Yulin Grottoes
The Yulin Grottoes ( Chinese 榆林 窟 , Pinyin Yúlín kū , English Yulin Grottoes / Ten-Thousand Buddha Gorge / Caves of the Myriad Buddhas ) 75 km southwest of Anxi, d. H. Today's Guazhou County (瓜州 县), Gansu Province , China , are Buddhist cave temples .
The site is also known under the name " Ten Thousand Buddha Gorge " ( 万佛 峡 , Wànfóxiá , Wan Fo Hsia ), whereby "Ten Thousand Buddha Gorge" ( Wanfoxia ) is to be understood as a colloquial place name. There are a total of 41 main grottos and several 100 smaller caves. The rock caves are carved into the rock on the western and eastern sides of the valley, there are thirteen caves on the east bank and eleven on the west bank.
The earliest date back to before the Tang Dynasty , the latest from the Manchu Dynasty . Most of the murals and statues date from the Tang and Song Dynasties, and some from the Western Xia ( Xi Xia ) and Mongol periods . In their structure and artistic style, they are similar to the Mogao grottoes in Dunhuang .
The site was explored by Aurel Stein (1907) and Langdon Warner (1925, on the second Fogg Museum Expedition).
The Yulin Grottoes have been on the list of monuments of the People's Republic of China in Gansu (1-36) since 1961 .
literature
- Aurel Stein : Serindia: Detailed report of explorations in Central Asia and westernmost China , 5 vols. London & Oxford: Clarendon Press 1921. Reprint: Delhi. Motilal Banarsidass. 1980. ( online edition )
- Langdon Warner : Buddhist Wall-Paintings: A Study of a Ninth-Century Grotto at Wan Fo Hsia. (1938)
- Zhongguo da baike quanshu : Kaoguxue [Great Chinese Encyclopedia: Volume Archeology]. Beijing: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe, 1986
- Cihai ["Sea of Words"]. Shanghai: Shanghai cishu chubanshe 2002; ISBN 7-5326-0839-5
Web links
Coordinates: 40 ° 3 ′ 33 ″ N , 95 ° 56 ′ 10.1 ″ E