Rock of ages

Each of the caves in Yungang sparkles with creativity as a result of encounters, exchanges and infusions of artistic styles from the East and the West. The introduction of Buddhist art from Central and South Asia, which also presented a strong ancient Greek and Roman influence, was merged with Chinese cultural traditions that were already well-established before the arrival of Buddhism, and during the process artisans developed new styles and artistic traits to express the outlook on life and death of people at the time.

The variety of sculptures also increased to include Buddha in meditation or teaching doctrines. There are also feitian (the flying deities), jiyue (musicians and dancers), masculine warriors, monastics and Buddhist patrons.

More recent caves exhibited lavish patterns taken from the arts of different cultures, such as the dougong element of the interlocking wooden brackets in traditional Chinese architecture; the "Pompey Pillar" of ancient Rome; the mountain-shaped incense burners invented in China during the 3rd century BC, and the celestial chintamani praying stones for well-wishers from ancient India.

The statues' physical traits also underwent reforms. Buddhas made in Yungang's early phase have a broad forehead, high, sharply-cut noses and elongated eyes and eyebrows. The look produces a feeling of solemnity, delivering a message of power, boldness and confidence from Northern Wei, a dynasty founded by nomadic Xianbei people in northern China.

Buddhist statues from the later stages look slim, gentle and elegant. This aesthetic conformed with a gesture prompted by the dynasty's new emperors, to take on Han conventions and achieve ethnic unity.

Noted architect Liang Sicheng and his team investigated Yungang Grottoes in 1933. In an article about this survey, he concluded that the introduction of Buddhist art brought no fundamental changes to the basic structures of Chinese architecture, but inspired the creation of sculptural styles.

He said: "The spirit, the soul and the taste (of Yungang) are essentially Chinese. Meanwhile, it produced a great deal of novel motifs, patterns and methods of sculpting that spread and have been preserved until today, which is a phenomenon worthy of recognition."