综合一区欧美国产,99国产麻豆免费精品,九九精品黄色录像,亚洲激情青青草,久久亚洲熟妇熟,中文字幕av在线播放,国产一区二区卡,九九久久国产精品,久久精品视频免费

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
Culture
Home / Culture / Heritage

Tech marvel

By HOU CHENCHEN/ZHU XINGXIN | China Daily | Updated: 2024-10-11 09:35
Share
Share - WeChat
A stone Buddha head taken from Cave 8 of the Tianlong Mountain Grottoes in Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province, is the first relic taken from the site returned to China. LUO ZHENG/FOR CHINA DAILY

Originally established as a sanctuary for the emperor, the caves gradually became a site of worship for locals.

In the 18th century, however, they fell into neglect and were largely forgotten until 1908 when Ernst Boerschmann, a visiting German architect, "discovered" the grand caves filled with Buddha statues, embossed artworks, and frescos.

Foreign art historians and collectors visited the site but it was not until 1921 that Japanese archaeologist Sekino Tadashi's photographs brought global attention to the grottoes.

Unfortunately, international art dealers, thieves, and smugglers descended on the unprotected treasure trove.

Between 1924 and 1925, thieves vandalized and looted the caves, bribing corrupt monks to break over 240 statues into fragments for sale. One of the major smugglers was Japanese art dealer Sadajiro Yamanaka, who exploited the chaos of World War II to sell stolen artifacts to Western buyers.

The prized item for sellers and collectors was the Buddha's head but the statue's other parts were sometimes sold separately in other countries.

About 120 statues located abroad are confirmed to be from Tianlong Mountain, making it one of the most damaged cultural sites in China, said Jia Chen, vice president of Taiyuan Cultural Relics Protection Research Institute.

"The grottoes are important cultural memories of Chinese history," he said. "The period when the grottoes were established marks an important phase in the localization of Buddhist cave art in China.

|<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next   >>|
Most Popular
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1994 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
福泉市| 郯城县| 凭祥市| 独山县| 昌吉市| 巫山县| 凤凰县| 吉首市| 龙山县| 东台市| 瓦房店市| 龙门县| 麦盖提县| 石屏县| 顺昌县| 胶州市| 张家界市| 阳泉市| 富宁县| 南岸区| 浏阳市| 济源市| 涞水县| 黔西县| 拜泉县| 喀喇沁旗| 麻阳| 巫溪县| 亳州市| 日土县| 米脂县| 和政县| 沾益县| 县级市| 忻城县| 抚顺县| 望江县| 大理市| 瑞安市| 新邵县| 谷城县|