comparison. It is called a classic masterpiece of the first peak period of Chinese Buddhist art. It was named a World Cultural Heritage in 2001.

4, Maijishan Grottoes

Maijishan Grottoes are located on an isolated peak in the West Qinling Mountains on the south side of Maijishan Township, 30 kilometers southeast of Tianshui City, Gansu Province. They are named because they resemble a stack of wheat. The grottoes were first built in the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Later Qin (AD 384). They have a history of more than 1,600 years. They are one of the famous large-scale grottoes in China and a world-famous art treasure house.

The Maijishan Grottoes are exquisitely carved and brightly colored. There are 194 existing caves, including more than 7,200 clay and stone sculptures from the 4th century to the 19th century, and more than 1,300 square meters of murals. They are especially famous at home and abroad for their exquisite clay sculpture art. Known as the Oriental Sculpture Art Exhibition Hall. It was included in the World Cultural Heritage List in 2014.