Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes: a magical treasure house of Buddhist art

Mogao Grottoes is the highest.

Photo: Zhang Qingmin.

Wutai Mountain Map is the largest Buddhist historical painting in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, and it has been a sacred object that pilgrims dream of since ancient times.

Cave 6 1 of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes is also called "Manjushri Hall". Wutai Mountain, as a Manjusri Dojo, is a sacred place in the hearts of Buddhists and an important theme in Buddhist painting. The Manjusri Bodhisattva Hall in Mogao Grottoes was excavated in the Five Dynasties, among which Wutai Mountain is the largest landscape figure painting in Dunhuang murals.

The most mysterious three rabbits

Dunhuang Mogao grottoes have many patterns of three rabbit ears algae wells. The picture of three rabbits in Cave 407 is the only image of a rabbit running counterclockwise in Mogao Grottoes (I). In the picture of three rabbit ears, the painter makes use of the relationship between the borrowed and borrowed rabbit ears. Three ears form an equilateral triangle, and three ears represent Liu Er, so that no matter from that point of view, a rabbit has two ears, and it feels like three rabbits are running and chasing in the garland without beginning or end.

What the three rabbit pictures represent is still a mystery. Rabbits with three ears connected are running in the same direction. Touch each other, but never catch up with each other. The most reliable guess is that these three rabbits represent "past life", "present life" and "afterlife" respectively.

Dogs in Dunhuang

There are many images of dogs in Dunhuang grottoes murals, which mainly appear in Buddhist classic paintings, Buddhist story paintings and zodiac paintings. Some images of dogs appear as background decorations to set off the theme pictures. The Shurangama Sutra in Cave 85 of Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang was drawn to publicize the idea of banning meat in Buddhism. In ancient India, Central Asia and the grottoes in Guqiuci, Xinjiang, China, you can't see the Lengga Sutra. It should be the initiative of the Central Plains painter, who painted the slaughter room, showing the scene of slaughtering and selling meat, with the aim of persuading good men and believing women not to kill or eat meat. Although the butcher's killing and selling meat in the picture is very different from that of Buddhism, it truly and objectively reflects the scene of killing and selling meat in Dunhuang meat market in the late Tang Dynasty, and can also see the image of dogs at that time.

Bata substation

In the "Eight Pagodas" (Song Dynasty) statue in Cave 76 of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, there are images of teenagers riding lions and herding sheep with animals standing on both sides. The lion and the sheep set up a beast in the 9th century. The image under the sheep is the early style of "six pieces of furniture" (that is, six methods of decorating with animal symbols in Buddhist Tibetan secrets), which is a typical art of the Indian Polo Dynasty (8-12nd century).

Monks brushing their teeth

This picture of brushing teeth appeared in the Maitreya Sutra on the south wall of CaveNo. 159 in Mogao Grottoes. This picture is located in the lower part of Buddhist scriptures, showing that when Wang Ba led the princess to become a monk with the princes, ministers and ladies in the palace, some people had shaved and washed themselves first, including those who brushed their teeth.

Jing tu Xiang Rui

A small scene of Buddhist ceremony in the middle Tang Dynasty mural "Watching Life Endlessly" in Cave 25 of Yulin Grottoes in Dunhuang depicts a peacock holding his head high and flapping his wings, as if singing and dancing, and his eyes are focused on a bird holding a piano, which sets off the auspicious atmosphere of the pure land world.

Pluralistic Dunhuang

On the two vessels held by the Bodhisattva in the Tang Dynasty frescoes in Cave No.1 159 of Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, it can be clearly seen that many circles are arranged in sequence, so it is concluded that it is Sasan glass. According to the shape of the containers, the objects they are based on are either Roman, Persian Sassanian or Islamic. Although the drawing time of the image is not exactly the same as that of the unearthed objects, it reflects the diversity of the sources of glassware modeling on Dunhuang murals.

The picture shows the image of Ji Le playing flute, pipa and flat-topped flute in Tiangong on the east side of the pillar in Cave 428 of Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, showing the Hellenistic image elements. There are many images of geisha music in Dunhuang Grottoes, among which the geisha Lotte represents the scene of music and dance in Buddhist countries, while the geisha describe the secular life of music and dance, mainly to support the geisha music. The scale is smaller than that of geisha Lotte, but it directly reflects the secular music and dance of all ages. The images of musicians in Dunhuang murals are mainly drawn in inconspicuous positions such as outside the niche or at the foot of the niche, the pot door under the niche and the indoor wall.

Completely reverse the normal procedure

The band in the painting comes from Cave 1 12 in Dunhuang in the middle Tang Dynasty, in order to show the music and dance scenes in Watching Endless Life. On the platform, the geisha music of six bodies is arranged in a figure of eight. On the right, geisha hold pipa, Ruan Xian and harp, while on the left, they hold chicken drum, flute and board. Below the platform, there are four bodhisattvas standing opposite each other and playing musical instruments. In the middle of the band, a geisha danced to the music. Dancers bend over to lift their feet, carry the pipa behind their backs, carry it with their left hands and bend their right hands in a plucked manner, which is customarily called "playing the pipa".

There are a large number of images of ancient musical instruments in Dunhuang murals, including more than 500 groups of large and small bands, more than 3,000 musicians, more than 400 kinds of musical instruments and 44 kinds of musical instruments. These images, distributed in more than 200 caves, have gone through Beiliang, Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Northern Song, Xixia and Yuan Dynasties for nearly a thousand years, reflecting the shape evolution, playing methods and combination forms of various musical instruments in various periods, as well as the musical fashion picture of ancient society.

Elephants enter the fetus.

The picture shows the "elephant entering the womb" in the murals of the early Tang Dynasty in Cave 329 of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes. It describes the story that before Sakyamuni was born, Sudoku King dreamed that a bodhisattva rode a white elephant from the sky and entered her abdomen from her right rib. Elephants appear in three forms in Dunhuang frescoes. One is Puxian Mountain; One is the statue of the elephant-headed man, and the image of the demon army of the elephant-headed man appeared in the "demon change" in Cave 254 of Mogao Grottoes (Northern Wei Dynasty). The other is Indra's six-toothed white elephant. The white elephant is a symbol of Pu Xian's willingness to be broad and complete in merit, while the six teeth are a symbol of the six degrees of Buddhism (giving, keeping precepts, enduring humiliation, diligence, meditation and wisdom).

Desert ship

Camels have been marching on the Silk Road since ancient times. The paper map of horses and camels in the 9th century collected by the British Museum was unearthed in the Buddhist Scripture Cave in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes. In the Millennium, the camel, known as the "boat of the desert", was undoubtedly an important means of transportation on the Silk Road, so it appeared in many cultural belts as an artistic image, and even became a symbol of cultural exchanges between the East and the West in ancient times.

agricultural map

Cave 296 of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes is covered with the farming map drawn in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. The straight plow depicted in it is often reflected in the stone reliefs and murals drawn all over China, which vividly reflects the level of agricultural technology at that time.

People at that time wore striped suspenders?

There are still a large number of images of ancient children's costumes along the Silk Road, and many physical objects have been unearthed, including swaddling clothes, tiger's head hats, Chinese-style chestnuts and bibs. And Persian children's costumes coming from afar through the Silk Road.

Half-arm, also known as half-sleeve, was very popular in the Tang Dynasty. The south wall of Cave 220 in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes is painted with classic paintings of Amitabha Buddha in the early Tang Dynasty, and three teenagers dance. Two of them were wearing red and green half-sleeved shirts.

acrobatics

The picture shows the south wall of Cave 6 1 in the Five Dynasties, depicting the Shurangama Sutra. Acrobatics appears in Buddhist murals, either to meet the needs of Buddhist stories, or to show the beautiful scene of the Buddhist world, or to provide entertainment for the Buddha with acrobatics. The murals in Mogao Grottoes include figures such as Jiao Di, equestrian performance, Hu Ren handstand, and hundreds of pole plays. Among them, there are both traditional factors in China and new forms introduced from abroad. They were inspired, learned, absorbed and integrated by the Silk Road, and finally survived as a folk comprehensive art that the public loved.

Measure people with chess.

Mural in the north of East Gate of Cave 454 in Mogao Grottoes (Song Dynasty). In the picture, two people are absorbed in playing chess at a chess table, and on the right is a Vimalakīrti layman watching chess. Although this image is intended to show "judging people when playing chess" in Vimalakīrti Jing Convenient Goods (Vimalakīrti always judges people by judging people's chess), it truly reflects the scene of ancient people playing Go thousands of years ago.

In the early Tang Dynasty, four pomegranates in the algae well in Cave 209 of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes formed a cross, and four grape leaves and branches formed a cross. Two crosses are connected into a rice-shaped frame, and eight strings of grapes surround pomegranate, forming a Fiona Fang, which is full of exotic charm. Grapes were first used by West Asians as decorative patterns. Buddhism regards grape grain as auspicious, and it is mentioned in the Buddhist scripture "Four Points" that decorating pagodas with vines can increase solemnity.

God beast "flying horse"

The primitive winged horse in the Central Plains belongs to the series of god beasts, and its origin is a symbol of primitive religious belief and totem worship. The earliest winged horse found in Mogao Grottoes was Beipaiding in Cave 249 (Western Wei Dynasty). This horse has wings on its shoulders, flying with immortals and feathered people in the void, and its posture is free and easy. From the Mediterranean to the Sogdians in Central Asia, and then to the northwest of China, the image of winged horses has been found, which shows its wide spread on the Silk Road.

The parrot depicted on the north wall of Cave 45 in Mogao Grottoes has a red beak, green claws and gorgeous wings. It seems that I just fell from the sky and stepped on a lotus flower. This parrot painted in the Tang Dynasty should be painted first and dyed green. Then hook it with a thin ink line, and the feathers on your body will outline the outline of the work without stagnation, and the dyeing is also appropriate.

Which palace are you in?

The images of the zodiac on both sides of Cave 6 1 in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes are strikingly similar to the twelve constellations. This group of images is said to have been drawn in the Xixia and Yuan Dynasties, at least 650 years ago. Although it is set off as the background of the Buddha image in full light, and because of its age, the south wall lacks the Lion Palace, Aquarius Palace and Sagittarius Palace, and the north wall lacks the Pisces Palace, Cancer Palace and Twin Uterus, but the twelve statues are very complete.

Not the "Four Seas Dragon King"

There are more than 40 murals in Dunhuang Grottoes, among which Cave 35 is the best preserved in the Five Dynasties. This mural depicts the Dragon King and his family attending a meeting on the west wall of the front room. The image of dragon in Dunhuang murals, or the image of god beast; Or as a Buddhist god. Compared with other dragon images, "the dragon king worships Buddha" can be said to be an unprecedented novel theme in Mogao Grottoes.

According to the Indian epic Ramayana and the ancient Indian Code Manu, the legendary "dragon" in ancient India lives in hell, and its image is a demigod with a human face, a snake's tail and a snake's neck, which is lower than Manu and the Great God and is not particularly respected. Buddhism absorbed the "heaven" and "dragon" in ancient Indian legends and became an important protector of Buddhism. The ceremony of the Dragon King to the Buddha was titled "Powerful Dragon King" and "Difficult Dragon King".

Support portrait

This portrait of King Li Shengtian in Khotan is one of more than 9,000 donor portraits in Mogao Grottoes, and it is also the largest portrait of the king found in Mogao Grottoes. On the right is Li Shengtian's wife Cao Shi. The Kingdom of Khotan (232 BC-1006) is mysterious and charming. There are Hotan River in the territory, Kunlun Mountain in the south and Taklimakan Desert in the north, which was the largest oasis south of the Silk Road in the Western Regions at that time.

Walking used to be the favorite decoration of ancient women. The name "Buyao" was first seen in Song Yu's "Feng Fu" in China literature during the Warring States Period, and its cloud: "The daughter of the master, Buyao". It can be seen that there are "hanging beads" on this jewelry, which vibrate and sway with the wearer's footsteps, so it is called Buyao. Later, craftsmen combined the form of stepping with the flower hairpin to create a new kind of stepping flower hairpin: the pendant stepping decoration on the flower hairpin. There are four ways to tie this hairpin, and the standard for distinguishing is to insert it in the front, side, back and top of the bun. Among them, the representative image of cross-stitch seen from the side is the offering image of Cave 6 1 Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes (the fifth generation).

This group of images on the entrance to the east wall of the main room of Cave No.1 12 in Mogao Grottoes depicts the couple Suo Fengzhen, a provider in the late Tang Dynasty. The fan held by the maid behind the female provider is a etiquette fan that embodies etiquette. The origin of etiquette fans can be traced back to the Warring States period. Originally, the fan was used as a barrier and played a shielding role when traveling. Later, it developed into a ritual ceremony that reflected the majesty and etiquette of the emperor.

The Mogao Grottoes, also known as the Thousand-Buddha Cave, is the largest and richest Buddhist art temple in the world. According to local tourism experts, the space in the grottoes is small, and there are many tourists every day. Taking pictures may cause disorder. At the same time, tourists stay in the grottoes for a long time, producing a lot of carbon dioxide. The change of humidity and temperature will aggravate the "retreat" of grottoes, and the dissolution of pigment particles will make murals fall off. This is the real reason why tourists are not allowed to take pictures in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes.

Yes,

Taking pictures is not allowed.

But did it ever occur to you,

In order to keep this sacred place in the distance forever,

Besides not taking pictures,

Why don't we go?

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