莫高窟北区【英】

Northern Section of the Mogao Grottoes

定义

莫高窟的组成部分，长约700米，其时代分别属于北周、隋、唐、五代、宋、西夏、元代。北区洞窟使用功能与南区有别。南区是佛的殿堂，又是供僧俗礼佛、做佛事活动的场所。北区则主要是供僧众生活、居住、习禅、死后掩埋的区域。南北两区的洞窟合在一起才构成了完整的莫高窟石窟寺。

It is one part of the Mogao Grottoes with an extension of about 700 meters long and built during the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties, the Song Dynasty, the Tangut Regime and the Yuan Dynasty. Different from the Southern Section of the Mogao Grottoes, which is not only the place for palaces of the Buddha but also the place for monks to worship the Buddha and to practice Buddhist service, the Northern Section of the Mogao Grottoes is mainly the place for the monks’ life, home, Buddhist meditation and burial after death. The complete Mogao Grottoes consist of these two sections.