World Cultural Heritage: Longmen Grottoes (4)

Heritage value

According to the first item of the first article in the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, buildings, sculptures and paintings on monuments that have prominent universal value, and elements, structures, epigraphs and caves that have archaeological value as well as the combination of these elements are said to have world cultural heritage. The Longmen Grottoes is a great sculpture masterpiece and is very unique and peculiar in terms of the history, religion and stone carvings, thus it fits the definition of cultural heritage perfectly.

The Longmen Grottoes not only reflects the boom of the Buddha during the Northern Wei Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, but at the same time, its exquisite carving craftwork and abundant content also reflects the transformation of Chinese sculptures and statues after Yungang Grottoes. Grottoes before the Longmen Grottoes all kept the characteristics of Gandhara art, while the Longmen Grottoes followed the characteristics of Indian grottoes and the styles of the Yungang Grottoes, and was formed with the deep history and culture of the Han nationality in Luoyang during the Wei and Jin dynasties as well as the Southern Dynasties.

The Longmen Grottoes are the milestone of Chinese grotto transformation. They were built by the imperial families or nobles during the Northern Wei Dynasty and Tang Dynasty who have rich human and material resources, and the grottoes they built were large-scale, splendid and collected the elites of the grottoes at that time. Thus the Longmen Grottoes is a very representative grotto and its rise and fall not only reflects the transformation of Chinese royal families believing in religion from the 5th century to the 10th century, but also reflected the development of Chinese policy and the social and economic situation. The significance of the Longmen Grottoes is unique which other grottoes do not have and therefore, they are in line with the requirements of cultural heritage in terms of the authenticity. In addition, the Longmen Grottoes not only include Buddha statues, which were carved in the Northern Wei Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, it also combines them with its surroundings.

For more than 1,500 years, although some of the surrounding rocks have collapsed, internal walls have fallen, few sculptures covered by lime mortar, some cultural relics stolen in modern times, and part of the stone compositions have been destroyed by weather, most of the grottoes and statues as well as decorations are well-preserved and have generally maintained original scales and styles. The Longmen Grottoes are well preserved and most representative among the numerous Chinese grottoes. Therefore, the Longmen Grottoes are in line with the requirements of the natural heritage in terms of completeness. Overall, the statues of the Longmen Grottoes are precious cultural relics in China that reflect the situation that imperial families believed in the Buddha in the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Tang Dynasty, which is helpful to the study of ancient China’s Buddhist history. Furthermore, the statues also reflect the exquisite carving skills and incomparable aesthetics of workers at that time and is a rich cultural treasure and worthy of being called world cultural heritage.