Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Taxi flagfall is ¥6.
Around Datong
Yungang Caves
One of China's most superlative examples of Buddhist cave art, these 5th-cen-
tury caves (Yungang Shiku; admission ¥150; 8.30am-5.30pm summer) are
ineffably sublime. With 51,000 ancient statues, they put virtually everything
else in the Shanxi shade.
Carved by the Turkic-speaking Tuoba, the Yungang Caves draw their
designs from Indian, Persian and even Greek influences that swept along the
Silk Road. Work began in AD 460, continuing for 60 years before all 252
caves, the oldest collection of Buddhist carvings in China, had been com-
pleted.
Despite weathering, many of the statues at Yungang still retain their gor-
geous pigment, unlike the slightly more recent statues at Longmen Caves (
Click here ). Note that worshippers still pray here, too. A number of the caves
were once covered by wooden structures, but many of these are long gone, al-
though Caves 5 , 6 , 7 and 8 are fronted by wooden temples.
Some caves contain intricately carved square-shaped pagodas, while others
depict the inside of temples, carved and painted to look as though made of
wood. Frescoes are in abundance and there are graceful depictions of anim-
als, birds and angels, some still brightly painted, and almost every cave con-
tains the 1000-Buddha motif (tiny Buddhas seated in niches).
Eight of the caves contain enormous Buddha statues; the largest can be
found in Cave 5 , an outstanding 17m-high, seated effigy of Sakyamuni with a
gilded face. The frescos in this cave are badly scratched, but note the painted
vaulted ceiling. Bursting with colour, Cave 6 is also stunning, resembling a set
from an Indiana Jones epic with legions of Buddhist angels, bodhisattvas and
other figures. In the middle of the cave, a square block pagoda connects with
the ceiling, with Buddhas on each side over two levels.
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