Dunhuang culture in Gansu has a long history.

Dunhuang culture is an ancient picture scroll in Gansu culture. Its vicissitudes over the years still shock people who have seen it. The artistic form in Dunhuang culture is extremely exquisite, which is a beautiful spark born in the collision of multi-cultures. Then, let's feel the grandeur of Dunhuang culture together.

Dunhuang culture and art, also known as Mogao grottoes culture and art, is called the art museum of the eastern world. It has preserved 735 caves, more than 3,000 colored sculptures, 45,000 square meters of murals and five wooden structures from the 4th century to the10th century in the Tang and Song Dynasties. After the founding of New China, the state established the Dunhuang Cultural Relics Research Institute (later changed to Dunhuang Art Research Institute) here, and began the unprecedented protection and research work in history.

Dunhuang, a sacred name. Dunhuang is the meeting point of various cultures, where China, Indian, Greek and Islamic cultures meet. Dunhuang is an artistic palace. Those murals and sculptures from the 4th century to 1 1 century have brought people a very strong artistic feeling. Dunhuang is also a treasure house of documents. In these tens of thousands of red axis yellow scrolls, there are rich literature resources, including Chinese, ancient Tibetan, Uighur, Khotan, Kucha, Sogdian and Sanskrit. The content involves politics, economy, military affairs, philosophy, religion, literature, nationality, folklore, language, history, science and technology and other fields.

Dunhuang has a history of more than 2000 years. Before the Qin and Han Dynasties, there lived Moon, Birds, Sun and others here. At the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, the Huns in Mobei drove the Yue people away and occupied Dunhuang. In the second year of Yuanshou (12 1), the Western Han army defeated the Xiongnu in Hexi, and Dunhuang and Hexi Corridor were incorporated into the territory of the Western Han Dynasty. In the sixth year of Ding Yuan (1 1 1), the Western Han Dynasty established a county in Dunhuang, which was also called the four counties in Hexi with Jiuquan, Zhangye and Wuwei.

The Great Wall is built in the north of Dunhuang, and Yangguan and Wangmen Pass are set in the west. Since then, Dunhuang has become the gateway and military center for the western regions to enter the Hexi Corridor and the Central Plains. In order to consolidate Dunhuang's strategic position, the government immigrated from the mainland to settle here and sent troops to settle in the fields. The management and development of Dunhuang in the Western Han Dynasty established the important position of Dunhuang in history.

After the continuous development of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Cao Wei regime, Dunhuang remained relatively stable for a long time and became an important commodity trading center and grain production base on the Silk Road. Central Plains culture takes root and develops here, and Confucian classics spread here. Buddhist culture originated in India also spread to Dunhuang, where Zhu Fahu, a master of sutra translation who was called "Dunhuang Bodhisattva" in the Western Jin Dynasty, and his disciples translated and lectured.

During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, Dunhuang was ruled by five regimes: Liang Qian, Qianqin, Hou Liang, Xiliang and Beiliang. At this time, there was chaos in the Central Plains and frequent wars. Only when Dunhuang is relatively peaceful, the population increases and the people in the Central Plains and Hexi Corridor avoid chaos here can the Han and Jin cultures in the Central Plains be preserved and continued in Dunhuang and Hexi Corridor. Dunhuang has produced a group of well-known Confucian scholars who run libraries, give lectures and write books, and set up their own homes. The traditional culture of the Central Plains is very mature in Dunhuang. At the same time, Buddhist monks who sought Buddhism from the west and spread Buddhism from the east all passed through Dunhuang, which promoted the development of Dunhuang Buddhism.

The book "Wei's Old Records" says: "Dunhuang is connected with the western regions, and Taoism and customs are integrated. Its old villages and docks belong to each other, and there are many pagodas. " Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes came into being. According to the first year of Emperor Taizong (698), Li Kerang recorded in the Monument to the Buddha Cave in Mogao Grottoes: "In the second year of Qin Jianyuan (366), the Mogao Grottoes suddenly saw golden light, which was like a thousand buddhas, and there was a shaman's pleasure. He kept his mind quiet, tasted the wild forest, walked to this mountain, and built a cave. Then came the Zen master Fariang, who started from the east and began to build the side of his cave. Since Galand, two monks have been born. "

Since then, Wang Yuan Rong Tai, the imperial clan of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and Gong Jianping Yuyi, an aristocrat of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, have successively served as the secretariat of Guazhou (Dunhuang), believed in Buddhism, and gradually developed and prospered the sculpture activities of opening caves in the Mogao Grottoes.

The Sui Dynasty unified the north and south, defeated the invasion of Turks and Tuguhun in the northwest, kept the Silk Road open and prospered commerce. Wendi and Tangdi advocated Buddhism. Today, pagodas have been built in every state, and pagodas have also been erected in Chongjiao Temple (Mogao Grottoes) in Guazhou, and the palace scriptures have also spread to Dunhuang. During the brief Sui Dynasty, a cave was opened in Daxing, Dunhuang. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the invasion of West Turkic, the biggest threat to the western regions, was curbed, and four towns, Anxi Duhufu and Anxi, were established in the western regions.

In order to strengthen military defense, ten Hexi armies, including Doulu Army, Moli Army, Wangmen Army, Chishui Army and Jiankang Army, were set up in Dunhuang and Hexi Corridor, which made Dunhuang's economy develop steadily and the Silk Road smooth. "From Yiwu in the west to Persia in the east, there are endless tributes and business trips." There are frequent economic and cultural exchanges between China and the West. The construction of Dunhuang Grottoes reached its peak, and Dunhuang culture further condensed the Han culture from the Central Plains and the cultures from India, West Asia and Central Asia.

In the 14th year of Tianbao (755), an Shi Rebellion occurred, and the Tang Dynasty turned from prosperity to decline. Tubo took the opportunity to capture Longyou and Hexi. In the second year of the founding of the People's Republic of China (78 1), Tubo occupied sandbars, promoted the administrative and economic system and customs of Tushan, and at the same time vigorously cultivated Buddhism, which rapidly expanded and promoted the continued construction of Mogao Grottoes.

In the second year of Huichang (842), Tubo was in civil strife and its power declined greatly. In the second year of Dazhong (848), Zhang Yichao of Shazhou took the opportunity to start an uprising, and successively recovered eleven states, including Iraq, Spain, Guatemala, Jiangsu, Gansu and Liangliang, and sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty, where he was canonized as our envoy to the Guiyi Army. Since then, he has been ruling the Guiyi Army for more than 200 years. Zhang Guiyi's regime restored the Tang system and promoted sinicization, which stabilized the political situation in Dunhuang. Under the protection of Zhang Guiyi's regime, Buddhism continued to build temples and grottoes.

In the 4th year of Song Ganhua (9 14), Cao Yijin succeeded Rizo in Zheng Feng's political power and rebuilt the rebel regime in six towns in Guasha Prefecture. He kept close contact with the Central Plains Dynasty, accepted the title of the Central Plains Dynasty, regarded the Central Plains as a new moon, and used the prestige of the old Tang Dynasty among the people of all ethnic groups to establish his position in the northwest, returning Ganzhou to the east and Xizhou to the west in a friendly way. The good relations established by Cao Shi regime with the Central Plains Dynasty and neighboring ethnic minority regimes not only kept the domestic situation relatively stable, but also kept the Silk Road smooth, promoted the Buddhist cultural exchanges between Dunhuang and the Central Plains and the Western Regions, and created conditions for the continued development of Dunhuang Buddhist art.

In the third year of Song Jingyao (1036) and the third year of Southern Song Baoqing (1227), Dunhuang was occupied by Tangut Qiang and Mongols. The rulers of Xixia and Mengyuan believed in Buddhism, and Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, as an important place of Buddhism, are still valued and still under construction. However, with the development of the Maritime Silk Road, the decline of the overland Silk Road and the expansion of the territory of Mongolia and Yuan Dynasty, Dunhuang lost its important position as a transit point between China and the West and a gateway to the western regions. The Mogao Grottoes also declined.

After the Yuan Dynasty, Dunhuang stopped opening caves and gradually became barren. In the seventh year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty (1528), Jiayuguan was closed, and Dunhuang became a nomadic place in the frontier fortress. In the fifty-seventh year of Kangxi in Qing Dynasty (17 18), Xinjiang was settled, and in the first year of Yongzheng (1723), Shazhou Station was set up in Dunhuang, and in the third year (1725), it was changed to Shazhou Wei, and immigrants from Gansu provinces settled in Dunhuang and rebuilt Shazhou City. In the twenty-five years of Qianlong (1760), Shazhouwei was changed to Dunhuang County, and Dunhuang economy began to recover. The Mogao grottoes began to be noticed by people.

From the first day of excavation, the Mogao Grottoes absorbed and integrated the essence of all human civilizations in Eurasia at that time with its tolerance. When we face the statue, the mural and the document, we will be attracted and impressed by the profound artistic progress and rich and profound cultural heritage of the Mogao Grottoes, and we will feel shocked and moved. At the same time, we will also deeply realize that without the prosperous economy and culture in ancient Hexi area, there would be no Mogao Grottoes; Without foreign economic and cultural exchanges and the broad mind of the Chinese nation, there would be no Mogao Grottoes.

After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), the cultural relics in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes have been truly and effectively protected and scientifically and rationally utilized. As one of the first national key cultural relics protection units, especially since the reform and opening up, Dunhuang cultural relics protection has entered a new period of vigorous development.

At the turn of the century, the year 2000 marks the100th anniversary of the discovery of the Dunhuang scriptures cave, and Dunhuang studies will also go through a hundred years. Dunhuang scholars and people all over the world who care about Dunhuang are paying attention to this historical moment.

Dunhuang's splendid cultural heritage has attracted the attention of the whole world. Dunhuang belongs to China and all mankind. Dunhuang culture represents the glory of ancient civilization in China, which will be carried forward in the new century.