Abstract The Dunhuang Mogao Cave no. 428 is one of the biggest caves , which was built in the Northern Zhou Dynasty ( 557 - 581 ) . There are 1458 miniature Buddha images and 1189 donor figures. The main themes of the paintings include preaching Buddhas , precious throne and the vajra pagoda , Mahaparinvirvana , Sakya and Prabhutaratna Buddhas and the story of Prince Sattva , story of Prince Sudhana , etc. The life story in this cave probably contains 12 episodes , including the Holy Birth and Nrvana on the same wall , which is .rathre nnique