Research On The Statue Art Of Cave 240 Of The North Grottoes Temple

Cave 240 is an important component of the North Grottoes Temple Grottoes Group,built during the transitional period of grotto art development during the Northern Zhou Dynasty.During the Northern Zhou Dynasty,cave art in the northern and western regions further developed.Due to political factors and regional cultural differences at that time,the statues of northern cave temples formed their own unique style.During the Northern Zhou Dynasty statue making process in Cave240 of Beishi Grottoes Temple,a new trend of "simplicity and massiveness" gradually developed on the basis of inheriting the characteristics of beautiful bones and clear statues from the Northern Wei period.The statues in Cave 240 of the Northern Grottoes Temple discussed in this article include: Buddha statues,disciple statues,and Bodhisattva statues on the eastern wall(main wall),northern wall,and southern wall during the Northern Zhou Dynasty,murals from the Sui Dynasty’s "Vimo Sutra Changes," as well as four small niches on the western wall during the Tang Dynasty and the warriors on both sides of the cave door(outside the cave).This article mainly conducts an objective and rational analysis and expression by systematically sorting out the artistic statues and related materials of 240 caves in different periods,combining their background and types of caves at that time,as well as the artistic styles,differences,and artistic values of different cave wall statues.Thus,a more comprehensive and profound understanding of the sculpture art of Cave240 can be gained,and the important role of Cave 240 in the development of art in the Northern Grottoes Temple can be clarified.Firstly,Chapter One provides an explanation of the research background,domestic(foreign)research status,research content of the 240 Grottoes,as well as the author’s innovative points,methods,and significance and purpose of studying them in this article.The second chapter takes the historical excavation background of the North Grottoes Temple as the premise,provides a brief and detailed explanation,and further understands the historical background of the development of the 240 Grottoes.It studies the political,economic,and cultural changes during the period before and after the excavation of the caves,as well as the ethnic and cultural characteristics of the northern region where the caves are located.The third chapter analyzes the characteristics of the cave niches and the theme of the statues in Cave 240 of Beishi Grottoes Temple,in order to understand its unique cave shape,structural characteristics,layout of different spaces,unique style of the cave niches and cave doors,and comparative analysis of adjacent cave types.The diverse theme of the statues in Cave 240 provides rich physical information for the author’s research.The fourth chapter mainly analyzes the style of the statues in the 240 grottoes.The statues on the main wall in the grottoes inheritance the artistic style of the statues in the Northern and Western Wei Dynasties,make breakthroughs in the development of the earlier statues,and form huge differences in the artistic characteristics of the statues on the east wall,the south wall,and the north wall.As well as the artistic style of the East Wall Statue and the embodiment of the perfect combination of divinity and humanity in the development of Statue Art from the initial unique style of the East Wall Statue to the Statue Art of Caves 240-1 in the West Wall,the author has a strong desire to explore the style of Statue in Caves 240 more deeply.If it were not for the formation of this unique and diverse style of sculpture art,the study of 240 cave sculpture art may not have the significance of such in-depth research.In Chapter 5,the author explores the historical background,factors that led to the emergence,and style of Cave 240 to discover its value,significance,inheritance,and role at that time.What role did it play in inheriting excellent traditional Chinese culture,and how prominent it stood in the development and connection of Buddhist art.Finally,several professional suggestions were put forward for the protection and restoration of Cave 240.Protecting the"living fossil"of Chinese local cave sculpture art provides substantial information for the study of Buddhist art.The conclusion of this article is that the author has summarized and summarized the research on the 240 Caves,pointing out that the development of the 240 Caves statue art is an indispensable part of the development process of the North Grottoes Temple statue art.It expands the scope of Chinese culture and art,enriches the content of Chinese culture and art,and to some extent can make up for the shortcomings of related statue art research,adding an important contribution to the development of local Buddhist art in China.