1. Unit Seven Brief Introduction of Dunhuang and Mogao Grottoes

2. Teaching Aim: Master the brief introduction of Dunhuang. Important point: Special use of the words and phrases. Difficult point: The useful sentence structure. Teaching Speed: 4 classes. Unit seven

3. Pre-reading Task:  1. Before class, Ss are asked to collect narrations of Dunhuang and Mogao Grottoes.  2. Ss pre-read New Words and Expressions.

6. Reference material:  Dunhuang lies at the western end of the Hexi Corridor in Gansu Province in Northwest China, an oasis on the eastern edge of Taklimakan Desert. It is nourished by melted snow water from the Qilian Mountains. The ancient town used to be an important stop-over point on the Silk Road. The name "Dunhuang" was given in the Han Dynasty.

7. I n Chinese "Dun" means grandness and " Huang" means prosperity. In the 2nd century B.C. Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty sent imperial envoy Zhang Qian to the Western Regions, opening up a trade route which was to be known as the "Silk Road" in history. The imperial court set up Dunhuang Prefecture in A.D. 111 and Dunhuang became a strategic town.

8. Through this route Chinese culture and products, especially silk, were introduced to European and Middle East countries, and foreign culture and products such as Buddhism of India came to central China. Much of Buddhism is propagated through artistic forms, which were soon assimilated into the Chinese traditional culture. The result was that many Buddhist images were carved in caves in mountain cliffs along the Silk Road. Many of them have been well preserved. The best are those at Mogao in Dunhuang.

9. Mogao Grottos  The Mogo Grottoes is usually called "One thousand Buddha cave", a worldwide famous Buddhist relic, is located in the eastern slope of Ming Sha (Sand Ringing ) Hill, 25 kilometers southeast of Duanhuang city. It faces the Dangquan in its front, and the Sanwei Hill in the east.

11. According to records in inscriptions of Tang Dynasty, Mo Gao Cave was inaugurated in 366 AD. The project of creating caves and making Buddhist statues continued for one thousand years by 14th century, throughout Dynasties of Northern Liang, Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Hui Hu, Western Xia, Yuan.

12. It is a complex of caves spreading 1680 meters long from south to north including more than 700 caves, of them 492 caves contain more than 2000 color statues and 45000 square meters of frescos and five wooden structured eaves. The Mo Gao Cave is by far the most well-preserved Buddhist relic in the world, with the largest scale, longest history, and richest content.

13. Caves in the Mogao Grottoes are cavern constructions containing color statues and frescos. It reflects ancient social historic figures. The excellent and fine color sculpture and frescos systematically reflect the artistic styles of all those times and their evolution. They are precious and valuable in terms of history, art and science and technology.

14. Discovered in 1900 in the scripture cave are documents, embroidery, satin pictures, paper picture from 4th to 14th centuries, totally more than 40 thousand pieces. Most of them are transcripts in Han characters; a few are printed copies. Of the Han texts, more than 90% are Buddhist scripture, besides, are traditional classic chronicle works and official and private documents. Besides Han characters, there are also characters of ethnic minorities.

15. These discovered documents are important materials for studying history, geography, religions, economy, politics, nations, literature, art, science and technology of China and Central Asia. The findings from Mogao Grottoes underwent incessant disasters. A great deal of relics and some frescos and color statues were looted and transported to their countries by England, France, Japan, Russia, the United States. They scatter in libraries and museums of many countries.

16.  Since the early years of this century, "Dunhuang study " focused on the unearthed documents from the scripture cave and art in the caves has been prosperous in the world; it has become a hot subject all over the world.  In 1961, Mogao Grottoes was listed as national protected key relic by the State Council, and in 1987, it was listed in the World Cultural and Natural Heritage by the United Nations.

17. Step One: New words  1. envoy n. 使者，特使  2.propagate v. 繁殖，宣传，传播  3.assimilate v. 吸收，消化，使相似  4.acrobatic adj. 卖艺者的，特技表演  5.martial adj. 好战的，军事的  6.Persian n. 波斯人 adj.  7.tenet n. 教条主义  8.category n. 种类，部门  9.advocate n. 主张者，拥护者  v. 主张，提倡  10.altruism n. 利他主义 egoism  11.siddnartha

18. Unit seven Unit seven  12.blending n. 混合  13.embroidery n. 镶边润色装饰  14.Sanskrit n. 梵文  15.paste n. 浆糊，面粉团  v. 粘贴  16.apsara  17. lay men  18.lintel n. 横木，楣  19.adornment n. 装饰  20.estuary n. 海湾  21.breauth n. 宽度，宽容  22.dune n. 沙丘

19. Step Two: Explanation of the brief introduction of Dunhuang and Mogao Grottoes.  1. Position of Dunhuang.  West end of Hexi Corridor.The most important station on the silk Road  2. Population of Dunhuang.120, 000  3. History of Dunhuang. The property city of our history.  4. Scenic Spots of Dunhuang.  Mogao Grottoes.  Crescent Spring and whistling Sand.

20. Step Three: Exercises  1. Ask Ss to read the narration of Dunhuang and Mogao Grottoes.  2. Ask Ss to show the narration of Dunhuang.  3. Ask some questions of this passage.

21. Step Four:  1. Recite the narration of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes.  2. Recite the new words of this passage.  3. Ask Ss to show the narration of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes?