Adventure in Luoyang Part V - Longmen Cave

An invaluable Unesco World Heritage site, the ravaged grottoes at Longmen constitute one of China’s few surviving masterpieces of Buddhist rock carving. Longmen Cave (Dragon Gate Grottoes, Longmen Shiku), an outstanding collection of religious statuary was started by the Buddhist Northern Wei rulers (386 – 534AD) after they moved their capital from Datong to Luoyang in 494AD. The ensuing Sui and Tang Dynasties further added to the grottoes especially during the rule of Tang Dynasty Empress Wu Zetian, before anti-Buddhist purges abruptly halted its development. The tragic number of headless statues as a result of vandalism and theft creates a solemn mood, although today the caves are obviously well cared for.

Over the next 200 years or so, around 2000 caves or niches over more than 100,000 images and statutes or Buddha and his disciples emerged from over a kilometers of limestone cliff wall along the western bank of the Yi River (Yi He).

The well-preserved Lotus Flower Cave was built in AD527 and is important as it was built as a complete entity and not added to over the years. It derives its name from the large lotus flower in the center of its domed roof, surrounded by musical water spirits – apsarases. The Ten Thousand Buddha Cave is a typical Tang Dynasty cave built in AD680. The many figures of Buddha create an overwhelming sense of the presence of the great teacher.

In the early 20th century, many statues were beheaded by unscrupulous collectors or simply extracted whole, many ending up abroad. Also removed were two murals that today hang in the Metropolitan Museum Art in New York and the Atkinson Museum in Kansas City. Some effigies are slowly returning and heads are being slowly restored to their severed necks, but other statues have had their faces crudely smashed off, deliberate defacement that dates to the dark days of the Cultural Revolution (the Ten Thousand Buddha Cave was particularly damaged during this period).

(Source: Lonely Planet - China, DK and other various sources)

Note on the picture:
(1) Vairocana Buddha. Over 56 ft (17m) tall, this is collosal statue's face was reputedly modeled after the empress We Zetion. The statue's enigmatic smile has earned it the nickname the "Eastern Monalisa"
(2) Area before entering Longmen Cave with Yi He Bridge

(3) Entrance gate of Longmen Cave

(4) Another gate near the ticket office
(5) Statue of Buddha in one cave
(6) Small cave
(7) Statue of Buddha in one cave

(8) Statue of Buddha in one cave

(9) Binyang San Dong caves took 24 years to build and were completed in 523AD

(10) The well preserved Lotus Flower Cave was built in 527AD and is important as it was built as a complete entity, and not added to over the years. It derives its name from the large lotus flower in the center of its domed roof, surrounded by musical spirit - apsarases
(11) Statue of Guan Yin Pousat
(12) Small caves
(13) Fengxian Si. This cave, on the western bank, is largest of all the caves and dates back to 675AD. See Note (1). The statue on the second from right represents Heavenly King. Holding a votive pagoda in one hand and crushing a demon under his feet, the sculpture of Heavenly King is remarkable for its sense of movement and realistic posture
(14) Longmen Cave from the Yi He river