The Mogao Grottoes

The history and significance of Mogao are developed in this chapter. For more than a 1,000 years Dunhuang had thrived as an outpost guarding the westernmost regions of the empire, protecting trade and encouraging the exchange of goods and knowledge between the heartland and regions to the west. Buddhism flowed along the Silk Road oases into China proper and beyond. During this period artisans constructed the caves along the mile of cliff face. The decorated caves of Mogao are among the world’s most important sites of Buddhist art and afford an unparalleled record of a millennium of Chinese wall painting and sculpture, depicting not only the religious practices of the period between the fourth and fourteenth centuries, but also life, customs, costumes, music, agriculture, and a wealth of historical information of the times. Management of the grottoes dates back to the 1940s when a group of young archaeologists and artists began the work of preserving, studying, and documenting the site. In 1999 the Dunhuang Academy began their master planning process following the methodology of the China Principles. Out of this process visitor management and, specifically, the urgent need to determine the relationship between visitation to the caves and deterioration of the wall paintings emerged as a priority.