Luoyang City Longmen Grottoes in Henan Province

Longmen Grottoes are situated between the east and west steep cliffs of Longmen Gorge, 12.5km away in the southern suburbs of Luoyang City, Henan Province in the central part of China. As two mountains stand opposite to each other on the east and west sides with Yi River flowing in between, this place looks very much like a door stone. So, it was also called Yi Stone, but since Tang Dynasty, it has been better known as Longmen. This place is actually an important hub of communications with clear waters and green mountains and comfortable weather, so it has been a tourist attraction for sight-seers and men of letters. Also, because the fine texture of rock where Longmen Grottoes lie proved suitable for engraving, people in old times chose this place for engraving the grottoes.

Longmen Grottoes, Dunhuang Buddhist Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes in Datong of Shanxi are together called China Three Treasure Houses of Stone Engravings. First engraved during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen in the North Wei Dynasty (471-477 AD), it took more than 400 years to complete. Now it has a history of 1,500 years. The Longmen Grottoes are about one kilometer long from north to south, housing over 1,300 caves, 2,345 statues, 3,600 pieces of inscriptions or tombstone engravings, 50 Buddhist pagodas, and more than 97,000 Buddhist statues. And Binyang Middle Cavity, Fengxian Temple and Guyang Cavity are among the most typical.

Binyang Middle Cavity is a typical piece of North Wei Dynasty (386-512 AD). Totally, the construction took 24 years to complete with the longest period of excavation. Inside, there are 11 giant Buddhist statues and the primary one, Sakyamuni, has a charming facial feature in a composed manner and is really a masterpiece of stone engravings in the middle of North Wei Dynasty. In front of the major statue, there lie two fantastically strong stone lions. Standing on two sides are the two disciples, two bodhisattvas, who are gazing forward smilingly and look sweet yet massive. In addition, there are a crowd of bodhisattva engravings and statues of disciples attending lectures of scripture in the cavity, all appearing to be true to life. And the flying fairy on the roof the grotto is equally vivid.

The Lushena Giant Buddha of Fengxian Temple is 17.14m high with round and charming complexion and serene eyes. With a slight smile on its face, the statue looks stately yet sagacious and generous, claimed as the Oriental Mona Lisa.

Fengxian Temple is in the largest of the Longmen Grottoes, embodying the style of stone engravings of Tang Dynasty (618-904 AD). Thirty by thirty meters in size, the whole statue of Fengxian Temple stands a perfect piece of art, with the statute of Lushena being a fantastic masterpiece. With a total height of 17m, the Lushena Buddha looks sturdy and graceful and is really true to life. She looks down slightly, her eyes full of wisdom while the worshippers look up, feeling awe-inspired inside when her eyes look into theirs. The artistic appeal is untold, indeed.

Guyang Cavity, the one excavated earliest of the Longmen Grottoes, abounds in what is worth exploring and is also another style of grotto in North Wei Dynasty. Inside Guyang Cavity, there are many Buddhist Statues, on which are inscriptions recording the names of engravers, dates and reasons for making them. All these constitute precious data for researching calligraphy and engraving art of North Wei Dynasty. As the milestone in China's history of calligraphy, Longmen Twenty Masterpieces are basically found here, representing the style of calligraphy of tombstone inscriptions, which appear to be well-poised and natural with strong and forceful strokes. They are the cream of calligraphy of tombstone inscriptions in Longmen Grottoes and have been highly appreciated and valued even up till today.

In Longmen Grottoes, there is a wealth of historical data of real stuff preserved, concerning religion, fine arts, calligraphy, music, garment, medicine, architecture and communications at home and abroad. Therefore, the grottoes are also a large art gallery of stone engravings.