Grotto paintings depict children's lives in ancient China

A parent pushing a baby carriage, Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907). [Photo/Ecns.cn]

A series of photos of grotto paintings depicting children's lives in ancient China were released by Dunhuang Research Academy on June 1, 2015.

The scenes in these 20 grotto paintings include celebrations of a birth, children playing games, boys paying respect to Buddha, and kids paying respect to their master and seeking for knowledge, spanning a period of time from Northern Dynasty (AD 386-581) to the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).

According to the preliminary statistics, there are 183 caves with wall paintings of children, making up 37% of all caves in Dunhuang, spanning a period of 1000 years.

The academy is an institution responsible for the conservation, management and research of the Mogao Grottoes and the Western Thousand-Buddha Grottoes at Dunhuang, as well as the Yulin Grottoes at Guazhou.