Where is Longmen Grottoes in Henan?
Longmen Grottoes is the largest treasure house of stone carving art in the world, with the largest number of statues. It was rated as "the highest peak of stone carving art in China" by UNESCO, ranking first in China Grottoes. Now it is a world cultural heritage, a national key cultural relic protection unit and a national AAAAA tourist attraction. Longmen was dug by Dayu when he was controlling water, and the legend of fish jumping over Longmen also happened here.
Grottoes began in the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, flourished in the Tang Dynasty and finally ended in the late Qing Dynasty. After 10 dynasties and 1400 years of construction, it became the longest cave in the world. Many colorful paintings were used when it was built, but many of them have faded today. Covered on the cliffs of the east and west mountains of Yishui, the length from north to south is 1 km.
There are 2345 existing grottoes, with more than 1 1000 statues. Together with Mogao Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes, it is called the three largest grottoes in China, and later it is called the four largest grottoes with Maijishan Grottoes. Longmen Grottoes make the grotto art show the trend of China, which is a "milestone" of the grotto art in China. It has been built in Tianzhu, Silla, Tuhuoluo, Guo Kang and other countries, and found European patterns and ancient Greek stone pillars. It is the highest international grottoes in the world.
Dig a cave
In the past, it was thought that the grottoes in Longmen area were built from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, but it was not. The grottoes in Longmen area began in the Northern Wei Dynasty, flourished in the Tang Dynasty and finally ended in the late Qing Dynasty. After the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Eastern Wei Dynasty, the Western Wei Dynasty, the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties, the Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty and other dynasties 10, it has been built for more than 400 years and has become the longest grotto in the world. Of all the caves in Longmen, caves in the Northern Wei Dynasty account for about 30%, those in the Tang Dynasty account for 60%, and those in other dynasties only account for about 10%.
During the Northern Wei Dynasty, the representative caves were Guyang Cave, Binyang Middle Cave and Lianhua Cave. Most of the statues of the Eastern and Western Wei Dynasties are carved with small niches on the cave walls of the Northern Wei Dynasty. The niche shape has not changed much, and the niche decoration tends to be simplified. In addition, Yi Ting, a strong crossbow general in the Eastern Wei Dynasty, ordered Tyrone to make Maitreya Buddha statues, and in the first year of Wuding in the Eastern Wei Dynasty, five statues of Sakyamuni were made with inscriptions.
During the Northern Qi Dynasty, the five Buddha statues in Fang Yao caves were all the characteristics of the Northern Qi statues. Another statue of 22 people, She Heyi, Jun Yan, Beiqi, etc.
During the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, the representative grottoes were the Ashe statue niche of Dalu, Jingshan Temple, Wanfo Cave and Huiji Cave, which was the heyday of Longmen Grottoes.
In the Song Dynasty, there were Chen Tuan's Cross Scroll Tablet and Song Zhenzong's Longmen Tablet. In the Song Dynasty, some caves were newly dug in Longmen Grottoes, and nine wooden eaves buildings were built to protect the statue of Rushena, commonly known as "Nine Rooms".
In the Ming Dynasty, five square and semicircular inscriptions were engraved on the surface of the outer lintel of Huiji Cave with negative lines. The date is Hitachi in March, 3 1, which is an inscription for donating money to build roads.
Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty 1750 Youlong Gate, left the Imperial Monument Pavilion at Xiangshan Temple in Longmen. 1900 Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China and Empress Dowager Cixi fled to the west. Back in Beijing, I visited Guyang Cave through Longmen, and ordered the renovation of the main Buddha Sakyamuni in the cave into the statue of Laojun, and the cave was renamed Laojun Cave.