Qianzhen cave

Qianzhen cave

Qianzhen cave is located in qingliangding, northwest of Chashan scenic spot in Rongcheng City. During the Dading period of Jin Dynasty, Wang Chongyang came to teach disciples in the East and founded Quanzhen Taoism. Wang Chuyi, also known as Yuyang, worshipped Wang Chongyang as his teacher in Yanxia cave of Kunyu Mountain and practiced Taoism. After the completion of Daoism, Wang Yuyang came to cha mountain and lived in Yunguang cave. He continued to study Daoism and founded Kunshan sect of Quanzhen religion, which was called Yunguang collection. Later, there were more and more tourists in Yunguang cave. Wang Yuyang couldn't bear the trouble. He took a fancy to qingliangding, so he led many Taoist disciples to move here and dug a hole in the north stone wall, which was called Quanzhen cave.

During the Wanli period, some monks came here and saw the extraordinary scenery of Quanzhen cave. They carved a thousand Buddha statues on the stone wall inside the cave, so the name of "Quanzhen cave" was changed to "qianzhen cave" or "Qianfo cave".

Cave landscape

The entrance of qianzhen cave faces south. It is the size of a house. The walls of the cave are full of dense Buddha statues. The big one is like a person, and the small one is full of Yingquan. The carving is fine and vivid. There are nine lines on the left and eight lines on the right. There are 998 large Buddha statues on both sides of the cave. The other two are on the side wall of a place called "ladder to heaven" on the north slope. It is said that the Little Buddha can take refuge to eliminate disasters and increase wisdom and strength.

History of scenic spots

During the Dading period of Jin Dynasty, Wang Chongyang came to teach disciples in the East and founded Quanzhen Taoism. Wang Chuyi, also known as Yuyang, worshipped Wang Chongyang as his teacher in Yanxia cave of Kunyu Mountain and practiced Taoism. After the completion of Daoism, Wang Yuyang came to cha mountain and lived in Yunguang cave. He continued to study Daoism and founded Kunshan sect of Quanzhen religion, which was called Yunguang collection. Later, there were more and more tourists in Yunguang cave. Wang Yuyang couldn't bear the trouble. He took a fancy to qingliangding, so he led many Taoist disciples to move here and dug a hole in the north stone wall, which was called Quanzhen cave. In the Ming Dynasty, Taoism declined and Buddhism rose. During the Wanli period, some monks traveled here. Seeing the extraordinary scenery of Quanzhen cave, they carved a thousand Buddha statues on the stone wall of the cave. So Quanzhen cave was renamed "qianzhen cave" or "Qianfo cave".

The origin of qianzhen cave

Thousands of Buddhas in Taoist Holy Land

It is said that during the reign of Emperor Qianlong, he Lu wrote a memorial to Emperor Qianlong. When he described the precipitous Chashan mountain, he said: "in the first three years, in the next three years, he rubbed his feet for three years.". In the majestic beauty of Chashan mountain, there is a large stone cave dug by hand on the cliff at the foot of qingliangding north peak. Three characters of "qianzhen cave" are inscribed on the top of the cave. The depth of the cave is about 8 meters, the height is about 1.9 meters, and the width is about 4.3 meters. People are surprised to find that there are thousands of Buddha statues in the cave! Every sculptor is extremely delicate and lifelike. All the shapes are the same. Even the facial expression is incisive and exquisite! This is the only Buddhist grotto temple on the coast of China - qianzhen cave in Chashan, Weihai.

For a long time, few people have known about qianzhen cave, so this national treasure can only sleep in the mountains for thousands of years. In 1983, during the general survey of cultural relics, a preliminary survey of qianzhen cave was carried out, and the data formed were recorded and filed. Therefore, the academia and the public do not know much about it so far.

Two less Buddha statues in the cave and "double tomb" found outside

The Buddhist caves dug on the huge rocks on the cliff are called grotto temples, which were originally a form of Buddhist architecture in India. Cave temples were first excavated in China in the third century, and were popular in the 5th-8th Century (Northern Wei and Mid Tang Dynasty). In Shandong Province, from Qingzhou to Rongcheng, there are many famous mountains and rivers. However, apart from the "qianzhen cave" in Chashan, there is no cave temple. Therefore, Chashan qianzhen cave is known as "the first cave temple of Haiyan in China".

There's no end to exploration. There's a careful person who counts the Buddha statues in qianzhen cave. It doesn't matter. There are only 998 statues. There are two missing. What about those two? It's said that there were thousands of Buddhas in the cave. Two of them were full of blood. They were dissatisfied with the rules and regulations and were warned many times. Finally, one day they could not bear it and ran away in the dim moonlight. Taiyi was the only one who ran away and sent people to chase them. In a crisis, they went to the cliff to hide. Taiyi used magic to fix them there. That's us Now when climbing qingliangding, I see two "touch suofer".

Nowadays, the images of the two Buddhas are seriously eroded and their faces are not clear due to their exposure. The words "Da Nian" beside the two Buddhas should be a chronological inscription, but it is the most critical missing word after the word "Da", which makes us feel sorry. But even if it can be confirmed, are these really the two Buddhas that are missing in the cave? Was mosuofo and qianzhen cave excavated at the same time?

It has always been a mystery to the excavators of qianzhen cave. In qianzhen Cave Scenic Area, there is a "double tomb". Because of its long history, there is only a mound slightly higher than the ground. No one can say who was buried in the tomb. Will they be the excavators of qianzhen cave?

It is said that there is a young man and woman buried in the grave. There is no way to know which dynasty, but there is a sad and moving legend that has been handed down to the world. A couple of golden boy and jade girl fell in love and broke the rules of heaven. They were beaten to the earth. The jade girl was in a big family, but golden boy was born in poverty. But they fell in love again. As a result, their families swore to death against them. So they fled to cha mountain and got married. Later, their family members chased them. They had no place to escape. They climbed the cool top and jumped off the cliff. They turned into a pair of pigeons and sang between the mountains and the sea, There are pigeons in the world. People were moved by this sad love story, and they set up graves on the mountain to offer incense for three years. There is no way to verify the legend. The legend is only used to give us a psychological comfort for the unexplained history. How can we verify the people in the tomb according to the legend? If one day, open this ancient tomb, what kind of story will it show us? Is it the man who dug the hole or the pair of lovers who will never die? But good people would rather believe that this story is true, when we see the pigeon will think of the world that infatuated men and women.

"Longquan Shenjing"

Qianzhen cave exists in the precipitous place of "the first three years, the second three years". How can the excavators maintain their own food supply? Even if the grain can be carried up the mountain and eaten for a long time, how can the problem of water supply be solved?

In the open space of "qianzhen cave" scenic spot, there is a well, which is extremely sweet. It is said that it can not only quench thirst, but also has the peculiar effect of anti-inflammatory. Visitors to this mountain, if not drink a bowl of Longquan water is a great pity. The stone tablet beside the well is engraved with the four characters "Longquan Shenjing". This "Shenjing" is paved with oak charcoal, palm and sand, which is another wonder of tiecha mountain. Where is his wonder? This well is located on the mountain with an altitude of more than 500 meters. It is surrounded by cliffs. Where does the water come from? And the well water does not dry up for a long time, the rain does not overflow, God also!

In addition, there are many inscriptions on the back of the stone tablet beside the well, including a sentence: "if the cha mountain is rebuilt, when the temple water is not enough, another sealed well can be opened.". Where is this unknown well? It's another mystery. Were there two such wells in those years? Are these two wells the solution to the water problem? Is it God's will that Shenjing is arranged by God?

There is mystery in the tea cave

There is also a tea hole in Qianfo Cave Scenic Area, which is also located on the cliff. The depth of the hole is unpredictable. The flowers and trees in the hole are evergreen in winter and summer. It is said that there are many treasures in the hole, and there is a tea tree, which is the treasure of Chashan town. In ancient times, two southerners came here to pick up a leaf and wipe it. One of them recovered his sight, leaving the story of "southerners only have one leaf to explore treasure". The cave is extremely steep, and the cliff at the top of the cave is at an angle of 45 degrees. The local people say that "anyone who eats grain can't enter the cave". However, there is a man named Liu BA in Dazhuang village on the west side of Chashan. When he entered the cave in the early years of the Republic of China, he cut down the tea tree and cooked the camel home! Local people also made it into a drama "Liu Ba steals treasure", and Liu BA was punished by the head of Cha mountain. What will be in the tea cave that is hard for ordinary people to enter? Are there Buddha statues in it? Will there be a tablet? Do you have any literature? We are looking forward to one day using modern scientific and technological means to enter this cave, to explore treasure, to decrypt.

The age of excavation is complicated

People have been arguing for thousands of years about whether qianzhen cave is qianzhen cave or "Qianfo cave" and the time and the person who dug it.

It has been suggested that Wang Chuyi, Wang Chongyang's Apprentice (No. Yuyang), dug it with a bowl. In order to uncover the mystery of the excavation of qianzhen cave, someone looked at the inscriptions on Chashan mountain and finally found such a sentence: "it was recorded by koucheng, and Yuyang completed it with a bowl" (koucheng probably refers to Qicheng, a Shandong local chronicle written by himself). In addition, the chisel marks of qianzhen cave are arc-shaped, which is quite like a bowl mark, so there is such a saying. But we know that most of the bowls are made of pottery, which is usually used by monks to hold meals. In any case, we can't imagine how they were used to dig caves? This theory is generally regarded as pure nonsense.

According to the inscriptions of Dongkou in the fourth year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty, some people put forward the idea that it was carved by monks in the Ming Dynasty. This theory was immediately besieged, and was soon denied by sufficient arguments, becoming the earliest and most tragic viewpoint of death. First of all, there is a group of Taoist temples in front of qianzhen cave. According to records, this group of temples was built in the Jin Dading period (1115-1234), about 800 years ago. It's at least 800 kilometers from here

Chinese PinYin : Qian Zhen Dong