Yungang Grottoes - A thousand grottoes bring blessings, peace and tranquility.
Yungang Grottoes—a thousand caves bring blessings, peace and tranquility. The smiles on the stone walls, silent for millennia, still heal every visitor.
The morning was sunny; you couldn't tell it had rained heavily last night. I bought snacks for breakfast yesterday, hoping to be among the first visitors. Ticket checking started at 7 am, but tourists were already waiting outside before 6 am. The ticket check was smooth. Once inside, shuttle buses usually operate simultaneously. Although the journey isn't long, taking the shuttle bus would get you to the grottoes much faster. We, however, practically ran on foot—it was quite an experience!
Highlights of the Grottoes (suitable for visitors who want to take photos first and then explore at their leisure; the details are marked in parentheses):
· Cave 3: The largest grotto in Yungang. The light shining in from the entrance is breathtaking (perfect for photos).
· Caves 5 & 6: Both are double caves with wooden exteriors. The main statue of Shakyamuni Buddha in Cave 5 is the largest Buddha statue in Yungang (17m), and it was also one of the filming locations for the 1986 TV series *Journey to the West*. Cave 6 is hailed as "Yungang's First Magnificent View," with its central pagoda pillar and carvings being exceptionally beautiful.
· Cave 9: The smallest Buddha statue in the Yungang Grottoes is housed here, measuring only 2cm.
· Cave 11: The upper layer of the east wall contains an inscription dating to the seventh year of the Taihe era, containing 337 characters, making it the earliest and longest existing inscription in Yungang.
· Cave 12: A music cave, the musical instruments and performance style within recreate the style of the Northern Wei court orchestra.
· Cave 13 features a figure supporting a roof, jokingly referred to by netizens as "Yungang's working class."
· Caves 16-20: The famous Tan Yao Five Caves, also the earliest group of caves carved in Yungang. Cave 19 features the popular "high-five" Buddha. Cave 20 is an outdoor Buddha statue, a popular spot for photos, with people wearing sunglasses and making peace signs. We took our photos before the main tourist crowds arrived, allowing us to leisurely appreciate the sights. Here's a description of each cave:
Caves 1 and 2 are a pair. One cave is called Stone Drum Cave, where the ground is said to produce a clanging sound when struck. The dragon relief on the lintel of Cave 1 is particularly noteworthy; this graceful dragon design is a continuation of the Han Dynasty tradition. The adjacent Cave 2 is called Cold Spring Cave, where water flows down the ground near the railing. Caves 1 and 2 differ from many others because they don't contain Buddha statues; instead, they contain pagodas, called pagoda-pillar caves. Since the concept of Buddha statues didn't exist initially, the pagoda became a symbol of Buddha, hence the existence of these pagoda-temple caves.
Exiting Caves 1 and 2, you can see ancient road tracks and historical relics. Cave 3 is the largest cave in the entire Yungang Grottoes, but unfortunately, its construction was interrupted when Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved to Luoyang, leaving it unfinished. The Buddha statue in Cave 3 appears to have a double chin and chubby hands. The attendant Buddha beside it also has a slightly protruding belly, clearly indicating that this sculpture dates back to the Tang Dynasty. However, it was only repaired and not fully restored. Exiting Cave 3 leads to Cave 4, which is severely weathered and shaped like an inverted "品" (pin).
Passing through a wooden door, you enter Caves 5-45. Caves 5 and 6 are also twin caves with wooden exteriors. The main statue in Cave 5, Shakyamuni Buddha, is the largest Buddha statue in Yungang (17 meters tall, with a 1.7-meter nose and a 3.4-meter ear), and was also one of the filming locations for the 1986 TV series *Journey to the West*. Cave 6, hailed as "the first magnificent sight of Yungang," was built by Emperor Xiaowen for his grandmother, Empress Dowager Feng. It is the most splendid cave in the entire Yungang Grottoes, with exquisite stone carvings depicting the Buddha's life from birth to enlightenment in 33 panels.
Caves 7 and 8 are also twin caves, depicting the political situation of Emperor Xiaowen and Empress Dowager Feng jointly ruling the country, a situation known as the "two emperors ruling simultaneously." Here, there is a unique sculptural combination of "two Buddhas sitting opposite each other," a style that appears a staggering 385 times throughout the Yungang Grottoes. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, to prevent a strong mother and weak son, the mother of the crown prince was often killed during the selection of the crown prince, much like why Emperor Wu of Han killed Lady Gouyi. Emperor Xiaowen was raised by his grandmother, Empress Dowager Feng, from a young age. Under her leadership, the Northern Wei implemented a series of reforms, including banning the use of non-Han languages, adopting Han surnames, and venerating Confucius. At this time, the Northern Wei transcended its early period of barbaric conquest and entered its golden age. It also actively promoted intermarriage between Xianbei nobles and Han clans, fostering the fusion of the two ethnic groups and contributing to the prosperous Tang Dynasty in China.
Caves 9 to 13, because they have been painted, are called the "Five-Colored Caves." Cave 9 showcases the collision of Chinese and Western cultures and is currently under renovation. The front porch features Ionic columns in the style of ancient Greek temples, while the rear hall served as the residence of ancient Chinese emperors and empresses.
Cave 15 is the Ten Thousand Buddha Cave, containing over 13,200 Buddha statues, making it the cave with the most Buddha images in the entire Yungang Grottoes.
The Yungang Grottoes' No. 1 project—the Five Caves of Tan Yao—represents five statues corresponding to the five emperors since the founding of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Tan Yao was a foreign monk who oversaw the project's construction and survived the persecution of Buddhism. After Emperor Wencheng ascended the throne, Tan Yao proposed to the emperor that large Buddha statues be sculpted based on the mountains and the images of the five early Northern Wei emperors, allowing worship of Buddha and emperor to coexist, and for Buddhism and imperial power to coexist.
Cave 16 features a standing Shakyamuni Buddha statue, 13.5 meters tall, corresponding to Emperor Wencheng (Tuoba Jun). It was under his support that the Yungang Grottoes began their groundbreaking construction.
Cave 17 houses the largest Maitreya Bodhisattva statue in Yungang, its legs crossed. This statue has weathered considerably and corresponds to Emperor Jingmu (Tuoba Huang). The statue is 1-2 meters shorter than the other Buddha statues, resembling a descending staircase. This is because he died as a prince, not yet a Buddha, and was posthumously honored as Emperor Jingmu after his son, Emperor Wencheng, ascended the throne.
Cave 18 contains a very rare statue: a large Buddha wearing a robe adorned with a thousand Buddhas. It corresponds to Emperor Taiwu (Tuoba Tao), the third emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty. This is related to the first large-scale persecution of Buddhism in Chinese history. When the Northern Wei dynasty came to the hands of Emperor Taiwu, the Xianbei cavalry had reached the pinnacle of their military prowess. The burgeoning Buddhist temple economy consumed excessive social resources, and some unscrupulous individuals attempted to elevate Buddhism's status above that of the imperial power. Furthermore, the conflict between the imported Buddhism and the indigenous Taoism intensified. Emperor Taiwu, a man of martial spirit, ordered the extermination of all Buddhist monks and the destruction of all Buddhist statues. Later generations placed this robe, filled with Buddhist images, on the large Buddha statue in Cave 18, as a symbolic act of repentance. It can be said that large-scale carving of Buddhist statues began after the suppression of Buddhism. Smaller statues made at that time were easily destroyed; bronze ones could be melted down, and clay ones were easily smashed. Carving them onto cliff faces allowed them to stand majestically alongside the mountains and rivers, ensuring their longevity.
Cave 19 corresponds to Emperor Mingyuan of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Tuoba Si. The Buddha's eyes are hollow; originally, these eyes were made of ceramic, shiny and many people mistook them for gemstones and stole them, some of which were taken overseas. Furthermore, the Buddha has many small holes. Throughout history, many people have tried to clothe the Buddha, but the stone carving was too smooth. They drilled small holes, inserted wooden wedges, covered it with netting, and then applied mud for painting. However, over time, these elements have weathered away, resulting in its current appearance.
Cave 20 houses the only open-air Buddha statue in the Yungang Grottoes, corresponding to Emperor Daowu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Tuoba Gui, the founder of the dynasty who led the Tuoba Xianbei to conquer the Central Plains. This is also the iconic feature of the Yungang Grottoes.
Walking slowly out of the Yungang Grottoes, the Buddha's shoulders, bearing the weight of the Western Regions and the expansiveness of the Central Plains, reappear in my mind. No wonder the guides say that "the craftsmen carved their yearning for stability into the stone; this was not only a royal project, but also a spiritual refuge in turbulent times." They may have never left this mountain, wearing out countless chisels, yet they gave the stone warmth—a vessel of faith and a refuge in chaotic times. After the capital was moved, the grottoes gradually became less elaborate; the unfinished chisel marks are like an unspoken prayer, all the more moving—even with the fall of the dynasty, the light of faith never went out. Please come to the Yungang Grottoes; the smiles on the stone walls, silent for a thousand years, still heal every visitor.
I recommend watching the documentary "A Thousand-Year-Old Cave: Yungang" or the six-episode CCTV series "Yungang" before your trip.
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