Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves

The Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves (simplified Chinese: 东千佛洞; traditional Chinese: 東千佛洞; pinyin: Dōng Qiānfó Dòng) is a series of rock cut Buddhist caves in Guazhou County, Gansu, northwest China.[1] Of the twenty-three caves excavated from the conglomerate rock, eight have murals and sculptures dating from the Western Xia and Yuan dynasty; many of the statues were reworked during the Qing dynasty.[2][3] The caves extend in two tiers along the cliffs that flank both sides of a now dry river gorge, fourteen on the west bank (five with decoration) and nine on the east (three with decoration).[2][3] Together with the Mogao Caves, Western Thousand Buddha Caves, Yulin Caves, and Five Temple Caves, the Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves is one of the five grotto sites in the vicinity of Dunhuang managed by the Dunhuang Academy.[4]

Caves

Eight caves are decorated with murals and sculptures:[2][3]

Cave Construction Modification Location
Cave 1Yuanwest cliff; north end, lower tier
Cave 2Western XiaQing (sculptures)west cliff; centre, lower tier
Cave 3YuanQing (sculptures)west cliff; south end, upper tier
Cave 4Western Xiawest cliff; centre, upper tier
Cave 5Western Xiawest cliff; centre, upper tier
Cave 6YuanQing (sculptures)east cliff; north end, upper tier
Cave 7YuanQing (sculptures)east cliff; centre, upper tier
Cave 8Western Xiaeast cliff; centre, upper tier

See also

References

  1. ↑ 东千佛洞 [Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves] (in Chinese). Dunhuang Academy. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Xinjiang Rong (2013). Eighteen Lectures on Dunhuang. BRILL. pp. 480 f. ISBN 978-9004250420.
  3. 1 2 3 Zhang, Baoxi (2012). 瓜州東千佛洞西夏石窟藝術 [Art of the Western Xia at the Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves, Guazhou]. Xue Yuan Publishing House. pp. 10, 73–79. ISBN 7507740609.
  4. ↑ Agnew, Neville; Reed, Marcia; Ball, Tevvy, eds. (2016). Cave Temples of Dunhuang: Buddhist Art on China's Silk Road. Getty Conservation Institute. p. 177. ISBN 978-1606064894.

Coordinates: 40°10′06″N 96°25′27″E / 40.168256°N 96.424105°E / 40.168256; 96.424105

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.