Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves Explained

The Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves is a series of rock cut Buddhist caves in Guazhou County, Gansu, northwest China.[1] Of the twenty-three caves excavated from the conglomerate rock, eight have murals and sculptures dating from the Western Xia and Yuan dynasty; many of the statues were reworked during the Qing dynasty.[2] [3] The caves extend in two tiers along the cliffs that flank both sides of a now dry river gorge, fourteen on the west bank (five with decoration) and nine on the east (three with decoration).[2] [3] Together with the Mogao Caves, Western Thousand Buddha Caves, Yulin Caves, and Five Temple Caves, the Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves is one of the five grotto sites in the vicinity of Dunhuang managed by the Dunhuang Academy.[4]

Caves

Eight caves are decorated with murals and sculptures:[2] [3]

CaveConstructionModificationLocation
Cave 1 west cliff; north end, lower tier
Cave 2 Qing (sculptures) west cliff; centre, lower tier
Cave 3 Qing (sculptures) west cliff; south end, upper tier
Cave 4 west cliff; centre, upper tier
Cave 5 west cliff; centre, upper tier
Cave 6 Qing (sculptures) east cliff; north end, upper tier
Cave 7 Qing (sculptures) east cliff; centre, upper tier
Cave 8 east cliff; centre, upper tier

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: http://tour.dha.ac.cn/content.aspx?id=214515791663 . zh:东千佛洞 . Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves . Chinese . . 9 April 2017 . 5 August 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170805123953/http://tour.dha.ac.cn/content.aspx?id=214515791663 . dead .
  2. Book: Eighteen Lectures on Dunhuang . Xinjiang Rong . . 2013 . 978-9004250420 . 480 f.
  3. Book: zh:瓜州東千佛洞西夏石窟藝術 . Art of the Western Xia at the Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves, Guazhou . Zhang, Baoxi . Xue Yuan Publishing House . 2012 . 978-7507740608 . 10, 73–79.
  4. Book: Cave Temples of Dunhuang: Buddhist Art on China's Silk Road . Agnew, Neville . Reed, Marcia . Ball, Tevvy . . 2016 . 978-1606064894 . 177.