Nanjing 南京市 - Jiangsu Province 江 苏 省 简 介 - Murals in Qixia Mountains 栖霞山壁画

Archaeologists made a significant discovery in Dunhuang research recently in this capital of Jiangsu Province. Dozens of murals of Gandharva aand Kimnara were discovered in the niches of the Thousand-Buddha-Cliff in Qixia Mountains, a Buddhist worshipping site in the eastern suburbs of Nanjing. A group of archaeologists carried out a project to study the shapes of the Buddhas. The murals are recognized as the creations of the late Sui Dynasty and early Tang Dynasty. The discovery has aroused the interests of scholars and archaeologists who have gone to the site to take a closer look at the treasures. The image of Gandharva and Kimnara on the murals suggests connections between the Buddhist culture and art in East China and those in the DunhuangGrottoes in Northwest China’s Gansu Province which were discovered in 1900 and are rich resources for the study of ancient Chinese civilization and religion. Since the grottoes’ discovery, Dunhuang research and studies have mainly focused on the northwestern area because there is not much evidence of the art elsewhere in China. But the discovery of the murals in Qixia Mountains proves that there is also a rich storage of materials for Dunhuang studies in eastern areas. The resemblance between the shapes of Gandharva and Kimnare in Qixin Mountains and those in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes affirms the wide spread of Dunhuang culture in fChina in ancient times. The experts speculated it as quite possible that painters who went with the imperial officials appointed to administrate and guard the northern frontier contributed to the making and perfection of Gandharva and Kimnara murals in Dunhuang. International Dunhuang scholars have also been encouraged by the discovery. One British scholar said the preservation of the more than 1,000-year-old murals is a miracle and is of great academic importance. He praised the discovery as a shining pearl in the history of Dunhuang culture. Gandharva and Kimnara statues have also been found on the stupa in Qixia Mountains, which furtheer proves the rich cultural heritage of Dunhuang studies in Nanjing. Inscriptions of Chinese, Sanskrit and exquisite carvings can also be clearly seen on the Thousand-Buddha-Cliff. This shows that in the Sui and Tang dynasties, Nanjing was a place of flourishing Buddhist culture and helped spread it to other parts of the country.

Chinese engineers have started repairing the Qianfoyan (Thousand-Buddha-Cliff) Buddhist Grottoes, a historical site from the Southern and Northern Dynasty. Located on Qixia Mountains northeast of Nanjing, the Qianfoyan grottoes are said to be the oldest and largest Buddhist grottoes in South China. There are 515 statues of Buddhist figures in 252 grottoes carved out of the cliffs. Since repair work started in May 2001, engineers have reinforced 11 grottoes by injecting concrete into the cracks. The walls of the grottoes and the statues were cleaned and protected against moss and mold. The entire project took three years to complete.

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