Maijishan Grottoes truly reflect the artists' infinite yearning and aesthetic orientation for a better life in that era.
The statues in the Northern Wei Dynasty are beautiful and handsome, and the wise smile implies contempt for the horrible reality, forgetting the honor and disgrace of life, and being chic and relaxed after transcending the secular world; The statues of the Western Wei and Northern Zhou Dynasties are warm and honest, and they are addicted to the pursuit of real life and the yearning for the Buddhist world. Sui and Tang dynasties statues are plump and delicate; Statue costumes in Song Dynasty have realistic patterns and solemn shapes.
Artists have abandoned the meticulous attention to details in the past, and raised their appeal to the height of commanding everything, with touching faces and rich life breath.
From the statues of Maijishan in different times, we can see the religious figures with rich flavor of life, such as Buddha, Bodhisattva, disciple and provider, which were created by artists with realistic figures as the main material at that time through exaggeration, imagination, generalization and refinement.
The piety shown by the Buddhist disciples in 12 1 cave and the boys and girls in 123 cave is not the piety of an ascetic monk, but the childlike sincerity and joy under the influence of the trend of the times.
Therefore, influenced by the local social environment, Maijishan statue shows the local people and feelings, making Buddhist statues seem familiar in life, making people feel amiable and lovely in the Buddhist community, thus dedicating themselves to religion.