Wuwei News on October 18 (Reporter Li Hongjun) "Tianti Mountain Grottoes are the source of Yungang Grottoes and Longmen Grottoes, and Yungang Grottoes and Longmen Grottoes are the continuation and development of Tiantai Mountain Grottoes, which is a symbol of the sinicization of grotto art." Therefore, the Tianti Mountain Grottoes are honored as the "originator of the grottoes" and "the source of the grottoes" by the historians. Bao Rui, deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Tianti Mountain Grottoes Conservation Research Institute, said.
Panorama of the Tianti Mountain Grottoes (courtesy of the Tianti Mountain Grottoes Protection Research Institute)
On October 17th, under the guidance of the Network Communication Bureau of the Central Cyberspace Administration of the People's Republic of China, the Internet Information Office of the Gansu Provincial Party Committee and the Gansu Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics jointly sponsored the "Millennium Grottoes, Ingenuity Inheritance" online theme activity interview group walked into the Tianti Mountain Grottoes in Wuwei, Gansu Province, to understand the history and culture of the Tiantai Mountain Grottoes, and feel the magnificence and shock of the "originator of the grottoes".
Tianti Mountain Grottoes is located in Dengshan Village, Zhangyi Town, 50 kilometers south of Liangzhou District, Wuwei City, also known as Liangzhou Grottoes, which was excavated in the period of King Fuqu Mengxun of Beiliang and is the first grotto dug by the monarch in the mainland. Tiantai Mountain Grottoes is currently open is the 13th cave, and it is also the largest cave, the statue of Sakyamuni in the cave is 28 meters high, sit according to the mountain and water, the right arm stretches forward, the blue waves ripple under the feet, the thin clouds entangle its body, constitute a magnificent wonder of mountain, water, Buddha and clouds are integrated.
Cave 13 of Tianti Mountain Grottoes (photo by CCTV reporter Li Hongjun)
"The excavation of the Tianti Mountain Grottoes was earlier than the Maijishan Grottoes, Longmen Grottoes, and Yungang Grottoes, and they are the representatives of the early grotto art in the mainland." Bao Rui said that in the process of excavation, a group of skilled craftsmen were formed in the excavation process of Tianti Mountain Grottoes, which provided samples and technical strength for the excavation of Yungang Grottoes and Longmen Grottoes in the Northern Wei Dynasty.
In 439 A.D., the Northern Wei Dynasty destroyed the Northern Liang, moved the clan officials and 30,000 households in Pingcheng, and the early cave of Yungang "Tan Yao Five Caves" was presided over by the high monk Tan Yao of Liangzhou. In 494 AD, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved the capital to Luoyang, and used the technical power of digging the Yungang Grottoes to dig the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Henan, and this artistic style was inherited. Therefore, the achievements of Buddhist art in the Central Plains during this period also shine with the brilliance of the Liangzhou Grottoes.
In 1986, Mr. Su Bai, a famous archaeologist of the cave temple, published an article entitled "Liangzhou Grotto Relics and "Liangzhou Model" in the Journal of Archaeology, he believed that the comprehensive information of the three grottoes unearthed in Wuwei Tianti Mountain Grottoes 1 and 4, Jiuquan Dunhuang Turpan and the three grottoes unearthed in the North Liangshi Pagoda Temple and Sunan Jinta Temple and Jiuquan Wenshu Mountain in front of the mountain, he named the earliest existing Buddhist grotto model in the east of Xinjiang as "Liangzhou model", and "Liangzhou model" provided a precedent for the grotto statue models in different regions.
Silk Road Grotto Corridor (photo by CCTV reporter Li Hongjun)
Caves 1 and 4 of the Tiantishan Grottoes are representative caves in the "Liangzhou model", these early grottoes are clear clues and deep imprints of Buddhism into China, they inherit the statue tradition of Xinjiang and other places, with distinct Western Regions and India colors, and the earliest began to integrate Han art, constantly absorbing new elements to form a unique grotto style.
According to reports, the "Liangzhou model" grottoes have the Buddha hall cave of the elephant, the main statue has Shakya, the Maitreya of the Bodhisattva outfit, the wall is mainly painted with a thousand Buddhas, the lace pattern is decorated with two continuous types of metamorphosis honeysuckle, the face of the Bodhisattva is round, the eyes are mostly slender, the eyes are deep and high-nose, the body is strong and other 5 obvious characteristics, the achievement of the essence of early Chinese grotto art.
Exterior view of Tianti Mountain Grottoes (CCTV reporter Li Hongjun remake)
In 2001, the Tianti Mountain Grottoes were announced by the State Council as a national key cultural relics protection unit. In 2011, the Tianti Mountain Grottoes were announced by the Propaganda Department of the Gansu Provincial Party Committee as the Gansu Provincial Patriotism Education Base. In 2021, the Tianti Mountain Grottoes were announced by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism as an important stop on the route of the Chinese Grottoes Cultural Tour.
To protect the "originator of the grottoes" is to protect the Liangzhou culture that has lasted for thousands of years. In recent years, the Wuwei Tianti Mountain Grottoes Protection Research Institute has implemented the protection and restoration project of the relocation murals and colored sculptures of the Tianti Mountain Grottoes, with a total of 729 murals and statues, including more than 300 square meters of murals and more than 70 statues, which has laid a solid foundation for the reproduction of the charm of the Tianti Mountain Grottoes and the light of the Buddha in Liangzhou.