1,660 years ago, CE 366, a monk called LeZun was meditating by a River in the desert when he suddenly saw golden rays of light shining from the nearby Sanwei Mountain, as if a thousand Buddhas had appeared. Believing this to be a divine sign from the Buddha, he vowed to carve a cave at this sacred site to enshrine Buddhist statues and promote the teachings of Buddhism. Thus, Monk LeZun carved the first cave on the cliff, marking the birth of Mogao. It is a complex of 500 temples located 25km southeast of Dunhuang, China. It is part of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, preserving the rich culture of the Buddhism through murals, sculptures, and architecture.
Card Cave Studio is a playing card brand that focuses on heritage and history established by Yiren Ying. Mogao Caves Playing Cards marks as the brand's very first deck. It showcases highlights of the Mogao Caves in a form of a deck of playing cards.
Each card has a different frame drawn inspirations from the ceiling of the cave, with different pattern has its unique meaning. Each card has a different cave, and the inside of the caves are re-illustrated murals, sculptures or manuscripts. The four suits represent four different feature or stage of the site, with the backgrounds of the cards are also different:
- ♠️ Vanishing = shows the artworks of the site gradually disappearing, with background showing deserts
- ♦️ Deterioration = shows the artworks of the site were damaged or deteriorated, with background showing star tracks
- ♣️ Exposure = shows the artworks of the site discovered by foreign travellers & explorers, with background showing camels and travellers
- ♥️ Original Color = shows the artworks of the site in its original state, with background showing the architectures of the site The Back Design is a two-way illustration of the Mogao Caves facade with a very thin border. The corners have a lotus flower, an important symbol of rebirth in Buddhism. The middle part is the facade of the site: the 9-level tower which is located in the middle of the cliff wall. The floating sand and star track indicate the vanishing of the site. The Jokers feature identical symbol of the Mogao Caves surrounded with facts and descriptions that fits about the site. There are two extra cards that explains more about the content of the cards and a brief history of the Mogao Caves. Every deck comes in a custom DS sleeve with Card Cave Studio logo.
Special Edition As there are 492 numbered caves containing murals or sculptures, so as this special variant of the deck. The tuck box is the premium matte in white and gold color scheme. The box also comes with hand numbering. All the cards are cold foil along with the addition of gold foil gilding. The deck is printed by KingStar - only 492 decks made.
