The Emperor and Empress Paying Respect to Buddha is a relief depicting donators from the 6th century found in north China, and is an important component of the grottoes carved by the imperial court. A political product, The Emperor and Empress Paying Respect to Buddha depicts not only Buddhists paying respect to Buddha, but also the emperor himself. Reliefs depicting donators from the Northern dynasties stress the presence of both men and women, indicating the power and position of women in the politics of the Northern dynasties.

In the 1840s, China became semi-colonial and semi-feudal, and a large number of stone carvings of the Longmen Grottoes were stolen and transported overseas. The Emperor and Empress Paying Respect to Buddha was stolen in the 1930s, and was finally trafficked to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in the US.