Yungang Grottoes: It's like entering paradise

Yungang Grottoes: It's like entering paradise. A short lesson before touring As soon as you look up upon entering the cave, a myriad of divine Buddhas are seated in order, looking down with compassion, and at that moment, it feels as if you've entered paradise. The Buddha statues are carved so vividly, and the color painting still carries the mysterious color of Buddhism. Even if you have seen them in books or documentaries, being there in person is still deeply shocking. This shock is also a perfect embodiment of the concept of 'the sublime' as mentioned in the history of Western aesthetics. When one steps into the cave and looks up, there is a feeling of awe-inspiring reverence, and such immense objects bring about a spiritual shock and upliftment. No wonder people carved grottoes for meditation; after all, 'seeing the Buddha' in this way makes it easier to enter a state of deep concentration. It is recommended to hire a guide when visiting the Yungang Grottoes, which are available on-site, ranging from a standard guide for 180 to an expert guide for 1600, and you can choose according to your needs. It's best to watch the documentary 'A Millennium Grotto: Yungang' before coming, to understand how the pagodas and Buddha statues were step by step translated into Chinese expressions by the craftsmen of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Here are a few key points that are very interesting and can serve as a brief lesson before your visit. 1. The grottoes came from India, first entering Xinjiang with the Kizil Thousand Buddha Caves, then moving east to the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang and the Tiantishan Grottoes in Wuwei, and by the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Yungang Grottoes were created, and after the capital was moved, the grotto culture was brought to the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang. So, the whole process was a west-to-east, step-by-step spread inland. 2. Pagodas: Cave 39 of Yungang is a typical pagoda cave, with Indian pagodas having a hemispherical dome over a columnar base, but in Yungang, the Northern Wei craftsmen changed the lower part of the pagoda into a Chinese-style pavilion, while retaining the stupa on top, which is the 'golden dish on top and multi-storied pavilion below.' The entire pagoda was 'translated' into an expression of Chinese-style architecture. 3. Buddha statues: There are two typical styles of Buddha statues in Yungang. The Gandhara style and the Gupta style. The Gandhara Buddha statues, clearly influenced by Alexander's eastward conquest, have high noses and deep eyes, as well as Greek-style curly hair. The Gupta style, also known as the 'wet robe' Buddha statues, has clothes that seem wet and cling to the body. When Buddha statues entered China, they were also influenced by the Northern Wei style, the most obvious being the transformation of the Buddha's robes into the long robes of the Southern Dynasties scholars, which is 'pao yi bo dai,' and in the later period of the Northern Wei, the Buddha statues changed from being plump to being slender, known as 'skinny bone clear image.' The Yungang Grottoes are really good, although I have been to the Longmen Grottoes before, the paintings in Yungang are better preserved, so the overall visual effect is more shocking. It is recommended to reserve about 3 hours for the visit, and to buy a battery car ticket, as it is quite far from the entrance to the grottoes. You can go directly to Cave 5 and play all the way to Caves 16-20, which covers all the essence and is a more time-saving and effortless route. Lastly, to clarify, photography is allowed inside the grottoes but flash is absolutely not permitted; both security and guides will mention this, so pay attention to your phone settings.