The Great Wall of China, Forbidden City,Terra-Cotta Warriors,Yangtze River, Bird's Nest, Water Cube....

The Introduction of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes

The Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes are located in Dunhuang County, Gansu Province, some twenty-five kilometers southeast of the city.
The Mogao Grottoes ((also known as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas and Dunhuang Caves) is one of three noted grottoes in China and also the largest, best preserved and richest treasure house of Buddhist art in the world.
The Mogao Caves, or Mogao Grottoes form a system of 492 temples 25km (15.5 miles) southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis strategically located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu province, China. The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000 years. Construction of the Buddhist cave shrines began in 366 CE as places to store scriptures and art. The Mogao Caves are the best known of the Chinese Buddhist grottoes and, along with Longmen Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes, are one of the three famous ancient sculptural sites of China.

some 50,000 items in it and these were later found to include not only a large number of Buddhist sutras, but also Daoist works and works of the Confucian canon, in addition to historical records, poetry, literature, information on geography, population, business accounts, calendars and so on. It was discovered to be a full library containing material that documented some ten dynasties, from the Jin in the 4th century to the Song dynasty.

complete view of the painting. In the early 1900s, a Chinese Taoist named Wang Yuanlu appointed himself guardian of some of these temples. Wang discovered a walled up area behind one side of a corridor leading to a main cave. Behind the wall was a small cave stuffed with an enormous hoard of manuscripts dating from 406 to 1002 CE. These included old Chinese hemp paper scrolls, old Tibetan scrolls, paintings on hemp, silk or paper, numerous damaged figurines of Buddhas, and other Buddhist paraphernalia. The subject matter in the scrolls covers diverse material.

You Along with the expected Buddhist canonical works are original commentaries, apocryphal works, workbooks, books of prayers, Confucian works, Taoist works, Nestorian Christian works, works from the Chinese government, administrative documents, anthologies, glossaries, dictionaries, and calligraphic exercises. The majority of which he sold to Aurel Stein for the paltry sum of 220 pounds, a deed which made him notorious to this day in the minds of many Chinese.will relive the daily routines and special events as captured by the artists while you are exploring the 750 caves. In 1987, UNESCO placed the Mogao Grottoes under the protection of the world cultural heritage list.

You will relive the daily routines and special events as captured by the artists while you are exploring the 750 caves. In 1987, UNESCO placed the Mogao Grottoes under the protection of the world cultural heritage list.