Art Review: ‘Dunhuang’: ‘Buddhist Art at the Gateway of the Silk Road’

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Holland Cotter

A reproduction of a sixth-century pillar at the Mogao Caves, at the China Institute Gallery.

NEW YORK--- China Institute routinely packs a wealth of art and information way out of proportion to its two tiny galleries, which at present hold a distillation of one of China’s greatest Buddhist art sites, the Mogao Caves near the far western oasis city of Dunhuang. According to legend, the caves originated some 2,000 years ago with a miracle: a wandering monk camped by a desert cliff heard voices encouraging him to stay. He chiseled a shelter out of the rock and hunkered down. Other monks joined him; a community gathered. [link]