The Research On Wenshushan Grottoes

Wenshushan Grottoes is one of the most important grottoes in the Hexi Region.It is located in Jiayu Mountain,15 kilometers southwest of Jiuquan City.Historically,It belongs to Jiuquan district.At present,It is under the jurisdiction of Qifeng district of Sunan County.The grottoes were excavated on the cliffs of Wenshu mountain,which is about 2.5 kilometers long from east to west.The grottoes can be divided into four areas:Gukou,Qianshan,Yingfanghou and Houshan.After the field investigation,this article numbers 152 caves of the Wenshushan Grottoes.The main shapes of the caves include the central pillar caves,the meditation caves,the vih?ra cave,and the dharma-hall cave.In the historical data,there are few documents related to the Wenshushan Grottoes,so the absolute age is difficult to determine.By comparing the shapes of the early caves,the theme of the statues and the contents of the murals with these in Dunhuang and Xinjiang.This thesis sets the starting date of Wenshushan is in the Northern Wei Dynasty,which is after the Taihe period.From the content of Inscription of The Reconstruction of Wenshu Temple,“The ancient monuments of the Wenshu Temple have been established for eight hundred years,” which is built by the Prince Nan Dashi at the third year of Taiding in Yuan dynasty(1325),the time is basically consistent with the Xiaochang period of the Xiaoming Emperor of Northern Wei dynasty.The excavation of the grottoes cannot be separated from meditation.There are more than three hundred meditation caves in Wenshushan Grottoes in ancient times.The existing ruins of the meditation caves show that the meditation thoughts prevailed in Jiuquan Wenshushan since the Wei and Jin Dynasties.The cave groups is also a feature of the Wenshushan Grottoes.As an early cave,it provides an important reference for the archaeological chronology of other caves.The early group consisted of the central pillar caves and the dharma-hall caves.On the basis of this,the meditation caves and the vih?ra caves were built in later times.The Wenshushan Grottoes have been rebuilt several times since the establishment in Northern Wei Dynasty.As a result,the shapes,statues,and murals of many caves show the historical characteristics of different eras.Especially in there-painting and re-built in the Western Xia and Yuan Dynasty,there are many murals with the Western Xia art style left in the Cave 19(Ten of Thousands Buddha Cave)and Cave 29(Thousand Buddha Cave)in Qianshan.This is of great value for the research of the Western Xia Buddhist art and architecture.There are still a large number of Uighur inscriptions and Buddhist documents left in the temples of Wenshushan Grottoes.The latest time of the literature was in the 52 nd year of Kangxi Emperor in Qing dynasty.This shows that the remains of the Uighur culture existed until the Qing Dynasty,which is of great significance for the research of the Uighur culture.In the late Western Xia Dynasty,Tibetan Buddhism had become very popular.It was regarded as the state religion in the Yuan Dynasty.The murals of the Western Xia style in the Wenshushan Grottoes already have Vajray?na factors.The restoration of the Wenshu Temple by the Prince Nan Dashi also highlights the supreme status of Tibetan Buddhism in the Yuan Dynasty.The repair of a venue of Manjusri Bodhisattva worshiping ceremonies in Vajray?na was an important reflection of the prosperity of Manjusri beliefs in the Hexi Region since the Tang and Song Dynasties.The excavation of the Wenshushan Grottoes is obviously influenced by the Buddhist caves in Xinjiang and Dunhuang area.Especially in the caves shape,mural content and painting techniques,there are some factors from Dunhuang and some typical features in Xinjiang grottoes art.The reconstruction in later times also merged the buddhist culture from the Central China area.The relationship between Wenshushan Grottoes and the grottoes in other regions is also discussed in detail in this thesis.