CHINA 5A TRAVEL
The imperial stone scripture of two dynasties — 100,000 figures carved over 500 years into the limestone cliffs above the Yi River, culminating in the 17-metre Vairocana Buddha that Emperor Gaozong commissioned in the likeness of Empress Wu herself.
The Longmen Grottoes outside Luoyang are China's second great cave-temple complex and its most imperial: from 493 AD, when the Northern Wei moved the capital to Luoyang, through the Tang golden age, dynasties cut more than 2,300 niches and 100,000 figures — and some 2,800 inscribed steles — into a kilometre of cliff above the Yi River. UNESCO listed the ensemble in 2000.
The West Hill is the essence: the Northern Wei's Guyang and Lotus caves with their early slender Buddhas, then the summit of the whole site — Fengxian Temple's Great Vairocana of 675, seventeen metres of serene Tang stone traditionally said to carry the face of Wu Zetian. Across the river the East Hill adds the Leigutai caves and Bai Juyi's garden grave.
The visit is a riverside walk: cliff face on one side, water on the other, battery carts and a 15-minute ferry for tired legs. Half a day at reading pace; Luoyang's peony Aprils add a second reason and the ancient-capital museums a third.
Highlights
The Great Vairocana
Fengxian Temple's 17-metre Tang Buddha — Longmen's masterpiece and the 'Eastern Mona Lisa'.
The Ten-Thousand Buddha Cave
A single chamber lined with 15,000 miniature seated Buddhas — devotion at miniature scale.
Lotus Cave
The Northern Wei ceiling of one great carved lotus — the motif that travelled to China's banknotes.
The Twenty Inscriptions
The 'Longmen Twenty' steles — masterworks of Wei-dynasty calligraphy in situ.
Bai Juyi's Garden Grave
The Tang poet's tomb in the East Hill park — a literary pilgrimage beside the stone one.
The Night Illumination
Seasonal night sessions light the cliff — the Vairocana reflected in the Yi River.
Photo Gallery
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