Mogao Caves
The Mogao Caves, the most prominent cave complex among the grottoes in Dunhuang, are located on the cliffs at the eastern foot of Mingsha Mountain in the southeast of Dun- huang, Gansu Province. It is 1,680 meters long from north to south, 50 meters high, and contains over 700 cells, making it the world's largest and most culturally significant Buddhist grottoes.
The Mogao Caves, first constructed in A.D. 366 during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), were expanded over the course of about 1,000 years. These caves represent an art form that combines architecture, sculpture, and mural painting, show- casing the evolvement of Chinese grotto art, which blends the artistic traditions of the Han and Jin dynasties with those of the Northern and Southern dynasties (420-589) and the Tang (618-907) and Song (907-1279) dynasties together with im- ported and transformed artistic styles from India, Central Asia, and West Asia. The Dunhuang murals, painted with exquisite techniques and covering a wide range of themes, vividly depict various aspects of the ancient Chinese society, such as clothing, food, housing, transportation, rituals of marriage and burial, and trade and cultural exchanges along the ancient Silk Road, preserving valuable information for later generations. In mod- ern times, a library cave was discovered at the cave complex, which contains over 50,000 cultural artefacts such as Buddhist sutras, documents, works of embroidery, silk paintings, and ritual implements dating back to the 4th to 11th century. It became known as the "Encyclo- pedia of Medieval China". The rich meanings and unmatched value of the Dunhuang grottoes have drawn the attention of scholars around the world, and Dunhuang has emerged as an academic focus area.
The Mogao Caves are not only a treasure trove of ancient Chinese civilization but also an important testament to the exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations along the ancient Silk Road. The evolvement of these caves over the thousand years was directly related to such factors as religious practices, language and writing, literature and art, history, geography, technology, economic development, and ethnicity. They record exchanges across the Eurasian continent and the spread of Buddhism throughout Asia. In 1987, the Mogao Caves were included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
敦煌莫高窟
敦煌莫高窟是敦煌石窟群的代表窟群，位于甘肃省敦煌市东南的鸣沙山东麓断崖上，南北长1680米，高50米，700多个洞窟分布高低错落，是世界上现存规模最大、内容最丰富的佛教石窟群。
莫高窟始建于十六国的前秦时期（366），经历代开凿兴建，前后延续约1000年。莫高窟作为建筑、雕塑、壁画三者结合的立体艺术，其艺术形式既继承了本土汉晋艺术传统，吸收南北朝和唐宋美术风格，又不断接受、改造并融合域外印度、中亚和西亚的艺术风格，是中国石窟艺术发展演变的一个缩影。敦煌壁画技艺精湛，题材广泛，生动记录了古代社会生活的衣食住行、生老病死、婚丧嫁娶等民俗风情场景，以及古丝绸之路上的贸易往来和文化交流活动，为后世保留了珍贵的图像数据。近代以来，在莫高窟还发现了藏经洞，从中出土了4至11世纪的佛教经卷、社会文书、刺 绣、绢画、法器等文物5万余件，被誉为"中国中古时代的百科全书"。敦煌石窟和文献的丰富内涵与珍贵价值，受到世界各国学者的关注，并由此衍生出敦煌学研究。
敦煌莫高窟既是中国古代文明的艺术宝库，也是古代丝绸之路上不同文明之间交流互鉴的重要见证。莫高窟的千年发展过程与宗教、语言文字、文学艺术、历史地理、科技、经济、民族等有着直接的联系，连接起欧亚大陆的交流史、遍及亚洲的佛教传播史。1987年，敦煌莫高窟列入联合国教科文组织世界文化遗产名录。
