龙门石窟 / Longmen Grottoes

龙门石窟是中国著名的三大石刻艺术宝库之一，位于河南省洛阳南郊12公里处的伊河两岸。经过自北魏至北宋400 余年的开凿，至今仍存有窟龛2100多个，造像10万余尊，碑刻题记3600余品，多在伊水西岸。数量之多位于中国各大石窟之首。其中“龙门二十品”是书法魏碑精华，唐代著名书法家褚遂良所书的“伊阙佛龛之碑”则是初唐楷书艺术的典范。

 

龙门石窟与甘肃敦煌莫高窟、山西大同云岗石窟、甘肃天水麦积山石窟并称为中国四大石窟；而龙门石窟与莫高窟、云岗石窟和重庆大足石刻则是中国境内被列入联合国教科文组织世界文化遗产名录的四座石窟。

 

The Longmen Grottoes (simplified Chinese: 龙门石窟; traditional Chinese: 龍門石窟; pinyin: lóngmén shíkū; lit. Dragon's Gate Grottoes) or Longmen Caves are located 12 km south of present day Luòyáng in Hénán province, China. The grottoes, which overwhelmingly depict Buddhist subjects, are densely dotted along the two mountains: Xiangshan (to the east) and Longmenshan (to the west). The Yi River flows northward between them. For this reason, the area used to be called Yique (The Gate of the Yi River). From north to south, the distance covered by grottoes is about one km. Along with the Mogao Caves and Yungang Grottoes, the Longmen Grottoes are one of the three most famous ancient sculptural sites in China. There are over 2100 niches, more than 100,000 statues, some 40 pagodas and 3600 tablets and steles in the caves of Guyang, Binyang and Lianhua.