At Yungang Grottoes, people still have a chance to see what emperors from 1,500 years ago looked like, because five of the Buddhist statues were modeled after five famous Xianbei emperors.

Similar in appearance to other statues but bigger in size, these "emperor-buddhas," each measuring 13 meters in height, solemnly occupy the first five caves of Yungang Grottoes to remind visitors of Buddhism's first heyday in China.

Although Buddhism first entered China in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), the religion did not become popular because of the constant chaos of war and the lack of support from the ruling class over the following 400 years.

When the nomadic Xianbei people, an ethnic minority group from northern China, established the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 386-534), its emperors viewed Buddhism as a useful tool for expanding their kingdom and conquering the vast land inhabited by the Han majority.

After adopting Buddhism as the State religion, they promised to construct the Yungang Grottoes at State expense to demonstrate their firm belief in Buddhism.

When the first State-funded Buddhist grotto project was started in the Wei capital Pingcheng -- present day Datong in North China's Shanxi Province, the director of the project, the monk Tan Yao, was required to cast five statues that looked like the five Xianbei emperors who had played major roles in the establishment of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

This anecdote is recorded in the "History of Wei," and reflects the belief in feudal China that the emperor was God.

Between 453 and 523, nearly 40,000 craftsmen joined the massive royal project and carved out 50,000 Buddha statues and 53 grottoes on a 1-kilometre cliff to the south of Wuzhou Mountain.

Of the three major grotto complexes in China -- Yungang, Mogao in Gansu Province and Longmen in Henan Province, Yungang is the only one that was completed within one dynasty. It also represents Chinese people's first large-scale assimilation of Buddhist culture.

Judging from the early work in Yungang, scholars believe that the early Chinese artisans used a lot of foreign carving techniques in the beginning.

Collectively termed Gandhara, these skills were originally created by ancient Indian artisans who combined Buddhist carving art with Greek sculpturing techniques brought to central Asia by Alexander the Great around the 4th century BC.

Buddhism and Gandhara art made their way into China via the Silk Road, and Chinese artists responsible for the sculpting in Yungang combined the two with elements of the indigenous Chinese culture. Normally the later the sculpting was done, the more Chinese elements it embodies.

For instance, inside the above-mentioned first five caves where "emperor-buddhas" were placed, visitors can see a variety of decorative motifs such as Indian golden-winged birds, Persian acanthus leaves and Greek columns, as well as Chinese balustrades.

In Cave 20, a giant Buddha sitting in the open is regarded as a typical example of the grottoes' early work, as all details from his facial appearance to his dress style bear strong resemblance to the people who lived in northwestern India, northern Pakistan and Afghanistan at that time.

Since the Northern Wei Dynasty was established by the nomadic Xianbei ethnic group, the early carvings in Yungang also reflect the ethnic culture of northern China.

In the interior decoration of the grottoes, visitors will find many forest animals and plants seldom seen in orthodox Buddhist carving, such as deer, tigers, birds and birch trees.

Later on, as the Xianbei people gradually expanded their control of territory to the south, Gandhara culture and their own ethnic culture eventually assimilated with Han culture.

This change is clearly reflected in the dress of the later Buddhist statues. Wearing ample gowns and loose girdles, the Buddhas no longer bare their right shoulders. Instead, they wear long pleated skirts and flowing robes like the garments of high-ranking Han officials of that time.

By 494 AD, when the Northern Wei Dynasty moved its capital from Datong to Luoyang, the center of Han culture, only a small number of officials were left behind to supervise the construction project.

Because of limited human and financial resources, many caves remained empty until artisans of Tang Dynasty (618-907) again took up the sculpting work.

From that time on, Datong remained a center of Buddhist culture until modern times, when its glory gradually faded and the small city became better known for its coal production.

(China Daily June 22, 2004)