Yungang Grottoes

<h2 id="history">History</h2>

<p>After the <a href="/facts/Disaster_of_Yongjia/SpbGqEYn">decline of the Western Jin dynasty</a>, the northern parts of China came under the control of the <a href="/facts/Tuoba/7p9nkAb9">Tuoba</a>-ruled <a href="/facts/Northern_Wei/hcBh3mwC">Northern Wei</a>. They made the city of Pingcheng (平城), now known as Datong (大同), their capital. Due to its promotion, Pingcheng saw an increase in construction work. The Northern Wei early adopted Buddhism as their state religion. Buddhism arrived in this location via travel on the ancient <a href="/facts/North_Silk_Road/61yXuneX">North Silk Road</a>, the northernmost route of about 2600 kilometres in length, which connected the ancient Chinese capital of Xi'an to the west over the Wushao Ling Pass to <a href="/facts/Wuwei,_Gansu/aKNYt8tM">Wuwei</a> and emerging in <a href="/facts/Kashgar/nEqf9YTh">Kashgar</a> before linking to ancient <a href="/facts/Parthia/XMqSC1GT">Parthia</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
</p><p>The work on this first period of carving lasted until the year 465 AD, and these caves are now known as caves 16–20. Beginning around the year 471 AD, in a second construction phase that lasted until 494 AD, the twin caves 5/6, 7/8, and 9/10 as well as the caves 11, 12, and probably 13 were constructed under the supervision and support of the imperial court. The imperial patronage ended 494 AD with the move of the Wei court to the new capital of <a href="/facts/Luoyang/wJC8mfXn">Luoyang</a>. All other caves emerged under private patronage in a third construction period, lasting until 525, when the construction came to a final halt due to uprisings in the area.
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<h3>Deterioration and Conservation</h3>
<p>Since the end of the works, the sandstone of the grottoes has been exposed to heavy weathering. Many of the grottoes are exposed to the open air, and are therefore vulnerable to various forms of pollution and deterioration.  Windblown dust and air pollution from the industrial city of Datong, as well as dust from mines and highways near the site pose a threat to the preservation of the ancient statues.  The site is also in proximity of the Gobi Desert, the storms of which can contribute to the decay of the statues.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> The ensuing centuries therefore saw several attempts to preserve the caves and to repair sustained damage. During the <a href="/facts/Liao_dynasty/aLMKfWr7">Liao dynasty</a> the caves saw some renewing of statues and, from 1049 to 1060, the buildup of the "10 temples of Yungang", which were meant to protect the main caves. However, they were destroyed again some 60 years later in a fire. The wooden buildings extant in front of caves 5 and 6 were constructed in 1621, during the early <a href="/facts/Qing_dynasty/5j6r4p5m">Qing dynasty</a>. Since the 1950s, cracks in the sandstone have been sealed by grouting, and forestation has been implemented in an effort to reduce the weathering due to sandstorms.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> During the <a href="/facts/Cultural_Revolution/1EAQGgYk">Cultural Revolution</a>, <a href="/facts/Red_Guards/aSc6fI2F">Red Guards</a> damaged many of the carvings, and bullet marks are still visible to observers. During April and May 1991, <a href="/facts/Caltech/3FPcp7BL">Caltech</a> personnel conducted air pollutant measurement experiments in the Yungang Grottoes. It was found that nearly all of the airborne matter was mineral dust or carbon particles, allowing a focus of attention on sources of these kinds of matter.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a>
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<h2 id="cave-6">Cave 6</h2>
<p>Cave 6 is one of the richest of the Yungang sites.  It was constructed between 465 and 494 C.E. by Emperor Xiao Wen.  The cave's surface area is approximately 1,000 square meters.  The entire interior of the cave is carved and painted.  There is a stupa pillar in the center of the room extending from the floor to the ceiling.  The walls are divided into two stories.  The walls of the upper stories are host to carvings of standing Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and monks among other celestial figures.  All of the carvings were painted, but because the caves have been repainted evidently up to twelve times, determining the original scheme is difficult.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a>
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<h2 id="gallery">Gallery</h2>

<h2 id="in-popular-culture">In Popular Culture</h2>
<p>The site was heavily featured, as was the rest of Shanxi province, in the settings visited by the character The Destined One from the globally renowned AAA game <a href="/facts/Black_Myth:_Wukong/7eujKbtI">Black Myth: Wukong</a>. Tourism greatly increased as the grotto went from the least visited of the major three grottoes from the Northern Wei to its most visited within a few weeks of the game’s launch. Shanxi has promoted it, in comparison with the game visuals very heavily, as seen in its 2024 tourism council advertisements to great results.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a>
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<h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2>
<ul><li>Caswell, James O. (1988). <i>Written and Unwritten: A New History of the Buddhist Caves at Yungang</i>. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 9780774803007.</li>
<li>Leidy, Denise Patry & Strahan, Donna (2010). <a href="http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/62659"><i></i>Wisdom embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art<i></i></a>. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 9781588393999.</li>
<li>"The Oldest Buddhist Stone Monuments known to China - fifth-century sculptures at Wu Chou Shan", well-illustrated feature in <i>The Illustrated London News</i>, 10 October 1931.</li></ul>
<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yungang Grottoes.

<ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110526201023/http://www.yungang.org/">Official website</a> (in Chinese)</li>
<li><a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1039">UNESCO World Heritage page about Yungang Grottoes</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.thesalmons.org/lynn/chinawork.html">Protecting the Yungang Grottoes from Air Pollution Damage</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Agnew, Neville (1997-06-19). Conservation of Ancient Sites on the Silk Road: Proceedings of an International Conference on the Conservation of Grotto Sites. Getty Publications. ISBN 9780892364169. <a href="9780892364169" target="_blank">9780892364169</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>"Yungang Grottoes". UNESCO. Retrieved 2007-09-06. <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1039" target="_blank">https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1039</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>"AAAAA Scenic Areas". China National Tourism Administration. 16 November 2008. Archived from the original on April 4, 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2011. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140404043021/http://en.cnta.gov.cn/html/2008-11/2008-11-16-10-27-72978.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20140404043021/http://en.cnta.gov.cn/html/2008-11/2008-11-16-10-27-72978.html</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>[1] Silk Road, North China, C.Michael Hogan, the Megalithic Portal, ed. A. Burnham, 2007] <a href="http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18006" target="_blank">http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18006</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Salmon, Lynn G.; Christoforou, Christos S.; Cass, Glen R. (1994). "Airborne Pollutants in the Buddhist Cave Temples at the Yungang Grottoes, China". Environmental Science & Technology. 28 (5): 805–811. Bibcode:1994EnST...28..805S. doi:10.1021/es00054a010. PMID 22191820. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>report of the UNESCO advisory board <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/1039.pdf" target="_blank">https://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/1039.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>Salmon, Lynn G.; Christoforou, Christos S.; Cass, Glen R. (1994). "Airborne Pollutants in the Buddhist Cave Temples at the Yungang Grottoes, China". Environmental Science & Technology. 28 (5): 805–811. Bibcode:1994EnST...28..805S. doi:10.1021/es00054a010. PMID 22191820. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:8"><p>Agnew, Neville (1997-06-19). Conservation of Ancient Sites on the Silk Road: Proceedings of an International Conference on the Conservation of Grotto Sites. Getty Publications. ISBN 9780892364169. <a href="9780892364169" target="_blank">9780892364169</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:9"><p>Zuo, Mandy; He, Huifeng (27 August 2024). "Black Myth: Wukong boom plays into China's desire to lift demand, economy". South China Morning Post. <a href="https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3275967/black-myth-wukong-boom-plays-chinas-desire-lift-demand-economy" target="_blank">https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3275967/black-myth-wukong-boom-plays-chinas-desire-lift-demand-economy</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Yungang Grottoes open-in-new

Yungang Grottoes