The earliest known Buddhist caves in China are at Pingling Temple and Tunhuang in present-day Kansu Province. They were begun during the Western Chin (385-434) and the Northern Liang (401-439) Dynasties and the Sixteen States Period (304-439). By the 13th Century, Buddhist caves could be found in a dozen provinces. From those at Tatung in Shansi Province and Loyang in Honan Province, which are considered the center of cave development, Buddhist caves can be found along three routes moving toward the downstream regions of the Yellow River. The northeastern line extends from Hopeh to Shantung, reaching as far as Liaoning; the southwestern route includes Honan, Shensi, and Kansu, and fans out toward Sinkiang, Szechwan, Yunnan, and Kwangsi. And the southeastern route extends to Kiangsu and Chekiang Provinces.

Founded in India during the 6th Century B.C., Buddhism remained in the valley of the Ganges River for two centuries before it began moving to other parts of Asia. Near the beginning of the Christian era, during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 219A.D.), Buddhism entered the populous, civilized centers of China and began a steady, if sometimes slow and halting, expansion throughout the country. Although the exact route Buddhism took into China remains unknown, it is generally accepted that emissaries, worshippers, or other proselytizers of the religion came from the northwest by the Silk Road, stopping at Tunhuang and eventually at Loyang, the Latter Han capital.

With the fall of the Han Dynasty in 220 A.D., China entered a period of disunity lasting until 589. During the final years of the Western Tsin Dynasty (265-316 A.D.), the Chinese foothold in North China became highly tenuous, especially after the Huns captured the city of Loyang in 311 and the city of Changan in 316. The fall of these two centers of Chinese civilization marked the end of Chinese suzerainty in the northern part of China for almost three centuries, and forced the emigration of literati, officials, and learned Buddhist monks from northern China to settlements in the south near the present Nanking.

These refugees helped establish the Eastern Tsin Dynasty (316-419) and maintained a determination to recapture northern China and restore the supremacy of Chinese culture over the whole country. But they must have had grave doubts about their chances of success, since they had lost the heartland of Chinese culture. To some extent, these uncertain conditions encouraged acceptance of the "foreign" religion of Buddhism.

Because the royal household in southern China was weak at this time, the Buddhist community was able to assert its independence of secular authority. At the same time, the rulers in northern China, who were non-Chinese in the midst of a large Chinese population, found it expedient to adopt a religion that was not caught up with Chinese cultural ramifications. As a result, Buddhism became a state religion in northern China.

After the demise of the Eastern Tsin in 420, the Liu Sung Dynasty (420-479) was established in southern China, while northern China, beginning in 440, was unified under the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534). Thus began the era called the Northern and Southern Dynasties. During this period, Buddhism was gradually accepted both by Chinese and non-Chinese rulers and by the masses.

The spirit of the times led to the desire for more tranquil lives and wishes to be freed of the world's turmoil. Buddhism was therefore very appealing, and found eager and ready converts. With the movement of Buddhist doctrine from India came the belief that the creation of Buddhist images and cave temples was a means to win blessings. The whole country, especially rulers and wealthy families, began financing the carving of thousands of devotional images and structures out of rock in hopes of earning merit for the afterlife.

As a result of imperial patronage, the Northern Wei Dynasty is often credited with beginning the art of cave sculpture in China. Emperor Wen-ch'eng of the Northern Wei directed the carving of the first five imperial caves (Caves 16 to 20) at Yunkang. Emperor Hsiao-wen of the same dynasty followed with the Kuyang and Pinyang Caves in Lungmen.