Twenty Stone Inscriptions of Longmen Grottoes

The Longmen Grottoes, one of China's three largest treasure troves of stone carving, enjoy equal fame as the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang and Yungang Grottoes in Datong. Long-men, located in the suburbs of Luoyang, Henan Province, came into existence during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty when the capital was moved from Shanxi's Pingcheng to Luoyang (493). Sporadic periods of carving continued during the ensuing Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi, Sui, Tang, Song and Qing dynasties. The grottoes house 2,345 inches and more than 100,000 sculptures carrying Buddhist themes, as well as those related to architecture, music, calligraphy and medicine.