Timeless Dunhuang
~Aaron
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| The Silk Road Day 2: Lanzhou, Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang Museum |
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| The Silk Road |
The Silk Road was a trading path that went from China to Eastern Europe. It was important because it helped to trade between different kingdoms and empires. It was named the Silk Road because one of the main products traded was Chinese silk. People throughout Asia and Europe liked Chinese silk for its softness and comfiness. They sold silk for thousands of years. People often traveled in large caravans. They would have many guards and camels with them because of the rough land. Traveling in a big group like a caravan helped in defending from bandits. Although there was trade between China and the rest of the world for some time, the trade was enlargened and improved by the Han Dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD).
Dunhuang was one of the Silk Road's most important oases. Near the town, the Silk Road splits in half to go around the Taklamakan Desert. The roads meet again many miles away at the oasis of Kashgar. Hungriness, thirstiness, thieves, and dust devils known for covering whole caravans were part of its threats. For west-going travelers, Dunhuang was the final stop for caravans to rest and get enough supplies before facing the large desert. For east-going travelers, it was the first oasis in China. Dunhuang is full of ancient Chinese treasures. It has the Mogao Grottoes, which have 1,000 years of Buddhist art since the 4th century. The Mogao Grottoes （莫高窟） are also known as Thousand Buddha Grottoes (千佛洞).
The Mogao Grottoes were discovered by a Taoist priest named Wang Yuanlu in 1900 (Qing Dynasty). When restoring statues and paintings in Cave 16, Wang noticed a hidden door which opened into another cave, the "Library Cave" (藏经洞). He found another undiscovered group of thousands of ancient manuscripts, many related to early Chinese Buddhism. The priceless Mogao Grottoes were finally exposed to the whole world after a thousand years of sleep. A few years later, Marc Stein (who worked for the British government) heard of the caves. He convinced Wang that he was a Buddhist follower on a hunt for sutras. Stein was constantly busy the next week, gathering many scrolls and paintings into wooden boxes. When the shipped boxes arrived at the British Museum over a year later, everybody was amazed. The whole world started going to the Mogao Grottoes and grabbing some items to bring back. In 1909, the Qing Dynasty government ordered all the sutras to be brought to Beijing. Of the 40,000 scrolls, only 8,697 went through the whole journey because of thieves.
Today’s Mogao Grottoes are managed very carefully. Only 6,000 tourists can go in every day, so booking a ticket in advance is crucial. We couldn’t take any pictures inside each of the separate caves. Everybody needs a tour guide to go inside, and each guide only shows 8 caves. Only the tour guide’s flashlight is allowed, no other light is permitted. The inside of the cave is always much colder than the outside to preserve the cave. Some of the caves’ contents include a giant statue of a Buddha over 100 feet tall and a sleeping Buddha. Mogao Grottoes’ statues and paintings are beautiful.
The Dunhuang Museum has many artifacts from the city. Some of the most earliest items (from the Neolithic Era) are stone weapons and balls. Iron swords, bronze arrows, and part of a crossbow from the Han Dynasty are displayed. An exhibit on the defense of the Silk Road showed the piles of firewood people used to make smoke signals and smaller sized guard towers of Han Great Wall. This museum even has a recovery model of the 45th cave in the Mogao Grottoes from High Tang Dynasty. Glass cases surround two figures of the heavenly king.
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| The Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes |
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| The entrance |
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| About to enter the Mogao Grottoes |
The Mogao Grottoes have a very interesting history. They were started by a monk, named Le Zun, who saw golden sunlight surrounding the peak of a mountain. He was tired and thirsty when he saw a mirage of a thousand Buddhas among the golden Buddha's light. This got him inspired to start having people build a cave with Buddha statues and wall paintings on the mountain side. It was named Le Zun Grottoes after his name. This first cave was dug out in 366 A.D. as a place for meditation and worship. During the Silk Road, people traveling on the tough Silk Road made many more caves with Buddhist art beside it. They wish to have good luck and safeness for the long journey. The Sui and Tang Dynasties （581-907 A.D.） were the peak point for the whole city, so many more things were added to the increasing number of caves. Today’s Mogao Grottoes have nearly 500 different caves! After the Tang Dynasty, the site gradually declined, and the building of new caves stopped entirely after the Yuan Dynasty. During the Ming Dynasty, the Silk Road was abandoned, and Dunhuang's population slowly decreased and nearly forgotten by the outside world. The desert had covered the Mogao Grottoes.
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Library Cave
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Wang Yuanlu
who discovered
Mogao Grottoes
in 1900
Qing Dynasty
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Wang Yuanlu lived here
while taking care of
Mogao Grottoes
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| Wall Painting 敦煌飞天 Tang Dynasty |
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| Replica of wall paintings |
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| A view of what the caves look like |
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| The Mogao Grottoes |
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| The nine story pagoda houses the biggest sitting statue of Maitreya in Mogao Grottoes (45 meters tall) built during the Tang dynasty (618-906 A.D.) |
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| The biggest sitting statue of Maitreya in the nine story pagoda |
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| Closer look of the biggest sitting statue of Maitreya
in the nine story pagoda
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| Sleeping Buddha |
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| Cave #45's model inside the Dunhuang Museum |
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| Heavenly guardian left |
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| Heavenly guardian right |
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| Items made in Neolithic Era |
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| Pile of firewood |
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Smaller size model of guard tower
Han Great Wall
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| The special design of the Dunhuang Museum simulating caves |
Dunhuang always attracts people, a long time ago and today. Mogao Grottoes have many wonderful art pieces. These pieces of art is supposed to fade away within the next century, so we visited the caves. The Dunhuang Museum has many cool artifacts. This city will always be popular.
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| The figures in Cave #45 |
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