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1952 and 1953:China: Murals from the he Caves of the Thousand Buddha's (Qianfodong)

The Caves of the Thousand Buddha's (Qianfodong) are actually 492 cave shrines full of paintings and carvings dating back to the 7th century, recording over 1000 years of Buddhist worship through 16 dynasties, and containing over 2000 statues and 45,000 murals.

The Caves are situated in the Gobi desert in north China between the Tibetan plateau and inner Mongolia. The nearest town is Dunhuang, in the Gansu corridor, lying between mountains on the south and desert to the north. The area was probably first inhabited well before the 2nd century. The caves were first known to the western world in 1908.

Dunhuang is an oasis settlement and the caves are in the soft sandy limestone of the Mingsha Hill 20 km to the south east. The hill extends for l km. At the southern end of the cliff face is a pagoda containing a 30 m high clay statue of Buddha, dating from the Tang dynasty, 618-907. It is thought the caves originated when Lo Tsun, a Buddhist monk, excavated the first shrine in 366, after a vision. This was the first cave to be decorated, and indeed most of the caves contain a breathtaking display of paintings, carvings, frescoes, religious statues and sculptures, and are of great historic interest.

Giant Buddha images playa prominent part. The caves once contained numerous ancient religious scrolls although they cannot be seen by the tourist today. Through these multi-language scrolls, the caves helped to spread the religion, and indeed the great Buddhist Hsuan Tsang stayed there in 644. Another feature is a huge wall painting illustrating one of the sutras (sacred texts), possibly one left behind by Hsuan Tsang. The mural shows a monk traveling by mule" and elephant on a pilgrimage. The paintings take up most of the available wall and ceiling space in the caves, depicting life in ancient times, the pilgrims and prophets, and of course, Buddha.

The caves can be visited today but because there are over 400 it is virtually impossible for the tourist to see them all. Lighting consists of hand held torches, and small groups of people are allowed in at a time, and the wooden cave doors, are kept sealed to protect the paintings. At least the Chinese seem to be protecting the site as much as possible. The 30m Buddha is in its own shrine. Wooden ladders outside give access to a good view over the countryside, and the shrines are well fitted with wooden stairways and parapets.

It seems as if these shrines are definitely worth a visit although apparently foreign visitors are few and far between mainly due to the fairly difficult access to Dunhuang.

The stamp from Sri Lanka (5 May 1981, 50c, multicolored) shows a silk banner in the Cave of the Thousand Buddha’s.
 

1981: Sri Lanka: A silk banner in the Cave of the Thousand Buddha’s