Foreword

Dunhuang religious culture includes Buddhist and Taoist architecture, art, written history and various related concepts, and it has had varying degrees of influence on the development of societies in East Asia, Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent and Europe. The analysis shows that the process of the emergence and prosperity of Buddhism and Taoism in Dunhuang was profoundly influenced by the natural environment. Dunhuang's geographic location determines that it is situated at the intersection of the three major religious and cultural zones of Buddhism and Taoism in the Central Plains, Islam in the Western Regions, and Lamaism on the Tibetan Plateau. Dunhuang's natural environment helped Buddhism take root and flourish here. Dunhuang's fossilised religious culture has also benefited from its special geographical location and natural environment.

Dunhuang's religious culture is rich in connotation and has become famous at home and abroad. It is mainly cohesive in the colourful sculptures and murals of the Mogao Grottoes and the scriptures of the Cave of the Scriptures, as well as other religious buildings and local landscapes in Dunhuang. Just as biological growth requires a certain natural environment, the occurrence and development of a certain culture is also based on a specific natural environment. Research that focuses on the relationship between culture and the natural environment falls within the realm of cultural geography.