A statue housed in Yungang Grottoes Photo: YUNGANG GROTTOES WEBSITE

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Yungang Grottoes

Zhang Zhuo, director of Longmen Grottoes Academy

Guangming: What are the distinctive characteristics of the Yungang Grottoes?

Zhang Zhuo: Grandness and beauty, are the most amazing characteristics of the Yungang Grottoes. Grandness, is of their large scale and many major statues. The grottoes boast more than 59,000 statues cut in 254 caves and niches, including 45 major caves. These Buddhist grottoes, imitating India’s rock-cut caves, display a majestic Oriental strength. The 17-meter-tall sitting statue in Cave 5 is the earliest surviving Buddha in the world and the first of its kind in China. A representative form of Gandhara art, the Buddhist grottoes reflect sunshine, masculinity, joy and optimism. The exquisite statues in the caves, carved with vivid image details, represent an outstanding world-class achievement of sculptural art.
 

Guangming: In their long history, what measures have been taken to protect Yungang Grottoes and what has been achieved?

Zhang Zhuo: Yungang Grottoes have been repaired on a large scale throughout the dynasties. For example, the Liao Dynasty (916–1125) underwent over ten years of major repairs. The Jin Dynasty (1115–1234) rebuilt the Lingyan Pavilion. In the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), excavations and restoration were carried out in the niches situated in the western carved area. The Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) repaired the temple buildings. In the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), the grottoes were renovated and painted, and wooden pavilions in front of Caves 5 and 6 were constructed.
Between 1974 and 1976, China implemented the largest protection project of Yungang Grottoes since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. In December 2001, the Yungang Grottoes were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

In recent years, China has continued restoring the Yungang Grottoes. A waterproofing project targeted the treatment of the permeable caves in the western carved area, restoring the leakage damage caused by atmospheric precipitation. An eaves construction in Wuhua Cave aimed to curb the weathering of the statues in it. Also, over the past few years daily maintenance has become an institution. In addition, we have developed the digital protection of cultural relics. Through a toolkit including 3D laser scanning, 3D printing and replication, and VR displays, experts have found a path to digital research, protection, development and utilization. Apart from physical protection, the establishment of the Yungang Digital Joint Laboratory gathered universities and research institutes to collaborate on the digitization of cultural relics, making restoration more scientific and refined.

 
Dunhuang Grottoes

Zhao Shengliang, director of the Dunhuang Academy

Dunhuang Grottoes are rich with culture. They feature architecture, sculpture and painting, and they touch upon themes such as Buddhism, society and history. In ancient times, Dunhuang was a major town located along the Silk Road, showcasing the intersection of diverse cultures. It absorbed the traditions of ancient India, ancient Greece, ancient Rome and Persia (ancient Central Asia). Dunhuang culture preserves the cultural achievements of the Han nationality as well as those of the ancient Xianbei, Tubo, Uighur, Dangxiang and Mongolian ethnic groups, testifying that the Chinese civilization is the collective achievement of many ethnic groups since ancient times.

Located in the Gobi Desert, the Mogao Grottoes have faced natural destruction since ancient times. The Ming Dynasty closed the Jiayuguan Pass from the mid-16th century on, and the Dunhuang area was left unattended and the cave destruction intensified for 200 years after. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Wang Yuanlu, a Taoist priest, was the abbot at Mogao Grottoes. Knowing nothing about relic protection, his “repair” effort further destroyed the cultural relics in the caves.
 

In 1944, the Dunhuang Art Institute was established, and the Mogao Grottoes began to receive professional and effective protection. After the founding of the PRC, research into the protection of Dunhuang Grottoes entered a new juncture due to huge national attention. In the early 1960s, the state allocated funds to comprehensively strengthen the construction, repair the plank road, and effectively protect the caves. After the reform and opening up, the Gansu Province decided to merge the original Dunhuang Cultural Relics Research Institute into Dunhuang Academy in the hope of doubling the efforts in preservation research. Amid growing international exchange, the academy has formed partnerships with Japan, the United States and some European countries based on cultural relics protection. It has cultivated many professionals skilled in science and technology and formed a comprehensive protection system.

Dunhuangology is an international discipline, encouraging studies by scholars from more than 20 countries and regions in the world. Over the past few decades, the Dunhuang Academy has made a list of achievements regarding Dunhuang studies, especially in the fields of grotto archaeology, grotto art, ancient minority studies, the Silk Road and Dunhuang literature.
 

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought challenges to the museum sector while creating opportunities for cultural heritage protection, research and innovative development. After the Mogao Grottoes and other grottoes closed because of COVID-19 concerns, we adopted the internet and mobile internet technologies to launch a series of online cloud exhibitions such as Visit Dunhuang Online and Wonderful Cloud Exhibition. The activities have attracted more than 13 million visits in two months, which has enriched people’s intellectual and cultural life and provided new ideas for the protection and opening up of Dunhuang cultural heritage in the future.

 

Longmen Grottoes

Li Jinle, director of the Longmen Grottoes Management Committee

Guangming: What makes the Longmen Grottoes so charming?
 

Li Jinle: In 2000, the Longmen Grottoes were recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site because “its grottoes and niches contain the largest and most impressive collection of Chinese art from the late Northern Wei and Tang Dynasties (316–907).” The recognition was also a testimony to the grottoes’ distinctive character and charm.

The grottoes have a long history. Work on the caves continued for over 400 years. They received huge support from various dynasties, reflecting the development and changes of ancient China in multiple aspects, such as politics, economics, religion and culture. The site is a refined collection of culture and art. Its statues range from 2 centimeters to 17.1 meters. The Grand Losana Buddha is a representative example of Buddhist art in China.

Guangming: What historical vicissitudes have Longmen Grottoes experienced in the past thousands of years?
 

Li Jinle: Besides the destruction caused by natural factors, Longmen Grottoes have been deeply affected by religious struggles and social unrest. Due to conflicts between Buddhism and state rulers, and the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism, the ancient courts cracked down on Buddhism four times, and Longmen Grottoes suffered heavy damage. The grottoes were also seriously damaged due to the frequent wars during the Jin and Yuan dynasties. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, some countries and cultural relics merchants stole and destroyed the site on a massive scale, causing many cultural relics to be damaged or lost. During World War II, some Western countries and Japan looted many statues abroad.

Since the founding of the PRC, the protection of Longmen Grottoes has been highly valued by the country. In 1951, the Longmen Forests and Historic Sites Protection Committee was established, ending the grottoes’ unattended situation. The first of its kind targeting large-scale grotto temples, the Fengxian Temple Rescue and Reinforcement Project won the National Science Conference Achievement Award in 1978. In 2000, the Longmen Grottoes were listed as a UNESCO heritage site, and the protection became more multifaceted. The government formulated the Luoyang City Longmen Grottoes Protection and Management Regulations and the Longmen Grottoes Protection and Management Plan so that grotto protection has formal guidance.

 

Maijishan Grottoes

Li Tianming, director of the Maijishan Grottoes Art Institute
 

The Maijishan Grottoes were built in the Later Qin of the Sixteen Kingdoms. After that, the construction of new caves and restoration work continued until the Tang and Song dynasties. During the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, the grottoes were in a period of decline when only a few statues or paintings were made. The site became gradually unknown to outsiders, fortunately avoiding human destruction such as wars and thefts, and thus the grottoes are well preserved today. In 2014, they were included on the World Heritage List.

 In the 1940s, Feng Guorui, a scholar from Tianshui, Gansu Province, investigated the Maijishan Grottoes. His publication of “Studies of Maijishan Grottoes” brought the site back to the public. After the founding of the PRC, the government sent two delegations to survey the Maijishan Grottoes, and under the recommendation of the survey team, an eight-year Maijishan Grottoes reinforcement and repair project was carried out between 1976 and 1984. To date, experts have completed the protection and restoration of 176 painted clay sculptures and 393.7 square meters of murals. In 2017, the Maijishan Grottoes were placed under the management of the Dunhuang Academy, which pushed forward development of the protection, research, promotion, management and service of the Maijishan Grottoes.

 

This article was edited and translated from Guangming Daily.

edited by MA YUHONG