Farong Dunhuang Cave Research

Excavated during the period from A.D.862to867of Tang Dynasty, Cave No.85(Farong Cave) of Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang was built by Monk Zhai Farong, whowas the second chieftain of Dunhuang Buddhist Order, to commemorate the piousdeeds he conducted during his tenure of the highest Buddhist leader in Dunhuang.Assumably, the cave has a purpose of remembrance and celebration by nature. Itsexcavation time is later than that of Cave No.156, which is dedicated tocommemorate the pious deeds of Zhang Yichao, who served as the first militaryenvoy of Dunhuang. Unlike Cave No.156that is a hall-structured cave with shrinesholed on its west wall, which became a very popular design since early Tang Dynasty,Cave No.85choose to place Buddha altars in the center of the cave. This designanticipated the trend of large and medium-sized altar cave of later years in the GuiyiArmy Period. Besides, the new design allows the pattern and image layout of a caveto vary according to the cave’s interior shape. Therefore, Farong Cave is the mostcritical cave marking the transition of Dunhuang’s cave art from the Tubo Period tothe Guiyi Army Period, and a depth case study into it will certainly shed some light onthe cave art of the Guiyi Army Period.Change in the interior shape of Farong Cave has led to corresponding alteration ofcave layout, mainly including the following aspects: large-scale “Illustration ofRaudraksa’s Battle with Sariputra” appears in the west wall for the first time;panel-style “Illustration of Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish” first appeared in thelower part of the peripheral wall; images of the caver owner’s parents for sacrificingare cancelled; on the east wall,“Illustration of Sutra of Returning Benevolence” isreplaced with “Illustration of Sutra of Golden Light”; and there are as many as foursets of illustrations of sutras of Buddhist Chan Sect, et cetera. Given these changes toFarong cave, this thesis discusses various issues regarding the following three aspects.First, plot of the illustrations are carefully identified, with the plot of “Illustration ofRaudraksa’s Battle with Sariputra” and “Illustration of Sutra of the Wise and theFoolish” in Farong Cave determined in particular for the first time on the basis offield work. Second, hereditary and evolutional history of the images is analyzed in theperspective of art history; third, reasons for the formation and changes of the images,as well the overall design concept of the cave, are examined against the largebackground of public religion and grotto art.