 Yungang Grottos
The Yungang Grottos lie at the foot of Wuzhou Mountain
to the west of Datong City, Shanxi Province
.
The Yungang Grottos stretch continuously for as long as
one kilometer. There are 53 extant caves, 110 niches and more than 51,000 small
and big statues. The grottos are chiseled along the mountain, consisting of
three parts: the east, the middle and the west. The whole group of the grottos
is large in scale and exquisite in carving, which is one of the largest groups
of grottos in China. The main part of the Yungang Grottos was first built from
the Heping reign (460-465) of Emperor Wencheng in the Northern Wei Dynasty
(386-534) to the 18th
year (494) of the Taihe reign of Emperor Xiaowen, the completion of other small
niches lasted to the Zhengguang reign (520-525) of Emperor Xiaoming. In the
famous geographical writings Commentary on the Waterways of the Southern and
Northern Dynasties (386-581), it is recorded that drilling the rocks and
blasting the mountains, building according the conditions of the rocks; it is so
grand and splendid that they are rarely seen in the world; halls on the
mountains and palaces above the waters face each other, while the temples are
covered by fogs, which is the real description of the spectacular sceneries of
the Yungang Grottos of that time.
The Yungang Grottos are famous for the rich and
magnificent stone-carving statues. The biggest one in the grottos is 17 meters
high, while the smallest is only several centimeters. The statues of all kinds
are vivid and lifelike. The artistic style of the grottos has not only followed
taht of the Qin and Han dynasties, but also assimilated the essences of the
foreign art to create their particular characteristics. It has exerted profound
impact on the arts of the later Sui and Tang 
dynasties, and possessed an important position in the history of Chinese art.
The Yungang Grottos, the Dunhuang Grottos in Gansu Province and the Longmen Grottos in Henan Province
are called the three most important
grottos in China.
Mogao Grottos
The grottoes in the Mogao Caves are the world's largest and oldest treasure house
of Buddhist art.
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