The strategic location of Dunhuang that links China and the West made the city a thriving international metropolis with an advanced economy thousands of years ago, but what's left for today's visitors is the Buddhist art treasure trove the Mogao Grottoes.

  Mogao Painted Clay Figures

More than 2,000 clay figures were preserved in Dunhuang, each with its own characteristics. Some are kind and amiable Buddhas, while others are awe-inspiring gods and strong, muscular men. The largest statue is more than 30 meters tall, and smaller ones are only a few centimetres tall. These figures are considered the main treasures of the Dunhuang Grottoes.

The figures are in different forms, including round figures and relief figures. These painted clay figures show such a great variety of themes and subject matter, as well as advanced techniques, that the Mogao Grottoes are generally regarded as the world's leading museum of Buddhist painted clay figures.

Since Mogao Grottoes were built over a span of about 1,000 years, the painted clay figures from different times have distinctive features. The figures from the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-581) are bony while during the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) dynasties, the period when Dunhuang art reached its peak, many of the painted figures are Guanyin, or goddesses of mercy, which resembled everyday people. Guanyin's figure at this time had shifted from a man to a woman with a plump shape and fine, smooth skin. However, because Buddhist saints are supposed to be asexual, two strokes of a beard were added to Guanyin's figure.