A PLACE, A STORY / Dunhuang
Mogao Caves
Caves beside the desert preserve centuries of Buddhist painting and sculpture. Their art reflects the movement of ideas along the Silk Roads.
© Zhangzhugang · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons. Resized and compressed. · Original source · License
© G41rn8 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons. Resized and compressed. · Original source · License
Mogao’s caves were carved into cliffs near the Dunhuang oasis, beginning in the fourth century. Generations of painters and sculptors created Buddhist images here, leaving a record of religious life and cultural exchange along the Silk Roads. The surviving works span roughly a thousand years.
Start by considering the cliff itself: many separate spaces belong to one landscape. With a friend, discuss how repeated visits by different generations might slowly transform a place into a shared memory.
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