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An Analysis of the Fusion of Chinese and Foreign Elements in the Animal Motifs of the Yungang Grottoes from an Iconographic Perspective

Author(s)

Xinran Du

Affiliation(s)

History and Tourism Management Department,Changzhi University, Changzhi, Shanxi, China *Corresponding Author

Abstract

The Yungang Grottoes are a prime example of imperial cave temples from the Northern Wei period and a precious testament to the eastward transmission of Buddhist art and its integration with the cultures of northern ethnic groups. Their animal motifs serve as a quintessential visual record of the cultural and artistic fusion between China and the outside world during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Core motifs such as elephants, lions, and dragons are distributed across the grotto ceilings, lintel, Buddha thrones, and halos, embodying multiple values including Buddhist narrative, spatial decoration, and cultural symbolism. This paper adopts iconography as its core research method, combining stylistic analysis with typological comparison to trace the artistic characteristics and evolutionary trajectories of these three major animal motifs, and to analyze the nature of cultural fusion between China and the outside world. The study aims to fill the gap in systematic research on animal motifs in the Yungang Grottoes and to enrich the body of research on the art of the Yungang Grottoes.

Keywords

Iconography; Yungang Grottoes; Animal Motifs; Sino-Foreign Fusion

References

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