Longmen Grottoes, located 12 kilometers south of downtown Luoyang, is one of the three major grottoes in China, along with the Yungang Grottoes in Datong and the Thousand Buddha Caves Grottoes in Dunhuang.
Longmen is a place of beautiful scenery, where two green mountains face each other in the east and west, and the Yishui River flows slowly northward. From a distance, it looks like a natural doorway, so the ancient name "I Que". Now "Yi Que", since ancient times, has become the first landscape to visit Longmen. Tang poet Bai Juyi once said: "the four suburbs of Luoyang landscape victory, Longmen first".
Longmen Grottoes were first excavated in the Northern Wei Dynasty, Emperor Xiaowen's Chandu Luoyang (494 A.D.) before and after, so far there has been more than 1500 years of history. Later, through the East and West Wei, Northern Qi, Northern Zhou, to the Sui and Tang dynasties such as Song and continuous large-scale construction of more than 400 years. Densely spread on the cliffs of the east and west mountains of Yishui, more than 1,000 meters long in the north and south, there are more than 1,300 existing grottoes, 2345 Buddha caves and niches, more than 50 pagodas, and more than 100,000 statues of Buddha. The largest statue of Buddha is as high as 17.14 meters, and the smallest is only 2 centimeters. In addition, there are more than 3,600 inscriptions and inscriptions of statues through the ages, all of which reflect the high artistic attainments of the ancient laboring people of China. Among them, Binyang Zhongdong, Fengxian Temple and Guyangdong are the most representative.
Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Henan Province are located in the southeast of Luoyang City, distributed on the cliffs on both sides of the Yishui River, with a length of 1 kilometer from north to south. The Longmen Grottoes were first excavated in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and have been built for more than 400 years. There are more than 2,300 existing niches and more than 100,000 statues, which are an example of ancient carving art in China.
Wei Grottoes -- 495 A.D. Wei Zonglu Qiu Huicheng began to excavate the ancient Yang Cave in Longmen Mountain, 500 -- 523 years Wei Xuanwu Emperor, Wei Xiaoming Emperor consecutively excavated Binyang Cave in the north of the three large grottoes in the south, the construction of the Shiyang Cave and Binyang Cave ** **. * fee labor more than 800,000, but also excavated the medicine hole and the Eastern Wei Dynasty excavated Lotus Cave and other grottoes. North Dynasty grottoes are in Longmen Mountain, Guyang Cave since Huicheng to the end of the Eastern Wei Dynasty more than 50 years of construction, showing more Chinese art forms, Buddha posture also by the Yungang Grottoes of the majestic and fearful change to the Longmen Grottoes of the gentle and friendly. Binyang in the hole in the main Buddha as a representative of the Buddha, figure face with a smile, Longmen Grottoes than Yungang Grottoes show more Chinese art Buddha.
Tang Grottoes - the most prosperous period is the Tang Dynasty, accounting for more than 60% of the total number of grottoes, Wu Zetian reign of the grottoes excavated during the Tang Dynasty grottoes accounted for the majority of the Tang Dynasty grottoes, related to her long time have Luoyang. Fengxian Temple is the most representative of the Tang caves, the two Bodhisattvas 70 feet, Gaya, Ananda, Vajra, God King each 50 feet high (Tang Dynasty length). The scale of the large, in the Longmen Grottoes called the first, has spent four years, Wu Zetian himself paid 20,000 guan.
Longmen twenty products is a precious fine art of calligraphy of the Wei monumental style. On behalf of the Wei Bei body, the character shape is upright and generous, the momentum is strong and powerful, is a typeface in the transition from the official script to the regular script, there are nineteen products in the Guyang Cave.
Binyang Cave has three caves, Binyangzhong Cave is representative of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-512 AD). This cave took 24 years to build before and after, making it the longest one to be excavated. There are 11 big Buddha statues in the cave. The main wall of the cave carved main image of Sakyamuni, left and right side of the two disciples, Bodhisattvas, Buddha and Bodhisattvas face thin, eye large neck flat, clothing texture circumscribed carved, there are obvious traces of Western art. The top of the cave is carved with flying sky, quite healthy and elegant. It is said that the two walls of the cave there is a relief "emperor and queen ritual Buddha map", chic modeling, composition is wonderful, after being stolen chiseling, is now placed in the United States Museum in New York. And the cave mouth of the Tang prime minister calligrapher Chu Suiliang book inscription, it is worth a glance.
Wanfo Cave in the south of Binyang Cave, the cave is rich in carvings, the north and south of the stone wall carved with small Buddha, many statues only one inch, or a few centimeters high, counting more than 1,500. The main wall of the Bodhisattva Buddha sitting on the waist of the octagonal lotus seat. There are four warriors in the waistband, holding the lotus on their shoulders. The back wall is carved with 54 branches of lotus, each branch of the flower sits on a bodhisattva or a provider, the top of the wall relief Kabuki people, all graceful, realistic image. Along the mouth of the south wall there is a Guanyin Bodhisattva statue, hand-held vase lifting dust tail, body shape rounded and plump, beautiful posture, very vivid.
Fengxian Temple is the largest of the grottoes in the Tang Dynasty Longmen Grottoes, according to inscriptions, this cave was excavated in the Tang Dynasty Wu Zetian period, which lasted three years. Cave Buddha obviously embodies the Tang Dynasty Buddha art features, face shape fat, two ears drooping, the form of perfect, peaceful, warm, friendly, extremely moving. Grottoes in the Rushena Buddha sitting for the Longmen Grottoes, the largest Buddha, body height 17.14 meters, head height 4 meters, ear length 1.9 meters, full-bodied shape, instrumentation, smooth clothes, with a high degree of artistic infectivity. Rushena Buddha statue on both sides and the two disciples Gaya and Ananda, the form of meek and pious, the two Bodhisattvas and good and cheerful. The heavenly king's hand rests on the pagoda, appearing stout and strong.
Vajra Rex statue than Rushena Buddha statue next to the Rex statue more moving, is the Longmen Grottoes in the treasures, in 1953, clean up the cave soil, in the extreme south hole near the discovery of the cave was stolen and chiseled and failed to remove the leftovers. Just see the vajra warrior two eyes protruding, angrily look ahead, second hand clenched fist, chest, hands, legs on the muscle high bulge. The whole statue modeling rough and bold, robust and powerful, imposing.
Guyang Cave is the earliest excavation in the Longmen Grottoes, one of the richest, but also another representative of the Northern Wei Dynasty caves. Guyang Cave has a lot of Buddha niche statues, these Buddha niche statues have inscriptions, recorded the name of the statue maker at that time, the year and month of the statue and the reason, these are the study of the Northern Wei Dynasty calligraphy and carving art of precious information. There is also a prescription cave, engraved with 140 prescriptions, reflecting the achievements of China's ancient medicine. Carving some of the prescriptions on stone tablets or in caves, which have also been found elsewhere, is an important method of passing on ancient medical achievements to future generations.
Longmen Grottoes also retains a large number of religion, art, calligraphy, music, clothing, medicine, architecture and Chinese and foreign transportation and other aspects of the physical history. Therefore, it is another large museum of stone carving art.
Cultural heritage value: China's cave art "milestone"
Longmen Grottoes is a large scale, magnificent, the cave statues carved superbly, the content of the subject matter is rich, is known as one of the world's greatest treasures of classical art. It is its own system, unique sculpture art language, revealing the various laws and regulations of sculpture art creation. In it before the grotto art are more retained Gandhara and the components of the art of the Maoduo Luo, and Longmen Grottoes is far from bearing the Indian grotto art, close to following the Yungang Grottoes style, and the Wei and Jin Luoyang and the Southern Dynasties advanced and deep Han Chinese historical and cultural integration of excavation and become. So the Longmen Grottoes of the art of statuary at the beginning of the national aesthetic consciousness and form of enlightenment and the strong pursuit of the grottoes art showed a trend of Chinese, secularization, can be called to show the Chinese grottoes art change "milestone".
Royal style
Longmen Grottoes is the Northern Wei Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, the royal aristocrats wishing to create the most concentrated place. Royal aristocrats have strong human and material conditions, they presided over the excavation of the grottoes must be large-scale, magnificent, bringing together the essence of the grotto art at the time, and thus the Longmen Grottoes is very representative. The excavation of these caves is the embodiment of the royal will and behavior, with a strong national religious colors, so the rise and fall of the Longmen Grottoes, not only reflecting China's 5 to 10 centuries of the royal family worship Buddha religious changes in the prosperity of the decline, but also from some sides also reflects some of the Chinese history of the political winds and clouds of the development of the socio-economic dynamics of the development of the grottoes, the significance of which is other grottoes can not be compared.
Longmen twenty pints
"Longmen twenty pints" title since the Qing Dynasty, the so-called "Longmen twenty pints" refers to the selection of Longmen Grottoes in the Northern Wei Dynasty in the twenty side of the statue of the inscription, which nineteen pints of the cave in the Guyang, a pint in the Cixiang Grotto. The "Longmen Twenty Pieces" is the essence of calligraphy art in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the calligraphy art it shows is developed and evolved on the basis of Han Dynasty Clerical Script and Jin Dynasty Clerical Script, with dignified and generous fonts, robust and simple, with the tone of Clerical Script as well as Regular Script, which is the representative of the "Wei Bei" style. "
The Wei Bei is a representative of the Wei Bei style, which has an extremely high status in the history of Chinese calligraphy.
In Yunnan, there is also a scenic area called Longmen Grottoes, but far less famous than Luoyang. It is located in the Xishan Scenic Area of Kunming, from Sanqing Pavilion in the north to Datian Pavilion in the south, and is the largest and most exquisite Taoist grotto in Yunnan. "Longmen Scenic Spot" to "strange, absolute, dangerous, secluded" as the characteristics of Kunming's West Mountain, the first of many famous attractions, to Kunming tourists have to go to visit. Therefore, there is a "not play the West Mountain is equal to not Kunming, not to Longmen just a trip to the West Mountain in vain," said.