Music in the air of Longmen Grottoes

Updated: 2015-11-09

In Buddhist classical Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra, there's a paragraph saying that good musical sounds could purify Buddhist land because people are apt to devote to Buddha as their hearts get tender while listening to the sound.

In Longmen Grottoes, the open-air museum of ancient Buddhist cave art, as many as 21 grottoes have music related contents, covering 34 sets of statues in band images and at least 176 musical instruments can be identified here. Tang Dynasty (AD 618 -960) in ancient China, the prime period for the opening of grottoes in Longmen had a colorful musical life. The usual musical instruments during that period had 300 varieties, among which, the lute, bamboo flute, sheng and ancient drum were the most popular ones.

The relief of two music men in Bazuosi Cave shows the use of zheng (a 21- or 25-stringed plucked instrument in some ways similar to the zither) and ancient drums. [Photo / Longmen Grottoes on WeChat]

A relief in Longmen Grottoes shows two instrumentalists: one plays a panpipe (left), and the other the flute (right). [Photo / Longmen Grottoes on WeChat]

Two dancers shown in a relief in Longmen Grottoes, look as if they are dancing to some music. [Photo / Longmen Grottoes on WeChat]