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This study explores East-West cultural interactions during the Sui dynasty by examining the structures and murals of the Dunhuang Mogao Caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottos, which so far have received less attention than their importance merits. It focuses on the relationship between Dunhuang and the Changan and Luoyang regions, rather than on the interactive relationship between Dunhuang and the countries to the west of China hitherto emphasized by academic circles. Furthermore, it examines the important role that Dunhuang played during the Sui dynasty and the impact of the revival and subsequent frustration of Sui Emperor Yang's pipedream Silk Road initiative on the Dunhuang Mogao Caves. First of all, in terms of the grottos' structure, the central-pillar grottos, which were prevalent in the Northern and Southern dynasties, continued into the Sui dynasty, but there was a change in both the shape and height of the central pillar and in the Buddha statue enshrined in the central pillar. The overall structure has been confirmed as forming a set relationship with the three-wall structure, each wall having a niche. Investigation of the Mogao Caves has identified not only the popular but short-lived three-wall structure with niches characteristic of the Sui dynasty, but also a cave structure with an altar set into the front wall (正壁設壇窟), which was only built during the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui, and a cave structure with three walls, each with an altar (三壁設壇窟). These grotto structures have all been found to share similarities with those in the regions of Hebei, Henan, and Shanxi, which date from the Northern and Southern dynasties to the Sui dynasty. In addition to the different grotto structure, the Sui Mogao Caves contained fewer of the murals of the Buddha's Life Story and the Buddha's Previous Birth Story popular during the Wei-Jin and Northern and Southern dynasties, and instead featured a new style of mural, “Paintings of Sutras”. First, the Murals of the Vimalakirti Sutra in the Sui Mogao Caves depict statues of Vimalakirti and Manjusri sitting inside house-shaped buildings. In fact, this layout differs from that of the Mogao Caves in the Northern and Southern dynasties, and rather seems to be connected with the sculptures inside the grottos, represented by the Liushi Cave of the Longmen Grottos, in the Henan region. A close examination of the painting of the Amitabha Buddha's Pure Land in the Sui Mogao Caves, with the focus on the canvas structure expressing the Western Paradise World and the posture of the Amitabha Triad, revealed many similarities with those of the Nan Xiangtangshan Caves in Northern Qi. The newly discovered details of the structure and murals of the Sui Mogao Caves are different from those of their counterparts in Central Asia, which were strongly reflected in the Dunhuang grottos in the Wei-Jin and Northern and Southern dynasties, and are closely connected with the grottos in the Changan and Luoyang regions of Eastern China in particular. This suggests that, during the Sui dynasty, there was a close interaction between the Dunhuang region and the Changan and Luoyang regions. Among such interactions, human interactions are deemed the most important. First, as regards the movement of people, the examination of history books and cemetery names has made it possible to identify political officials who were appointed to the Dunhuang area from inland China. Second, when the Stupa to Emperor Wen of Sui was erected in 601, it is noted that the monk Jiui, who stayed in the Mogao Caves Jisang monastery-Sunggyo Temple for several years after being sent there, was identified as a monk of Northern Qi lineage. Furthermore, analysis of the Buddhist scriptures discovered in Dunhuang revealed that the monks who lived in Changan moved to the Dunhuang area, suggesting the spread of the Buddhist culture of the Changan and Luoyang regions. Lastly, Emperor Yang's Silk Road initiative was presented as the reason for and background to the massive change that occurred once again in the Mogao Caves during the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui. Emperor Yang sent Baegu to Dunhuang on a diplomatic mission with various western countries, and he himself traveled to the Hexi region in 607. This fact is presumed to constitute the background to the major changes that occurred in Dunhuang, a key center of East-West exchange at that time, and in the Mogao Caves. However, Emperor Yang's Silk Road initiative lost its force with the fall of the dynasty, and, as a result, it is presumed that the excavation of Mogao Caves and new elements also lost the light of their glory.
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Mogao Caves, Dunhuang, Sui dynasty, Silk Road, Emperor Yang
