Western Thousand Buddha Grottoes

The Western Thousand Buddha Caves ( Chinese  西 千佛洞 , Pinyin Xīqiānfódòng , English Western Thousand Buddha Caves ) are a group of cave temples of the Dunhuang Caves west of the Mogao Caves . They are located about 35 kilometers southwest of Dunhuang in the northwest Chinese province of Gansu on the road to Golmud on the west side of the Mingsha Shan on the western steep bank of the Dang River ( Dang He党 河). The excavation of a total of 22 grottoes began in the time of the Northern Wei Dynasty . The grottoes date from the Northern Wei Dynasty, Western Wei Dynasty, Northern Zhou Dynasty, Sui Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty, i.e. H. their wall paintings date from the 4th to 13th centuries. They are similar to those of the Mogao caves. Only part of the grottoes are open to visitors. In the 5th grotto there is an inscription with a vow text from the time of the Northern Wei Dynasty , of which more than 70 characters could be identified.

The Western Thousand Buddha Grottoes have been on the list of monuments of the People's Republic of China (1-35) together with the Mogao Grottoes since 1961 . They are administered by the Dunhuang Cultural Monuments Research Institute .

literature

• Dunhuangxue da cidian [Great Dictionary of Dunhuangology]. Shanghai cishu chubanshe 1998

Coordinates: 39 ° 58 '36.7 "  N , 94 ° 21' 59.6"  E