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
[edit]Eight caves are decorated with murals and sculptures:[2][3]
| Cave | Construction | Modification | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cave 1 | Yuan | west cliff; north end, lower tier | |
| Cave 2 | Western Xia | Qing (sculptures) | west cliff; centre, lower tier |
| Cave 3 | Yuan | Qing (sculptures) | west cliff; south end, upper tier |
| Cave 4 | Western Xia | west cliff; centre, upper tier | |
| Cave 5 | Western Xia | west cliff; centre, upper tier | |
| Cave 6 | Yuan | Qing (sculptures) | east cliff; north end, upper tier |
| Cave 7 | Yuan | Qing (sculptures) | east cliff; centre, upper tier |
| Cave 8 | Western Xia | east cliff; centre, upper tier |
See also
[edit]- Major National Historical and Cultural Sites (Gansu)
- Principles for the Conservation of Heritage Sites in China
- Tiantishan Caves
References
[edit]- ^ 东千佛洞 [Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves] (in Chinese). Dunhuang Academy. Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
- ^ a b c Xinjiang Rong (2013). Eighteen Lectures on Dunhuang. BRILL. pp. 480 f. ISBN 978-9004250420.
- ^ a b c 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 978-7507740608.
- ^ 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.
External links
[edit]- (in Chinese) Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves Archived 2017-08-05 at the Wayback Machine (Dunhuang Academy)
