Photography: Sun Zhijun

The best of Mogao Grottoes

Photography of this picture: Zhang Qingmin

"Mount Wutai Picture" is the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang The largest Buddhist historical painting, it has been a sacred object coveted by pilgrims since ancient times.

Cave 61 of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang is also known as the "Wenshu Hall". Mount Wutai, as the Wenshu Temple, is a holy place in the hearts of Buddhists and an important theme in Buddhist paintings. The Wenshu Hall of the Mogao Grottoes was excavated in During the Five Dynasties period, "Mount Wutai" was the largest landscape and figure painting among the Dunhuang murals.

The three most mysterious rabbits

There are many caisson patterns with three rabbits and ears in the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang. The three-rabbit couplet in Cave 407 is the only image of rabbits running counterclockwise in Mogao Grottoes (top). In the picture of three rabbit ears, the painter made use of the relationship between rabbit ears borrowing and being borrowed. The three ears form an equilateral triangle, with three ears representing six ears, so that no matter which angle the viewer looks at, one rabbit has two. With your ears, you can feel the three rabbits running and chasing each other in the wreath without beginning or end.

What exactly the three rabbits represent remains a mystery. Three rabbits, ears connected, running in the same direction. They are in contact with each other, but they can never catch up with each other. The most reliable guess is that these three rabbits represent "past life", "this life" and "afterlife" respectively.

Dogs in Dunhuang

There are many images of dogs in the Dunhuang Grottoes murals, which mainly appear in Buddhist sutra paintings, Buddhist story paintings, and zodiac pictures. Some dog images are Appears as background decoration to set off the theme picture. The "Changes of the Lankavatara" in Cave 85 of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang was painted to promote the Buddhist idea of ??abstaining from eating meat. "The Changes in the Lankavatara Sutra" can not be seen in the grottoes in ancient India, Central Asia, and the ancient Qiuci area of ??Xinjiang, my country. It should be the first work of Central Plains painters. It depicts a slaughterhouse to show the scene of slaughtering and selling meat, with the purpose of admonishing faithful men and women not to kill animals and eat meat. Although the picture shows butchers killing animals and selling meat, which is very different from the Buddhist propaganda that prohibits killing animals and eating meat, it truly and objectively reflects the scene of slaughtering and selling meat in the Dunhuang Meat Market in the late Tang Dynasty, and the image of dogs at that time can also be seen.

The standing beast of lion and sheep appeared in the 9th century, and the image under the sheep is an early style of "six holding objects" (i.e., six kinds of Buddhist symbols composed of animal symbols), which is typical of the Indian Pala Dynasty (8-12 century) artistic style.

A monk brushing his teeth

This "teeth-brushing picture" appears in the "Maitreya Sutra" on the south wall of Cave 159 of the Mogao Grottoes. A picture that tells a story. This picture is located in the lower part of the Sutra. It shows that when King Xuankai and his concubines, princes, ministers, and palace concubines were getting married, some people had already finished their tonsures and had to clean themselves first. Among them are people who brush their teeth.

Pure Land of Auspiciousness

A small scene of a Dharma assembly in the Tang Dynasty mural "Viewing the Sutra of Infinite Life" in Cave 25 of Yulin Grottoes in Dunhuang depicts a peacock looking back with its head raised, standing tall The chest and wings are inflated, as if dancing and singing, and the eyes are focused on the life-giving bird holding the piano on the side. The picture highlights the auspicious atmosphere of the Pure Land world.

Diverse Dunhuang

In the Tang Dynasty murals in Cave 159 of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, on the vessels held by the two worshiping Bodhisattvas, it is obvious that multiple circles are arranged in an orderly manner. This concludes that it is Sasanian glass. It can be seen from the shape of the vessels that the actual objects they are based on are either Roman, Persian, Sasanian, or Islamic. Although the time when the images were drawn is not exactly the same as the unearthed objects, they reflect the diverse origins of the shapes of glass vessels in Dunhuang murals. change.

The picture shows the image of Tiangong musicians playing panpipes, pipa and transverse flutes with a flat roof on the east side of the central pillar in Cave 428 of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, showing elements of Hellenistic imagery. There are many images of music and music in the Dunhuang Grottoes. Among them, Jile Tian represents the music and dance scene of the Buddhist kingdom, while the Jile people depict the secular music and dance life, mainly to support Jile. The scale is smaller than that of Jile Tian, ??but it directly reflects the secular music and dance of various eras.

The images of musicians in Dunhuang murals are mainly painted in inconspicuous locations such as outside the Buddhist niche or at the foot of the niche, at the pot door under the niche, and at the foot of the indoor wall.

Rebounding Pipa

The band in the painting comes from Cave 112 of the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes in the mid-Tang Dynasty. It is used to represent the music and dance scenes in "Viewing the Sutra of Infinite Life". On the platform, six musicians sit on the left and right in a figure-eight shape. The one on the right holds a pipa, ruan xian, and konghou, and the one on the left holds a chicken drum, transverse flute, and clapper. Below the platform, there are four other Bodhisattvas with their backs facing each other, also holding musical instruments and playing. In the middle of the band, a group of musicians danced to the music. The dancer bends down and lifts her feet, raising the pipa behind her back. She raises her left hand and bends her right hand to make a plucking shape. People are accustomed to calling it "rebounding pipa".

There are a large number of images of ancient musical instruments preserved in Dunhuang murals, including more than 500 groups of large and small bands, more than 3,000 musicians, more than 400 various musical instruments, and 44 musical instruments. kind. These images are distributed in more than 200 caves and last for nearly a thousand years through the Northern Liang, Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Northern Song, Western Xia, and Yuan dynasties. They reflect the shape and evolution of various musical instruments in each period. , performance methods, combination forms, and the picture of ancient social music fashion.

Entering the womb on an elephant

The picture shows "Entering the womb on an elephant" from the early Tang Dynasty mural in Cave 329 of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang. It describes that before Sakyamuni was born, Queen Suddhodana dreamed that a Bodhisattva came from the sky on a white elephant and entered her abdomen from her right rib. Elephants appear in three forms in the Dunhuang murals, one is the mount of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva; the other is the shape of the god Vinayaka with an elephant head and body, Cave 254 of the Mogao Grottoes (Northern Wei Dynasty) "Conquering Demons and Transforming "There is also an image of a demonic army with an elephant head and a human body; the other is a six-tusked white elephant ridden by Emperor Shakti. The white elephant is a symbol of the Samantabhadra's vast aspiration and complete merits, while the six teeth are a symbol of the six degrees of Buddhism (giving, precepts, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom).

Desert Ship

Camels have been traveling along the Silk Road since ancient times. The 9th-century paper "Horse and Camel" collected by the British Museum was unearthed from the Sutra Cave of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang. For thousands of years, the camel, known as the "Ship of the Desert", was undoubtedly an important transporter on the Silk Road. Therefore, it appeared as an artistic image in many cultural belts, and even became a symbol of ancient Eastern and Western cultural exchanges.

Farming Pictures

The "Farming Pictures" painted in the Northern Zhou Dynasty on the south side of Cave 296 of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes. The straight-shaft plow depicted in it is one of the most famous portraits in various parts of China. It is often reflected in stones and murals, and the image vividly reflects the level of agricultural technology at that time.

Did people wear striped overalls back then?

Along the Silk Road, there are still a large number of images of ancient children's clothing, and many physical objects have been unearthed, including swaddling clothes, tiger head hats, bellybands, bibs, etc., as well as clothing that came from far away through the Silk Road. Persian children's clothing.

Half-arms, also known as half-sleeves, were very popular in the Tang Dynasty. The south wall of Cave 220 of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes was painted in the Amitabha Sutra painting of the early Tang Dynasty. Three boys danced gracefully, two of whom wore red. A half-arm blouse and a green hakama underneath.

Acrobatics

The picture shows the mural from the Fifth Dynasty on the south wall of Cave 61 of the Mogao Grottoes, which depicts "The Transformation of the Lankavatara Sutra and the Puzzle of the Instrument". Acrobatics appear in Buddhist murals, either to meet the needs of scenes in Buddhist stories, to show the beautiful scenes of the Buddhist world, or to show acrobatic entertainment and offerings to the Buddha. The Mogao Grottoes murals include images of horns, equestrian performances, barbarians standing on their heads, and various operas carrying poles. Among them, there are both traditional Chinese elements and new styles introduced from abroad. The two inspired, learned from, absorbed and integrated each other due to the Silk Road, and finally became a popular comprehensive folk art that has been preserved to this day.

Measuring people with chess

Mural on the upper north part of the east wall gate of Cave 454 of Mogao Grottoes (Song Dynasty). In the picture, two people are playing chess attentively on both sides of a chess table. On the right is The layman Vimalakirti was watching the game. Although this image is to show the saying in "Vimalakīrti's Sutra: Convenient Products", "If you go to a chess game, you will always try to save people" (Vimalakīrti always used to watch and measure other people's chess games when he was involved in chess places). It is a way to save people), but it truly reflects the scene of ancient people playing Go thousands of years ago.

Four pomegranates form a cross in Cave 209 of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes in the early Tang Dynasty, and four grape leaves and twisted branches form a cross. The two crosses are connected to form a rice-shaped frame, surrounded by eight bunches of grapes. Pomegranates form a square and circular shape, full of exotic charm. The earliest people in West Asia used grapes as decorative patterns. Buddhism regards the grape pattern as auspicious. It is mentioned in the Buddhist scripture "The Law of Four Parts" that decorating the monk's stupa with grape vines can increase its solemnity.

The mythical beast "winged horse"

The winged horse originally discovered in the Central Plains region belongs to the series of mythical beasts, and its origin is a symbol of primitive religious beliefs and totem worship. The earliest winged horse discovered in the Mogao Grottoes is Cave 249 (Western Wei Dynasty) Beipidian. This horse has two wings on its shoulders and flies in the void with the immortals and feathered people with a free and easy attitude. The image of the winged horse has been found in real objects from the Mediterranean to Sogdia in Central Asia and then to the northwest of China, indicating that it was widely spread along the Silk Road.

The parrot depicted in "Viewing the Sutra of Infinite Life" on the north wall of Cave 45 of the Mogao Grottoes has a red beak, red claws and a green body. It spreads its wings and seems to have just landed from the sky and stepped on the ground. On the lotus flower. This parrot painted in the Tang Dynasty should have been drawn first and dyed green; then outlined with light ink lines. The feathers on the body were outlined well without being dull, and the dyeing was also in appropriate shades.

Which "palace" are you in?

The images of the zodiac on the two walls of the corridor in Cave 61 of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang are strikingly similar to the twelve constellations. This group of images is said to have been painted in either Xixia or Yuan Dynasty, at least 650 years ago. Although it is used as the background of "The Blazing Light Buddha Picture", and due to the long period of time, the south wall lacks the Lion Palace, the Aquarius Palace, and the Sagittarius Palace, and the north wall lacks the Pisces Palace, Cancer Palace, and Gemini Palace, but the twelve images are very complete. .

Not the "Dragon King of the Four Seas"

There are more than 40 "Dragon King Worshiping Buddha Pictures" in the Dunhuang Grottoes. Among them, the work of the Fifth Dynasty in Cave 35 is the best preserved. This picture is the west wall of the front room. Depicted attending a meeting with the Dragon King and his family. The images of dragons in Dunhuang murals may appear as mythical beasts or as Buddhist deities. Compared with other images of dragons, "Dragon King Worshiping the Buddha" can be said to be an unprecedented and novel theme in the Mogao Grottoes.

The Indian epic "Ramayana" and the ancient Indian code "Manu Code" record that the "dragon" in ancient Indian legends lives in hell, and its image is a human face, a snake tail, and a snake long neck. The demigods, whose status is lower than Manu, great gods, etc., are not particularly respected. Buddhism absorbed the "heaven" and "dragon" from ancient Indian legends and became important protectors of Buddhism. "Dragon King Worshiping the Buddha" has titles such as "Dragon King Mighty" and "Nanda Dragon King"

Figures of Offerings

This image of King Li Shengtian of Khotan making offerings is the largest in the Mogao Grottoes. One of the 9,000 portraits of donors, it is also the largest portrait of a king found in the Mogao Grottoes. On the right side of the screen is Li Shengtian’s wife Cao. The Kingdom of Khotan (232-1006 BC) was mysterious and very charming. There is the Khotan River in the country, the Kunlun Mountains in the south, and the Taklimakan Desert in the north. It was the largest oasis in the southern Silk Road in the Western Region at that time.

Buyao was once a favorite decoration of ancient women. The name "Bu Yao" was first seen in Chinese literature in "Feng Fu" written by Song Yu during the Warring States Period. It says: "The master's daughter is walking with beads hanging down." It can be seen that there are "hanging beads" on this kind of ornaments, and as the wearer wears them, the name "Bu Yao" is first seen. The person's steps tremble and waver, hence the name "step wobble". Later, craftsmen combined the form of the step shake with the flower hairpin and created a new type of step shake hairpin: hanging the step shake decoration on the flower hairpin. There are four ways to attach hairpins to this step-waving hairpin, which are distinguished by inserting them into the front, side, back, and top of the bun. Among them, the representative image with hairpins crossed from the side is undoubtedly the figure of the donor in Cave 61 (Five Dynasties) of Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang.

This group of images on the corridor door on the east wall of the main room of Cave 12 of Mogao Grottoes depicts the donors Suo Fengzhen and his wife in the late Tang Dynasty. The fan held by the maid behind the female donor is A ceremonial fan that embodies etiquette. The origin of the ceremonial fan can be traced back to the Warring States Period. It was originally used as a barrier to block people when traveling. Later, it developed into a ceremonial guard that reflected the majesty and etiquette of the emperor.

The Mogao Grottoes, also known as the Thousand Buddhas Cave, are the largest and richest temple of Buddhist art in the world. According to local tourism experts, the space inside the grottoes is small and there are so many tourists every day that stopping to take photos may cause chaos.

At the same time, tourists who stay in the caves for a long time produce a large amount of carbon dioxide. Changes in humidity and temperature will aggravate the "decline" of the grottoes. The dissolution of pigment particles will cause the murals to fall off. This is the real reason why tourists are not allowed to take pictures in the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes.

Yes,

Photography is not allowed.

But have you ever thought about it,

In order to keep the sacred place far away forever,

In addition to not taking pictures,

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