A majestic lion with a human face roars silently in the Five Dynasties cave sponsored by Cao Yanzhong. Crowned in gold leaf, mane flowing like flames of cinnabar, Leo embodies royal protection of the Dharma. Clouds of incense swirl around him; guardian deities stand at attention. The lion’s eyes burn with the fierce compassion that kept Buddhism alive on the edge of the desert during centuries of war.

In the twilight of Western Xia, two carp swim eternally toward enlightenment in the Yulin Grottoes. Their scales are painted in thick malachite and azurite, bodies entwined with lotus stems — rebirth in every brushstroke. Above them, the vault rises like an inverted sky of lapis lazuli; the fish never reach nirvana, yet they never tire, carrying the hopes of all sentient beings through endless kalpas.

A gentle yet powerful ram with curling horns of gold stands proud in a Tang pyramid-roofed cave. Its white fleece is rendered in raised gypsum, catching light like fresh snow on the Gobi. Surrounding mandalas pulse with energy; the ram charges forward eternally, embodying the explosive rebirth of spring after the longest desert winter.

A horizontal crab clutches a flaming pearl in the Yulin Grottoes, painted in thick Western Xia mineral pigments. Its shell is armoured in stone-green, legs hidden among donor processions — the ultimate protector of home and lineage. The crab moves sideways through time, guarding sacred space while the pure land unfolds in radiant gold on the opposite wall.

In the Yulin cliffs, the sea-goat becomes a dragon-headed fish leaping through lotus waves — China’s answer to the Himalayan makara. Gold outlines shimmer against faded vermilion; its eyes hold the wisdom of mountains and oceans. Every scale is a reincarnated soul swimming toward the next kalpa under the eternal vigil of the Bodhisattvas.