The Longmen Grottoes are one of the four treasure of grotto art in China, the other three being the Mogao Grottoes in Gansu Province, the Yungang Grottoes in Shanxi Province, and the Dazu Grottoes in the Chongqing Municipality. The grottoes are located on the banks of Yihe River, 13 kilometers south of Luoyang.

Work on the Longmen Grottoes began in the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) and continued for more than 400 years during the succeeding of cliff face, 2,345 grottoes were hollowed. On the cliff face and inside the grottoes and niches, 70 pagodas were built or carved in relief and 100,000 Buddhist statues were carved. The grottoes present a magnificent scene.

The largest of the grottoes is the Fengxian (Ancestor Worshiping) Temple, built in 675. The sculptures in the temple are vivid, lifelike, and aesthetically arranged, and represent a major achievement in the art of sculpture during the Tang Dynasty. In the middle of the temple is the principal statue of Vairocana with a plump, kindly face. He is 17 meters, in height, and his head alone is over 4 meters in height, and his ears are 1.9 meters long.

Although the sculptures in the Longmen Grottoes are Buddhist, the talented artists of ancient China cast off the yoke of religion and took their inspiration from everyday life. As a result, they created lifelike images, of which no two are alike. The Longmen Grottoes provide important references for the study of ancient sculpture and Buddhism. In 2000, the grottoes were included on UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage list.