Based on the available chronological records, the Tang Dynasty sculpture at Longmen Grottoes can be classified into two types: Buddha statues and Bodhisattva statues-including both large and small ones-and divided into three stages: the period between Emperor Tai Zong and Emperor Gao Zong; the Wu Zetian period; the period between Emperor Xuan Zong and Emperor De Zong. In the first stage the characteristic type of the Tang Dynasty sculpture was in the process of formation. In the second stage it reached the peak time but went downhill in the third stage.Judging from the Tang statues at Longmen, several schools of Buddhism prevailed in the Luoyang area at that time. They were the Pure Land School, the Hua Yan (Avatamsa) school, the Three Stages school, the Chan (meditative) school and the Tantra (esoteric). In the Pure Land school, Amitabha (the Buddha of Immeasurable Splendour) and his cult is widespread. A set of nine statues is the main form of the Pure Land school grottoes at Longmen in the Tang Dynasty.The rise and development of the main Buddhist schools in the Tang Dynasty is closely linked with the promotion and support from the ruling class headed by feudal emperors. It also has much to do with the class-struggle situation throughout the country. In the late Tang period the Buddhist art went deep into the lower classes and gradually became secularized and democratized. This trend reflected, to some extent, the demands of the people for running away from the miserable reality and for a happy life.
