Wanfo Valley

Wanfo Valley

Wanfo Valley is located at the foot of Baoshan mountain, 25 kilometers southwest of Anyang City, Henan Province. Baoshan Valley, extending from Lingquan temple to the East and West, is carved with Grottoes all over the mountain. It was built from the fourth year of Wuding in the Eastern Wei Dynasty (AD 546) to the first year of Qianxing in the Northern Song Dynasty (AD 1022). It is the largest Pagoda Forest with high relief in China. Because of its similarities with Luoyang Longmen, it is also called Xiaolongmen. Today, there are 247 grottoes, 245 pagodas (temples) and niches, hundreds of statues of Buddhas and monks, and more than 100 pieces of them are remembered by eminent monks.

traffic

Take a long-distance bus from Anyang railway station.

scenic spot

Wanfogou is located at the foot of Baoshan mountain, 25 kilometers southwest of the city. It is surrounded by caves. It was built from the fourth year of Wuding in the Eastern Wei Dynasty (AD 546) to the first year of Qianxing in the Northern Song Dynasty (AD 1022). It is the largest high relief pagoda forest in China. There are 247 caves, commonly known as wanfogou. Because of the similarities with Luoyang Longmen, it is also called Xiaolongmen. Among them, daliusheng grottoes and Dazhu grottoes are the most important.

Located on the east side of Lanfeng, daliusheng Grottoes was carved by the eminent monk Daoping in the fourth year of Wuding in the Eastern Wei Dynasty (546 AD). The grottoes are 3.5 meters high and 3.3 meters wide, and contain three white marble Buddha statues. Dazhu holy cave, located in the south of Baoshan, was excavated in 589 A.D. The cave is 2.6 meters high and 3.4 meters wide, with carvings of the God King of Kapila, the God King of Narayan and Sakyamuni Buddha. Taking the two Grottoes as the center, the pagodas and niches in the shallow cliffs are scattered from east to west. They were chiseled from the Eastern Wei Dynasty to the Tang and Song Dynasties, and lasted for more than 600 years. The pagoda niches are exquisitely shaped with different styles. Some of them are dignified and ancient, some are exquisite and elegant, with smooth lines and exquisite skills.

Another scenic spot here is Lingquan temple, which was also built by master Daoping. Lingquan Temple flourished in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, is the northern Buddhist holy land, known as "the first ancient temple in Heshuo". There is a pair of nine level square stone pagodas in Tang Dynasty, three stone steles in Tang Dynasty and a pair of stone lions in Sui Dynasty.

Daliusheng grottoes, located in the east of the temple, were chiseled by master Daoping. There are three white jade stone Buddha sculptures in the cave. They are tall and powerful with smooth and beautiful carving. Unfortunately, their heads were stolen. Dazhu holy cave, located in the west of the temple, was excavated in the ninth year of kaihuang reign of Sui Dynasty (589 AD). The cave gate is carved with the divine kings of kapilar and naroyan. They are big, with helmets on top, swords and forks in hand, cattle and sheep on foot, and stand upright. The walls outside the grottoes are carved with niches and sutras. Nearly 100 Buddha statues such as Sakyamuni and Maitreya are carved in the grottoes. At the top of the cave, there is a lotus caisson, surrounded by flying sky, which adds infinite interest to the silent cave. Taking the two caves as the center, there are more than 1000 meters from east to west. The statues of shallow niches are densely covered with cliffs. They were carved from the northern and Southern Dynasties to the Northern Song Dynasty, lasting more than 600 years. According to the chronological arrangement of the Wanfo Valley in Lingquan temple, we can see the evolution of the tower style. It can be called "Baoshan Pagoda Forest". It can be called the largest high relief Pagoda Forest in China. It is a precious cultural relic for studying the history of ancient architecture, stone carving art and Buddhism. Lingquan Temple Grottoes was announced as the fourth batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council in 1996.

Wanfogou eminent monk

Another wonder of Wanfo Valley is Wu Yunqing, a 160 year old monk.

Wu Yunqing was born in 1838. He became a monk at the age of 15 and lived 160 years in Lingquan temple on September 24, 1998. Wu Yunqing was born on December 13, 1838 in Xingyang, an ancient city on the South Bank of the Yellow River in central Henan, China. The highest ideal of his life is to be a real person like Guanyin Bodhisattva, who is the holy ancestor of the Chinese nation. Therefore, at the age of 18, he became a monk and traveled around the world to learn Taoism and Buddhism. He successively studied and practiced the traditional Chinese Taoist health preserving and longevity inner alchemy handed down by Huangdi and Laozi in Huashan Mountain, Songshan Mountain, Wangwushan mountain and Wudang Mountain. At the same time, in order to explore the true meaning of Buddhism, he traveled to China, such as Baima temple in Luoyang, Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, Guanyin Temple in Kaifeng, Yuying hall in baozijie, Beijing, etc There are many temples, Taoist temples, famous mountains, great rivers and deep forests. After that, Wu Yunqing, the old longevity star, lived in Qinghua temple in Northern Shaanxi for many reasons. He practiced inner alchemy and strictly abided by Buddhism for many years. Because of his outstanding achievements, he was promoted to be the elder of Qinghua temple.

In the early summer of 1998, Wu Qingyun accompanied his disciple Su Huaren to the northern suburb of Anyang. In the early morning of September 22, 1998, Wu Yunqing died in Beixiao Buddha Temple.

On the morning of September 24, 1998, Wu Yunqing was placed in a porcelain jar here. The jar was buckled with a porcelain basin, and a stone tower was built outside the jar. On the night of December 24, 2000, when the stone pagoda was opened and the porcelain basin was removed, Wu Yunqing's skin was dark brown and red, his whole body was in good condition, his muscles were still elastic, and his silver hair was as same as before.

Wu Yunqing's Vajrayana is the crystallization of Taoist self-cultivation culture, which is worth studying. Since 1998, Wu Yunqing's body is as good as ever, which makes wanfogou Lingquan Temple more attractive.

Address: both sides of Baoshan Lingquan temple, 25 km southwest of Anyang County, Anyang City (between Baoshan and Lanfeng mountain, Shanying town)

Longitude: 114.07718658447

Latitude: 36.054264068604

Ticket information: market price: 40.0 yuan

Chinese PinYin : Wan Fo Gou