Thursday, March 28

Sacred Mogao Caves in Dunhuang

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The Caves of a Thousand Buddhas (Qianfodong), also known as Mogao, is a cave temple complex that is a real treasure trove of Buddhist art.

All the caves in the complex are located in the desert, about 15 miles southeast of the city of Dunhuang in northwest China. They reflect the history of this ancient city as one of the key points of the Great Silk Road: traveling, monks and pilgrims spread a number of religions, including Buddhism, in the areas around the trade routes.

By the end of the IV century, this area had turned into a busy desert crossroads of the caravan routes of the Great Silk Road connecting China and the West, and by the X century there were about 15 Buddhist monasteries in the city. The city also lay on the way of pilgrims from Tibet to the sacred Mount Wutai.

At some point in the early XI century, a huge archive was discovered here, numbering up to 50,000 documents, hundreds of paintings, as well as textiles and other artifacts. The entrance to it was hidden behind a wall painting, and the treasure remained hidden from view for many centuries. In 1900, it was discovered by Wang Yuanlu, a Taoist monk who appointed himself abbot and keeper of cave temples. The first Western expedition to reach Dunhuang arrived here in 1879. And only 20 years later, Hungarian-born Mark Aurel Stein, a well-known British archaeologist and researcher, spoke about the importance of these caves to the public.

Stein arrived in Dunhuang in 1907. The local abbot sold the archaeologist 7000 complete manuscripts and 6000 fragments, as well as several boxes filled with paintings, embroidery and other artifacts.

 

He was followed by other expeditions, as a result of which Dunhuang manuscripts and drawings on scrolls were scattered all over the globe. The bulk of the material can be found in Beijing, London, Delhi, Paris and St. Petersburg. Studies based on the textual material found in Dunhuang have made it possible to better understand the extraordinary mutual enrichment of cultures and religions that took place here from the IV to the XIV centuries.

Пещерный храм 257, Дуньхуан, провинция Ганьсу

In total, there are about 492 preserved cave temples in Mogao, dating from the V-XIII centuries. Over a thousand years of artistic activity in Dunhuang, the style of wall paintings and sculptures has changed.

Буддийская септада в нише вдоль западной стены пещеры Могао 45, династия Тан

The early caves show more Indian and Western influences, while the drawings during the Tang Dynasty (618-906 AD) clearly show the influence of Chinese painting styles of the imperial court. During the 10th century, Dunhuang became more isolated, and the organization of the local academy of painting led to the mass production of paintings with their own unique style.

Богиня милосердия, пещера 57, династия Тан

All cave temples were created by people manually, and the decoration of each, apparently, was conceived and executed as a single conceptual whole. The wall paintings are made in the form of dry frescoes, and the walls are made of a mixture of clay, straw and reeds, covered with lime paste. The sculptures are made of wooden rebar, straw, reeds and plaster. The paint on both paintings and sculptures was applied with mineral pigments, as well as gold and silver leaf.

Западный рай, Пещерный храм 172, династия Тан, Дуньхуан, провинция Ганьсу

Local art also reflects changes in religious beliefs and rituals in places of pilgrimage here. The early caves usually depicted the parables of Jataka – parables about the previous lives of the Buddha. During the Tang dynasty, the Pure Land School became very popular here – the most popular current of the Far Eastern Mahayana, a teaching based on faith in Amitabha Buddha. Various paradisiacal paintings adorn the walls of cave temples of this period, each of which represents the kingdom of another Buddha.

Вид на Северные пещеры Могао, фотография, сделанная в 1943-44 годах, Архив Ло

During the Second World War, the famous Chinese painter Zhang Daqian spent time in Dunhuang with his students – they copied rock paintings. Photojournalist James Lo, a friend of Zhang Daqian, joined him, systematically photographing the caves. So, in 1943, they began to hold their photo campaign here, which lasted for eighteen months.

Вид на север из пещеры Могао 268, Фотография, сделанная в 1943-44 годах, Архив Ло

The Luo Archive (now held at Princeton University) consists of approximately 2,500 black-and-white historical photographs of Mogao temples. Since there was no electricity, James Lo developed a system of mirrors and fabric screens that scattered light along the corridors of the caves, thereby illuminating paintings and sculptures for their further study.

 

Today, the Mogao Cave Temples in Dunhuang are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In accordance with the cooperation agreement with the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China (SACH), the Getty Conservation Institute has been cooperating with the Dunhuang Academy in the field of protection of this cultural and historical monument since 1989. Currently, the cave temples are open to tourists.

The author of the article is Varvara Sergeevna Kartushina

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