Published : 30/11/2024

On November 30, 2000, the Longmen Grottoes (龍門石窟) in China's Luoyang, Henan Province, were listed in the World Heritage List along with three other projects. 

The Longmen Grottoes were first built during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty (471-477 AD). It took over 400 years to complete, and so far it has a history of more than 1,500 years.

The Longmen Grottoes stretch approximately 1 kilometre from north to south, with over 1,300 existing grottoes, 2,345 niches, more than 3,600 inscriptions and steles, over 50 pagodas, and more than 97,000 Buddha statues.

Among them, Binyang Middle Cave, Fengxian Temple, and Guyang Cave are the most representative.

Additionally, the Longmen Grottoes preserve a large number of historical materials related to religion, art, calligraphy, music, costumes, medicine, architecture, and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries.

Evaluations by the World Heritage Committee indicate that the grottoes and niches in the Longmen area demonstrate the most extensive and excellent sculptural art from the late Northern Wei to the Tang Dynasty (493-907 AD). These detailed artistic works depicting Buddhist religious themes represent the peak of Chinese stone carving art.

The other three projects listed in the World Heritage List at the same time are Mount Qingcheng (青城山) and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System (都江堰), Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui – Xidi and Hongcun.

As of 2024, China has a total of 59 World Heritage sites, including 40 cultural heritage sites, 15 natural heritage sites, four dual heritage sites, and one transboundary site, making China the second in the world in terms of the number of World Heritage sites, second only to Italy.