Longmen Grottoes

Longmen Grottoes is located on both banks of the Yi River, 13 kilometers south of Luoyang City in Henan province. Here the two hills stand facing each other and the Yihe River washes its way northward through the gorge.

It seems to be a natural gate, historically called “Yique”, later in Sui Dynasty renamed “Longmen”. The carving work at Longmen began in Northern Wei Dynasty when Emperor Xiaowen moved his capital to Luoyang (A.D.493). It lasted more than 400 years.

At present there are over 2,300 caves and niches, more than one hundred thousand Buddhist images and over 300,000 characters of inscriptions.

The grottoes and niches in the two hills are known at home and abroad for their large numbers, massive scales, variety of subjects, delicate carving and profound meaning.

With their original imperial style and the style of central China, the grottoes created during the Northern Wei period and the Tang Dynasty reached the pinnacle of the development of stone carving at that time and differed from grottoes created earlier.

The site has been known as the“forest of ancient steles” for the biggest number of steles and inscriptions ever seen in any of the grottoes in the world.

It is rare in the art of stone carving so far as the extensive coverage of the various sects of Buddhism, and even Taoism, as the subject matter of the grottoes is concerned. The large numbers of materials in kind and literary data have reflected, from different angles, the developments and changes of Chinese politics, economics, religion, culture, and other aspects in ancient times, and have made important contributions to the creation and development of the Chinese art of stone carving.

 

  Fengxian Temple

 

  Wanfo Cave

 

Longmen Grottoes was promulgated a key national cultural relic unit under special protection by the State Council in 1961. In 1982, it was promulgated one of the first group of scenic zones to be protected at the state level by the central government. In November 2000, Longmen Grottoes was inscribed on World Heritage List by UNESCO.

(Photos by Yu Chenkang)