Catherine PAGANI
The big statue of Buddha on the exterior of the Yungang caves. PHOTO BY JOAN LEBOLD COHEN.
The cave temples at Yungang date to the fifth and sixth centuries and are considered the earliest surviving Buddhist monuments in China. The forty-five extant caves that stretch nearly a kilometer were built between 460 and 524 CE. Work was sponsored by the Northern Wei ?? rulers and by local elites and officials. The
