Longmen Grottoes is one of the treasures of stone carving art in China, and it is also called the four largest grottoes in China together with Mogao Grottoes, Yungang
Longmen Grottoes is one of the treasures of stone carving art in China, and it is also called the four largest grottoes in China together with Mogao Grottoes, Yungang Grottoes and Maijishan Grottoes.
Longmen Grottoes were dug in the year when Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved the capital to Luoyang (AD 493), and were built on a large scale in the Eastern Wei Dynasty, the Western Wei Dynasty, the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty for more than 400 years. They are located on the east and west mountains (Longmen Mountain and Xiangshan Mountain) on both sides of the Yihe River in Luolong District, Luoyang City, Henan Province, with a length of 1 km from north to south, and now there are 23,400 caves. Among them, Longmen Twenty is the essence of Weibei calligraphy, and Chu Suiliang's A Que Buddhist Shrine Monument is a model of regular script art in the early Tang Dynasty.
? There are more than 50 large and medium-sized caves in the Northern Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties on the cliff of Xishan Mountain. Guyang Cave, Binyang Middle Cave, Lianhua Cave, Huangfugong Cave, Weizi Cave, Putai Cave, Huoshao Cave, Cixiang Kiln, Ludong Cave, etc. It is a representative cave in the Northern Wei Dynasty. The representative grottoes in the Tang Dynasty are Qianxi Temple, Binyang South Cave, Binyang North Cave (the above two caves were decorated in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the Buddha statues were completed in the Sui and early Tang Dynasties), Jingshan Temple, Cliff Three Buddha Temple, Wanfo Cave, Huijian Cave, Fengxian Temple, Pure Land Temple, Longge Temple and Jinan Cave. Dongshan has many caves and sacred sites in the Tang Dynasty, including 20 large and medium-sized caves, such as Erlianhua Cave, Kanjing Temple Cave, Dawanwu Buddha Cave (also known as Leigutai Cave) and Wangdong Cave in Gaoping County.
? According to Shu Wei, Longmen Grottoes were dug behind Yungang Grottoes. Since ancient times, the color of Longmen Mountain has been listed as the crown of eight scenic spots in Luoyang. Bai Juyi, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, once said: "Luodu has four suburbs, mountains and rivers win, and Longmen is the first." Longmen Grottoes are dug between cliffs close to mountains and rivers. It began about the time when Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved from Pingcheng (now Datong City, Shanxi Province) to Luoyang. At that time, Emperor Xiaowen deeply felt that the capital was northward, which was not conducive to rule, and Luoyang, located in the Central Plains, had superior natural conditions. In order to control the Central Plains, Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital Pingcheng (now Datong, Shanxi Province) to Luoyang in the 18th year of Taihe (494), and started the construction of Longmen Grottoes. During this period, the Northern Wei Dynasty unified the North, and Buddhism, a foreign religion, became the spiritual pillar of ideological rule. Since then, the Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Northern Song and Ming Dynasties have all been restored and continued, among which the excavation activities in the Northern Wei and Tang Dynasties were the largest, lasting 150 years. 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%.
Longmen Grottoes have been seriously damaged by man-made chisels since they were built. During the period of Tang Wuzong, the movement of destroying Buddha made the grottoes difficult. Historical travel notes in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China recorded that grotto statues were seriously stolen at that time. In addition, when the government of the Republic of China moved its capital from Nanjing to Luoyang, it also bombed a large number of piedmont shrines when it built roads under the western hills of Longmen. Due to the emptiness of war management, the statues of Longmen Grottoes were carved wildly from 1930 to 1940, and many headscarves, inscriptions and reliefs were bought by Japanese and American cultural relics merchants.
? 196 1 year, the State Council announced Longmen Grottoes as the first batch of key cultural relics protection units in China.
? 1982 Longmen Scenic Area was announced as the first batch of national-level scenic spots in China.
? 5438+065438+June 2000, UNESCO listed Longmen Grottoes on the World Heritage List, and the World Heritage Committee commented: "The grottoes and shrines in Longmen area show the largest and best plastic arts in China from the late Northern Wei Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty (AD 493-907). These works of art that describe Buddhist religious themes in detail represent the highest peak of stone carving art in China. " Longmen Grottoes lasted for a long time, spanning many dynasties. They reflect the development and changes of China ancient politics, economy, religion, culture and many other fields from different aspects with a large number of physical images and written materials, and have made great contributions to the innovation and development of China Grottoes.
? From June, 5438 to October, 2006/kloc-0, Longmen Grottoes was jointly awarded the "National Civilized Scenic Spot" by the Central Civilization Office, the Ministry of Construction and the National Tourism Administration.