Art And Soul

Parts 1 to 3

Picture, for a moment, an art studio and gallery that's over one and a half kilometres long, is built into a sheer cliff face near an oasis, and is surrounded by grey sandy desert.

Now imagine that this gallery has been continuously hosting artisans for nearly two thousand years.

Envisage these artisans and craftspeople chiselling away at that rockface, building massive grottoes to create and display their incredible paintings and sculptures, some of which took over ten years to complete, and some that were carved into the cliff face itself.

Now imagine that all of the works created were purely spiritual endeavours, painstakingly built by monks and artisans who had dedicated their whole lives to the practices of Buddhism, and whose works were rooted in devotion, and were created purely for the divine.

All of these artisans had come to this oasis along the Silk Road, a route which didn't only host trade in goods like silk, spices, ivory, tea and precious stones and metals. The Silk Road was also a cultural melting pot, and, in fact, it was along this road that new ideas, belief systems and faiths spread throughout the whole of Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

This incredible desert gallery, in this incredible place, is the Mogao Caves.

Mogao

With over 35,000 square metres of frescoes, and over 700 art grottoes, Mogao Caves host one of the largest and most significant repositories of Buddhist art in the world.

Or, as Tony Abbott would say, its a suppository of all wisdom.

And what makes it particularly significant is its longevity and continuity, so it now displays, in one place, a huge portion of the chronological evolution of Buddhist art styles, teachings, icons, and belief systems, created by artists from all over the Buddhist world.

I rode out to the visitor centre, about 10 clicks out of town, paid the exorbitant foreigners entrance fee, and was then led into a cinema to watch a very well produced film recreating the story of how the grottoes first came into being, with a super smart English translation headphone system.

Next up was the iMax cinema, where we virtually flew around the grottoes, and were told some of the stories behind the frescoes and sculptures, who built them, and why.

It was super impressive, and really the very best way to introduce an incredibly important site to ignoramii such as myself.

Next up was the bus trip to the site itself, another few clicks into the grey sandy desert.

Blurry bus pic, leaning over Andries and Analies, a lovely young couple from Belgium. He was the perfect Gent man and she a complete Gent woman.

First sight of the site. Well, a tiny portion of it.

To protect the grottoes, and the art inside them, parts of the cliff face have been rendered at the front, but in a very aesthetically sensitive way, with pathways that allow for relatively high volumes of visitors. Tourist numbers are restricted though, and luckily this isn't the busy time. In peak season you need to book some time in advance if you're Chinese.

The caves are all locked up, to protect the art from light, dust, certain gases, and ignorant humans and their certain gases. There's equipment measuring air composition and humidity etc in the caves. They're really doing an amazing job of preserving it all.

We had an excellent English speaking local guide who took us to particular grottoes, and who seemed to know everything about everything.

She was also particularly funny, and quite dry. Once, after she'd described some Buddhist belief systems in great detail, someone in our small group asked her if she actually believed in those ideas. She answered, very matter-of-factory, "Well, I believe in myself."

Brownie points for that one.

I actually chatted to her for quite a while afterwards, she's a trained teacher, but got tired of moving around the country with that job, and has now spent seven years working here and studying Buddhist art from all over the world, a lot of which she's visited herself. She still claims to know hardly anything about art, and says she has so much more to learn. Now that's humility for ya.

We could only photograph the outside of the grottoes, as usual, so I've thrown in some images of the interior from the web, mainly taken from an open digital catalogue of the art which has been made available online by the Dunhuang Research Institute.

This wooden pagoda protected a giant Buddha.

At 36m tall, the Buddha is one of the largest in China. It's carved into the cliff face, so is completely made of stone, not clay and grass, like most of the smaller sculptures within the grottoes. It was incredible to see this work, and the art that surrounds it.

It's thought that the Buddha here represents the very powerful Empress Wu Zetian, who actually used Buddhism to consolidate her own power in the Empire.

Wily old politicians, huh.

Empress Wu, who reigned from 690 till 705, presided over a period that saw the Tang Dynasty reach its zenith of power in China. The Tang era (618-907) is now regarded as China's cultural golden era, it was a time when art, music, literature and lemons flourished, and diverse religious belief systems were not only tolerated, but embraced. Wu hoo!

The era was also the most productive period at Mogao Grottoes, and over 230 caves were carved there during those years.

As it turns out though, Empress Wu's embrace of Buddhism was used against her by her Confucian political rivals, and they forced her to abdicate in 705. Boo hoo.

There were a number of other huge Buddhas in the grottoes.

The band

Ceiling detail

For me, it was an amazing privilege to be able to stand in these incredible caves and see this art for myself. I'll never forget it. I saw works created in the 400s, with naive drawings and Buddha figures that looked completely Indian in style -  created by Indian Buddhists travelling the Silk Road to spread Buddha's teachings.

I saw works with Tibetan images, created when the Tibetan kingdom ruled this part of the world, I saw very Chinese-looking Buddhas with thin curly moustaches, and non-gendered Bodhisattvas in a variety of styles, which began to appear later on.

There was a library grotto, which, when first re-discovered, contained over 60,000 ancient Buddhist sutras and texts. Unfortunately many were carted off by European explorers, particularly Aurel Stein and Paul Pelliot, who bought over 20,000 of them for a song from a Taoist monk. They paid about £120 at the time for all those priceless treasures, and then proceeded to sell them all over the world.

Great, thanks for that guys.

Another Stein on our colonial history.

We actually visited what used to be the Library Cave. It's now completely empty.

This pic is of Stein's partner in crime, Paul Pelliot, checking out the loot, and choosing the most valuable pieces to steal.

But there's one thing about Mogao that's sorta sad, and which makes it different from most of the other sacred grottoes and temples I've visited on this part of my trip. Mogao is pretty much no longer an active place of worship. It's a museum. Access is strictly controlled. Local Buddhists do get some restricted access to some of the sacred places, but only on auspicious days.

When you take away the pilgrims and the worship, the place loses soul. The art is now looked at and appreciated for its true magnificence, but the reason it was created, what it represents, is no longer so tangible. The line of continuity has been broken, and the faith that previously connected the ancient with the modern is no longer so palpable when you're there.

I mean, the connection is still there, but it pales by comparison with the feeling you get in places like the living monastery of Labrang, or the Great Buddha Temple in Zhangye.

As usual, the material world has come to overshadow the immaterial.

At our peril.

This sign was above the urinal in the toilets in the visitor centre. I'm not sure whether they're talking about me properly doing up my fly. In fact I'm not sure  what the hell they're talking about at all. Definitely lost in translation, this one.

By the way, I had such a great time chatting with Cristina at the grottoes. She's a super interesting quantum physicist from Barcelona, who's just completed a research project in Okinawa, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. She decided to head back home overland, and has been winding her way back by bus and train. Back to Catalonia, by the way, not to Spain. She's a big supporter of Catalan independence.

But that's another story.

She's already on her way to Ürümqii, the capital of Xinjiang province, which I also hope to visit before I leave China.

It was such a treat to have a real face to face conversation in English with someone from a Western country. I've only had one other of those in the whole time I've been in this part of China, which is about 6 weeks now. I've definitely been off the Western tourist track. As usual. It was particularly refreshing to chat with someone who shares my political views, and to learn more about what's happening for younger people in Spain these days, and particularly in Catalonia. It wasn't all happy listening though, I must say.

Huangin Around

I love Dunhuang. It's interesting. It's diverse. The people are super friendly. There's lots to eat and drink.

I skipped on these three though.

This fella and I chatted for about two minutes, after which he disappeared back into his dad's phone.

Grotto-inspired art. These are images of apsaras, which are female celestial beings that often fly around the place. Apsaras originated in Hinduism, and were eventually incorporated into Buddhism as well.

Gotta have yer angels mate, or it's no fun at all.

Amazing artist at work, live at the night markets

Another of his works. I'd buy them all if I could.

Another incredible work of art, this time by Angelia Bakery. Yep, fresh apricots and cream. I've now swallowed heaven.

And had bliss for breakfast. Cinnamon fruit bread. You can't know how much I appreciate such things.

I guess that's one option for naming your long distance bus station.

Smelly supermarket

Pass

Pass

Pass. As if we need more plastic.

Stop! Yes please! So juicy, I made a right mess. And gobbled it all in 2 sittings. This is a melon region, and I've had lots of them.

Tea, beer and delicious food. A particularly good local beer, I must say.

How much can a koala bear?

The Dung He runs through one edge of town, it's been predictably Disneyfied, but is actually quite nice at night.

You can walk out across these boardwalks, it's really nice hanging out in the middle of the river, as the air's cooler and you think life is perfect for awhile.

There was also a film projected onto water spray, all about how great the area is. Not my fave.

Mingsha Shan

One hot eve I rode about 6 clicks south from my hotel, until the road ended at a dead end.

For a pretty good reason.

Yeah, I arrived at the edge of the Gobi Desert, at a spot where towering grey sand dunes stretch off into infinity, right before your eyes.

It was incredible. I've never seen anything like it in my life, having never been to the Sahara (well, not yet). The fact that 2.75m tourists also happened to be there at the same time was a slight inconvenience.

But hey, I was one of them. The only Western one, that I could see.

The thing to do is to play dress ups. Hire a traditional costume, get made up with headdresses and jewellery and makeup, and then pose for pics that you can post.

So much fun.

But hardly any men do it.

Poor things. It's actually a really cruel thing making animals take tourists around in this way, because they're forced to do it every day, and don't get enough time to rest, eat and be healthy.

But no one seems to understand that around here. Look at the caravans at the back. Incredible isn't it. And it's not the busy time yet.

Dune snatchers. The bright orange footwear pieces are one piece polyester gaters, that cover the whole shoe and lower leg, so sand doesn't sully the perfection of your clean shoes and socks.

Sad, but predictable.

Of course, I took my shoes off, like every earth-respecting human would do. There were a handful of young Chinese tourists who did the same. I was happy not to stick out all on my own. As if I wasn't sticking out anyway, as nearly the only Westerner within about a 1000km radius.

Once I caught up with the critters ahead it took forever to get up, because people just randomly rested, holding up the whole line. I tried overtaking, given my busy schedule, and just walking past on the sand away from the wooden ladder, but the sand was so soft and slow that it just swallowed me up, and it was actually quicker to wait.

Crescent Moon Lake, and a temple, from the top of the first big dune.

Of course, I went a-wandering alone up there. It really was magnificent. The dunes are so massive, the high point is over 1710m above ground level, and they go on forever and ever.

I was pretty blown away, cosmically, knowing I'm little more than a grain of sand in the general scheme of things.

I chatted in broken English with some lovely young med students from Chengdu in Sichuan.

And then I ran down the dunes at full pelt. It was such a blast!

Interminable photoshoots.

This photo was in the museum. You can see the desert encroaching on the fertile land. Unfortunately that's happening around here.

A Magnificent Museum

Some museums are as boring as camelshit, but the one here at Dunhuang is the complete opposite, as it's basically an art museum packed to its hewn rafters with true mistresspieces.

I hope you don't mind me posting quite a few pics of some incredible works here. Art is a true love of mine, as you may have noticed. If it's too boring I give you permission to scroll down.

But only this once.

Some of the art has been removed from the Mogao grottoes, to protect it, and some are fresco replicas.

It's truly beautiful.

Man-bird: "Oh darling please, just because I don't have a stork head doesn't mean we can't be together. I'm really crazy about you. Look at these. I flew halfway across the world to get you these beautiful designer tail feathers. You look so good in navy. And yeah, I know kissing has been problematic for us, but hey, don't you worry chickybabe, I'm stork where it really counts, down in those feather regions."

Haloed Boddhisatva: "Tut tut. Young creatures these days, so unaware and materialistic. What's the universe coming to? But I've gotta say, these freshwater oasis shrimp are the absolute bomb!"

Stork: "Wow! 2-part harmonies from the same man-bird. How romantic! Way more impressive than that other guy with the woosy kiss. Although .... hmmmm ....two heads .... mmmmm, maybe I'm not so sure. Double the cooking, plus if we ever argue it'll always be two against one."

Female haloed Boddhisattva: "Would you please shut your Gautam mouth Ananda! You're always preaching at me, and you're always so bloody happy! It's annoying! How about some silent meditation for awhile, I'm trying to listen to that amazing singing double-headed man bird over there. Oh my, oh dear, it's actually quite beautiful, oooh, yes, mmmmm. Who in heaven is he?"

Empress: "Oh hurry up general. Keep up, for Kwan Yin's sake!  And really, must you always look so serious?"

Mongolian gazelle trap. That's not a joke.

Hemp socks from the Han Dynasty, around the year dot, ie., the year 0.

Bronze sculpture from around the same period.

And a steamer.

Jade pillow from the 400s. Yep, a pillow. Reminds me of the wooden pillows they gave us at the monastery in Thailand last year.

A piece of music from the 500s. I played it on my guitar. It's really good, sounds a bit like a marching song for an army, or a procession or something. You should try it.

Stone carved stupa. Small stupas were chiselled out and placed inside the grottoes at Mogao, rather than outside. I've never seen this anywhere before.

Original pieces for the ancient go game, a very old and well known strategic board game in China.

Temple guardian from the 800s.

Inside the museum they've built an exact replica of one of the grottoes. Pretty amazing actually.

Han writings

And Tibetan

Ancient Darth Lord

4-armed Avalokitesvara from the 1600s.

Guru statue

Gig shirt for heavy metal singer

Ancient wood print for religious texts in Sanskrit

Beautiful porcelain figurines

Wooden lions

Pretty much all of the grottoes actually had donors, who would pay or support the artisans and monks to construct them. There was money around in those days. The donors were often wealthier traders looking for the protection of the Gods on their journeys, and sometimes devout monks would raise money from a variety of donors.

The information on the donors appears at the front of the grottoes, much like modern art gallery spaces display plaques saying they're sponsored by wealthy mining companies like Santos and BHP.

At least we can look at art while the world burns.

Old pics from the area, back in the day. Ruling class.

Monk and artisan class.

Told you there was money around in those days. This is local, western regions currency.

And the national currency.

On the way out I was astounded by a kids national art exhibition, most particularly by the ages of the painters. Surely their mums and dads (and art teachers) must've helped them.

This lot was from the age group 13-16:

Ages 10-12:

Doin the Jimi thing again.

Ages 7-9:

This is the only one that looked to me like it'd been painted by a child.

Beautiful Buddhist designs, some of which were printed on silk.

More apsaras

Modern embroidery using old folk designs

Felt work, with me embossed

More Deserts To Cross

Unfortunately, my visa's starting to get low, in the time department. I need to be out of China within a couple of weeks.

Bummer. I feel like I'm just beginning to scratch the surface of this vast, incredible and hugely diverse country. But already I need to think about leaving.

I have no other option but to take a bus and a train for the next leg, crossing from Gansu province into the even bigger province of Xinjiang, a region that encompasses a whopping one sixth of the country's entire land mass.

My next destination is Turpan, the hottest part of China, where it sometimes gets up to 50 degrees Celsius in summer. It's a region that sits in a massive geographical bowl, parts of which are over 150m below sea level. That makes it the third lowest region on earth, after Mar-a-Lago in Florida and the Pentagon/Kremlin/and a currently unnamed third political nerve centre, who all tie for second.

But I'm not going there for that reason. The region around Turpan is 80% Uyghur, and I'm going there to experience a new, rich and completely different culture and language.

I'm slowly moving away from Han China, and heading into Eurasia. The borders between the two major civilisations and cultures are blurred, and both groups have major strongholds in this region. But the more westwards I go, the more changes I see. And the more I realise that the two cultures, despite being geographically so close together, appear to be so many worlds apart❤️

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