Why were the Buddha statues in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes built in the desert?

The most popular saying is the vision of the holy land. It is said that one evening in 366, the second year of Fu Jian Jian Yuan, the former emperor of Zhao Xuan in Qin Dynasty, when Shaman Lezun passed by Mingsha Mountain and rested by a hill, a strange image suddenly appeared: the whole Mingsha Mountain was shrouded in Buddha's light, and there were thousands of golden Buddha statues looming in the Buddha's light. With the opening of the ancient "Silk Road", Dunhuang, a remote place in the Gobi Desert, has gradually become the only place for trade transit in the Hexi Corridor, and businessmen from all over the world have begun to gather here.

Le Zun was surprised and quickly knelt down and prayed devoutly. Lezun thought this place was a Buddhist holy land, so he presided over the monks to dig the first cave here and build a Buddha statue.

Ancient businessmen paid the most attention to peace and wealth when doing business, so they believed in Buddhism the most. Businessmen from all over the world have invested in digging grottoes, carving Buddha statues and respecting Buddhism. The grottoes in Mogao Grottoes are growing day by day. It reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty, forming a prosperous trend of "winning glory for thousands of holes".

We don't know whether the Mogao Grottoes are really located here because of the vision of the holy land, as the legend says. However, according to the analysis of archaeologists, it is reasonable for Mogao Grottoes to choose Mingsha Mountain, a desert Gobi. Dunhuang is located in the desert Gobi, surrounded by wind and sand.

The Buddha statues in grottoes are easily eroded by wind and sand, while the rocks in Mingsha Mountain are gravel, which is very hard and corrosion-resistant. Dunhuang Grottoes are east-west, facing Sanwei Mountain across the river.

Whenever the east wind blows in summer, Sanwei Mountain becomes a natural barrier to keep out the wind and sand, but when winter comes, the west wind rolls the wind and sand from behind the grottoes and blows it to the top of the grottoes, so the wind and sand can't be poured into the caves.

It is very rare to find such a treasure trove of geomantic omen in the whole Gobi desert. Under such harsh natural conditions, the Mogao Grottoes have survived thousands of years of wind and rain and still preserved a large number of Buddhist art sculptures and murals, which is really the luck of the Chinese nation.