2015 China

14 April, Datong
Hanting Express Hotel 138CNY

“Ineffably sublime” is how Lonely Planet describes Yungang Caves 16km west of Datong, and yes, they are indeed something special. Between 460 and 525AD, 252 grottoes and more than 51,000 Buddhist statues were carved into a sandstone cliff at the base of the Wuzhou mountains in the Shi Li river valley. Unesco: “The statues of the Yungang Grottoes were completed in sixty years ... this period marks the peak of development in Buddhist cave art of the Northern Wei dynasty ... During the Liao dynasty, wooden shelter structures were built in front of the caves, turning the grottoes into temple buildings ... The shelters ... are supported by octagonal pillars, each carved with 1,000 Buddhas.” Sunshine and blue sky added warmth and colour to our wonderful day. Forty-five of the 252 caves – some large, some small – are open to the public. Though many of the statues are badly weathered, they add character rather than detracting from the overall impact of the site. The tallest statue is 17m in height; the smallest just 2cm. Many are plain, some painted, one or two gilded. Carvings depict Buddhas, pagodas, animals, fierce guardians, and the life story of Guatama Buddha. Over the centuries attempts have been made to protect the carvings. These range from moving the Li River 400 metres south of its natural flow (yes, someone relocated a river) to adding temple fronts to the caves (two dating from 1621 still stand; others are more recent), to a reforestation project to reduce wind weathering and a rerouting of traffic from the nearby coal mine.  

Back in Datong city we inspected the Nine Dragon Screen, one of three, each associated with an imperial venue, that draw attention in China. This was our second, our first being in the Forbidden City. Chinatours.com: “The screen is a type of structure commonly found in large mansions or complexes, either immediately inside or outside the main entrance. It generated from the belief that evil spirits can only move in a straight line, meaning incapable of turning, therefore screens are erected to deter them ... Dragon is the widely-known mythical creature representing the Chinese Nationality and all the emperors in ancient times were hailed to be the embodiment of dragon. Nine is the biggest single-digit number, thus, along with the dragon, it is an ubiquitous characteristic on imperial objects (the dragon itself is in fact the combination of nine different animals’ features)*. The Nine Dragon Screen in Datong was put up ... around the late 14th century ... the founding father of Ming Dynasty ... deployed his 25 sons to station major municipalities. Zhu Gui ... who lost his inscription as the prince and the entitlement to the future throne ... for his fatuousness and squandering life style, was banished to Datong in disgrace. He didn’t change a bit his absurd life style and ... demanded the construction of a palace massively modeled on the palace of the emperor and the Nine Dragon Screen ... The palace ... was tragically reduced to ashes and dusts during the year of 1644. Fortunately, the Nine Dragon Screen standing opposite the entrance of the palace was spared of the warfare and left behind. The screen is measuring 45.5m in length, 8m in height and 2m in width, effortlessly making the largest one in China. The wall is composed by 426 pieces of colored glasses and low-reliefs of nine flying dragons are carved out on it, originally in gold shade yet the color has slightly wore off after the centuries. Surrounding the dragons are equally colorful, lively patterns of sun, moon, clouds, waves, multifarious animals like tigers, deer, hares and mythological creatures like phoenixes, Qilin, flying horses and the likes.”

* Chinesedragon.org: “The dragon is said to have the head of a camel, 117 fish scales of the carp, deer horns, rabbit eyes, ears of a bull, the neck of a snake, stomach of a clam, paws of a tiger, and claws like an eagle.”