From thousands of years to the echoes of the Silk Road, the Mati Temple Grottoes in Sunan Yugur Autonomous County, Zhangye City, Gansu Province, have more than 500 colorful sculptures with various expressions. The over 1200 square meters of murals are mottled in color. This precious historical and cultural relic, which has been passed down for more than 1600 years, not only retains the artistic genes of early grottoes, but also tells the long history of the integration of Silk Road civilization with silent cliff marks. The Mati Temple Grottoes are named after the legend of the Tianma landing and leaving a seal, and are an important early Buddhist grotto site that is relatively well preserved on the Gansu section of the Silk Road. More than 500 grotto niches are chiseled along the mountain, stretching for 30 kilometers and of a grand scale. They are typical representatives of the "Liangzhou Mode" of grotto art, and together with the Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang and Guazhou Yulin Grottoes, they are called the three art treasures of the Hexi Corridor. The special geographical coordinates determine the blending background of the Mati Temple Grottoes. She Zhanlin, director of the Mati Temple Tourism Area Management Committee, said that as a transitional zone between the Hexi Corridor and the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, the Mati Temple Grottoes are not only a "bridgehead" for the westward expansion of Central Plains culture, but also a "transit station" for the eastward transmission of Western and Tibetan cultures. In the passage of time, the blending characteristics of the Mati Temple Grottoes have continuously accumulated and sublimated, forming a unique cultural landscape of Han Tibetan coexistence and mutual learning between Confucianism and Buddhism. According to historical records, this group of grottoes was excavated during the Northern Liang period of the Sixteen Kingdoms. It was originally a cave where the famous Dunhuang scholar Guo Yu lived in seclusion to give lectures. Later generations expanded the caves and added Buddha statues, gradually forming a group of grottoes with both religious functions and artistic value. Wang Yaling, the head of the tour guide department of the tourist area, said that as a national key cultural relic protection unit, it is an important part of the early grotto chain in the Hexi Corridor. The central tower pillar shape from the Northern Liang Dynasty to the Northern Wei Dynasty, as well as the blending traces of Han and Tibetan Buddhism, provide valuable first-hand information for studying the dissemination of Chinese Buddhism and the evolution of grotto art. Strolling through the grottoes of Mati Temple, the flying clothes sway with the wind of Dunhuang and the clouds of Tibet; The clothing of the donors is sewn with Han embroidery patterns and adorned with decorative studs of nomadic tribes... Every detail is a vivid confirmation of the integration of civilization. The diverse fusion imprint that spans thousands of years lies not only in the weight of its historical relics, but also in the continuation of its fusion spirit. Wang Yaling said that the statues in the grottoes from Northern Liang to Northern Wei have deep eyes and high noses in the style of Gandhara; After the Yuan Dynasty, Tibetan inscriptions and tantric statues took root here, and Han Tibetan Buddhist culture coexisted harmoniously. What's even more amazing is that the "V" - shaped high flesh carved flying sky at Jinta Temple, combined with unique techniques of round carving and relief carving, has become an artistic treasure that predates the Dunhuang flying sky; The "Thirty Three Days" Grottoes of Beisi were vertically excavated along the cliff, with seven layers and twenty-one caves of plank roads and sky ladders, which can be regarded as a great innovation in the history of Chinese grotto construction. Over the next thousand years, the Mati Temple Grottoes continued to expand, gradually forming seven core areas including Mati Nanbei Temple, Qianfo Cave, and Jinta Temple. Wang Yaling said that there are more than 500 caves and niches scattered on the cliffs of Qilian Mountain in the scenic area. There are currently more than 500 colored sculptures and over 1200 square meters of murals, which are typical grotto sites, rather than traditional temples with fixed temple layouts. Once, the Mati Temple Grottoes, hidden deep in the mountains, faced the dilemma of time erosion and cognitive limitations, and their fusion value was not fully demonstrated. Nowadays, with the deepening of the concept of cultural heritage protection, a series of protection and inheritance practices have brought this Silk Road integration code to life. In recent years, the local government has invested more than 80 million yuan to implement emergency protection, and has collaborated with Dunhuang Academy to carry out projects such as mural restoration, rock reinforcement, and biological disease control. Through digital technology, the three-dimensional data collection of Jinta Temple Grottoes has been completed, and a digital asset management platform has been built to provide technological support for protection and research, turning this millennium heritage from danger to safety. In fact, the Mati Temple Grottoes have long surpassed the single attribute of "historical sites" and become a symbol of cultural exchange and mutual learning. She Zhanlin said that it is located 65 kilometers north of Zhangye city, integrating grotto art, Confucian culture, Qilian Mountain scenery, and Yugur ethnic customs. The annual number of tourists received has steadily increased, and it has become an important node for the integration of culture and tourism in the Hexi Corridor. From the depths of history, the Mati Temple Grottoes have coexisted with genes from different civilizations since the moment they were carved into caves. She Zhanlin said that this millennium old grotto complex has undergone years of sedimentation and has become an immortal symphony of civilization on the cliffs. In contemporary protection and inheritance, it has also made the cultural treasures deep in the Qilian Mountains shine brightly in the new era. (New Society)