Luoyang

China 2009
IMG_3571 Longmen Grottoes, located 13 Km south of Luoyang
1
IMG_3578 Map of Longmen Hill, Yi River and Xiangshan
2
IMG_3580 Along with the Mogao Caves (Dunhuang, Gansu) and Yungang Grottoes (Datong, Shanxi), the Longmen Grottoes (Luoyang, Henan) is one of the three most famous...
3
IMG_3581 An introduction of Longmen Grottoes
4
IMG_3587 Longmen Grottoes entrance
5
IMG_3592 Longmen Bridge over Yi River
6
IMG_3594 Emperor Sui (Sui Dynasty 589 - 618) chose Luoyang as his Capital and with his palace entrance facing this area, it also known as Longmen (Gate of the Dragon)
7
IMG_3598 A history of cave temples, but read from right to left...
8
IMG_3601 'Three saints from the west', Qianxi Temple Cave
9
IMG_3603 Qianxi Temple (Cave), 650-683 AD
10
IMG_3609 The Three Binyang Cave
11
IMG_3610 A lot of statues' heads had been destroyed during the Cultural revolution
12
IMG_3611 The natural erosion of the carvings
13
IMG_3612 Cave temple is a replication of real temple on the ground
14
IMG_3613 Imagine the amount of work put into it...
15
IMG_3615 #140 cave - Binyang Middle Cave, 500-523 AD
16
IMG_3616 30% of the caves date from the Northern Wei Dynasty, 500-523 AD
17
IMG_3618 #104 cave - Binyang North Cave, 650-683 AD
18
IMG_3619 Cave work started in Northern Wei Dynasty, finished at Tang Dynasty, 650-683 AD
19
IMG_3620 A lot of work still preserved quite well
20