Historical Archaeology of Pingcheng Site and Yungang Buddhist Cave-temples in the Northern WeiDynasty

The Yungang Caves, located near the city of Datong in Shanxi province in China, are a group of Buddhist cave-temples excavated in the latter half of the fifth century by the Northern Wei dynasty. Between 1938 and 1944, the Research Institute of Oriental carried out investigations of the Yungang Caves and neighbouring sites. The Yonggu Mausoleum at Fangshan was constructed in 481-484, and the Siyuan Monastery had been built before 479. The Mission of the Far Eastern Archaeological Society surveyed these sites in 1939, and collected the artifacts such as tiles, plaster and stone figures that had been kept in Tokyo University in a virtually unsorted state. Following the observation of artifacts collected from the Yungang Caves and neighboring sites including the mausolea at Fangshan we set about researching on them, and as a result we obtained much new and important information about the mausolea complex and the art styles then existing. The art styles of the antefixa with a lotus motif showing the upper part of the body of reborn child, the massive plaster figures and circular palmettes with intertwining arabesque patterns carved in stone that were found at Fangshan reveal characteristics that are slightly newer than the style of Yunggang Caves VII-VIII, and they bear a closer resemblance to Caves IX-X. This means that Caves IX-X may be dated to the latter part of the 480s, slightly after the construction of the Yonggu Mausoleum at Fangshan, as we maintained in YUN-GANG, Artifacts(2006).