The Mogao Caves (莫高窟), carved into desert cliffs outside Dunhuang beginning in 366 AD, form the world's largest treasury of Buddhist art. Over a thousand years, successive dynasties added caves, murals, and sculptures, creating a visual encyclopedia of Chinese Buddhist belief, Silk Road exchange, and artistic evolution. The Dunhuang Research Academy (founded 1944) manages conservation, digital documentation, and public access. UNESCO designated the site a World Heritage property in 1987. The caves contain paintings ranging from Northern Wei austerity through Tang opulence to Yuan-Ming eclecticism, alongside the famous 'Library Cave' (Cave 17), where 50,000 manuscripts sealed for 900 years were rediscovered in 1900.
