Caves of the Thousand Buddhas: The Mogao Caves
(By Tsem Rinpoche)
The Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, China has been a treasure house of art, spanning over 1,000 years. In each and every one of its 492 Buddhist cave chapels, you will find floor-to-ceiling paintings and clay sculptures as it was previously used for devotions and meditation. The art inside here covers more than ten major genres, such as architecture, stucco sculpture, wall paintings, silk paintings, calligraphy, woodblock printing, embroidery, literature, music and dance, and popular entertainment. But all these only existed because of one man’s vision.
The legend is that in 366 AD, a monk named Le Zun looked across the river at dawn and saw a thousand Buddhas appear on the golden cliff face of Mingsha mountain along the old Silk Road. The caves were then built by monks and mostly sponsored by patrons such as wealthy merchants, foreign dignitaries, as well as Chinese emperors.
But when trade in the Silk Road stopped, Dunhuang was soon forgotten and eventually, the Mogao caves were abandoned. The site however was still a place of pilgrimage and was used as a place of worship by the local people of the 20th century when there was renewed awareness in its presence once more.
Below are some featured carvings and statues in Mogao Caves:
#1 Stupa of Wang Yuanlu
Most of the discoveries came from a Chinese Taoist monk named Wang Yuanlu who appointed himself as the guardian. The caves at that time were badly neglected, but Monk Wang recognized their value and instituted a program of refurbishment, funded by whatever donations he could gather.
He then made one of the great discoveries in Chinese archaeology: an amazing cache, of over 50,000 documents and paintings, that had been hidden in Mogao Cave #17. Much of this treasure would be removed, in the following decades, by European archaeologists such as Aurel Stein who befriended the naive monk. They convinced him to sell many of the manuscripts for very small sums of money, which he then used to finance his misguided restorations.
Wang Yuanlu’s remains are interred in this stupa.
Paul Pelliot examining manuscripts in the Library Cave
#2 Library Cave
The Cave #17 discovered by Wang Yuanlu came to be known as the Library Cave, it was walled off sometime early in the 11th century. A number of theories have been proposed as the reason for sealing the caves. Stein first proposed that the cave had become a waste repository for venerable, damaged and used manuscripts and hallowed paraphernalia and then sealed perhaps when the place came under threat. Another suggestion is that the cave was simply used as a book storehouse for documents which accumulated over a century and a half, then sealed up when it became full.
Others, such as Pelliot, suggested that the monks hurriedly hid the documents in advance of an attack by invaders.
#3 Bodhisattva and Ananda with Lokapala Statues
In Cave #45, this group of statues is part of nine original figures (seven now remain) on the West Wall of the cave. All three are listening to the Buddha, while expressing their individual natures and roles: Kasyapa gives a blessing, the graceful Bodhisattva stands in attendance, and the Lokapala guards the sacred space.
#4 Dancer Holding A Pipa Behind Her Back
One of the 450,000 square feet of murals of Mogao Caves can be found in Cave #112. The first rock-and-roller to play an electric guitar behind his back might well have congratulated himself on the innovation, except for this pictorial evidence from 1200 years earlier. The entertainer is dancing, surrounded by an orchestra, barefoot upon a carpet, while holding a pipa (lute) behind her back. This has always been interpreted as playing the pipa behind her back, although that is not quite what the picture indicates (the angle of its neck shows that the front of the instrument is facing the viewer, while her right hand is supporting its back).
Since the image is part of a Pure Land (Amida’s Western Paradise) scene in the cave, it must depict a celestial dancer, as her costume also indicates; however, it is easy to imagine similar entertainments being enacted in reality for the enjoyment of travelers along the Silk Road.
#5 The Maitreya
In Cave #275, the colossal (10ft high) Buddha Of The Future sits in typical cross-legged posture. His left hand is in varada (giving) mudra; his now-missing right hand presumably displayed fear-not. He is shown, wearing the crown and jewels of a Bodhisattva, as he waits in Tushita heaven to be incarnated as the Buddha of the next age.
According to Robert L. Thorp (Chinese Art & Culture, p.162), “Much of its surface is covered with later repainting, but the robe covering both shoulders, the ridges on the skirt, and the flattened sashes on the base are likely to be original.”
Source: http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/china/china.html
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Interesting read these Mogao Caves, bearing exceptional witness to the civilizations of ancient China during the Sui, Tang and Song dynasties. They are important evidence of the evolution of Buddhist art in the northwest region of China. It providing an abundance of vivid materials that depict various aspects of medieval politics, economics. These amazing caves also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas. They were listed as a world cultural heritage site, known as the most valuable cultural discovery in the 20th century. The Caves of the Thousand Buddhas are a labyrinth of nearly 500 caves carved out of a sandstone cliff face. Its indeed an outstanding of a Buddhist rock art sanctuary. It comprised of the largest, most richly endowed and longest used treasure house of Buddhist art in the World .
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
There are so many precious Buddhist sites in China. Mogao Cave is one of the famous Buddhist sites, it is very well preserved by the Chinese government. If I have the chance, I would like to go and visit this place to appreciate the beautiful statues.
Saw this in FB, Rinpoche. It has many black and white pictures of this cave. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/bzXnkWmmer5GRVJ_1WAaew
Do enjoy…
The Mogao Caves in Dunhuang is an important site filled with Buddhist artifacts across 400 over temples along 25 kilometers of the ancient Silk Road. It is among one of the best showcase of a fusion of art, culture and religion from both the west and east ends of the Silk Road. Thank you for this sharing.
Master Le Zun must not be an ordinary person as he is able to view a thousand Buddha. Appreciation to Master Le Zun and all the sponsors who kindly built the cave chapels that stored so many different types of scultures, statues, architectures of various Buddha. Since it is now under UNESCO heritage, it will encourage more people to know and learn about the background of Mogao Caves and Buddhism. Wish I have a chance to visit this holy place.
Very interesting and beautiful caves of the Thousand Buddhas. I have always loved to see ancient holy sites. The Maitreya Buddha carving is lovely. And thank you Rinpoche for the interesting write up about this cave.
Beautiful caves of the Thousand Buddhas: The Mogao Caves.Amazing over 50,000 documents and paintings, had been hidden in Mogao cave.The Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, China has been a treasure house of art under UNESCO, It shown that Buddhism have been in China a long time ago in history.Many of the treasure and manuscripts had be removed by European archaeologists .Thank you for sharing this interesting article.
It is nice to know that Buddhism has such a long history in China and it is really quite sad that much of the living tradition in China has been destroyed during the cultural revolution. It is recovering but very little masters are able to carry on the traditions over. These great temples and caves serves a powerful testament to the enduring legacy of Buddhism in China. It reminds the Chinese of their spiritual roots and it also serves to tell the world what a rich spiritual culture that the Chinese have.
I would say that Buddhism is such an exceptional philosophy and belief-system that the Chinese, traditionally aloof to foreign ideas and philosophies adopted it whole-heartedly. Buddha, although foreign became Chinese and although the dogma was originally in Sanskrit but became fully translated into Chinese. Today, Buddhism has become deeply ingrained in the Chinese psyche.
Thank you for sharing about this cave complex of ancient Buddhist art and sculptures on the silk road. According to UNESCO, it is “the largest, most richly endowed, and longest used treasure house of Buddhist art in the world. It was first constructed in 366AD and represents the great achievement of Buddhist art from the 4th to the 14th century. 492 caves are presently preserved, housing about 45,000 square meters of murals and more than 2,000 painted sculptures.” ( http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/440 )
It is sad to learn of the exploitation of this site by European archaeologists. I wonder where these documents are now and whether they will ever be returned to China, where they belong.
Mogao Caves – another stunning Buddhist architecture of the world. It is allocated at the Silk Road. Where is SILK ROAD? Route that started from China connected Asia to Mediterranean and European world. This route was used to transfer the Chinese silk to the west. At that time many things were traded along this road such as various technologies, religions and philosophies, along with satin, hempand other fine fabrics, musk, other perfumes, spices, medicines, jewels, glassware, and even rhubarb, as well as slaves.
Before the arrival of Buddhism from India, temples in China (Taoist and Confucian) were made of wood, which was well adapted to most Chinese conditions. The tradition of cave temples originated in India, where poverty, lack of building material and intense heat had necessitated finding alternative methods to temple buildings.
The complex of cave temples emerged at Mogao in the 4th century, as pilgrims, monks and scholars passing on the Silk Road settled here to meditate and translate sutras. Merchants and nobles stopped here too, endowing temples to ensure the success of their business or to benefit their souls. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/china/mogao-caves
Interesting research Julia. It is an amazing discovery as from here you can see how Mahayana Buddhism was spread and came down to Asia.
Le Zun was definitely no ordinary person or monk as He had visions of 1000 Buddhas. I am sure through his sincere practice and the wish in finding the Pure Land, this have given him tremendous amount of merits to see the Buddhas!
What a lovely pilgrimage sight. It is also nice to see China embracing it’s heritage again and reviving Buddhism even if it is due to economic reasons for the tourism industry, I think this definitely will create the causes for Dharma to flourish once again in China and back in to Asia perhaps? 🙂
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Beautiful Caves! I love the art and statues shown. It would be a privilege to be able to go there to visit. It’s a shame that most of the literature were sold to the West but this discovery is shown that Buddhism is part of China’s history and culture. There are quite a lot of these caves all across China. One of them is the Longmen Grottoes which is under the United Nations List of heritage sites.
I would definitely borrow the books from KH library to learn more!
The caves and paintings are really beautiful! My heart ached when I read that the caves were forgotten after the trade stopped and when the European archeologists conned the monk into selling the manuscripts at such low price when in actual fact the manuscripts are priceless!
For those who wish to know more about the Dunhuang caves, there are two volumes of a book I bought in Beijing in 2010, which are now in the Kechara House Dharma Library. The reference is Chen Yu (2008), Fascinating Mural Stories from the Dunhuang Grottoes. Vol.1 & 2, New World Press.
thanks for the info. Ms Kim. Also only KH members can borrow these books from the Kh Library.