Yungang Shiku Caves

The Yungang Shiku Caves, 16km/10mi west of Datong on the southern slopes of the Wuzhou Mountains, stretch for over 1km/1100yd in an east-west direction. Like the caves at Dunhuang and Longmen, these too house a number of Buddhist works of art which betray Indian and Ancient Greek influences.

There are 53 caves in all containing more than 51,000 statues, the largest being 17m/56ft high and the smallest a mere 2cm/.75in, as well as high-reliefs. Most were made between AD 460 and 494, a donation from the Toba emperors (northern Wei dynasty), especially Wencheng, a practicing Buddhist. Ten of thousands of sculptors labored on this mighty task under the supervision of the monk Tao Yao.