Benutzer:Barbarossa/Yungang-Grottoes

The Yungang Grottoes, formerly known as Wuzhoushan Grottoes, are ancient buddhist cave temples. The site is located in the chinese province of Shanxi, about 16 kilometers from the city of Datong. The cave tmeples consist of 252 grottoes and niches with more than 50,000 buddha statues and statuettes. The site of the Yungang Grottoes is one of the three most famous sites of buddhist stone sculpturing in China. Since the year 2001 they are listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

History

Beginning with the decline of the Jin-Dynastie, the northern parts of China came under the control of the northern Wei dynastie. They made the city of Pingcheng, nowadays known as Datong, their capital. Due to its promotion, Pingcheng saw also an increased amount of construction work.