MIHO MUSEUM Shangri-La vol.8

September 1(Sat.) to December 16(Sun.), 2001

Commemorating Thirty Years of Normalizing Sino-Japanese Relations
and the Inclusion of the Site on the UNESCO World Heritage List

Saturday, September 1
through Sunday, December 16, 2001

The Longmen Caves, are located thirteen kilometers south of Louyang and run a kilometer north to south alongside the banks of the Yi River. There, one can find 2,345 large and small caves and up to 110,000 Buddhist images carved out of the mountainside.
This exhibition-commemorating thirty years of normalization in Sino-Japanese relations and the inclusion of the Longmen Caves as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in December 2000-comprises approximately fifty works of art from China, Japan, and the United States. Through the auspices of the Longmen Caves Research Institute, the Crowned Buddha at the Southern Leigutai Cave will be exhibited outside China for the first time ever. In ddition,
several Buddhas excavated from the ruins of Fenxiansi Temple will be shown. We invite you to come to see this impressive and wondrous world of the Longmen Caves.

Sponsored by
	MIHO MUSEUM The Asahi Shimbun Japan-China Friendship Association Foundation for Cultural Heritage Commitee for Art Exhibitions of the Longmen Grottoes Longmen Caves Research Institute
Supported by
	Institute for Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs Agency for Cultural Affairs Art Research Foundation National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan

The construction of the Longmen Caves, beginning in the Northern Wei Dynasty, spanned over a period of 400 years from the Eastern Wei to the Western Wei, Northern Qi, Sui, Tang, until the Northern Song Dynasties. The construction reached its apex during the Northern Wei and Tang Dynasties. According to the Longmen Caves Research Institute, among the 2,345 caves along the banks of the Yi River, approximately one third of them were built in the Northern Wei Dynasty, while most of the remaining caves were carved out during the Tang Dynasty.

The Central Binyangdong Cave

The Binyangdong Caves are located on the northern side of the West Hill of the Longmen Caves. Three caves form the Binyangdong Caves; the central cave was completed in the Northern Wei Dynasty, while the construction of the north and south caves were not completed until the Tang Dynasty.

These caves are believed to correspond to caves that Emperor Xuanwu had originally commissioned in memory of his parents, Emperor Xiaowen and Empress Wenzhao, at the beginning of the Jingming era (circa 500 A.D.) on Mount Yique, south of Louyang. However, due to difficulties in construction, the work did not progress as planned, and in Zhengshi 2 (505), the scale of the caves was reduced. Though later during the Yongping era (508-512), the project continued and came to include a third cave for Xuanwu himself. Early records tell us that the project took the efforts of 802,366 people from its conception in the Jingming era to its completion in the sixth month of Zhengguang 4 (523).

Head of a Bodhisattva from
the Central Binyangdong Cave

Northern Wei Dynasty
Height 92.0 cm Limestone
Osaka Municipal Museum of Art
(Gift of Mr. Jiro Eguchi)

This bodhisattva head came from the Central Binyangdong Cave. There are bold features, expressive of a bright and energetic feeling not seen in the subtle mysteriousness found in other Northern Wei sculptures from the Longmen Caves.

Monk Heads Excavated from
the Yongningsi Temple in Louyang

Northern Wei Dynasty
Height 14.6 cm (Elder Monk); 13.7 cm (Young Monk)
Institute for Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

In Taihe 18 (494), at the age of twenty-eight,Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty to Louyang from Pingcheng (Datong), where it had previously lasted for a hundred years. At this time, the government also planned to transfer the seven-story pagoda, known for its beautiful tiled roof, at Yongningsi Temple in Pingcheng to Louyang. Although it took many years, finally, from Xiping 2 (516) to Shengui 2 (519), the pagoda was moved to Louyang and enlarged to a towering nine-story pagoda.
These two heads of an old monk and a young monk were found there. Their facial expressions transmit the brilliant liveliness seen in sculptures of the Northern Wei Dynasty.