Yungang Grottoes China: one of the largest and Interesting Grottoes

Yungang Grottoes is one of the three major cave clusters in China, punctuate the north cliff of Wuzhou Mountain, Datong. This masterpiece of early Chinese Buddhist cave art was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. The area was excavated along the mountain, extending 1 km (0.62 miles) from east to west, revealing 53 caves and over 51,000 stone statues. The Caves are divided into east, middle, and west parts. Pagodas dominate the eastern parts; west caves are small and mid-sized with niches. Caves in the middle are made up of front and back chambers with Buddha statues in the center. Embossing covers walls and ceilings. 

The History of Grottoes

The History of  interesting Grottoes begins in the Wei Dynasty. The first two Wei emperors, Tuoba Gui and Tuoba Si, were both Buddhists. However, the third emperor, Tuoba Tao, known as "Taiwu," was a Taoist, as was his Prime Minister Cui Hao and Hao’s teacher, Taoist monk Kou Qianzhi. All three abhorred Buddhism’s supplanting of the local religion. While sacking the enemy stronghold of Xi’an, Cui Hao discovered some rebel arms in a Buddhist temple and found the justification he needed to initiate a massive anti-Buddhist pogrom, now known as the Taiwu Suppression of Buddhism. During this 6 year holocaust, Buddhists were severely persecuted, temples were razed, monks were killed, and books were burned. Regretting the severity of his action and judging Cui to be a treacherous minister, Emperor Taiwu, while on his death-bed, ordered the execution of Cui Hao and his 100-strong family clan. The emperor later died, as did Cui’s teacher, Kou Qianzhi. Judging these deaths to be a sign of the gods’ displeasure, Emperor Wencheng ordered the restoration of Buddhism upon his enthronement and had the Yungang grottoes built. What we now find still enduring is a series of 53 caves that stretch a kilometer east to west containing over 51,000 magnificent statues ranging from three centimeters tall to over 17 meters in height. Statues Of the 53 original grottoes of the Yungang Grotto complex, only 45 remain intact. These remaining 45 grottoes contain some 250 niches and 51,000 statues, the latter ranging from a few centimeters in height to 17 meters high. Grottoes No. 5 and No. 6 are particularly impressive as they are very colorful and intricately detailed, compared to other grottoes here which contain few, but large, figures. At the other extreme, the 14-meter-high seated Buddha of Sakyamuni outside Grotto No. 20 commands respect not only for its size, but also for the face of the figure, which is characterized by soft lines and a pair of eyes that radiate intellectual and spiritual vigor.