Longmen Grottoes

龙门石窟

The Longmen Grottoes, an apotheosis of the art of stone carvings in ancient China, are regarded as one of the three greatest grottoes in China, together with the Yungang Grottoes in Datong and Thousand-Buddha Caves in Dunhuang.
The Longmen Grottoes are located 12 kilometers south to downtown Luoyang, Henan Province on the cliffs along the banks of the Yi River. With a total length of 1 km from south to north, they were first chiseled out during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) and mended now and then for as long as over 400 years, which, until now boast a history of over 1500 years. Currently, the total number of existing grottoes is more than 1300, with 100,000 plus Buddha figures, among which the largest is as high as 17.14 meters, while the smallest measures merely 2 centimeters. They are but a complete embodiment of the artistic accomplishments of the ancient working people in China. Among the grottoes, the Middle Binyang Cave, Fengxian Temple and Guyang Cave are the most representative ones. Except for various exquisite sculptures, Longmen Grottoes also preserve a large quantity of historical materials in terms of religion, fine arts, calligraphy, music, garments, medicine, architecture and Sino-foreign transportation, etc. Therefore, they are also a large museum of stone carving art.
Large in scale, the Longmen Grottoes feature exquisitely-carved sculptures of rich contents and subjects, thus are reputed as one of the greatest classical artistic treasure houses in the world. With their own systematic and unique language of sculpture art, they reveal all of the rules and principles of the artistic creation. On the other hand, the abundant substantial historical materials kept inside also reflect in different aspects the evolution of various fields, including the ancient politics, economy, religion and culture. In Nov. 2000, Longmen Grottoes were listed into the World Heritage List by the UNESCO.

     龙门石窟，中国古代的一种佛雕造像艺术。它是中国的三大石窟之一，另外两个为：大同云冈石窟和敦煌莫高窟。
     龙门石窟位于河南省洛阳市城南12公里处，密布在伊水两岸的壁崖上，南北长达一公里。龙门石窟始开凿于北魏（386-534），后来又连续营造改进长达400年之久，迄今已有1500年的历史。如今现存石窟总数有1300多个，佛像10万余尊，其中最大的佛雕高达17.14米，而最小的仅有2厘米。这些都体现出了中国古代劳动人民很高的艺术造诣。其中以宾阳中洞、奉先寺和古阳洞最具有代表性。除了这些千变万化精致的雕像，龙门石窟还保留有大量的宗教、美术、书法、音乐、服饰、医药、建筑和中外交通等方面的实物史料。因此，它又是一座大型的石刻艺术博物馆。
      龙门石窟规模宏大，窟内造像雕刻精湛，内容题材丰富，因此被誉为世界最伟大的古典艺术宝库之一。它以自身系统、独到的雕塑艺术语言，揭示了雕塑艺术创作的各种规律和法则。另外，保存的大量丰富的实物史料反映了各方面领域的发展历程，包括古代政治，经济，宗教和文化。并于2000年11月30日，联合国教科文组织将龙门石窟列入《世界文化遗产名录》。