The Reseach Of Shuiliandong Grottoes In The Wushan County Gansu Province

Shui Lian Grottoes situated in Wushan County is a larger Buddhis grottoes in Tianshui area.The grottoes composed of four small and medium-sized grottoes,such as the La Shaosi grottoe,the Shui Liandong Grottoe,the Thousand Buddha Cave Grottoe,the Xianshengchi grottoe.The contents of the grottoes are mainly of cliff sculptures and mural paintings,the area of the murals is relatively large,and the number of the cliff sculptures is relatively more.the excavation period time from the late Northern Dynasties continued to the Ming and Qing Dynasties.especially in the Northern Zhou,Sui,Song,Yuan dynasty,etc.those dynasties to build was most intensive.The cliff sculptures and mural paintings are mostly born in those dynasties.Because of the excavation of the grottoes began from the late Northern Dynasties didn't interrupt,so the grottoes reflect the content is more abundant,such as the zen thought in the Northern Dynasties,the Tibetan Buddhism in the Song and Yuan Dynasties,the three religions fusion and the buddhism secularization in the Ming and Qing Dynasties,those features have a detailed embodiment.this grottoes is a important reflection of the development buddhism in TIANSHUI even LONGYOU area.The existing mural paintings content of the Water Curtain Cave Grottoes covered the religious,ethnic,secular society,culture and art,etc.The color is bright and the content is complicated.It is worth to have a detailed combing and research.In addition,The Water Curtain Cave Grottoes also contains a number of small cave niches and a large number of cliff statues,those impotant information to study the ancient Buddhist in the TIANSHUI area.This article covered the history,nationality,religion,art and other aspects of The Water Curtain Cave Grottoes,wanted engaged in a detailed combing and research,trying to reproduce the important development of Buddhism track in the ancient Wushan and the surrounding areas.