Shuiliandong Grottoes

Shuiliandong Grottoes

Shuiliandong grottoes are located in zhongloushan gorge, 25 km northeast of Wushan County, Tianshui, Gansu Province. There are four units: Shuiliandong, lashao temple, Qianfo cave and Xiansheng pool. It is an important grotto temple on the east line of the silk road. The post Qin Dynasty, which was built in the period of Sixteen States, has been built many times through the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and the Yuan Dynasty. Among them, the cliff inscriptions, sculptures, murals and wooden eaves of lashao temple and Thousand Buddha cave are the most precious. Now it is a national cultural relic protection unit.

There is the largest open-air cliff relief Buddha in Asia in the grottoes. It is rare in China's grotto art, and it is an important material for the study of China's early grotto culture. At present, there are more than 100 ancient statues, more than 2000 square meters of murals, more than 10 buildings, 8 relic towers, 10 inscriptions on steles, 1 headless mummy, and inscriptions on the cliffs of lashao temple, which provide important material materials for the study of chronology and the origin and development of art history.

Name of scenic spot

essential information

Shuiliandong Grottoes group is located in Zhongshan gorge, 25 kilometers north east of Wushan County, Tianshui City, Gansu Province. It is a grotto temple on the silk road. It is a fairyland with many peaks, tall and straight, winding paths, secluded forests, singing birds and fragrant flowers, flowing springs in the cave and murmuring streams in the mountains. The grottoes were first built in the post Qin period of the Sixteen Kingdoms period, with the original Bodhisattva hall, Laojun Pavilion, Sisheng palace and other pavilions. From the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, it was built many times. Although it has been rebuilt, it has lost its original appearance. There are about 30 square meters of murals of the Northern Wei Dynasty on the stone wall outside the hall, drawing thousands of Buddhas. One kilometer to the north, there is a thousand Buddha cave. There are seven caves. The remaining murals are painted with Thousand Buddhas, legends, flying Apsaras, donors and ox carts. They have the style of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. The painting is magnificent, and the remaining statues are mellow and full with different expressions. The cliff inscriptions, sculptures, murals and wooden eaves of lashao temple and Thousand Buddha cave are the most precious.

Shuiliandong grottoes are located in Zhongshan gorge, 25 kilometers north east of Wushan County. The later Qin Dynasty, built in the Sixteen Kingdoms period, was built many times in the Northern Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, song and Yuan Dynasties. There are five caves, namely shuilian cave, lashao temple, Qianfo cave, Xiansheng pool and Sanqing cave. It is a fairyland with many peaks, tall and straight, winding paths, secluded forests, singing birds and fragrant flowers, flowing springs in the cave and murmuring streams in the mountains.

Shuilian cave is an arched natural cave about 30 meters high and 20 meters deep on the steep cliff to the east of the test axe. Because of the rainy season, the mountain top flies down like a curtain of water. In the cave, there are four holy palaces, Guanyin temple, South Hall, Bodhisattva spring and other pavilions. According to the nature, the caves are open and close. They are well arranged with exquisite workmanship, especially the Bodhisattva hall. The hall has two floors. In the lower cave, there is a clear pool. On the upper one, there is a horizontal plaque with the four characters "dusk rain on the West Mountain", in which there is a local folk legend named Ma Xian Niang. On the cliff of shuilian cave, there are huge Buddhist murals of the Northern Wei, Sui, Tang and Yuan Dynasties.

Main components

La Shao Temple

Lashao temple is an important Cave Temple in Shuiliandong Grottoes group. It is located on the red sandstone cliffs on both sides of the canyon. The cliffs are more than 60 meters long and 60 meters high. It is a square body. There is a huge relief Buddha statue in the middle, which is prominent and eye-catching. The Great Buddha was built in the third year of Emperor Ming Dynasty (559 BC) by the governor of Qinzhou and the governor of Longyou. At that time, the society was in turmoil and life and death were changeable. As a result, up to the emperor's relatives and relatives, down to the common people, they created Buddha statues in order to pray for the protection and blessing of the Buddha. Wei Chi returned to be the official of the imperial court, and created the Great Buddha for the sake of "eternal peace of the world and happiness of the four seas". It is said that when the construction started, there were four craftsmen, each presenting his own skills.

The statue of Buddha is Sakyamuni. It is about 36 meters tall, accounting for more than half of the whole cliff. It is more than twice as high as the Buddha on Maiji Mountain. It is magnificent and impressive. On both sides of the Buddha stand two beautiful looking Bodhisattvas. They are stone figurines made of clay. They wear a bun on their head, a sheep intestine skirt on their body, beads on their necklaces, and treasures on their incense rings. They hold lotus flowers and stand on the lotus platform barefoot. The carving of the Giant Buddha rosette is also very exquisite. Among the lotus petals are three rows of small animal statues, six lions in the upper layer, eight deer in the middle layer and nine elephants in the lower layer. In Buddhist stories, they are all spiritual animals closely related to the Buddha, or the incarnation of the Buddha, or the symbol of the Buddha. They are engraved together with the Buddha to show his majesty, wisdom, kindness and magic power. Placing them under the feet of the Buddha sets off the greatness of the Buddha. These animal statues, standing or lying, or side or front, or looking up, or staring down, are vivid and vivid, full of exotic taste. This perfect artistic picture of the Buddha, Bodhisattva and rosette is a treasure of Chinese grotto sculpture.

Water curtain cave

The water curtain cave temple is half a kilometer deep in the mountains opposite the lashao temple. It is far away from lashao temple, echoing north and south. The cave temple is a natural cave about 30 meters high, 20 meters deep and 50 meters long.

The cave temple is a holy land of Buddhism and Taoism. The Buddha statues in the grottoes are mainly Buddhist story works with the combination of hanging sculptures, reliefs and murals. The original cave wall is full of murals. Now only one side of the mural, which is 17 meters long and 8 meters high, is left. According to the content, it is arranged with 24 groups of pictures. The tall Sakyamuni Buddha sits in the middle of the hall, in a prominent position. The two hands of the Buddha are held parallel to the chest, and the palms of the hands are outward to give lectures. The two Bodhisattvas stood on both sides with a stable and natural look. Surrounded by "Feitian" caravans, most of them are bare chested, flying in the air, playing music and singing, or spreading the rain of flowers. Their lightness, graceful movement and elegant manner are similar to those of "Feitian" in Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang, which can be called excellent works of art.

"Cattle pulling cart" is another wonderful and vivid picture in Xibi painting. It shows the image of a bullock cart walking steadily. In the picture, the cow is strong and strong, with head held high, eyes looking forward and limbs exerting force, showing the appearance of loading. The wheel is large and round, with 13 wide spokes radiating to connect the axle with the wide and thick rim, giving people a strong sense of wood.

In front of the mural is the Shuiliandong temple, with dozens of pavilions, temples and exquisite statues. There were many buildings in Shuiliandong in the middle of Sui Dynasty, which were expanded and repaired in later generations. The existing buildings are modern objects. They are laid out according to the terrain, or built on cliffs, or embedded in rocks. They are ingenious in design, exquisite in workmanship, antique and full of wit.

Thousand Buddha cave

Half a kilometer into the ditch from the northwest of Shuiliandong, a peak is pulled up in the deep mountains, hanging up and cutting down. There is a huge natural cave in the middle, 25 meters long, 2.15 meters high and 8 meters deep. It is called thousand Buddha cave because there are thousands of statues and murals. It is also known as the "seven Buddha Valley" because there are seven Buddha statues hanging on the cliff.

There are more than 30 niches in the cave. There are nearly a thousand Buddha statues and murals of hundreds of square meters. They are all distributed on the cliff side of the cave. They are divided into upper and lower parts with the wooden pile plank road as the boundary. There are few niches in the upper part, and the statues are close to the cliff surface, with high and shadow forms. All Buddhas wear shoulder coat and carry round light. There are two flanks on both sides to serve Bodhisattvas. They are solemn and solemn, simple and natural. There are hundreds of them. They have different shapes because of their different positions and identities. For example, Sakyamuni Buddha is solemn and kind, Bodhisattva is gentle and quiet, Ananda is simple and innocent, heavenly king is powerful and valiant, donor is kind and devout, and earth God is restrained and cowardly. They are really in a variety of forms, each has its own style and strong sense The art of appeal.

There are more than 100 statues of the Northern Zhou Dynasty preserved on the lower cliff surface, which can be divided into two types: relief and clay sculpture in the niche. Most of the niches are round arched, and there are more than 20 existing niches. The style and technique of sculpture are quite different from the upper part. The tree layout is orderly, highlighting the main body. The statues are generally slender in stature, comfortable in grain, rich and elegant in appearance and spirit.

Among the hundreds of square frescoes preserved on the lower cliff surface, a Mid Tang fresco in Nanbi is the best. This is a beautiful design composed of images of Buddha, Bodhisattva, flying Apsaras and donors. The main part of the Buddha has fallen off, and the rest of the picture is clear and intact.

Book name

essential information

Title: Shuiliandong Grottoes

Author: Institute of Shuiliandong Grottoes protection, Institute of cultural relics and Archaeology of Gansu Province

Press: Science Press

Time of publication: March 2009

ISBN: 9787030236470

Format: 16

Price: 180.00 yuan

content validity

"Shuilian cave group" introduces the discovery, investigation and research, historical background, existing content, current stage, comparison of production techniques with surrounding caves, academic value and other aspects of shuilian cave group, which comprehensively and systematically reflects the general situation and research results of shuilian cave group. Shuiliandong grottoes are located in Wushan County, Tianshui City, an important town on the ancient land Silk Road in the southeast of Gansu Province. They are the most important Grottoes in the upper reaches of Weihe River next only to Maijishan grottoes. They provide very important material materials for the study of the development of Buddhism and Buddhist culture in ancient Longyou area.

Book catalogue

introduction

Section I rediscovery, survey and research of Shuiliandong Grottoes

The second section is the origin and start of the investigation report of Shuiliandong grottoes

The first chapter is the location, distribution and evolution of Shuiliandong grottoes

Section 1 Wushan

Chinese PinYin : Shui Lian Dong Shi Ku Qun