North Temple Grottoes

North Temple Grottoes

North Grottoes temple is a national key cultural relic protection unit. It is 25 kilometers southwest of Xifeng District, Qingyang City, Gansu Province, at the foot of Fuzhong mountain on the East Bank of the confluence of Pu River and Ru River. It is 25 kilometers away from the urban area, with an altitude of 1083 meters. There are 307 large and small grottoes and 2126 stone sculptures. It is one of the four major Grottoes in Gansu Province.

The North grotto Temple consists of five parts: Sigou, cave 1 of Loudi village, shidaopo, huabusa cliff and Shiya Dongtai, which last for three kilometers from north to south. It was built by Xi Kangsheng, the governor of Jingzhou in the second year of Yongping (509) of the Northern Wei Dynasty. It is named because it was excavated at the same time with the South grotto temple in Jingchuan County, Pingliang City, corresponding to the north and south.

On November 5, 2019, in cave 267 of North Grottoes temple in Qingyang City, Gansu Province, the staff of the Institute of cultural relics protection of North Grottoes Temple of Dunhuang Research Institute were testing the moisture content of rock mass. In order to deal with the weathering and sand fall of the grottoes, the cultural relics protection staff regularly inspect the surrounding environment and mountain conditions of the grottoes, so as to formulate an appropriate plan for the restoration and protection of the North Grottoes temple.

Temple situation

There are 296 niches and 2126 statues in the North grottoes, including 7 caves in the Northern Wei Dynasty, 3 caves in the Western Wei Dynasty, 13 caves in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, 63 caves in the Sui Dynasty, 209 caves in the Tang Dynasty and 1 cave in the Song Dynasty. In addition, there are 69.7 square meters of murals, 8 stone inscriptions, 150 square meters of ink inscriptions from Sui to Qing Dynasties, and many architectural relics.

Cave 165 is the seven Buddha Grottoes excavated by Xi Kangsheng. The cave is 14.6 meters high, 21.7 meters wide from north to South and 15.7 meters deep. The plane is rectangular and covers the top of the bucket. Inside, there are seven Buddhas (all 8 meters high). Jiashi fourteen Bodhisattvas (all 4 meters high), Maitreya with Jiaojiao (5.8 meters high), Bodhisattva with a statue (3.5 meters high) and Ashura heaven are carved on both sides of the cave door. All the statues are well-dressed, beautiful and clear. There are four relief sculptures on the top of the cave, the story of Bensheng "sacrificing his life to feed the tiger" and the story of Buddhism "entertainment in the palace". On both sides of the gate of the cave, there is a statue of a strong man.

Layout structure

In the North grottoes, the tower base was rebuilt in the Song Dynasty. Sixteen Arhats were engraved on both sides of the Ming windows in the Song Dynasty. There are many inscriptions and inscriptions on the inner and outer walls of the grottoes. There are 23 large-scale stone sculptures in this cave. There are more than 110 relief sculptures of Thousand Buddhas, flying Apsaras, musicians, biographies of Buddhas and stories of Buddhas. The content is quite rich. It is the largest, richest and most valuable cave in the North Grottoes Temple group.

Cave 240 is the representative cave of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Thirdly, the statues of Buddha and Bodhisattvas not only inherit the lingering charm of beautiful bones and clear images since the Northern Wei Dynasty, but also are the forerunner of the rich style of Sui and Tang Dynasties. They are the modeling style of the Buddhist art of the northern Grottoes temple in the transitional period from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of the development of Buddhist art in the North Grottoes temple. There are more than 200 caves and niches, mainly with flat rectangular or horseshoe shaped roofs, domed caves and shallow niches with square round arches. There are two Bodhisattvas, two powerful men, two Bodhisattvas, two disciples of one Buddha, two Bodhisattvas of one Buddha, etc. the statues are full and round with skillful carving techniques and smooth and changeable lines, represented by caves 32, 222 and 263.

The North Grottoes temple and the South Grottoes Temple of Jingchuan County in Pingliang area of Gansu Province were excavated at the same time. The distance between the north and the south is 45 kilometers. Therefore, the grottoes are called the North Grottoes temple. It was first built in the second year of Yongping in the Northern Wei Dynasty (509 AD), and has been renovated and expanded in the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Western Wei Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, forming a large-scale Grotto group.

The area of the North Grottoes is 7500 square meters. The total area of the Grottoes is 17000 square meters. There are 307 large and small grottoes, 2126 stone sculptures and more than 150 inscriptions. Most of the cultural relics are well preserved and rich in content. They are treasures of grotto art in the world and are known as one of the "four major Grottoes in Gansu".

Historical evolution

The North grotto temple was founded in 509 A.D. in the second year of Yongping reign of emperor Xuanwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Together with the South grotto temple, it was founded by Xi Kangsheng, the governor of Jingzhou in the Northern Wei Dynasty. After the Western Wei Dynasty, Northern Zhou Dynasty, Sui Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, a large-scale Grottoes group was formed. It is an important grotto on the North Road of the silk road.

It was rediscovered in 1959. Since 1961, the cultural relics team of Gansu Provincial Museum has carried out investigation, mapping and cleaning of the grottoes for many times, and published the book "Qingyang North grotto Temple" in 1986. Since its rediscovery, the government has repeatedly allocated funds for reinforcement and maintenance, and adopted a series of measures to prevent the statue from further weathering. At the same time of strengthening the management and protection, the in-depth study of the North Grottoes temple was carried out. In 1963, the Qingyang North Grottoes temple cultural relics depository was established.

Prosperous period

The North Grottoes temple is one of the four major Grottoes in Gansu Province, including the main Grottoes in Sigou, the first Grottoes in Loudi Village (No.1 for short) 1.5km to the north, the shidaopo Grottoes 1.5km to the south, huabusa grottoes, Shiya Dongtai grottoes, etc., which last for 3 km from north to South. The area of the caves is 7500 square meters, and the area of the caves is more than 5000 square meters. There are 296 caves, 2126 stone sculptures, 8 steles, 96.7 square meters of murals and 150 inscriptions. The main grottoes are concentrated in the main grottoes of the temple valley.

There are 283 caves and niches here, which are densely distributed on the section of the yellow sandstone cliff with a height of 20 meters and a length of 120 meters from north to south. Representative caves include caves 165 and 240 in the Northern Dynasty and caves 32, 222 and 263 in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. In different poses and with different expressions, the carving art is concentrated on the essence of Longdong Han and Tang culture, and also a crystallization of ancient Chinese and foreign cultural exchanges. It has a certain position in the history of China's Buddhist grottoes. In January 1988, it was announced as a national key cultural relic protection unit by the State Council and is now a famous tourist attraction in Longdong.

on a large scale

Because of the natural shape of the cliff surface, the cave niche is divided into two layers, one is the upper and the other is the lower. It is connected by the cloister steps, with a systematic layout and distinct layers. In particular, the 165 grottoes are 14 meters high, 15.7 meters deep and 21.7 meters wide, which are rare in China. Cultural relics are well preserved and rich in content, with high historical, artistic, scientific and tourist value. It's a treasure of grotto art in the world. It's back to the mountain and face to the water. The natural scenery is elegant and beautiful. In spring, there are colorful flowers and birds singing; in summer, the spring is tinkling and the wind is cool; in autumn, the frost leaves are brilliant and fruitful; in winter, the snow is flying, quiet and spectacular, and the cultural landscape is unique.

The grottoes are divided into upper, middle and lower levels. Among them, cave 165, founded by Xi Kangsheng, is the largest. It is a large cave with seven Buddhas as its content. The statues of seven Buddhas are magnificent, exquisite, solemn and solemn, not losing the glory and charm of the statues of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Maitreya Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva riding on a statue and Asura holding the sun and moon are all successful works with artistic appeal. In addition, there are also statues of the Northern Zhou Dynasty in cave 240, which show a simple and heavy demeanor.

Most of the northern grottoes are in the Tang Dynasty. The most representative is cave 32, which was built in the first year of Empress Wu Zetian's Ruyi reign (692 AD). The statues and statues in the grottoes are full-bodied, beautiful, ready to move and moving. They can be regarded as fine works of art in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. The statues of the Tang Dynasty have made new achievements in art. More than 150 inscriptions of Sui, Tang, song, Jin, Xixia and Yuan Dynasties are preserved in the cave. It is a treasure for studying history and calligraphy. The inscriptions accurately record the excavation time of the grottoes, and provide valuable written materials for the study of the social life and development of the past dynasties. These carving arts, which have lasted for thousands of years, condense the wisdom of the working people and are the crystallization of the hard work of ancient artists. It has left us rich spiritual wealth.

Relief art

The caves in Sigou are the most concentrated in the North grottoes, with a total number of 282. The caves are excavated on the cliff of Fuzhong mountain, which is 20 meters high and 120 meters wide. The caves overlap up to three layers. Facing the west, the surrounding cliffs are early Cretaceous yellow sandstone with uniform sand and good cementation. Statues can be divided into round, semicircle and relief. In the Northern Wei Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, the most exquisite. There are painted murals or decorative patterns in the original grottoes, most of which have been peeled off.

There are seven niches in the grottoes of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Cave 165 is the oldest, largest and most abundant cave in the North grottoes. It is located in the lower middle part of the Sigou grottoes. The cave is rectangular in plane and covered with a bucket top. It is 14 meters high, 21.7 meters wide and 15.7 meters deep. The main body of the statue is seven Buddhas, which are distributed in the East, South and North walls. Three Buddhas are carved in the east wall, two Buddhas are carved in the South and two Buddhas are carved in the north wall, and one flank is carved between the Buddhas to serve the Bodhisattva. The Buddha is 8 meters high and the Bodhisattva is 4 meters high. The construction of seven Buddhas on such a large scale and prominent position is rare in other Grottoes in China. On the north and south sides of the cave door are carved Maitreya Bodhisattva, Puxian Bodhisattva and Asura heaven, which are about 4 meters high. The huge Buddha, Bodhisattva and Dharma protector statues are listed together, creating a solemn and mysterious atmosphere in the cave. On the top of the four walls are carved Thousand Buddhas, biographies of Buddhas and stories of Bensheng. The relatively complete preserved ones are the "Palace Entertainment" on the east slope of the cave top and the "zhantanmoti sacrifice his life to feed tigers" on the west slope. The statues of Buddha and Bodhisattva in the cave are mainly semi-circular carvings, while the biographies of Buddha and stories of Bensheng are in the form of relief carvings. The features of the statues are that the Buddha's face is mellow and vigorous; the Bodhisattva is beautiful and pure, devout and implicit. Regardless of his clothing or temperament, he has obvious artistic style of traditional statues of the Han nationality.

The Tang Dynasty grottoes were the most prosperous period for the opening of niches in the North grottoes, with as many as 21 niches

Chinese PinYin : Bei Shi Ku Si