Located
twelve kilometers south
of Luoyang, the Longmen
Grottoes are among the
greatest treasure troves
of ancient stone carving
in China, together with
Dunhuang in the
northwestern province of
Gansu and Yungang in the
northern province of
Shanxi.
The work on these
grottoes began in 494
during the Northern Wei
Dynasty and continued
for more than four
hundred years in te
ensuing Sui and Tang
dynasties. The grottoes
are cut into precipitous
cliffs on both banks of
the Yishui River, and
stretch for over a
thousand metres from
south to north. The
existing 2,100caves and
niches contain more than
100,000 statues of
Buddhist figures in
various postures, the
largest rising over
seventeen metres and the
smallest only two
centimeters. There are
also 3,600 inscribed
tablets and forty
pagodas here.
The stone sculptures at
Longmen represent a new
height in the art of
stone carving and the
development of Buddhism
in China. The largest
Buddhist monastery at
Longmen, the Fengxian
Temple, in particular,
contains the most
exquisite works of art
among the grottoes and
represents the best
stone carving techniques
of the Tang Dynasty. It
was built partly with
the funds that Tang
Dynasty Emperor Gao
Zong(r.650-683) gave to
his wife, Empress Wu
Zetian for cosmetics. |