Yungang Grottoes.

The Yungang Grottoes are located at the southern foot of Wuzhou Mountain, 17 kilometers west of Datong City, Shanxi Province, and are one of China's famous grotto groups. The excavation of the Yungang Grottoes began in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the excavation of the Yungang Grottoes lasted for about 150 years, spanning the Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi, Sui, and Tang dynasties. There are currently 45 main grottoes, 252 large and small niches, and more than 59,000 stone statues. Most of the most spectacular and valuable grottoes were excavated in the middle and late Northern Wei Dynasty. As the first grotto authorized by the royal family in China, the Yungang Grottoes reflect the political ambitions of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Compared with many grotto temples in China, the Yungang Grottoes have the most Western style, that is, the most strong Hu style and Hu rhyme. It contains elements of Indian and Central Asian art, as well as Greek and Roman architectural shapes, decorative patterns, and image features, reflecting the relationship with the world's major civilizations. This is unique in the Chinese art treasury. The reason why the statues and big Buddhas of the Yungang Grottoes have been preserved to this day fully reflects the wisdom of ancient craftsmen. In 521 AD, an earthquake occurred in the area where Wuzhou Mountain was located, causing the left Buddha statue of the 20th cave (Figure 1) and the front mountain to collapse. In order to avoid or reduce similar situations, the craftsmen dug a hole on each side of the front big Buddha's left and right arm elbows and dug through these two holes from behind the Buddha statue, which reduced the pressure of the mountain on the front big Buddha and kept it to this day. On March 4, 1961, the Yungang Grottoes were announced by the State Council as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units. In 2001, the Yungang Grottoes were listed as a World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO.