Toffa98
1233 DH Mogao Caves
The furthest north that I went was Dunhuang, any further and I would have been in Xinjiang. I really enjoyed Dunhuang which was so much easier to visit after all my troubles in Zhangye and Jiayuguan. These are the Mogao Caves which are famed for their early Buddhist paintings and sculptures. I couldn’t take any photos inside so you’ll just have to put up with this photo from the outside. They are supposed to be one of the greatest collections of Buddhist art in the world. The caves record the spread of Buddhism in China from its Indian origins to its adoption and adaptation by the Han Chinese. You can only see about 10 caves but if you flirt with your guide you can see 12 ;)
Unfortunately these caves were completely forgotten until a rather stupid monk appointed himself caretaker in the late Qing (late 19th, early 20th century). This monk wanted to repair the damage done to the sculptures so after finding a hidden repository (cave 17) of some of the greatest works of Buddhist literature he sold some of them for a ridiculously cheap price to some unscrupulous foreign collectors. They are now housed in museums through Europe and America. The Chinese government wants them back and all tourists must go through the museum in front of cave 17 to learn how badly foreigners treated the Chinese and why we should give these treasures back. However the argument is not that simple (it never is). Why not blame the stupid monk for selling them in the first place? The locals got very annoyed with him when they found out what he was doing and stopped him making further sales. When they sent further texts to the Emperor for safe keeping every official between Dunhuang and Beijing demanded their choice of the best scripts for their personal collections so aren’t they also to blame for the loss of the texts? Aren’t they just as bad as the “foreign devils”? If they had kept the texts in Dunhuang wouldn’t they have been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution like so many other Buddhist treasures? I don’t condone the foreign collectors’ actions but the Chinese wouldn’t have looked after them properly and are also culpable for their loss. Also the repair job the monk did was crap and most of it fell off leaving drill holes in the original sculptures which he made while trying to attach his repairs.
1233 DH Mogao Caves
The furthest north that I went was Dunhuang, any further and I would have been in Xinjiang. I really enjoyed Dunhuang which was so much easier to visit after all my troubles in Zhangye and Jiayuguan. These are the Mogao Caves which are famed for their early Buddhist paintings and sculptures. I couldn’t take any photos inside so you’ll just have to put up with this photo from the outside. They are supposed to be one of the greatest collections of Buddhist art in the world. The caves record the spread of Buddhism in China from its Indian origins to its adoption and adaptation by the Han Chinese. You can only see about 10 caves but if you flirt with your guide you can see 12 ;)
Unfortunately these caves were completely forgotten until a rather stupid monk appointed himself caretaker in the late Qing (late 19th, early 20th century). This monk wanted to repair the damage done to the sculptures so after finding a hidden repository (cave 17) of some of the greatest works of Buddhist literature he sold some of them for a ridiculously cheap price to some unscrupulous foreign collectors. They are now housed in museums through Europe and America. The Chinese government wants them back and all tourists must go through the museum in front of cave 17 to learn how badly foreigners treated the Chinese and why we should give these treasures back. However the argument is not that simple (it never is). Why not blame the stupid monk for selling them in the first place? The locals got very annoyed with him when they found out what he was doing and stopped him making further sales. When they sent further texts to the Emperor for safe keeping every official between Dunhuang and Beijing demanded their choice of the best scripts for their personal collections so aren’t they also to blame for the loss of the texts? Aren’t they just as bad as the “foreign devils”? If they had kept the texts in Dunhuang wouldn’t they have been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution like so many other Buddhist treasures? I don’t condone the foreign collectors’ actions but the Chinese wouldn’t have looked after them properly and are also culpable for their loss. Also the repair job the monk did was crap and most of it fell off leaving drill holes in the original sculptures which he made while trying to attach his repairs.