Sidal Utkucu from Turkey: Longmen Grottoes stun me

Updated: 2015-09-28

Editor's note: Sidal Utkucu, a Turkish language reporter working for China Radio International (CRI), recently visited Longmen Grottoes, the treasure house of ancient Buddhist cave art, in Luoyang, Henan province. The following is what she wrote about her experience during the grottoes visit.

Longmen Grottoes is one of the three major grottoes in China. According to the tour guide, the carving work in Longmen began in AD 493, when Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei dynasty (AD 386-534) moved his capital to Luoyang. And the work went on for more than 400 years then after.

Caves of the Longmen are densely carved on the West and East Hills' cliffs on both banks of the Yihe River. There are thousands of stone-carved Buddha statues there, the largest of which can be dozens of meters high while the small ones measure only few centimeters in height.

In the Longmen Grottoes, the wonderful view of around 1,500 years old stunned me! It was hard to imagine how much patience and labor it took for the people back then to build such works. And it is a great honor for people today that we still have the chance to appreciate the great work of art.

Sidal Utkucu in Longmen Grottoes [Photo/cri.cn]