China Guide
The Yellow River
The Longmen Caves
Opening time: Daily 7.30am–5.30pm
Price: ¥80
Address: 12km south of Luoyang on bus #81 from the east side of the train station (1hr)
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Longmen Caves are a spectacular parade of Buddhist figurines and reliefs. Over the years, 1350 caves, 750 niches and 40 pagodas containing 110,000 statues were carved out of the limestone cliffs bordering the Yi River. The carvings, stretching 1km and mostly found on the west bank, were commissioned by emperors, the imperial family and various other wealthy families and religious groups. The Toba Wei began the work in 492 AD, when they moved their capital to Luoyang from Datong, where they had carved the Yungang Caves. Work continued for five hundred years and reached a second peak under the Tang.
The caves have been beautifully renovated and feature English labelling. The three Bingyangcaves are early; the central one supposedly took 800,000 men working from 500 to 523 AD to complete it. The eleven statues of Buddha inside show northern characteristics – long features, thin faces, splayed fishtail robes – and traces of Greek influence. The side caves, completed under the Tang, are more natural and voluptuous, carved in high relief. Wanfo (Cave of Ten Thousand Buddhas), just south of here, was built in 680 and has fifteen thousand Buddhas carved in tiny niches, each one different and the smallest just 2cm high. By far the most splendid is Fengxian (Ancestor Worshipping Cave), where an overwhelming seated figure of Vairocana Buddha, 17m high with two-metre-long ears, sits placidly overlooking the river, guarded by four warrior attendants who are grinding malevolent spirits underfoot. Medical Prescription Cave, built in 575, details several hundred cures for everything from madness to the common cold. Guyang is the earliest of all, begun in 495, where you can still see traces of the vivid paintwork that originally gave life to these carvings.