Shikong Buddhist temple

Shikong Buddhist temple

Shikong Dafo temple, commonly known as "Dafo Temple", is located at the south foot of Shuanglong mountain, zhangjinsha village, Yuding County, Zhongning County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Shikong great Buddhist temple, Shuanglong mountain, was called "Shikong mountain" in ancient times, so the grottoes were named after "Shikong". Facing the Yellow River and the Great Wall in the north, Dafosi temple is 20 kilometers away from the county seat. It is a key Buddhist temple in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and one of the key cultural relics protection units in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Temple History

Shikong great Buddhist temple, according to "Longshi Jinshi Lu" quoted "Gansu new Tongzhi manuscript": "Shikong temple statue It's named after the temple. The temple was created in the Tang Dynasty. Caves were carved in the shape of mountains. All the statues in the caves were made in the Tang Dynasty. " According to the historical records "Longyou jinshilu" and "Gansu Xintongzhi", Shikong temple was founded in the Tang Dynasty. The caves were carved in the shape of mountains, and all the statues in the caves were made in the Tang Dynasty. New records of Jiajing Ningxia is recorded as "Yuangu Temple".

Qianlong Zhongwei county annals of the Qing dynasty recorded "Xixia yuanhaojian", but there is no historical evidence about Xixia and yuan, but from the shape and style of the grottoes, it is not a special product of the Yuan Dynasty. Zhongwei county annals is named "yuan Haojian". It is inferred that the grottoes of Shikong Dafo temple may have been excavated in the Tang Dynasty, and they were repaired and plasticized in the Xixia and Yuan Dynasties.

Your cultural relics

In the early 1980s, more than 100 pieces of national precious cultural relics, such as painted statues, murals, floor tiles, bronze mirrors and bronze statues of the Tang, song, yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, were excavated. Some of the murals and painted statues have a typical style of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

Overall layout

According to experts' research, its overall layout, construction style and artistic techniques are similar to those of Dunhuang Grottoes in Gansu Province. These rich remains prove the long history and splendid religious culture of Shikong Great Buddha Temple. In 1963, the people's Government of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region announced that it was a key cultural relic protection unit at the district level, which was specially introduced in the Great Dictionary of Chinese places of interest and historic sites. It was included in the large album of 2000 years of Chinese religion, which was published all over the world, making it famous not only in the whole country, but also in the world.

There are 13 caves, which are divided into three groups: upper, middle and lower. They are called "three temples" at that time.

Main buildings

The upper temple has Lingguang cave, 4.5 meters high, 8.9 meters deep and 5.9 meters wide, in the shape of a covered bucket, in which there are bodhisattvas of the king of Tibet; Baizi Guanyin cave, 2.5 meters high, 1.5 meters deep and 2 meters wide, in which there are Baizi Guanyin; Wanfo cave, 4 meters high, 8.2 meters deep and 6 meters wide, in which there are statues of Buddha and arhat, and on the top there are many small Buddha statues. The God bears are different and lifelike, and the God bears are merciful and peaceful.

The above three holes are on the second floor Pavilion. The first floor is the Mahatma hall. There are three saints of Huayan. In the middle of the hall, Sakyamuni Buddha holds a statement. The statue of Buddha is 3 meters high. The throne of Vajra, Ananda and kasyah Dharma protector. Manjusri rides peacock and lion on both sides, and Puxian rides six tooth elephant. The hall is magnificent. Secondly, there is the three stars cave of fulushou, which is 1.9 meters high, 1.9 meters deep and 3.2 meters wide. There are murals in it. Sanqing cave is 4 meters high and 5.7 meters deep. It is 6 meters wide, which is the right and left side hall of the main hall. Yuhuang cave, 3 meters high, 4 meters deep, 5, 7 meters wide. Wuliang cave is 3 meters high, 2 meters deep and 4 meters wide.

Zhongsi is the center of the whole grottoes, which has been included in the dictionary of Chinese scenic spots. The cave is spacious, 125 meters wide, 25 meters high and 724 meters deep. There are three large niches on it. In the middle of the niches is a group of five figures. The original statue is a stone clay statue of Sakyamuni Buddha. It is 5 meters high. It has spiral hair, round face, long eyebrows and big eyes. Its earlobe reaches to the shoulder. It is bare chest and knees. It is wearing a red Casa coat. It is graceful, gentle and kind. The left and right Bodhisattvas wear corollaries and necklaces, Bare chest and bare arms, wrist wearing bracelets, wearing a long group of close fitting, color waistline, face plump, long eyebrows, big eyes, nose slightly raised, there is an arc under the jaw, the middle of the forehead, there is a red auspicious mole between the eyebrows.

It looks like the style of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. It's a moving bear. The two disciples of Ananda and JIAYE are standing with each other, but they have been toppled and destroyed. The back wall is a flame halo, and there are color murals on both sides. From the falling part, the murals have two layers inside and outside, and the outer layer is painted with Buddhist stories, such as the figure modeling of JIAYE crossing the sea, and the use of color and atmosphere rendering show high artistic techniques. The inner layer is older and its color has been oxidized. From the perspective of color, it is similar to Dunhuang painting in Tang Dynasty. There are various Buddha statues on the two walls of the grottoes, which are displayed in three rows. They are all sitting cross legged, dressed in cassock, with eight or nine statues in each row. They refuse to be called a total of 88 Buddhas. On the top of the cave is a caisson painted with colorful lotus pattern, and on the bottom of the cave is a square brick floor. More than 300 people can stand to worship Buddha.

There are five caves in Xiasi temple. The first one may be a monk, which is 3 meters high, 4 meters deep and 3.6 meters wide. There is also a small hole, 3 meters high and 15 meters wide. The second is Niangniang cave, and the third is Yaowang cave, which is 2.5 meters high, 0.6 meters deep and 1.4 meters wide. The fourth is Longwang cave, 3.5 meters high, 4 meters deep and 2.9 meters wide. The fifth is the Sleeping Buddha cave, which is 4.5 meters high, 9 meters deep and 3.5 meters wide. There is a Buddha Nirvana statue inside. Ananda, Kaya and other ten disciples are waiting behind.

The scale

According to the records of Ningxia government in the Qing Dynasty, "the cliff of Shikong great Buddhist temple is steep, hollow as a pottery cave, and it can seat hundreds of people. Because of the stone carving, the Buddhist temples are all built on the mountain, and the monks light the lights every night, and the distant view is like a star hanging in the sky." in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the grottoes of Shikong temple were one of the ten local sceneries, known as "Shikong night lights" or "Shikong lights". There are poems praising Shikong Temple:

"In the stone sky, whose blue sky is like the blue clouds? The monk sits in a quiet light at night, and sees a drop of red in the mountain from afar. " The grottoes of Shikong Dafo Temple used to be large in scale, with Pavilion style Mountain Gate, Tianwang hall, Weituo hall, bell and Drum Tower on both sides, and an ancient couplet on the mountain gate, which said: "lotus flowers under the seat overwhelm the West Lake in June; willows in the bottle bring a spring in the South China Sea."

The upper and lower temples have taken shape. In particular, the upper temple has a three storey Pavilion style main hall, a side hall, a Zen room and a vegetarian room. As soon as you enter the mountain gate, you can see Maitreya Buddha with a smiling face. Behind it is Wei Tuo. There are four heavenly kings on both sides. The heavenly king hall is majestic. Every time around the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, visitors from all over the country gather to worship Buddha, go to the theatre, do business and visit. There are a lot of people in the temple.

Buddhist administration

The grottoes of Shikong Dafosi temple are adjacent to shenggeli desert in the north, which was once submerged by wind and sand. In 1983, in order to excavate the buried cultural treasure, the special technical personnel sent by the cultural relics administration committee of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region excavated and cleaned up the Shikong great Buddhist temple, which had been buried for nearly a hundred years.

A total of 100 statues of Shangsi temple and painted statues with scientific and archaeological value were cleared, and 180000 cubic meters of sand were cleared. After being managed by the Buddhist community, nearly 30000 square meters of sand proof grass were completed. In recent years, water facilities have been installed, Elaeagnus angustifolia, Ailanthus altissima, elm trees have been planted, beacon towers have been protected, underground roads have been dug, and tourism projects have been expanded.

So that the precious cultural relics on Lingzhou Road, the Silk Road of Tang Dynasty, shine again.

Current Abbot

Master Yuncheng, the abbot of Shikong Dafo temple, is 85 years old. He was born in Dingxian County, Hebei Province. He became a monk in 1932 and studied under master Kehui. He is now the executive director of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Buddhist Association and the president of Zhongning County Buddhist Association.

According to historical records, the Great Buddha Temple is divided into three temples, namely upper, middle and lower, with a total of 13 grottoes. From west to East, they are: Yanguang cave, Wanfo cave, Shizi Guanyin cave, Laojun cave, Sanqing cave, Yuhuang cave, Wuliang cave, Jiujian Wuliang cave, God of wealth cave, Yaowang cave, Niangniang cave, Longwang cave and Sleeping Buddha cave. Among them, nine Wuliang caves (also known as Jiujian Wuliang temple, located in the Middle Temple) are the most grand. They are the center of the Great Buddha Temple. The caves are 25 meters high, 15 meters deep and 13 meters wide. There are 88 Buddhas inside. In addition, there are 360 Buddhas, Arhats and donors.

There are three large niches on the front. In the middle is a group of five statues. The seated Buddha in the middle is as high as 5 meters. It is made of stone and clay with graceful appearance. The back wall is a halo of flame, and there are colorful murals on both sides of the niche, which are comparable to the Tang Dynasty Murals in Dunhuang Grottoes.

Wanfo cave and Yanguang cave are also large in scale. The two caves are cut in the middle of the mountain. Each cave is 5 meters high, 10 meters deep and 6 meters wide. There are gold seated statues of Sakyamuni in the niches on the front of the cave, with Bodhisattvas standing on both sides. Numerous small Buddhas are pasted on the top and two walls of the cave, which is known as the statue of Ten Thousand Buddhas. There is a niche in the middle of Yanguang cave, on the top of which is the Buddha of Yanguang, and on the bottom is the Bodhisattva of Tibetans. On both sides of the cave are ten halls of Yan Jun, tall and powerful, with different expressions.

There is a 3-meter-high, 2-meter-wide and 1.5-meter-deep cave in the middle of the two caves. Inside the cave, there is a sitting statue of Guanyin, a hundred children. On the wall of the cave, there are countless innocent children, lively and lovely. Outside the grottoes, there are three storeys of backers, and the entrances of the three grottoes are all in two storeys. The towering and majestic pavilions are integrated with the grottoes, forming a perfect artistic combination. Its architectural technique and shape are in the same line with the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang.

Great significance

Since the excavation of the Great Buddha Temple in the Tang Dynasty, it has experienced several ups and downs in the vicissitudes of more than 1000 years. From the remains of a large number of inscriptions in the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, it can be seen that there was a large-scale maintenance and expansion in the Ming Dynasty. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the caves were buried by quicksand, so that the cultural relics survived.

From 1981 to 1983, some of the caves in the upper and lower temples of Dafo temple were excavated by the cultural relics administration committee of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and buried in the ground for thousands of years

Chinese PinYin : Shi Kong Da Fo Si