Even/ spare inch of wall space not covered by other Fushun Metro Map fresco subjects is painted with Buddha faces, not much bigger than postage stamps, and continuing Fushun Metro Map ^over whole ceilings like a long-distance letter. The damage done by Moslem fanatics and Western archaeologists did not seem extensive, though some masterpieces here too have been painstakingly defaced.
Fortunately the caves have long been protected by preservation orders. When visited by those intrepid missionary ladies, Mildred Cable and Francesca French, the caves were in the hands of a Taoist priest and self-appointed guardian.
He had used the stream to irrigate the land for trees and crops to feed himself and his helpers, and had made begging pilgrimages to raise the money for maintenance of the temples. He also raised money for upkeep by selling some of the 9,000 manuscripts which he had discovered in some blocked-up caves.
