One of the most interesting and underrated places to visit in China are the Mogao Caves or 莫高窟 in Chinese, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas (千佛洞). I can attest, having visited these magnificent caves in 2012 while touring China and my mother’s home province of Gansu. The name Mogao or 莫高 in Chinese means “peerless” or literally “none higher” which may be a reference to the substantial religious background of the Mogao Caves. These unique caves have also been dubbed Thousand Buddha Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas due to the myriad of painted Buddha figures on the walls of the caves.
We all know about the silk road and the things traded along it: silk (obviously), salt, sugar, porcelain, spices, and of course, ideas of religion like Buddhism. Dunhuang was an oasis throughout a dry and hot desert located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road. In the fourth century AD, the cave was a place of solitude and independent meditation for hermit monks, later, however, they grew in size due to more Buddhist monks moving to the area and monasteries began to establish near Dunhuang. Soon, these Mogao Caves at Dunhuang transformed from a barren oasis in the middle of the desert to a popular place of religious pilgrimage to the Buddhist public and even laymen. Between the times of the fourth and fourteenth centuries, Buddhist monks constructed caves as a shrine to Buddha. The monks slaved away in tribute, painting beautiful and intricate designs of Buddhas and other Buddhist elements, like the quest for enlightenment and Buddhist stories and beliefs.
The Mogao Caves at Dunhuang received lots of attention from the public during the Tang Dynasty, much due to its strong religious centrality. However, during the Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty, trading along the Silk Road ceased and the site experienced a gradual decline. By the Ming Dynasty, it was abandoned and forgotten.
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, several explorers with interest in the ancient Silk Road rediscovered the Mogao Caves. Today, efforts are continuing to conserve and uncover more caves in the nearby areas. The Mogao Caves became one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1987.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogao_Caves
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-asia/imperial-china/tang-dynasty/a/mogao-caves-at-dunhuang