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155-488: The name Huojia , which means "capturing [Lü] Jia ", was used as the county name in 111 BC when Emperor Wu of Han , who on his royal progress at this place, heard Han forces had captured Lü Jia –prime minister of Nanyue kingdom – in the Han–Nanyue War . As 2012, this county is divided to 9 towns, 2 townships and 1 other. Located in the north of Henan Province, west of Xinxiang City, north of Taihang Mountains, south of

310-471: A 2,000-man force led by Han Qianqiu (韩千秋) and Queen Dowager Jiu's brother Jiu Le (樛乐) to try to assist the king and the queen dowager, Lü staged a coup d'état and had the king and the queen dowager killed. Lü then made another son of Zhao Yingqi, Zhao Jiande , king and went on to annihilate the Han forces under Han and Jiu. Several months later, Emperor Wu commissioned a five-pronged attack against Nanyue. In 111 BC,

465-473: A Chinese woman whom Zhao Xing's father Zhao Yingqi had married while he served as an ambassador to Han – were both in favor of becoming incorporated into Han. This was opposed by the senior prime minister, Lü Jia (吕嘉), who wanted to maintain the kingdom's independence. Queen Dowager Jiu tried to goad the Chinese ambassadors into killing Lü, but the Chinese ambassadors were hesitant to do so. When Emperor Wu sent

620-589: A Japanese expedition under Otani Kozui in 1911 and a Russian expedition under Sergei F. Oldenburg in 1914. A well-known scholar Luo Zhenyu edited some of the manuscripts Pelliot acquired into a volume which was then published in 1909 as "Manuscripts of the Dunhuang Caves" ( 敦煌石室遺書 ). Stein and Pelliot provoked much interest in the West about the Dunhuang Caves. Scholars in Beijing, after seeing samples of

775-471: A cache of documents hidden by Wang from the authorities was later found in the 1940s. Some of the caves were damaged and vandalized by White Russian soldiers when they were used by the local authority in 1921 to house Russian soldiers fleeing the civil war following the Russian Revolution . In 1924, American explorer Langdon Warner removed a number of murals as well as a statue from some of

930-443: A century earlier, a Chinese General named Wiman had taken the throne of Gojoseon and had established Wiman Joseon at Wanggeom-seong , (modern Pyongyang ), which became a nominal Han vassal. When Wiman's grandson King Ugeo refused to permit Jin 's ambassadors to reach China through his territories, Emperor Wei sent an ambassador She He (涉何) to Wanggeom to negotiate a right of passage with King Ugeo, but King Ugeo refused and had

1085-407: A circle of young loyal supporters from ordinary backgrounds and promoted them to middle-level positions in order to infiltrate executive ranks in the government. These newly established officials, known as the "insider court" (内朝), took orders and reported directly to Emperor Wu. They had real influence over the operation of government affairs though lower in rank. They became a powerful counter against

1240-527: A crucial political alliance with Princess Guantao. Princess Guantao's daughter Chen Jiao , also known by the milk name A'Jiao (阿嬌), was of marriageable age (which was legally marked at the time by menarche ), making her at least eight years older than the young prince. Due to this age difference, Emperor Jing initially did not approve of this union. According to the Wei-Jin era fable Hanwu Stories (漢武故事 / 汉武故事 also called Stories of Han Wudi ), during

1395-532: A daughter from that marriage. However, her mother Zang Er (臧儿) (a granddaughter of the one-time Prince of Yan, Zang Tu , under Emperor Gao ) was told by a soothsayer that both Wang Zhi and her younger sister would one day become extremely honoured. She then got the idea to offer her daughters to the then crown prince Liu Qi, and forcibly divorced Wang Zhi from her husband at the time. After being offered to Liu Qi, Wang Zhi bore him three daughters – Princess Yangxin , Princess Nangong (南宫公主), and Princess Longlü. On

1550-461: A dedication by the pious commissioner; at least two prints were commissioned by Cao Yuanzhong , Imperial Commissioner at Dunhuang in 947. Many of the images have colour added by hand to the printed outline. Several sheets contain repeated impressions of the same block with a Buddha image. Possibly these reflect stock for cutting when sold to pilgrims, but inscriptions in some examples show these were also printed out at different times by an individual as

1705-495: A devotion to acquire merit . It is unclear whether such people owned their own blocks, or visited a monastery to have the images printed. The textiles found in the Library Cave include silk banners, altar hangings, wrappings for manuscripts, and monks' apparel ( kāṣāya ). The monks normally used fabrics consisting of a patchwork of different scraps of cloth as a sign of humility; these therefore provide valuable insights into

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1860-537: A failed plan to trick a force of 30,000 Xiongnu into an ambush of 300,000 Han soldiers. While neither side suffered any casualties, the Xiongnu retaliated by increasing their border attacks, leading many in the Han court to abandon the hope for peace with the Xiongnu. The failure of the Mayi operation prompted Emperor Wu to switch the Han army's doctrine from the traditionally more defensive chariot – infantry warfare to

2015-459: A general escort She back to Han territory. When they got close to Han borders, She assassinated the general and claimed to Emperor Wu that he had defeated Joseon in battle. Emperor Wu, unaware of his deception, made him the military commander of the Commandery of Liaodong (modern central Liaoning ). King Ugeo, offended, made a raid on Liaodong and killed She. In response, Emperor Wu commissioned

2170-559: A great strain on the national treasury and caused difficulties on the locales that he visited, twice causing the governors of commanderies to commit suicide after they were unable to supply the emperor's entire train. In 112 BC, a crisis in the Kingdom of Nanyue (modern Guangdong , Guangxi, and northern Vietnam ) erupted, leading to military intervention. At that time, the King Zhao Xing and his mother Queen Dowager Jiu (樛太后) –

2325-606: A group of five. Figures from the Sui and Tang periods may be present as larger groups of seven or nine, and some showed large-scale parinirvana scene with groups of mourners. The early sculptures were based on Indian and Central Asian prototypes, with some in the Greco-Indian style of Gandhara . Over time the sculptures showed more Chinese elements and became gradually sinicized. The two giant statues represent Maitreya Buddha . The earlier and larger one in cave 96, at 35.5 m high,

2480-472: A highly mobile and offensive cavalry-against-cavalry warfare. At the same time, he expanded and trained officers from his royal guards. After a series of defeats by Wei Qing (the half-brother of Emperor Wu's favourite concubine) and Wei's nephew, Huo Qubing between 127 and 119 BC, the Xiongnu were expelled from the Ordos Desert and Qilian Mountains . As a result of these territorial acquisitions,

2635-503: A hybrid Legalist – Confucian doctrine. In the field of historical social and cultural studies, Emperor Wu is known for his religious innovations and patronage of the poetic and musical arts, including development of the Imperial Music Bureau into a prestigious entity. It was also during his reign that cultural contact with western Eurasia was greatly increased, directly and indirectly. During his reign as Emperor, he led

2790-781: A length of fortified wall along the border of the Hexi Corridor, colonizing the area with 700,000 Chinese soldier-settlers. The Battle of Mobei (119 BC) saw Han forces invade the northern regions of the Gobi Desert . The two generals led the campaign to the Khangai Mountains where they forced the Chanyu to flee north of the Gobi Desert, and then out of the Gobi Desert. The Xiongnu, destabilized and worried about further Han attacks, retreated further north into

2945-664: A mediator in seeking the Emperor's reconciliation with his powerful grandmother. Princess Guantao took every opportunity to influence the Grand Empress and also constantly made demands on behalf of her nephew / son-in-law. Emperor Wu, already unhappy with his lack of an heir and Empress Chen's spoiled behavior, was further enraged by her mother Princess Liu Piao's greed, that she took a lot from him in everything she did for him. However, Emperor Wu's mother, Empress Dowager Wang, convinced him to tolerate Empress Chen and Liu Piao for

3100-541: A number of years, as deemed auspicious or to commemorate some event. Thus, the practice for dating years during the reign of Wudi was represented by the n year of the [Reign Year Name] (where n stands for an ordinal integer) and "Reign Year Name" for the specific name of that regnal year. This practice was continued by later emperors until the Ming and Qing eras, whereby the emperors of the two dynasties used only one reign name for their entire reign (unless interrupted, as in

3255-696: A place of worship and pilgrimage for the public. From the 4th until the 14th century, caves were constructed by monks to serve as shrines with funds from donors. These caves were elaborately painted, the cave paintings and architecture serving as aids to meditation , as visual representations of the quest for enlightenment, as mnemonic devices, and as teaching tools to inform those illiterate about Buddhist beliefs and stories. The major caves were sponsored by patrons such as important clergy, local ruling elite, foreign dignitaries, as well as Chinese emperors. Other caves may have been funded by merchants, military officers, and other local people such as women's groups. During

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3410-436: A plan that many dynasties would repeat later: creating national monopolies for salt and iron . The national treasury would further purchase other consumer goods when the prices were low and sell them when the prices were high at profit, thus replenishing the treasury while at the same time making sure the price fluctuation would not be too great. In 109 BC, Emperor Wu started yet another territorial expansion campaign . Nearly

3565-746: A quasi-autonomous manner during the Late Tang period, include a commemoration of his victory over the Tibetans in 848. The portraits of donors increased in size during the period ruled by the Cao family who succeeded the Zhang family. The Caos formed alliances with the Uyghurs ( Uyghur Gansu Kingdom and Kingdom of Qocho ) and the Saka Kingdom of Khotan and their portraits are featured prominently in some of

3720-452: A restoration in 1898. Two further restorations were carried out in the 20th century, and the building is now a 9-storey structure. The murals in the caves date from a period of over a thousand years, from the 5th to the 14th century, and many earlier ones were repainted at later points within the period. The murals are extensive, covering an area of 490,000 square feet (46,000 square metres). The most fully painted caves have paintings all over

3875-526: A royal relative and the Prince of Huainan. Minyue nobles, fearful of the massive Chinese force, assassinated their king Luo Ying (骆郢) and sought peace. Emperor Wu then imposed a dual-monarchy system on Minyue by creating kings out of Luo Ying's brother Luo Yushan (雒余善) and nobleman Zou Chou (驺丑), thus ensuring internal discord in Minyue . Although initially launched as a punitive expedition by Emperor Wu against

4030-546: A second and shorter captivity by Xiongnu. After the Prince of Hunxie surrendered the Gansu region, the path to Xiyu became clear and regular embassies between Han and the Xiyu kingdoms commenced. Another expansion plan, this one aimed at the south-west, was aimed at the eventual conquest of Nanyue, which was viewed as an unreliable vassal. The plan was to first obtain submission of the south-western tribal kingdoms—the largest of which

4185-451: A single composition is very common at the site. Before the discovery in the Library Cave, original paintings on silk and paper from the Tang dynasty, an influential period in Chinese art, were very rare, and most of the surviving examples were copies made in later periods. Over a thousand paintings on silk, banners, and embroideries were found in the Library Cave, none apparently dating before

4340-483: A stone core. The Buddha is generally shown as the central statue, often attended by boddhisattvas , heavenly kings , devas , and apsaras, along with yaksas and other mythical creatures. The early figures are relatively simple and mainly of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. The Buddhas of Northern Wei may have two attendant Bodhisattvas, and in the Northern Zhou period, two further disciples may be added, forming

4495-432: A subsequent royal gathering, Princess Guantao held the 5-year-old Liu Che in her arms and asked the nephew whether he wanted to marry his first cousin A'Jiao. The young prince boasted that he would "build a golden house for her" if they were married. Princess Guantao then used the boy's response as a divine sign to convince Emperor Jing to finally agree to the arranged marriage between Liu Che and Chen Jiao. This inspired

4650-545: A truncated pyramidal ceiling sometimes painted to resemble a tent, or they may have a flat or gabled ceiling that imitates traditional buildings. Some of the caves used for meditation are adaptations of the Indian vihara (monastery) cave plan and contain side-chambers just large enough for one person to sit in. Many of the caves originally had wooden porches or fore-temples built out from the cliff, but most of these have decayed or been lost in other ways, with only five remaining,

4805-452: A two-pronged attack (one by land and one by sea) against Joseon. Initially, Joseon offered to become a vassal, but peace negotiations broke down by the Chinese forces' refusal to let a Joseon force escort its crown prince to Chang'an to pay tribute to Emperor Wu. Han took over the Joseon lands in 108 BC and established four commanderies. Mogao Caves The Mogao Caves , also known as

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4960-409: A vision of a thousand Buddhas bathed in golden light at the site in 366 AD, inspiring him to build a cave here. The story is also found in other sources, such as in inscriptions on a stele in cave 332; an earlier date of 353 however was given in another document, Shazhou Tujing ( 沙州土鏡 , Geography of Shazhou ). He was later joined by a second monk Faliang ( 法良 ), and the site gradually grew, by

5115-415: Is a reference to the Han dynasty of which he was a part. His family name is "Liu"; the ruling family or clan of the Han dynasty shared the family name of "Liu", the family name of Liu Bang , the founding father of the Han dynasty. The character "Di" ( 帝 ) is a title: this is the Chinese word which in imperial history of China means "emperor". The character "Wu" ( 武 ) literally means "martial" or "warlike", but

5270-427: Is also related to the concept of a particular divinity in the historical Chinese religious pantheon existing at that time. Combined, "Wu" plus "di" makes the name "Wudi", the emperor's posthumous name used for historical and religious purposes, such as offering him posthumous honours at his tomb. The emperor's temple tablet name is Shizong (世宗) One of Han Wudi's innovations was the practice of changing reign names after

5425-662: Is considered one of the greatest emperors in Chinese history due to his strong leadership and effective governance, which made the Han dynasty one of the most powerful nations in the world. Michael Loewe called the reign of Emperor Wu the "high point" of "Modernist" (classically justified Legalist) policies, looking back to "adapt ideas from the pre-Han period." Especially later in his life, some of his most trusted advisers were proponents of Shang Yang , but did not necessarily support Shang Yang's harsh punishments. Despite establishing an autocratic, centralised state, Emperor Wu adopted

5580-657: Is largely in its original form apart for its right hand. The larger Buddha is housed in a prominent wooden 9-storey structure. One type of caves constructed during the Tibetan era is the Nirvana Cave, which features a large reclining Buddha that covers the entire length of the hall. Figures of mourners in murals or in sculptural forms are also depicted along the length of the hall behind the Buddha. The Buddha figure in cave 158 measures 15.6 m long. The original function of

5735-487: Is located in the Yellow River and Haihe River basin, the territory of the big lion flooded river, the communist canal, Dasha River, West Mengjiang River, the people's victory canal and Wujia dry canal, all from the southwest to the northeast flow through the county, "South-North Water Diversion" project is adjacent to the county, the perfect diversion of yellow engineering, abundant water resources. The southern part of

5890-517: Is not what the painters had originally intended. This shading technique is unique to Dunhuang in East Asia at this period as such shading on human faces was generally not done in Chinese paintings until much later when there were influences from European paintings. Another difference from traditional Chinese painting is the presence of figures that are semi-nude, occasionally fully nude, as figures are generally fully clothed in Chinese paintings. Many of

6045-411: Is often portrayed on a diminutive scale. The donor figures become notably more elaborate in dress by the 10th century. The Library Cave is equally important as a source of rare early images and texts produced by woodblock printing , including the famous Diamond Sutra , the earliest printed book to survive. Other printed images were made to be hung, often with text below containing prayers and sometimes

6200-540: Is the representation of the paradise of the Pure Land , indicating the increasing popularity of this school of Mahayana Buddhism in the Tang era. The Western Paradise Illustration of Cave 220 is a well-preserved mural of this type. The iconography of Tantric Buddhism , such as the eleven-headed or thousand-armed Avalokitesvara, also started to appear in Mogao wall paintings during the Tang period. It became popular during

6355-531: The Chinese idiom "putting Jiao in a golden house" (金屋藏嬌). Now sealed in the marriage alliance with Consort Wang, Princess Guantao began incessantly criticising Lady Li in front of Emperor Jing. Over time, Emperor Jing started to believe his sister's words, so he decided to test out Lady Li. One day he asked Lady Li whether she would happily foster-care the rest of his children if he were to pass away, only to have her rudely refuse to comply. This made Emperor Jing angry and worried that if Liu Rong were to inherit

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6510-855: The Cultural Revolution . Today, efforts are continuing to conserve and research the site and its content. The Mogao Caves became one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1987. From 1988 to 1995 a further 248 caves were discovered to the north of the 487 caves known since the early 1900s. The Dunhuang Academy entered a period of "scientific conservation" for the Mogao Caves in the 1980s and began exploring "digital conservation" as early as 1993. Since 2010, it has completed photographic acquisition of 120 caves, image processing of 40 caves, panoramic roaming of 120 caves, and 3D reconstruction of 20 painted sculptures in

6665-546: The Greater Yuezhi and Kangju , which resulted in further diplomatic missions to Central Asia. Although historical records do not describe him as being aware of Buddhism , emphasizing rather his interest in shamanism , the cultural exchanges that occurred as a consequence of these embassies suggest that he received Buddhist statues from Central Asia, as depicted in the murals found in the Mogao Caves . Emperor Wu

6820-641: The Han conquest of Gojoseon in what is now present-day North Korea and Manchuria . Han Chinese colonists in the Xuantu and Lelang commanderies of northern Korea would later fight against frequent raids by the Goguryeo and Buyeo kingdoms. However, they would engage in mostly peaceful trade relations with surrounding Korean peoples over the centuries, the latter of whom became gradually and significantly influenced by Chinese culture . The exploration into Xiyu

6975-577: The Han forces captured the Nanyue capital Panyu (番禺, modern Guangzhou ) and annexed the entire Nanyue territory into Han, establishing ten commanderies. That same year, one of the co-kings of Minyue (modern Fujian ), Luo Yushan, was fearful that Han would attack his kingdom next and made a pre-emptive attack against Han, capturing a number of towns in former Nanyue and in the other border commanderies. In 110 BC, under Han military pressure, Luo Yushan's co-king Luo Jugu (骆居古) assassinated him and surrendered

7130-575: The Northern Wei . They share many stylistic characteristics in common with some of the Kizil Caves , such as Cave 17 . Members of the ruling family of Northern Wei and Northern Zhou then constructed many caves here, and it flourished in the short-lived Sui dynasty . By the Tang dynasty , the number of caves had reached over a thousand. By the Sui and Tang dynasties, Mogao Caves had become

7285-492: The Siberian regions where they suffered starvation due to livestock loss from harsh climates. The battle was however also costly for the Han forces, which lost almost 80% of their warhorses. The cost of the war led the central Han government to introduce new levies, increasing the burden on average peasants, and the population census of the empire showed a significant drop from famines and people fleeing to avoid having to pay

7440-733: The Thousand Buddha Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas , form a system of 500 temples 25 km (16 mi) southeast of the center of Dunhuang , an oasis located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road , in Gansu province, China. The caves may also be known as the Dunhuang Caves ; however, this term is also used as a collective term to include other Buddhist cave sites in and around

7595-532: The Tripitaka became obsolete when printing became widespread, the older manuscripts were therefore stored away. Another suggestion is that the cave was simply used as a book storehouse for documents which accumulated over a century and a half, then sealed up when it became full. Others, such as Pelliot, suggested an alternative scenario, that the monks hurriedly hid the documents in advance of an attack by invaders, perhaps when Xi Xia invaded in 1035. This theory

7750-475: The Xiongnu in 111 BC. It also became an important gateway to the West, a centre of commerce along the Silk Road , as well as a meeting place of various people and religions such as Buddhism . The Mogao Caves near Dunhuang were first constructed in the 4th century AD and were used as a site of Buddhist worship and pilgrimage. The caves contain over 400,000 square feet of frescoes and sculptures, making them one of

7905-445: The political child marriage officially became Empress Chen . The Han dynasty up to this point was run according to a Taoist wu wei ideology, championing economic freedom and government decentralization . With regard to foreign policy-wise, periodic heqin was used to maintain a de jure "peace" with the powerful Xiongnu confederacy to the north. These policies were important in stimulating economic recovery following

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8060-578: The post-Qin dynasty civil war , but had their drawbacks. The non-interventionist policies resulted in loss of monetary regulation and political control by the central government, allowing the feudal vassal states to become powerful and unruly, culminating in the Rebellion of the Seven States during Emperor Jing's reign. Nepotism among the ruling class also stagnated social mobility and encouraged nobles' rampant disregard of laws, leading to

8215-515: The "Library Cave" was as a shrine commemorating Hong Bian, the 9th-century monk. His portrait statue, unusual here and among all surviving works in China, was removed to another spot when the cave was sealed up in the 11th century, but has been returned now the library has been removed. There is also a stone stele describing his life, and the wall behind the statue is painted with attendant figure; such blending of painted sculpture and wall paintings into

8370-461: The "outsider court" (外朝) made up of the Three Lords and Nine Ministers that, at the time, were mostly composed of anti-reformists. Furthermore, Emperor Wu sent out nationwide edicts appealing to grassroots scholars such as Gongsun Hong to enrol in government services in an attempt to break the stranglehold that the older-generation noble class had on the nation's levers of power. In 138 BC,

8525-581: The Caves of the Thousand Buddhas ( Chinese : 千佛洞 ; pinyin : qiānfó dòng ), a name that some scholars have speculated to have come from the legend of its founding, when a monk Yuezun had a vision of a thousand Buddhas at the site. This name, however, may have come from the large number of Buddha figures at the site, or the miniatures figures painted on the walls of these caves as these figures are called "thousand Buddhas" colloquially. The name Mogao Caves ( Chinese : 莫高窟 ; pinyin : Mògāo kū )

8680-413: The Chinese government, administrative documents, anthologies, glossaries, dictionaries, and calligraphic exercises. Many of the manuscripts were previously unknown or thought lost, and the manuscripts provide a unique insight into the religious and secular matters of Northern China as well as other Central Asian kingdoms from the early periods up to the Tang and early Song dynasty. The manuscripts found in

8835-476: The Dunhuang Caves after the nearest city Dunhuang , which means "blazing beacon" as beacons were used at the frontier outpost to warn of attacks by nomadic tribes. The term Dunhuang Caves however is also used in a broader sense as a collective term for all the caves found in or around the Dunhuang area. Dunhuang was established as a frontier garrison outpost by the Han dynasty Emperor Wudi to protect against

8990-486: The Dunhuang area, such as the Western Thousand Buddha Caves , Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves , Yulin Caves , and Five Temple Caves . The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000 years. The first caves were dug out in 366 CE as places of Buddhist meditation and worship; later the caves became a place of pilgrimage, and caves continued to be built at

9145-411: The Han court. Emperor Wu dispatched an amphibious expedition force led by Wang Hui (王恢) and Han Anguo (韩安国) to address the Minyue threat. Again fearing the Han intervention, Luo Yushan (雒余善), the younger brother of Minyue's King Ying, orchestrated a coup with other Minyue nobles, killed his brother with a spear, decapitated the corpse and sent the severed head to Wang. Following the campaign, Minyue

9300-477: The Han dynasty successfully opened up the Northern Silk Road , allowing direct access to trade with Central Asia. This also provided a new supply of high-quality horse breeds from Central Asia, including the famed Ferghana horse (ancestors of the modern Akhal-Teke ), further strengthening the Han army. Emperor Wu then reinforced this strategic asset by establishing five commanderies and constructing

9455-594: The Han dynasty through its greatest territorial expansion. At its height, the Empire's borders spanned from the Fergana Valley in the west, to northern Korea in the east, and to northern Vietnam in the south. Emperor Wu successfully repelled the nomadic Xiongnu from systematically raiding northern China, and dispatched his envoy Zhang Qian into the Western Regions in 139 BC to seek an alliance with

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9610-407: The Han forces. The two states of Minyue and Dongyue were then completely annexed under the Han rule. In 135 BC, when Minyue attacked Nanyue , Nanyue also sought assistance from Han even though it probably had enough strength to defend itself. Emperor Wu was greatly pleased by this gesture, and he dispatched an expedition force to attack Minyue, over the objection of one of his key advisors, Liu An ,

9765-541: The Han. Enraged, Emperor Wu sent a combined army led by generals Han Yue (韩说), Yang Pu, Wang Wenshu (王温舒) and two marquesses of Yue ancestry. The Han army crushed the rebellion, and the Dongyue kingdom began to fragment after King Yushan stubbornly refused to surrender. Elements of the Dongyue army defected and turned against their ruler. Eventually, the king of the other Minyue state, Zou Jugu (驺居股), conspired with other Dongyue nobles to kill King Yushan before surrendering to

9920-498: The Hungarian-born British archaeologist Aurel Stein who was on an archaeological expedition in the area in 1907. Stein negotiated with Wang to allow him to remove a significant number of manuscripts as well as the finest paintings and textiles in exchange for a donation to Wang's restoration effort. He was followed by a French expedition under Paul Pelliot who acquired many thousands of items in 1908, and then by

10075-655: The Library Cave include the earliest dated printed book, the Diamond Sutra from 868, which was first translated from Sanskrit into Chinese in the fourth century. These scrolls also include manuscripts that ranged from the Christian Jingjiao Documents to the Dunhuang Go Manual and ancient music scores, as well as the image of the Chinese astronomy Dunhuang map . These scrolls chronicle the development of Buddhism in China, record

10230-455: The Library Cave manuscripts digitally, and they are now available as part of International Dunhuang Project . The art of Dunhuang covers more than ten major genres, such as architecture , stucco sculpture, wall paintings , silk paintings, calligraphy, woodblock printing, embroidery, literature, music and dance, and popular entertainment. The caves are examples of rock-cut architecture , but unlike Longmen Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes ,

10385-430: The Mogao Caves. The Dunhuang Academy also introduced I-m-Cave, a multi-touch desktop system for virtual tours of the Mogao Caves, which presents a relationship between currently damaged artifacts and their virtual restored versions that cannot be experienced during a real tour. Cave 17 discovered by Wang Yuanlu in the early 1900s came to be known as the Library Cave. It is located off the entrance leading to cave 16 and

10540-606: The Northern Wei dynasty. Motifs of Chinese, Central Asian and Indian origin may be found in a single cave, and Chinese elements increased during the Western Wei period. A common motif in many caves is the areas entirely covered by rows of small seated Buddha figures, after which this and other "Thousand Buddhas Caves" are named. These small Buddhas were drawn using stencils so that identical figures may be replicated. Flying apsaras , or celestial beings may be depicted in

10695-509: The Prince of Huainan (a previously trusted adviser of Emperor Wu, and closely enough related to have imperial pretensions) and his brother Liu Ci (刘赐), the Prince of Hengshan, were accused of plotting treason. They committed suicide; their families and many alleged co-conspirators were executed. Similar action was taken against the other vassal Princes, and by the end of the reign, all the vassal kingdoms had been political and militarily disabled. A famous wrongful execution happened in 117 BC, when

10850-518: The Tang dynasty, Dunhuang became the main hub of commerce of the Silk Road and a major religious centre. A large number of the caves were constructed at Mogao during this era, including the two large statues of Buddha at the site, the largest one constructed in 695 following an edict a year earlier by Tang Empress Wu Zetian to build giant statues across the country. The site escaped the persecution of Buddhists ordered by Emperor Wuzong in 845 as it

11005-567: The Tibetan occupation of Dunhuang and the subsequent periods, especially during the Yuan dynasty . While Buddhist art is stylistically distinct from secular art, the style of paintings in the caves often reflects that of contemporary secular painting (insofar as we know of this), especially those depicting secular scenes. Donor figures are generally depicted in secular style, and may include secular events associated with them. For example, scenes depicting General Zhang Yichao , who ruled over Dunhuang in

11160-938: The Yellow River, between longitude 113°39′42″~113°44′20″ and latitude 35°9′34″~35°15′37″, with a county area of 473 square kilometers. Warm temperate continental monsoon climate, average annual frost-free period 221.2 days, average annual rainfall 557.2 mm, average annual snowfall days 14.1 days, average annual sunshine 2058.4 hours. 1986-2004 average annual temperature 14.6 °C, average annual frost-free period 221.2 days, average annual rainfall 557.2 mm, average annual snowfall days 14.1 days, average annual sunshine 2058.4 hours. There are more than 1.37 million mu of exploitable agricultural, forestry and grass wasteland in huojia County, and 570,000 mu of arable land for agricultural use. The main mineral resources of Huaijia County are limestone, iron ore, bauxite and coal. The coal resource reserves amount to 800 million tons and coal bed methane reserves are 20 billion cubic meters. The county

11315-451: The advice of General Yang Pu (杨仆), Emperor Wu rejected a military solution, and the Han forces arrived home without attacking Dongyue, though border garrisons were told to prepare for any military conflicts. After King Yushan was informed of this, he became overly confident and proud and responded by revolting against the Han, proclaiming himself emperor and assigned his "Han-devouring generals" (吞汉将军) to invade neighbouring regions controlled by

11470-474: The ancient Silk Road and the lost cities of Central Asia, and those who passed through Dunhuang noted the murals, sculptures, and artifacts such as the Stele of Sulaiman at Mogao. There is an estimated half a million square feet of religious wall murals within the caves. The biggest discovery, however, came from a Chinese Taoist named Wang Yuanlu who had appointed himself guardian of some of these temples around

11625-478: The autonomous kingdom of Nanyue , the entire Nanyue territory (which includes modern Guangdong , Guangxi , and North Vietnam ) had been conquered by the Emperor's military forces and annexed into the Han Empire by 111 BC. Military tension had long existed between China and the northern " barbarians ", mainly because the fertile lands of the prosperous agricultural civilization presented attractive targets for

11780-532: The case of Emperor Yingzong of Ming ). In 104 BCE (1st year of the Tai'chu (太初) era), a new calendar was put into effect: the Tai'chu calendar (太初历). This calendar came about due to the observations of three officials (Gongsun Qing (公孙卿), Hu Sui (壶遂) and Sima Qian (author of Shiji ) that the calendar then in use was in need of reform. Among other reforms, the Taichu calendar made the zheng month (正月, also known as

11935-532: The cave, heaped up in closely packed layers of bundles of scrolls. In addition to the 1,100 bundles of scrolls, there were also over 15,000 paper books and shorter texts, including a Hebrew penitential prayer ( selichah ) (see Dunhuang manuscripts ). It's estimated that 50,000 ancient documents were discovered inside on topics of literature, philosophy, art and medicine. The Library Cave also contained textiles such as banners, numerous damaged figurines of Buddhas, and other Buddhist paraphernalia. According to Stein who

12090-401: The caves. In 1939 Kuomintang soldiers stationed at Dunhuang caused some damage to the murals and statues at the site. The situation improved in 1941 when, following a visit by Wu Zuoren to the site the previous year, the painter Zhang Daqian arrived at the caves with a small team of assistants and stayed for two and a half years to repair and copy the murals. He exhibited and published

12245-399: The caves. Many of the figures have darkened due to oxidation of the lead-based pigments from exposure to air and light. Many early figures in the murals in Dunhuang also used painting techniques originated from India where shading was applied to achieve a three-dimensional or chiaroscuro effect. However, the darkening of the paint used in shading over time resulted in heavy outlines which

12400-515: The ceiling or above the Buddhas, and figures of donors may be shown along the bottom of the walls. The paintings often depict jataka tales which are stories of the life of Buddha, or avadana which are parables of the doctrine of karma . The murals may also depict religious themes. Bodhisattvas started appearing during the Northern Zhou period, with Avalokitesvara ( Guanyin ), which was originally male but acquired female characteristics later,

12555-440: The changing styles of Buddhist art in China for nearly a thousand years. The artistry of the murals reached its apogee during the Tang period, and the quality of the work dropped after the tenth century. Early murals showed a strong Indian and Central Asian influence in the painting techniques used, the composition and style of the paintings as well as costumes worn by the figures, but a distinct Dunhuang style began to emerge during

12710-555: The commanderies, initially nearby Chang'an , but later extending to much farther places, worshipping the various gods on the way, perhaps again in search of immortality . He also had a succession of magicians whom he honoured with great things. In one case, he even made one a marquess and married his daughter, the Eldest Princess Wei, to him; that magician, Luan Da , was later exposed as a fraud and executed. Emperor Wu's expenditures on these tours and magical adventures put

12865-607: The copies of the murals in 1943, which helped to publicize and give much prominence to the art of Dunhuang within China. Historian Xiang Da then persuaded Yu Youren , a prominent member of the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party), to set up an institution, the Research Institute of Dunhuang Art (which later became the Dunhuang Academy ), at Mogao in 1944 to look after the site and its contents. In 1956,

13020-541: The county is 80 kilometers from Zhengzhou International Airport and 20 kilometers from Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway. It is in the 1-hour economic circle of the Central Plains City Group and the 30-minute economic circle of Xinxiang City, and is an important channel for the outbound transportation of Jin coal and the dedication of tourism. Emperor Wu of Han Emperor Wu of Han (156 – 29 March 87   BC), born Liu Che and courtesy name Tong ,

13175-399: The crown prince to the Prince of Linjiang (臨江王) and exiling him from the capital city Chang'an in 150 BC. Lady Li was stripped of her titles and placed under house arrest ; she died of depression not long after. Liu Rong was arrested two years later for illegal seizure of imperial shrine lands and committed suicide while in custody. As Empress Bo had been deposed one year earlier in 151 BC,

13330-446: The date for sealing the cave, while Huntington (1986) supported a closing around the early to mid-thirteen century. It is difficult to determine the state of the materials found since the chamber was not opened "under scientific conditions", so critical evidence to support dating the closure was lost. The latest date recorded in the documents found in the cave is believed to be 1002, and although some have proposed later dates for some of

13485-466: The day of Liu Qi's accession to the throne as Emperor Jing of Han (upon the death of his father Emperor Wen in 156 BC), Wang Zhi gave birth to Liu Che and was promoted to a consort for giving birth to a royal prince. While she was pregnant, she claimed that she dreamed of a sun falling into her womb. Emperor Jing was ecstatic over the divine implication, and made the young Liu Che the Prince of Jiaodong (胶东王) on 16 May 153 BC. An intelligent boy, Liu Che

13640-404: The desert, but was able to escape around 129 BC and eventually made it to Yuezhi, which by then had relocated to Samarkand . While Yuezhi refused to return, it and several other kingdoms in the area, including Dayuan ( Kokand ) and Kangju , established diplomatic relations with Han. Zhang was able to deliver his report to Emperor Wu when he arrived back in the capital Chang'an in 126 BC after

13795-567: The documents in Pelliot's possession, became aware of their value. Concerned that the remaining manuscripts might be lost, Luo Zhenyu and others persuaded the Ministry of Education to recover the rest of the manuscripts to be sent to Peking ( Beijing ) in 1910. However, not all the remaining manuscripts were taken to Peking, and of those retrieved, some were then stolen. Rumours of caches of documents taken by local people continued for some time, and

13950-469: The documents, the cave was likely to have been sealed not long after that date. The manuscripts from the Library Cave date from fifth century until early eleventh century when it was sealed. Up to 50,000 manuscripts may have been kept there, one of the greatest treasure troves of ancient documents found. While most of them are in Chinese, a large number of documents are in various other languages such as Tibetan , Uighur , Sanskrit , and Sogdian , including

14105-508: The emperor even went so far as to construct a "House of Life" ( shou gong ) chapel at his Ganquan palace complex (in modern Xianyang , Shaanxi) specifically for this purpose, in 118 BC. One of the religious rituals that Emperor Wu organized was the Suburban Sacrifice, and the nineteen hymns entitled Hymns for Use in the Suburban Sacrifice were written in connection with these religious rites and published during Wu's reign. It

14260-510: The end of her life. But now with the military firmly in his control, Emperor Wu's political survival was assured, and his grandmother or anyone else could no longer threaten to dethrone him as directly, easily and quickly as before. In the same year, Emperor Wu's newly favoured concubine Wei Zifu became pregnant with his first child, effectively clearing his name and silencing any political enemies who had schemed to use his alleged infertility as an excuse to have him removed. When this news reached

14415-504: The fall of the Buddhist kingdom of Khotan to Karakhanids invaders from Kashgar in 1006 and the destruction it caused, so they sealed their library to avoid it being destroyed. Another possible theory posits that to save the manuscripts from a coming "Age of Decline", the Library Cave was sealed to prevent this from occurring. The date of the sealing of the cave continued to be debated. Rong (2000) provided evidence to support 1002 as

14570-415: The final step to defeat Lady Li — she persuaded a minister to officially advise Emperor Jing that he make Lady Li empress, as Liu Rong was already the crown prince. Emperor Jing, already firm in his view that Lady Li must not be made empress, was enraged and believed that Lady Li had conspired with government officials. He executed the clan of the minister who had made that proposal, and deposed Liu Rong from

14725-532: The first Premier of the People's Republic of China , Zhou Enlai , took a personal interest in the caves and sanctioned a grant to repair and protect the site; and in 1961, the Mogao Caves were declared to be a specially protected historical monument by the State Council , and large-scale renovation work at Mogao began soon afterwards. The site escaped the widespread damage caused to many religious sites during

14880-511: The first month) the beginning of a new year, rather than the tenth month in the Zhuanxu calendar. From then on, the Chinese calendar had retained the property of having the first month as the beginning of the year. Liu Che was the 11th son of Liu Qi , the oldest living son from Emperor Wen of Han . His mother Wang Zhi (王娡) was initially married to a commoner named Jin Wangsun (金王孫) and had

15035-474: The former state of Jin (in the area of the modern province of Shanxi ) as official religious functionaries of his new empire. Emperor Wu worshiped the divinity Tai Yi (or, Dong Huang Tai Yi), a deity to whom he was introduced by his shaman advisers, who were able to provide him with the experience of having this god (and other spiritual entities, such as the Master of Fate, Si Ming ) summoned into his presence;

15190-455: The gods of heaven and earth to seek immortality. He then decreed that he would return to Mount Tai every five years to repeat the ceremony, but only did so once in 98 BC. Many palaces were built for him and the princes to accommodate the anticipated cycles of the ceremony. It was around this time that, in reaction to the large expenditures by Emperor Wu that had exhausted the national treasury, his agricultural minister Sang Hongyang conceived of

15345-445: The government. While his mother, Empress Dowager Wang, and his uncle Tian Fen were still heavily influential, they also benefited from the death of the old woman, especially the mother of Emperor Wu, but they lacked the ability to restrain the Emperor's actions. Emperor Wu began military campaigns focused on territorial expansion. This decision nearly destroyed his empire in its early stages. Reacting to border incursions by sending out

15500-541: The interests of the nobles and were swiftly defeated by his powerful grandmother Grand Empress Dowager Dou , who held real political power in the Han court and supported the conservative factions. Most of the reformists were punished: Emperor Wu's two noble supporters Dou Ying (窦婴) and Tian Fen (田蚡, Empress Dowager Wang's half-brother and Emperor's uncle) lost their positions, and his two mentors Wang Zang (王臧) and Zhao Wan (赵绾) were impeached, arrested and forced to commit suicide in prison. Emperor Wu, deprived of any allies,

15655-518: The kingdom to Han. However, Emperor Wu did not establish commanderies in Minyue's former territory; instead, he moved its people to the region between the Yangtze and Huai Rivers. Later that year, Emperor Wu, at great expense, carried out the ancient ceremony of the Feng and Shan sacrifices fengshan (封禅) at Mount Tai ; this involved the worship of heaven and earth and presumably a secret petition to

15810-508: The largest repositories of Buddhist art in the world. The construction of the Mogao Caves is generally taken to have begun sometime in the fourth century AD, when Dunhuang was under control of the Former Liang dynasty . According to a book written during the reign of Tang Empress Wu , Fokan Ji ( 佛龕記 , An Account of Buddhist Shrines ) by Li Junxiu ( 李君修 ), a Buddhist monk named Lè Zūn ( 樂尊 , which may also be pronounced Yuezun) had

15965-551: The late 7th century. The great majority of the paintings are anonymous, but many are of high quality, especially from the Tang. Most are sutra paintings, images of Buddha, and narrative paintings. The paintings show something of the contemporary Chinese style of the capital Chang'an , but many also reflect Indian, Tibetan and Uighur painting styles. There are brush paintings in ink alone, some in just two colours, as well as many in full colour. Most common are single figures, and most paintings were probably donated by an individual, who

16120-539: The local garrison. However the tiger tally , which was needed to authorize any use of armed forces, was in Grand Empress Dowager Dou's possession at the time. Yan Zhu, as the appointed imperial ambassador, circumvented this problem by executing a local army commander who refused to obey any order without seeing the tiger tally and coerced the governor of Kuaiji to mobilize a large naval fleet to Dong'ou's rescue . Seeing that superior Han forces were on

16275-668: The local rock is a rather soft gravel conglomerate that is not suitable for either sculpture or elaborate architectural details. Many of the early caves were developed from earlier Buddhist rock-cut chaitya styles seen in places such as the Ajanta Caves in India, with a square-sectioned central column, with sculpture in niches, representing the stupa round which worshippers may circumambulate ( parikrama ) and gain blessings. Others are hall caves influenced by traditional Chinese and Buddhist temple architecture. These caves may have

16430-507: The minister of agriculture Yan Yi (颜异), was falsely accused of committing a crime, though he was actually targeted because he had previously offended the emperor by opposing a plan to effectively extort double tributes out of princes and marquesses. Yan was executed for "internal defamation" of the emperor, and this caused the officials to be fearful and willing to flatter the emperor. Starting about 113 BC, Emperor Wu began to display further signs of abusing his power. He began to incessantly tour

16585-465: The most popular. Most caves show Mahayana and Sravakayana ( Theravada or Hinayana ) influences, although Mahayana Buddhism became the dominant form during the Sui dynasty. An innovation of the Sui-Tang period is the visual representation of the sutra – Mahayana Buddhist teachings transformed into large complete and detailed narrative paintings. One of the central features of Tang art in Mogao

16740-477: The murals have been repaired or plastered over and repainted over the centuries, and older murals may be seen where sections of later paintings had been removed. The Getty Conservation Institute has a dedicated page to the conservation of those wall paintings. There are around 2,400 surviving clay sculptures at Mogao. These were first constructed on a wooden frame, padded with reed, then modelled in clay stucco, and finished with paint. The giant statues however have

16895-490: The nation to "rest and recover" (休养生息). Despite the periodic humiliation of appeasement and providing gifts, the Han borders were still frequented by Xiongnu raids for the next seven decades. Following the death of his powerful grandmother, Emperor Wu decided that Han China had sufficiently recovered enough to support a full-scale war. He first ended the official policy of peace with the Battle of Mayi in 133 BC, which involved

17050-556: The necessity of important policy reforms, but neither Emperor Wen nor Emperor Jing was willing to risk implementing such changes. Unlike the emperors before him, the young and vigorous Emperor Wu was unwilling to put up with the status quo . Only a year into his reign in late 141 BC, Emperor Wu took the advice of Confucian scholars and launched an ambitious reform, known in history as the Jianyuan Reforms (建元新政). The reforms included: However, Emperor Wu's reforms threatened

17205-404: The north which were living quarters, meditation chambers, and burial sites for the monks. The caves at the southern section are decorated, while those at the northern section are mostly plain. The caves are clustered together according to their era, with new caves from a new dynasty being constructed in different parts of the cliff. From the murals, sculptures, and other objects found in the caves,

17360-476: The opportunity for Consort Wang and the young Liu Che to gain the emperor's favour. When Emperor Jing's older sister, Eldest Princess Guantao (馆陶长公主) Liu Piao (刘嫖), offered to marry her daughter with Chen Wu  [ zh ; ko ] ( 陳午 ), the Marquess of Tangyi, to Liu Rong, Lady Li rudely rejected the proposal out of her dislike of Princess Guantao, who often procured new concubines for Emperor Jing and

17515-509: The outside world. During the Ming dynasty, the Silk Road was finally officially abandoned, and Dunhuang slowly became depopulated and largely forgotten by the outside world. Most of the Mogao caves were abandoned; the site, however, was still a place of pilgrimage and was used as a place of worship by local people at the beginning of the twentieth century when there was renewed interest in the site. During late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, Western explorers began to show interest in

17670-400: The political and cultural life of the time, and provide documentation of mundane secular matters that gives a rare glimpse into the lives of ordinary people of these eras. The manuscripts were dispersed all over the world in the aftermath of the discovery. Stein's acquisition was split between Britain and India because his expedition was funded by both countries. Stein had the first pick and he

17825-596: The poorer but more militaristic horseback nomads . The threat posed to the Xiongnu by the northward expansion of the Qin Empire ultimately led to the consolidation of the many tribes into a confederacy. Following the end of the Chu-Han Contention , Emperor Gao of Han realized that the nation was not yet strong enough to confront the Xiongnu. He therefore resorted to the so-called "marriage alliance", or heqin , in order to ease hostility and buy time for

17980-517: The position of empress was left open and Emperor Jing made Consort Wang empress four months later. The seven-year-old Liu Che, now legally the oldest son of the Empress, was made crown prince in 149 BC. In 141 BC, Emperor Jing died and Crown Prince Liu Che ascended to the throne as Emperor Wu at the age of 15. His grandmother Empress Dowager Dou became the grand empress dowager , and his mother became Empress Dowager Wang . His cousin-wife A'Jiao from

18135-466: The principles of Confucianism as the state philosophy and code of ethics for his empire and started a school to teach future administrators the Confucian classics . These reforms had an enduring effect throughout the existence of imperial China and an enormous influence on neighbouring civilizations. The personal name of Emperor Wu was Liu Che (劉徹). The use of "Han" ( 漢 ) in referring to emperor Wu

18290-442: The rise of local despots who bullied and oppressed the population. The heqin policy also failed to protect the Han borders against nomadic raids, with Xiongnu cavalries invading as close as 300 li (100 miles, 160 km) from the capital during Emperor Wen's reign, and over 10,000 border residents abducted or enslaved during Emperor Jing's reign. Prominent politicians like Jia Yi and Chao Cuo had both previously advised on

18445-409: The side of a cliff which is close to two kilometers long. At its height, during the Tang dynasty , there were more than a thousand caves, but over time many of the caves were lost, including the earliest caves. 735 caves currently exist in Mogao; the best-known ones are the 487 caves located in the southern section of the cliff which are places of pilgrimage and worship. 248 caves have also been found to

18600-500: The site until the 14th century. The Mogao Caves are the best known of the Chinese Buddhist grottoes and, along with Longmen Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes , are one of the three famous ancient Buddhist sculptural sites of China. An important cache of documents was discovered in 1900 in the so-called "Library Cave", which had been walled-up in the 11th century. The contents of the library were subsequently dispersed around

18755-568: The southern autonomous state of Minyue (in modern-day Fujian ) invaded the weaker neighbouring state of Dong'ou (in modern-day Zhejiang ). After their king Zuo Zhenfu (驺贞复) died on the battlefield, the battered Dong'ou desperately sought help from the Han court. After a heated court debate over whether to offer military intervention for such a distant vassal state, Emperor Wu dispatched a newly promoted official Yan Zhu (严助) to Kuaiji (then still located in Suzhou , rather than Shaoxing ) to mobilize

18910-448: The state of Huainan, Liu An , who was hoping the young Emperor Wu's infertility would allow him to ascend to the throne, went into a state of denial and rewarded anyone who told him that Emperor Wu was still childless. In 135 BC, Grand Empress Dowager Dou died, removing the last major obstacle against Emperor Wu's ambition for reform. After the death of Grand Empress Dowager Dou in 135 BC, Emperor Wu had full and unrivaled control of

19065-550: The taxes. Emperor Wu carried out an invasion of the northern Korean Peninsula and established the Commandery of Canghai , but abandoned it in 126 BC. Some of the military colonies established at that time survived into the 4th century, leaving behind various particularly well-preserved funerary artefacts. After the conquest of Nanyue in 111 BC, Emperor Wu launched a second invasion of the Korean peninsula and by 108 BC completed

19220-470: The then little-known Khotanese . They may be old hemp paper scrolls in Chinese and many other languages, Tibetan pothis , and paintings on hemp, silk or paper. The subject matter of the great majority of the scrolls is Buddhist in nature, but it also covers a diverse material. Along with the expected Buddhist canonical works are original commentaries, apocryphal works, workbooks, books of prayers, Confucian works, Taoist works, Christian works, works from

19375-405: The throne and Lady Li to become empress dowager , many of his concubines might suffer the tragic fate of Consort Qi in the hands of Empress Lü . Princess Guantao then began to openly praise her son-in-law-to-be to her royal brother, further convincing Emperor Jing that Liu Che was a far better choice for heir apparent than Liu Rong. Taking advantage of the situation, Consort Wang put in place

19530-463: The time being, as his aging grandmother was declining physically and would soon die. He spent the next few years pretending to have given up any political ambition, playing the part of a docile hedonist , often sneaking out of the capital Chang'an to engage in hunting and sightseeing and posing as an ordinary nobleman. Knowing that the conservative noble classes occupied every level of the Han court, Emperor Wu changed his strategy. He secretly recruited

19685-475: The time of the Northern Liang a small community of monks had formed at the site. The caves initially served only as a place of meditation for hermit monks, but developed to serve the monasteries that sprang up nearby. The earliest decorated Mogao Caves remaining to this day (caves 268, 272 and 275 ), were built and decorated in the Northern Liang period between 419 and 439 CE, before the invasion of

19840-419: The troops, Emperor Wu sent his armies in all directions but the sea. Following the successful manoeuvre against Minyue in 138 BC, Emperor Wu resettled the people of Dang'an into the region between the Yangtze and Huai Rivers. In 135 BC, Minyue saw an opportunity to take advantage of the new and inexperienced king of Nanyue , Zhao Mo . Minyue invaded its south-western neighbour and Zhao Mo sought help from

19995-407: The turn of the century and tried to raise funds to repair the statues. Some of the caves had by then been blocked by sand, and Wang set about clearing away the sand and made an attempt at restoration of the site. In one such cave, on 25 June 1900, Wang followed the drift of smoke from a cigarette, and discovered a walled up area behind one side of a corridor leading to a main cave. Behind the wall

20150-561: The two earliest of which are rare surviving examples of Song dynasty wooden architecture. The most prominent wooden building at the site, first built during the Tang dynasty, houses the Great Buddha and was originally four storeys high, but it has been repaired at least five times and is no longer the original structure. A storey was added between 874 and 885, then repaired in the Guiyijun period, and two further storeys were added during

20305-417: The various type of silk cloth and embroidery available at the time. Silk banners were used to adorn the cliff-face at the caves during festivals, and these are painted and may be embroidered. Valances used to decorate altars and temples had a horizontal strip at the top, from which hung streamers made from strips of different cloths ending in a V that look like a modern male necktie. The caves were cut into

20460-456: The walls and ceilings, with geometrical or plant decoration filling the spaces not taken by figurative images, which are above all of the Buddha . Sculpture is also brightly painted. The murals are valued for the scale and richness of content as well as their artistry. Buddhist subjects are most common, however some have traditional mythical subjects and portraits of patrons . These murals document

20615-452: The way, Minyue forces became fearful and retreated. This was a huge political victory for Emperor Wu and set the precedent of using the Emperor's decrees to bypass the tiger tally, removing the need for cooperation from his grandmother; Of course, this did not mean that Grand Empress Dowager Dou's influence and intervention would disappear, she was a serious and insurmountable obstacle and competing authority in administration for Emperor Wu until

20770-409: The western region, part of his report indicated that embassies could more easily reach Shendu (India) and Anxi ( Parthia ) by going through the south-western kingdoms. Encouraged by the report, Emperor Wu sent ambassadors in 122 BC to try to persuade Yelang and Dian (modern eastern Yunnan ) into submission again. Han Gaozu , founder of the Han dynasty, had installed shaman cultists from the area of

20925-567: The world, and the largest collections are now found in Beijing, London, Paris and Berlin, and the International Dunhuang Project exists to coordinate and collect scholarly work on the Dunhuang manuscripts and other material. The caves themselves are now a popular tourist destination, but the number of visitors has been capped to help with the preservation of the caves. The caves are commonly referred to in Chinese as

21080-475: Was Yelang (modern Zunyi , Guizhou)—so that a route for a potential back-stabbing attack on Nanyue could be made. The Han ambassador Tang Meng (唐蒙) was able to secure the submission of these tribal kingdoms by giving their kings gifts; Emperor Wu established the Commandery of Jianwei (犍为, headquarters in modern Yibin , Sichuan) to govern over the tribes, but eventually abandoned it after being unable to cope with local revolts. Later, after Zhang Qian returned from

21235-585: Was a serious matter. These enemies of Emperor Wu wished to replace him with his uncle Liu An , the King of Huainan , who was renowned for his expertise in Taoist ideology. Even Emperor Wu's own maternal uncle Tian Fen switched camps and sought Liu An's favor, as he predicted the young emperor would not be in power for long. Emperor Wu's political survival now relied heavily on the lobbying of his influential aunt / mother-in-law, Princess Guantao (Liu Piao), who served as

21390-409: Was a small cave stuffed with an enormous hoard of manuscripts . In the next few years, Wang took some manuscripts to show to various officials who expressed varying level of interest, but in 1904 Wang re-sealed the cave following an order by the governor of Gansu concerned about the cost of transporting these documents. Words of Wang's discovery drew the attention of a joint British/Indian group led by

21545-500: Was able to collect around 7,000 complete manuscripts and 6,000 fragments for which he paid £130, although these include many duplicate copies of the Diamond and Lotus Sutras . Pelliot took almost 10,000 documents for the equivalent of £90, but, unlike Stein, Pelliot was a trained sinologist literate in Chinese, and he was allowed to examine the manuscripts freely, so he was able to pick a better selection of documents than Stein. Pelliot

21700-614: Was also during this time that Emperor Wu began to show a fascination with immortality . He began to associate with magicians who claimed to be able to, if they could find the proper ingredients, create divine pills that would confer immortality. However, he himself punished others' use of magic severely. In 130 BC, for example, when the witch Chu Fu tried to approach Empress Chen to teach her sorcery and love spells to curse Consort Wei and regain Emperor Wu's affections, he dispatched Zhang Tang to execute Chu Fu for witchcraft, which

21855-537: Was considered to be Emperor Jing's favourite son from a very young age. Emperor Jing's formal wife, Empress Bo , was childless. As a result, Emperor Jing's oldest son Liu Rong , born to Lady Lì (栗姬, Emperor Jing's favorite concubine and mother of three of his first four sons), was made crown prince in 153 BC. Lady Li, feeling certain that her son would become the future emperor, grew arrogant and intolerant, and frequently threw tantrums at Emperor Jing out of jealousy over him bedding other women. Her lack of tact provided

22010-471: Was constructed in 695 under the edicts from Empress Wu Zetian who instructed the constructions of monasteries in 689 and giant statues in 694. The smaller one is 27 m tall and was constructed in 713–41. The larger northern giant Buddha was damaged in an earthquake and had been repaired and restored multiple times, consequently its clothing, colour and gestures had been changed and only the head retains its original Early Tang appearance. The southern statue however

22165-431: Was diffusing the favor received by Lady Li. Insulted by the rejection, Princess Guantao then approached the next favorite of Emperor Jing's concubines – none other than Consort Wang, who had been observing these developments quietly from the sidelines. Guantao offered to marry her daughter to the consort's young son, Liu Che, then aged only 5. Seizing the opportunity, Consort Wang accepted the offer with open arms, securing

22320-417: Was first started in 139 BC, when Emperor Wu commissioned Zhang Qian to seek out the Kingdom of Yuezhi , which had been expelled by Xiongnu from the modern Gansu region. Zhang was to entice the kingdom to return to its ancestral lands with promises of Han military assistance, with the intention that Yuezhi forces would fight against the Xiongnu. Zhang was immediately captured by Xiongnu once he ventured into

22475-613: Was illegal at the time. Around the same time, perhaps as a sign of what would come to be, Emperor Wu began to trust governing officials who were harsh in their punishment, believing that such harshness would be the most effective method to maintain social order and so placing these officials in power. For example, one such official, Yi Zong (义纵), became the governor of the Commandery of Dingxiang (part of modern Hohhot , Inner Mongolia) and executed 200 prisoners, even though they had not committed capital crimes; he then executed their friends who happened to have been visiting. In 122 BC, Liu An ,

22630-493: Was interested in the more unusual and exotic of the Dunhuang manuscripts, such as those dealing with the administration and financing of the monastery and associated lay men's groups. Many of these manuscripts survived only because they formed a type of palimpsest whereby papers were reused and Buddhist texts were written on the opposite side of the paper . Hundreds more of the manuscripts were sold by Wang to Otani Kozui and Sergei Oldenburg. Efforts are now underway to reconstitute

22785-409: Was now the subject of conspiracies designed to have him removed from the throne. For example, his first wife Empress Chen Jiao was unable to become pregnant. In an attempt to remain his first love, she had prohibited him from having other concubines. Emperor Wu's political enemies used his childlessness as an argument to seek to depose him, as the inability of an emperor to propagate a royal bloodline

22940-455: Was originally used as a memorial cave for a local monk Hongbian on his death in 862. Hongbian, from a wealthy Wu family, was responsible for the construction of cave 16, and the Library Cave may have been used as his retreat in his lifetime. The cave originally contained his statue which was moved to another cave when it was used to keep manuscripts, some of which bear Hongbian's seal. A large number of documents dating from 406 to 1002 were found in

23095-423: Was proposed in light of the absence of documents from Xi Xia and the disordered state in which Pelliot found the room (perhaps a misinterpretation because unbeknownst to him the room was disturbed by Stein months before). Another theory posits that the items were from a monastic library and hidden due to threats from Muslims who were moving eastward. This theory proposes that the monks of a nearby monastery heard about

23250-458: Was split into a dual monarchy: Minyue was controlled by a Han proxy ruler, Zou Chou (驺丑), and Dongyue (东越) was ruled by Luo Yushan. As Han troops returned from the Han–Nanyue War in 111 BC, the Han government debated military action against Dongyue. Dongyue, under King Lou Yushan, had agreed to assist the Han campaign against Nanyue, but the Dongyue army never reached there, blaming the weather while secretly relaying intelligence to Nanyue. Against

23405-412: Was the first to describe the cave in its original state: Heaped up in layers, but without any order, there appeared in the dim light of the priest's little lamp a solid mass of manuscript bundles rising to a height of nearly ten feet, and filling, as subsequent measurement showed, close on 500 cubic feet. The area left clear within the room was just sufficient for two people to stand in. The Library Cave

23560-518: Was the seventh emperor of the Han dynasty from 141 to 87 BC. His reign lasted 54 years – a record not broken until the reign of the Kangxi Emperor more than 1,800 years later – and remains the record for ethnic Han emperors. His reign resulted in a vast expansion of geopolitical influence for the Chinese civilization , and the development of a strong centralized state via governmental policies, economical reorganization and promotion of

23715-420: Was then under Tibetan control. As a frontier town, Dunhuang had been occupied at various times by other non-Han Chinese people. After the Tang dynasty, the site went into a gradual decline, and construction of new caves ceased entirely after the Yuan dynasty . By then Islam had conquered much of Central Asia, and the Silk Road declined in importance when trading via sea-routes began to dominate Chinese trade with

23870-505: Was used in the Tang dynasty , where 'Mogao' refers to an administrative district at the site during the Tang dynasty. Mogao may mean "peerless" (literally "none higher", where " mo " means "none", and " gao " means "high"); an alternative reading may be "high in the desert" if "mo" is read as a variant of the Chinese term for "desert". Mogao is also used as the name of a modern town that is administered by Dunhuang city: Mogao Town ( 莫高 镇 ). The Mogao Caves are also often referred to as

24025-403: Was walled off sometime early in the 11th century. A number of theories have been proposed as the reason for sealing the caves. Stein first proposed that the cave had become a waste repository for venerable, damaged and used manuscripts and hallowed paraphernalia and then sealed perhaps when the place came under threat. Following this interpretation some suggested that the handwritten manuscripts of

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