Longmen Binyang Central Cave, The outer wall of Cave 140 (Binyang Central Cave) (both sides of the cave door, including Caves 114-117, 155, 156, 164, 165, 173, 174, 176-179)

Information

Title

Longmen Binyang Central Cave, The outer wall of Cave 140 (Binyang Central Cave) (both sides of the cave door, including Caves 114-117, 155, 156, 164, 165, 173, 174, 176-179)

龙门宾阳中洞, 第140窟（宾阳中洞）外壁（窟门两侧，包括第114~117、
155. 156、 164、165、 173、174、176～179窟)

Creator

unknown

Work Type

cave temples

reliefs

Date

386–534 C.E.

Period

Northern Wei

Cultural Context

Chinese

Buddhism

Material

limestone

Capture Date

2010

File Format

image

Descriptions and Subjects

Work Description

The Longmen Caves are located outside the city of Luoyang, China, about 500 miles southeast of the modern-day capital in Beijing. Established in the late fifth century, the site consists of 2,345 caves, and over 100,000 individual Buddhist statues, ranging in height from a few inches to over 56 feet. For more than 250 years, Chinese Buddhists from all walks of life sponsored the addition of Buddhist statues and inscriptions to the site, most significantly from the late Northern Wei (386-534) through the Tang dynasty (618-907). Binyang Central Cave is one of the earliest at Longmen and a major monument of Chinese Buddhism. Begun around the year 501, it was commissioned by the youthful Emperor Xuanwu (483-515) and dedicated to his father, Emperor Xiaowen, who died in 499 at age thirty-three. The cave is one of the major monuments of Chinese Buddhism. MEasuring roughly 30 feet in each dimension, its principal image is 28-foot-high seated Buddha largly filling the back of the cave and accompanied by smaller standing figures—disciples, Buddhas, and bodhisattva—on either side. The exit wall contained some of the finest stone relief carvings of the era, including depictions of two imperial processions, and a number of stories from Buddhist scriptures. After cave-making was discontinued for nearly a thousand years, the Longmen site was "discovered" by foreign scholars in the late 1800s. The publication of their studies with photos attracted international attention to the artistic quality of the sculptures. The publications ultimately led to the looting of much of the site in the early part of the twentieth century. In response to demand from art dealers, collectors, and museums around the globe, local stonecutters removed countless works from the caves, often breaking them into numerous fragments in the process. Pieces from the greater Longmen complex can now be found scattered throughout the world. In Binyang Central Cave, several heads and large portions of the relief carvings were cut or burned out of the walls. Fragments from Binyang Central Cave now reside in museums in the US and Japan, as well as in storage at the Longmen Research Institute in China. Many shattered pieces are identifiable today with the evidence of historical photographs and rubbings taken of the reliefs before their removal.

龙门石窟位于中国洛阳市郊，距现代首都北京东南约 500 英里。 该遗址建于 5 世纪末，由 2,345 个洞穴和超过 100,000 尊佛像组成，高度从几英寸到超过 56 英尺不等。 250多年来，中国各界佛教徒赞助在该遗址增建佛像和碑刻，其中最显着的是从北魏晚期（386-534）到唐朝（618-907）。 宾阳中心洞是龙门最早的洞窟之一，也是中国佛教的重要古迹。 它于 501 年左右开始建造，由年轻的宣武皇帝（483-515 年）委托建造，献给他的父亲孝文帝，后者于 499 年去世，时年 33 岁。 该洞是中国佛教的主要古迹之一。 每个维度大约有 30 英尺，其主像是 28 英尺高的佛坐像，占据了洞穴的后部，两侧还有较小的站立人物——弟子、佛陀和菩萨。 出口墙上有一些当时最精美的石浮雕，包括两个皇家游行的描绘和一些佛教经典中的故事。 在凿洞停止了近千年后，龙门遗址在1800年代末被外国学者“发现”。 他们的研究成果和照片的出版引起了国际社会对雕塑艺术品质的关注。 这些出版物最终导致二十世纪初期该遗址的大部分地区遭到抢劫。 为了满足全球艺术品经销商、收藏家和博物馆的需求，当地石匠从洞穴中取出了无数艺术品，在此过程中常常将它们破碎成无数碎片。 现在，可以在世界各地发现来自大龙门建筑群的碎片。 在宾阳中心洞，墙壁上的浮雕有几个头像和大部分被砍掉或烧掉。 宾阳中央洞的碎片现在存放在美国和日本的博物馆中，以及中国龙门研究院的仓库中。 今天，许多破碎的碎片可以通过历史照片和浮雕被移除之前的拓片作为证据来识别。

Image Description

Doorways added in the Song and Yuan damaged carvings at the entrance and in entryway. Additional doorways constructed in later periods, as well as eaves, drains for protection.

宋元增设门道，破坏了入口和门廊的雕饰。后期增设门道，并加设屋檐、排水沟以保护建筑。

Subjects

cave temples

reliefs

Liu, Jing-long

entrances

Rights and Identifier

Image Rights

in copyright

Image Source

刘景龙编著., 刘景龙, 1940-, Liu Jinglong bian zhu, and Jinglong Liu. 2010. 宾阳洞 : 龙门石窟第 104,140,159 窟 = Binyang Caves : Cave 104, 140, 159 of Longmen Grottoes. Di 1 ban. Beijing Shi: 文物出版社.

Image ID

LCB-AP-2010-L03