Silk Road Tour(3)
By He Xiaozhu

　　Dunhuang has charmed many tourists traveling along the silkroad. It guards the western end of the hexi corridor on the silk road ,and is the watershed between the road's Eastern (xi'an-dunhuang) and central (dunhuang-congling) routes. Because of its geographic advantages ,dunhuang was an important stop on this ancient international traffic route.

　　 Dunhuang is best known for the Mogao Grottoes ,25 kilomenters southeast of the oasis city and a 30-minute car drive along a wide ,asphalt road that cuts across the Gobi desert to the grottoes. Caves and niches honeycomb the side of a stratified gravel deposit that extends 1,600 meters from south to north.

　　 Behind them is Singing sand Dune , and in front of them lie the peaks of Mount sanwei .of the original thousands of caves ,only 492 have survived. These grand caves are unique in structure .They shelter 45,000 square meters of murals , 2,415 colored statues ,and are known as the world's oldest, richest, largest and most valuable grotto art museum. The mogao Grottoes are a top tourist attraction in china and have listed as a world cultural heritage by UNESCO. The Mogao grottoes were masterpieces of artists from different dynasties. In the 4 th century, a monk passed by the place and was inspired by the peaks of Mount sanwei ,which reminded him of statues of the buddlha . he chiseled the first cave .During the next 10 dynasties, officials and common people donated money to cut caves in order to receive blessings from the Buddha both in this life and after death .as a result , the grotto art flourished .

　　 In the late qing dynasty, a Taoist monk named wang yuanlu became the keeper of the caves . by chance he discovered the byddhist scripture cave, which stored more than 50,000 volumes of Buddhist scriptures .within 17 years of the discovery, foreign archaeologists at the site had stolen 80 percent of the volumes and made the books known to the world . Today the grottoes are conjected by planked paths and surrounded by protective woods . The Dunhuang Research institute has become the world's authoritative institution in Dunhuang studies and the caves have become alarge attraction to tourists traveling along the silk road.

　　 Every year,10 to 20 caves fro different dynasties open to the public. They have broader artistic appeal in terms of grotto architecture ,sculpture and murals than other Chinese grottoes at yungang ,longmen, etc. Cave architecture comprises four categories: chan style , those with a central pillar,Chinese chamber stule, and those with a wooden roof structure and upturned eaves. Color statues represent the Buddha, bodhisattva, skt. Deva ,guardian of the earth and donors .

　　 Murals make up most of the dunhuang art. They are massive in both content and scale .if connected, these murals would form a 25-kilometer art gallery .the murals depict Buddhist stories , the life story of sakyamuni ,Buddha images ,donors ,and decorative patterns that reflect Buddhist philosophy ,art ,and society from the 4 th to the 17 th centuries.

　　 To prevent the murals from being oxidized , there are no lighting facilities in the caves .tourists must use a battery-powered torch to see the murals. the newly built dunhuang art exhibition center at the foot of mount sanwei across from the grottoes contains duplicates of caves ,murals and sculptures has lighting ,and tourists can have a better look at the grotto art .

　　 Besides the grottoes ,dunhuang has two spectacular natural scenes : singing sand dune and crescent-moon spring. The dune ,which is 40 kilometers east to west ,and 20 kilometers south to north ,has a peak that is dozens of meter high. It is said that in ancient times ,troops who camped there were buried by a sand storm . today ,the sound of their drums and horns can be heard from deep beneath the dune , thus its name .

　　 Grescent-moon spring lies at the foot of the dune and is named for its shape . the spring ,which is about 100 meters long and 25 meters wide ,has fish and water weeds that are said to be good for the health .on the bank are temples built during the qing dynasty.

　　 The yulin grottoes are in a river valley 70 kilometers south of anxi , a county east of dunhuang city . along the banks of the valley are 43 grottoes from the tangdynasty, the five-dynasties period,the western xiakingdom, and the song ,yuan and qing dynasties. They house a total of 4,200 square meters of murals and 250 painted statues ,including a 24-meter-tallstatue of a sitting maitreya and a 10 meter-long statue of a sleeping Buddha.

　　 According to studies made by experts from the dunhuang research institute ,the yulin Grottoes were first chiseled between the sui and tang dynasties. They are mainly on the eastern Cliffside, spread across two stories .the grottoes record the history of relevant places from the tang to the qing dynasties and are another model other than the mogao grottoes for integrating local and foreign art .art styles from Tibet the central plains ,western xia and Mongolia can befound in these grottoes.

　　 The murals depict Buddhist stores, monk xuan zhang's journey to the west to get Buddhist scriptures ,and everday scenes, such as forging iron ,plowing and brewing ,the murals have exquisite brushwork ,beautiful color and massive content .they have great artistic and research value.

　　 Cave 25 represents the murals of the grottoes at their best . it was carved during the prime time of the tang dynasty. Most murals in the cave are in good shape except for some on the east wall,which have been damaged by people . the land of purity on the south wall looks almost new. The murals vicidly depict in an exquisite style ,pavilions ,towers ,mythical birds and animals ,and apsaras (hindu water nymphs ) spreading flowers .

　　 The yulin grottoes have many murals from the western xia kingdom that can hardly be found in mogao grottoes. Production and living scenes and images of donors depicted in the murals vividly present the appearance, costumes and customs of the western xia people. They are valuable for the study of the western xia history .

　　 The fa?ade of the yulin grottoes have fallen into disrepair and cracks have appeared in some caves . relevant departments launched a large-scale repair project,and now the renovation project has come to an end .soon the caves will open to the public.