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History
The
oldest cave dates back to 366 A.D. and the most recent one is from
the 1500's. We went into several caves that dated back to the early
600 and 700's, and the decorations were amazingly intact.
It
is said that in the fourth century a Buddhist monk had a vision
of 1000 Buddhas, and began to carve grottoes into the sandstone
cliff and fill them with Buddhist images. They were abandoned and
forgotten in around the 11th century until Stein and other archaeologists
arrived to carry away huge quantities of manuscripts, textiles and
other art objects. However Magao remains a brilliant trove of statues
and wall paintings from the 4th to 10th centuries.
The
grottoes of were first hewn during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317--420),
about 1,600 years ago. The earliest carving of Mogao Grottoes began
in 366 and the grottoes of Yulin were first hewn during the Eastern
Jin Dynasty (317--420), about 1,600 years ago. A large grotto complex
was gradually created between the Sixteen Kingdoms Period and the
Yuan Dynasty.They are indispensable component parts of the Dunhuang
art. The murals of Grotto No. 25 portray plump, healthy human figures,
and manifest the aesthetic characteristics of the Tang Dynasty (618--907).
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