云冈石窟英文介绍

佛教的经典杰作

世界的艺术高峰

数十个千年石窟

数万尊佛雕

中国的瑰丽宝库

全人类的文化遗产

World culture heritage

At the southern foot of Wuzhou Mountain 16 kilometers west to Datong, Shanxi Province, a colorful and new grottoes are hid among the groves ,which are praised as “One of the artistic peak in the world “by French President Pompidou.

The grottoes are chiseled（雕，刻；凿）at the foot of the mountain, stretching about one kilometer from east to west. These are about 53 grottoes of different sizes and more than 51000 Buddhist(佛教的) carves .It is one of the biggest grottoes of China and is called the three artistic grottoes artistic treasure-house in China together with Qianfo cave in Dunhuang and Longmen grottoes in Luoyang.

It was first chiseled in the first year of Year Heping in Northern Wei and Monk Tan Yao at that time chiseled it for duty of Emperor Wencheng. Most of the grottoes were finished in the eighteenth year of Year Taihe in Northern Wei before the capital moved to Luoyang, which lasted for forty years. And there were more than 40000 people did the job. While the grottoes statue project lasted until the period of Emperor Zhengguang

The highest is 17 meters while the smallest is only several centimeters. The grottoes are very magnificent(壮丽的；华丽的；宏伟的),

Cave No.5 and Cave No.6 and Wuhua Cave are rich in content and can be called the essences（本质，实质；精华）of the grottoes artistic.

The Y ungang Grottoes are divided into three parts –east part, middle part and west part.

There are four caves in the east part, nine caves in the middle part. And forty caves in the west part .The Yungang grottoes inherited and developed the traditional art of Qin and Han Dynasty. It also absorbed the essence of foreign culture and created a unique style and served as a connecting link to the later Sui and Tang Dynasty on art. This occupies an important place in the Chinese artistic history.

Tan Yao’s Five caves

Tan Yao’s Five Caves are the first chiseled（开凿）among the Y ungang Grottoes and they are very magnificent .They are located in the middle of the Yungang Grottoes and there are Cave No.16、Cave No.17、Cave No.18、Cave No 19and Cave No.20.Weizi-Buddhism and Taolsm Annals”, in the first years of Year Heping in Northern Wei, the famous Monk Tan Yao at that time presented a memorial to the Emperor Wencheng to chisel five caves in Wuzhou and carved five Buddhas shaped as Emperor Wei Daowu. Emperor Mingyuan, Emperor Taiwu, Emperor Jingmu and Emperor Wencheng. And this is Tan Yao’s Five Caves today.

Wuhua Caves has Cave No.9、Cave No.10、Cave No.11、Cave No 12 and Cave No.13. It has various of artistic styles. Wuhua Cave、Cave No 5 and Cave No.6 are the essences of the carving art in the Yungang Grottoes .And they also offer a lot