Mogao Caves 莫高窟

About Mogao Caves

Narrative paintings share walls with donors and repeated Buddha figures, while changing styles reflect the oasis’s connections across the Silk Road. The Library Cave’s manuscript discovery adds another layer to the story, although many of those documents are now held elsewhere. A guided selection of caves offers an introduction to this much larger artistic landscape.

According to a Tang-dynasty stele, the monk Yuezun (乐僔) cut the first cave in 366, during the Former Qin dynasty, after a vision of golden light like a thousand Buddhas. Construction was supported by Northern Wei, Western Wei and Northern Zhou rulers who favored Buddhism, and flourished further under the Sui and Tang as the Silk Road prospered. Work declined under the Song, Western Xia and Yuan dynasties, when it was mostly limited to repairs, and stopped once the Silk Road fell out of use, until the site drew renewed attention after 1701.

The cliff holds 735 surviving caves dating from the Northern Wei to Yuan dynasties, split into a southern area of 487 caves, all containing murals or sculpture, and a northern area of 248 caves, only five of which hold murals or sculpture, the rest having served as places for monks' religious practice, residence and burial. Across both areas the decorated caves contain about 45,000 square meters of murals and 2,415 painted clay sculptures.

Mogao is grouped with the Yungang and Longmen grottoes as China's three major grotto sites. It was named in the first group of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level (全国重点文物保护单位) in 1961, and inscribed on the World Heritage List in December 1987.

What to look for

• The relationship between painted sculpture and the surrounding cave murals.
• The cliffside cave arrangement and the history of the Library Cave discovery.

Location & getting there

Getting to Mogao Caves

Book through the official Mogao reservation channel and go first to the Mogao Digital Exhibition Centre outside Dunhuang. The core cave area does not serve as the normal independent arrival point; follow the centre’s checking and shuttle arrangements for your booking.