The Longmen Grottoes are one of the three largest grottoes in my country. They are located on Longmen Mountain and Xiangshan Mountain on both sides of the Yi River in the southern suburbs of Luoyang, Henan Province. They were excavated in 493, when Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved the capital to Luoyang. After that, it went through the Eastern Wei, More than 400 years of construction in the Western Wei, Northern Qi, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song and other dynasties have resulted in the formation of numerous grotto remains.
Longmen is listed among the top eight scenic spots in Luoyang due to its beautiful mountains and clear waters, quiet environment and pleasant climate. Bai Juyi, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, once said: "The suburbs of Luodu are surrounded by beautiful mountains and rivers, and the first one is Longmen."
The stone here is of excellent quality and suitable for carving, so the ancients chose this place to build grottoes. The green mountains and green waters here are full of brilliance. The caves and niches on the cliffs of the east and west mountains on both sides of the Yihe River are dotted like honeycombs.
Among all the caves in Longmen, the Northern Wei Dynasty accounts for about 30%, the Tang Dynasty accounts for 60%, and other dynasties only account for 10%. The largest Buddha statue in the Longmen Grottoes is the Lucena Buddha, which is 17.14 meters high; the smallest Buddha statues are in the Lotus Cave, each only 0.02 meters long, and are called micro sculptures.
Longmen Grottoes is the place where the most concentrated statues of the Northern Wei and Tang dynasties are located. The statues of the two dynasties reflect completely different styles of the times.
The statues of the Northern Wei Dynasty have long and thin faces, thin shoulders, and straight chests. The clothing patterns are carved using straight knife techniques, which are strong and simple.
In the Northern Wei Dynasty, people advocated thinness as beauty, so Buddhist statues also pursued the artistic style of graceful bones and clear images; while people in the Tang Dynasty regarded fatness as beauty, so the Buddha statues in the Tang Dynasty had round faces and broad shoulders. , the chest is raised, and the clothing lines are carved using the round knife method, which is natural and smooth.
Among the key caves of the Longmen Grottoes in the Tang Dynasty, the magnificent and majestic Dashena Group of Sculptures is the most famous. This group of statues, centered on the graceful and magnanimous Buddha Lushena, uses an artistic group image rich in modality to vividly express the ideal artistic conception of the Buddhist world full of peaceful colors, showing the The highest achievement of sculpture art in the Tang Dynasty.
The Longmen Grottoes lasted for a long time and spanned many dynasties. They reflected the development and changes in ancient my country's politics, economy, religion, culture and many other fields from different aspects with a large number of physical images and written materials. They also exerted great influence on the art of our country's grottoes. has made significant contributions to innovation and development.