Datong
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Datong and around
Don't be put off by first impressions
of contemporary DATONG, the second
largest city in Shanxi Province, situated
in the far north, near the border
with Inner Mongolia. Amid the blasted
landscape of modern industrial China-coalmines,
power stations and a huge locomotive
factory--are some marvellous ancient
sites, remnants of the city's glory
days as the capital city of two non-Han
Chinese dynasties. The Turkic Toba
people took advantage of the internal
strife afflicting central and southern
China to establish their own dynasty,
the Northern Wei(386-534), taking
Datong as their capital in 398 AD,
by which time they had conquered the
whole of the north. Though the period
was one of strife and warfare, and
the Wei never fully consolidated their
hold on power,the Northern Wei, who
became fervent Buddhists, made some
notable cultural achievements, the
finest of which was a magnificent
series of cave temples at Yungang,
just west of the city, still one of
the most impressive sights in northern
China. Over the course of almost a
century, more than fifty caves were
completed, containing over fifty thousand
statues, before the capital was moved
south to Luoyang, where contruction
began on the similar Longmen Caves.
A second period of greatness came
with the arrival of the Mongol Liao
dynasty, also Buddhists, who made
Datong their capital in 907. They
were assimilated into the Jin in 1125,
but not before leaving a small legacy
of statuary and some fine temple architecture,
notably in the Huayan and Shanhua
temples in town, and a wooden pagoda,
the oldest in China, in the nearby
town of Yingxian. Datong remained
important to later Chinese dynasties
for its strategic position just inside
the Great Wall, south of Inner Mongolia,
and the tall city walls date from
the early Ming dynasty. Though most
visitors today are attracted by the
Buddhist sites, Datong is also the
closest city to Heng Shan, one of
the five holy mountains of Taoism,
whose most spectacular building, the
almost unbelievable Hanging Temple,
is firmly on the tour agenda.
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