Nearly an hour before landing in Dunhuang the landscape below turns to sand - towering peaks covered with snow, sand dunes that can reach 100-200 meters, sand twisting up tornado like, vast flat planes - endless miles accross the Taklimakan, China's largest, driest desert. There's nothing that prepares you to see the world's largest shifting sand desert, which fills the Tarim Basin, located between the Tibetan Plateau to the south and Tian Shan (Celestial Mountains) to the north. Even more mind boggling is to realize that there was a time when people crossed through this area as part of their Silk Road travels on Bacterian camel and Asian wild ass, even though it's never been useable as farmland of any type for humans - a frightening proposition if you miss the occasional oasis created by the freshwater springs fed by snowmelt or the Tarim River flowing from west to east through the basin
With its numerous underground rivers fed by the far away glaciers and melting snow, Dunhuang, part of the Gansu Province, is a mix of desert and fertile agricultural land which relies primarily on irrigation, not rain. Stands of trees hold back the shifting sand and threats from inevitable sandstorms. Peaches and almond trees light up the landscape with their white blossoms. Endless miles of grapevines are waiting to leaf along strong arched wooden structures and will eventually become one of the many varieties of raisins this region is known for.
The Magao Caves had their beginning in 366CE with the monk, Heng Dao's desire to increase the region's awareness of a then increasingly popular religion called Buddhism. Between the late 4th to mid 8th centuries CE, over one thousand caves were carved out of this cliff-face. Some for reflection and worship, while others were residents of monks and passing pilgrims. All are entirely covered with painting into plaster, occasionally embellished with gold leaf. One-thousand-Buddha ceilings flow into fully painted walls often depicting the sutras as well as images of the many nationalities that passed through here and the local wealthy patrons who lived in the nearby metropolis. Over time some were plastered over and repainted until as late as the 14th century CE.
Some of the Magao caves reveal incredible statuary showing Buddha in various postures. Here an enormous Buddha reclines, while another reaches high above to a cave opening and would have been seen from very far away. Stupas in the immediate area would have been gilded and covered with silk, holding Buddhist relics and manuscripts on palm leaves and later on birch bark.
Awareness of these caves disappeared as this part of the Silk Road fell into disuse. A small community of people remained in the area. In 1906, Aurel Stein heard about these caves. He negotiated with the Buddhist abott Wong for access. A home for the abbott appeared and many valuable sutra manuscripts disappeared to England from an anti chamber that was identified by its earthquake caused cracks in a cave's repaired wall.
Dunhuang in Brief:
- Named Shazhou in ancient times
- 50,000 to 100,000 ancient population and 190,000 today
- Ethnic demographics - Majority Han Chinese
- Religious demographics - for centuries Dunhuang was the center Buddhism in China. Today, various religions can be found here.
- Dunhuang was an important city on the Silk Road as the hub of highway communication in the northwestern Chinese plateau. For the two Hans to Southern and Northern Dynasties, Dunhuang was the thoroughfare between the middle and western parts of China.
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