In Dunhuang, Fortunate to See Colorful Auspicious Clouds
"My beloved is a great hero, one day he will come to marry me riding on colorful auspicious clouds." Zixia Fairy put on her bright red wedding dress, always believing he would come. He did come riding on colorful auspicious clouds, but he was no longer himself...
How fortunate we were, when we came to Dunhuang and the Mogao Caves, colorful auspicious clouds appeared above the Mogao Caves. Was Zhi Zongbao looking for Zixia, or was it a revelation from the Buddha? Standing in front of the nine-story hall, my heart was filled with awe for the Buddha... What kind of beings were the ancient working people who built the Mogao Caves? In that harsh and backward era a thousand years ago, they were able to create such large-scale caves and murals. They must have had a firm faith in the Buddha. Every mural tells a story, every statue has its own meaning. Perhaps the craftsmen a thousand years ago also saw the colorful auspicious clouds and were inspired by the Buddha to excavate the Mogao Caves here... We were truly fortunate.
After visiting the Mogao Caves, we came to Crescent Moon Spring, another miraculous existence. "Spring and sand coexist, water and sand coexist." In this vast desert, there is a clear spring; the water neither dries up nor becomes foul, nor is it buried by the desert. Named Crescent Moon Spring for its crescent shape, the sand mountain beside it is also miraculous. When a crowd slides down together, a rumbling sound is heard, hence the name Mingsha Mountain (Singing Sand Mountain). They have been leaning on each other for a thousand years, mountain and water dependent on each other... Standing at the top of the mountain and looking down, there is an oasis in the vast Gobi—that is the small city of Dunhuang. Looking back, mountains stretch endlessly beyond the horizon; one cannot tell where this desert begins or ends...
To better understand the city of Dunhuang, we watched "Dunhuang Grand Ceremony." A thousand years ago, camel caravans walked through the desert, and the frontier taverns were bustling with activity. People celebrated by striking iron to create sparks. The rotating audience seating led us into Dunhuang and into the Mogao Caves. Monks and craftsmen came here, excavating caves and painting murals. The flying Apsaras were lifelike, as if flying out of the murals, scattering flower petals and happiness. Lovers leaned on each other by Crescent Moon Spring, with a crescent moon witnessing their love... It seemed that this performance summed up the prosperity and history of Dunhuang a thousand years ago...
The majestic Yangguan Pass ancient city stands on this Gobi. A thousand years ago, the pass must have been bustling with merchants, envoys, travelers, and literati coming and going. People left the pass from here to the Western Regions. Merchants traded goods, envoys established diplomatic relations, travelers appreciated the desert scenery, and literati wrote immortal works here. It is said that even today one can pick up ancient coins on the Gobi near Yangguan. Since Yangguan was just a small pass on the Silk Road, yet so prosperous, it is hard to imagine how bustling the ancient Silk Road really was a thousand years ago...
The barren Yardang wind-eroded landforms are part of the ancient Lop Nur. The Yardang landform community is orderly in layout, unique in shape, and varied in form—a rare natural sculpture museum. It has taken thousands of years of wind and rain to take on today's appearance, just as the saying goes: "No rainbow without rain." Some resemble peacocks, some the Sphinx of Egypt, some turtles, some pagodas, some soaring eagles, some haystacks, some graceful beauties... This place is refreshing, freeing the mind. Here you can let your imagination run wild and appreciate the miraculous beauty crafted by nature...
