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The Dunhuang Grottoes were built in the Sixteen Kingdoms
and the construction continued in the Northern Wei (368-534),
Western Wei (535-556), Northern Zhou (557-581), Sui (581-618),
Tang (618-907), Five Dynasties (907-960), Song (960-1279), Western
Xia (1038-1227) and Yuan Dynasties (1271-1368), where preserved
to this day are over 5,000 caves constructed between the 4th
and the 14 th century,more than 3,000 coloured sculptures, above
50,000 square metres of painted murals and tens of thousands
of Dunhuang documents and classical Chinese paintings on paper,
cloth or silk unearthened form the caves where Buddhist scriptures
were kept. Therefore, they are taken as the peerless treasure-house
of Buddhist grottoes of the modem world in academic circles.
The Dunhuang Grottoes are the product of Buddhists' religious
activities as well as the site for the Buddists to perform rituals.
The coloured sculptures and painted murals are the crystalized
results of the artistic work by the ancient sculptors and painters.
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