It is easy to have a quick look at China's past and present, but it takes time to gain a panoramic knowledge of China. The "Pan-oramic China" series is meant to assist readers, especially those overseas, in this respect. Each volume in the series focuses on a province, municipality or autono-mous region, describing, with illustrations, the outstanding char-acteristics of each area from dif-ferent perspectives.

Gansu- a starting point of an-cient Chinese civilization - rich in remains of its ancient cultural legacy... The world famous Silk Road used to thread its way right through Gansu territory, like a golden vine bearing one brilliant site after another of ancient civilization. In grotto temples alone, there are the Mogao Grot-toes in Dunhuang, the Yulin in Anxi, the Tiantishan in Wuwei, the Maijishan in Tianshui and the Binglingsi in Yongjing. Gansu well deserves its international fame as the "Homeland of Grotto Arts."

This book concentrates mainly on Gansu's major grotto temples,its special landscapes and culture,following the thread of the Silk Road artery through the province,right up to the present day. If you want to learn about Gansu, this book provides a stimulating and useful introduction.

The Long History of Grotto Culture

  8 Sakyamuni and Buddhist Art

 14 The Silk Road and Grotto Temples

The Mogao Grottoes at Dunhuang m a

Treasury of Buddhist Art

 24 The Emerald Oasis

 28 Prosperous Urban Center

 30 Buddha Light on Sanwei Hill

 34 The Earliest Caves

 38 The Sinicization Process

 56 The Golden Age of the Mogao

    Grottoes

 68 The Setting Sun Was Still Brilliant

 78 FlyingApsaras, Music and Dance

 86 Abbot Wang -- the Man and His Actions

 92 Foreign Looters on the Silk Road

100 Protectors of the Mogao Grottoes

104 The Cultural Heritage of All Mankind

112 Dunhuang Studies m An International

    Discipline

Grotto Temples of the Hexi Corridor

 120 The Grotto Temples of Jiuquan

 132 The Grotto Temples of Zhangye

 142 The Grotto Temples of Wuwei

The Binglingsi Grottoes by the Yellow River

 152 Silk Road Artery

 156 Rediscovery

 160 The Mysterious Cave 169

 174 Buddhist Statuary of Different Dynasties

 178 Murals of Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism

The Largest Museum of Clay Sculpture in

the East

 184 Tragedy and Toil at Maijishan Grottoes

 188 The Wonderland of Mount Maiji

 194 Sculptures Both Human and Divine

212 Conservation and Research

216 Close Relatives to Maijishan Grottoes

Grotto Temples on the Longdong Plateau

224 The First Investigation

228 Rediscovery of the Northern Grottoes

 230 Commencement of the Northern and

    Southern Grottoes

 232 The Largest Seven Buddha Cave

 234 Samantabhadra and Ashura

 236 Tang Dynasty Statuary

Return to the Ancient Silk Road

 246 Musical Shows from Dunhuang

 258 Eurasian Continental Land Bridge and

    Reader Magazine

 264 Yumen m Starting Point of Gansu

    Industry

 270 Rain Water Collection Project

 276 Return to the Ancient Silk Road

Appendix

 286 Major Foreign-related Departments in Gansu

  287 Major International Travel Agencies in Gansu

  288 Major Foreign-related Hotels in Gansu

  289 A Brief Chronology of Chinese History