Here's some information and pictures of the famous Longmen Caves.
http://www.orientalarchitecture.com/luoyang/longmenindex.htm The Longmen Caves were being chisled throughout the Northern Wei Dynasty, beginning with Emperor Xuanwu. Similar to the Yungang caves, "Emperors, officials, monks, and laymen, all participated in the project [. . .]" (Chen 170). Though, Caswell believes that "no imperial caves were completed at Longmen" because the aesthetics are different, e.g. the Yungang figures are more rounded (18-19). Work was continued through the Sui and Tang dynasties until Emperor Xuantong's reign (713-755) and maybe in the Song.
The Japanese scholar Tsukamoto Zenryu drew a table showing when and how many images were carved:
Date.............................Images...................Date.........................Images.......................Date.........Images
495-500........................7............................570-580....................11...............................650-660...141
500-510........................59..........................580-590.....................1................................660-670...93
510-520........................51..........................590-600.....................1................................670-680...59
520-530........................65..........................600-610.....................0................................680-690...77
530-540........................40..........................610-620.....................3................................690-700...45
540-550........................6............................620-630.....................0................................700-710...61
550-560........................6............................630-640.....................5................................710-720...24
560-570........................6............................640-650.....................66..............................720-730....6
and created two other charts using inscriptions that recorded the deity carved:
Deity........................Dated............Undated ..................Total
Amitabha..................133...............89...........................222
Avalokitesvara...........82................115.........................197
Sakyamuni................61.................33...........................94
Maitreya....................49.................13...........................62
Kshitigarbha...............11.................22...........................33
Bhaishajyaguru...........3..................12...........................15
Mahasthamaprapta......2...................3............................5
Date.......Sakyamuni....Maitreya...Amitabha...Avalokitesvara
.................................(Mile)........(Amituo)....(Guanyin)
500.........---................3.............---..............---
510.........14................10............---...............1
520.........11................11.............1................3
530.........11................8...............6................10
540.........7..................3...............1................8
650.........---................2..............11...............6
660.........5..................4...............40..............18
670.........---................1...............26..............5
680.........---................3...............11..............7
690.........3..................1...............15..............8
700.........---................1...............9................8
710.........2..................---.............6................4
720.........---................---.............2................4
I believe that this information is VERY interesting and could elucidate varying ideologies between specific Emperor reigns and Dynastic changes, e.g. Sakyamuni and Maitreya were popular during the Northern Wei while Amitabha and Avalokitesvara were popular during the Tang. The popularity of Maitreya is in accordance with the large number of Maitreya sutras available and because of influential monks, such as Daoan. I will leave further conjecture to others or for a later time…
Kenneth Chen divides the inscriptions in the Longmen caves into three groups:
1. Those set by the ruling class, e.g. the imperial family, officials, or the literati
2. By religious societies under the leadership of some Buddhist monk
3. By monks and nuns who were leaders of the Luoyang Buddhist community (173)
And he further summarized the motives behind the inscriptions: "(1) to acquire merits leading to rebirth in the Pure Land of Amitabha or the Tushita Heaven of Maitreya; (2) to attain bodhi or enlightenment; (3) to thank the Buddha for the fulfillment of certain wishes; (4) to obtain certain material benefits, such as wealth, position, longevity, et cetera; (5) to express gratitude for recovery from illness; (6) to assure success in a military campaign" (176).
Longmen Cave 19, Faxian Si, Tang Dynasty, Reign of Emperor Gaozong, Second Year of Shangyuan Era, AD 675:
South View
Overview of West Wall
Overview of North Wall
Longmen Cave 3, Binyang Zhongdong(Middle Cave), Northern Wei Dynasty, First Quarter of the 6th Century
Entrance to cave 3, Binyang Zhongdong:
Binyang Zhongdong Middle Cave
