在中国西部沙漠中，有一处中国文化的宝藏，这就是敦煌莫高窟。敦煌莫高窟也是世界上最大的佛教艺术宝库。

In China’s western deserts, there is a treasure house of Chinese culture—the Mogao Grottoes (also known as Mogao Caves) of Dunhuang. The Mogao Grottoes are also the world’s largest treasury of Buddhist art.

　　敦煌莫高窟在崖壁上，上下五层, 南北长约1600米，是一座内容丰富、规模宏大的石窟群。

The Mogao Grottoes are situated on a cliff and divided into five levels. These caves, which run about 1,600 meters north-south, are both rich in content and grand in scale.

　　敦煌石窟中数量最大、内容最丰富的部分是壁画。壁画的内容主要是佛经故事，也有一些画面是反映当时劳动、社会、服饰、建筑、音乐、舞蹈的。同时，敦煌壁画还记录了中外文化交流的历史事实，为研究4世纪到14世纪的中国古代社会提供了宝贵的资料。

Of all the treasures of the Dunhuang Caves, the most abundant and rich in content are the wall paintings. These paintings mainly depict stories from Buddhist scripture; there are also some scenes which reflect the labor, society, clothing and apparel, architecture, music and dance of the time. In addition, the wall paintings at Dunhuang record historical events pertaining to Chinese-foreign cultural exchange. They have provided invaluable materials for studying the period of Chinese society from the 4th to 14th centuries.

　　敦煌还有大量的彩色泥塑佛像。由于唐朝以前的泥塑很少能够保存下来，因此莫高窟的这些彩塑非常珍贵。

The Dunhuang caves also contain a large number of colored clay sculptures of Buddha. Since very few clay sculptures from prior to the Tang Dynasty have survived, the sculptures in the Mogao Grottoes are extremely precious.

　　这是飞天，在佛教中被称为“香音之神”。飞天奏乐飞舞的姿态是敦煌彩塑的代表。

This is the feitian (flying apsara), known in Buddhism as a Gandharva. The colored sculptures at Dunhuang are epitomized by the images of flying apsaras playing music and dancing in the air.

　　20世纪初，在莫高窟又发现了藏经洞，洞内藏有4世纪到10世纪的手写本文献和文物五六万件。如果把所有艺术品一件件陈列起来，便是一座超过25公里长的世界大画廊。

At the beginning of the 20th century, a scripture-storing cave was also discovered in the Mogao Grottoes. The cave contained 50 to 60 thousand handwritten documents and cultural relics from the 4th to 10th centuries. If one were to take all the works of art and display them side by side, it would form a world-class art gallery extending over 25 kilometers.

　　1987年，甘肃敦煌莫高窟被列入《世界遗产名录》。

The Mogao Caves of Dunhuang in Gansu Province were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.