The northern line of the eastern section of the Silk Road starts from Chang 'an, passes through Xianyang, Binxian, Jingchuan, Pingliang and Guyuan (Ningxia), and finally crosses the Yellow River and enters the Hexi Corridor from Wuwei. This traffic artery is also the only way for Buddhism to spread, thus leaving a vast grotto distribution zone in Longdong, spanning from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Song Dynasty. Except Maijishan Grottoes in Tianshui, other grottoes are relatively low-key, but it is definitely worth seeing for yourself.
Maijishan Grottoes Maijishan is a solitary peak on the remnant vein in the western Qinling Mountains, with a height of1.42m.. Its wall is steep, the middle part is swollen and the bottom is slightly smaller. From a distance, it looks like a pile of wheat, hence its name. There are 22 1 caves carved on nearly vertical cliffs like honeycombs, which are connected by as many as 14 floors of aerial plank roads. Among the four grottoes in China, Maiji Mountain is located in a rainy area, and the murals are not as well preserved as those in Mogao Grottoes. However, it has left more than 7,000 statues, which is known as the "Oriental Sculpture Exhibition Hall". Its sculptures are different from Longmen Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes, which are famous for their stone carvings. The unique geology of Maijishan determines that most of the statues here are clay sculptures.
The sculptures in Maijishan Grottoes are not only exquisite in art, but also have strong cultural continuity. From the simplicity and modesty at the end of the Qin Dynasty to the praise of clothes and bones in the Northern Wei Dynasty, the sculptures in the Northern Zhou Dynasty began to become strong and heavy, and the Sui Dynasty gradually merged. Sculptures in the Tang Dynasty are full and graceful, while in the Song Dynasty, they tend to be realistic and secular. The evolution of sculpture style in Maijishan clay sculpture for more than 1000 years is clear. In addition, Mackey dug for the people, which brought it another remarkable feature, that is, the statue has an obvious secular tendency, and you will see some playful and lovely images of bodhisattvas here.
Tips before going to Maijishan Grottoes
During the peak season, there is a long queue at the manual ticket window at the entrance of Maiji Mountain Scenic Area. It is recommended to purchase tickets online or through the official account of "Maijishan Tourism" WeChat. These two methods do not need to collect tickets, and you can check in directly by swiping your ID card. The gate of the scenic spot is still half an hour away from the grottoes. You can also choose to go in by battery car. Tickets for the battery car are purchased at the ticket vending machine. After getting off by battery car, you have to go through a stall selling snacks and souvenirs and walk a short distance to reach the foot of the grottoes. There is a complete West Cliff Buddha along the way. The square in front of the entrance to the grottoes faces the east cliff. You can also walk in the opposite direction from the square to the grottoes, and walk along the path leading to the botanical garden for 5 minutes to reach an observation deck, where you can see the east cliff of the grottoes in the distance. If it is rainy, you will have a great chance to enjoy the "wheat accumulation and misty rain", the first of the eight scenic spots in Tianshui, and this prospect will be full of artistic conception.
Need to be reminded that there will be a large wave of "tour guides" swarming at the drop-off place of battery cars. There is a public notice board (50 yuan) in front of you about tour guide service charges, which looks very formal, but in fact, these tour guides can only take you to the ticket gate of the grottoes. Most of the tour guide words they memorized were about the background knowledge of Maijishan Grottoes. The tourist center at the foot of the grottoes can invite regular tour guides from the scenic spots. It will be a good deal if five people can be seated (10 yuan/person), and special grotto tickets are also purchased here.
Water curtain cave Cave Group in Wushan has nothing to do with water curtain cave in The Journey to the West. It used to be a large-scale cave group with "seven temples and five pagodas", which was founded at the end of the Qin Dynasty in the Sixteen Countries, and its subsequent addition and reconstruction continued until the Qing Dynasty. The entrance to the scenic spot is 2.4 kilometers away from the core scenic spot, so you can take a battery car instead of walking. The immortal pool along the way is a natural cave with spring water all the year round. There are left, middle and right roads leading to water curtain cave, Qianfo Temple and Lashao Temple.
Water curtain cave is a Taoist temple, located at the foot of a lotus peak, with a natural arched cave behind it. The whole building is divided into upper, middle and lower floors, mostly in the late Qing Dynasty. Exquisitely carved roofs, beautifully painted beams and arches, and high cornices are all worth seeing. Thousand Buddha Cave is the earliest place to open niches and statues here. It was named after thousands of painted Buddha statues on the cliffs in the Northern Zhou Dynasty and seven giant buddhas in the Tang Dynasty. So it is also called seven buddha ditch. The seven Buddha statues have long since disappeared, and now most of them are works of the Song Dynasty. The grottoes are divided into three layers from top to bottom, the upper layer is suspended plastic, and there are thousands of painted Buddha statues under the suspended plastic; There is a floating Buddha head in the middle layer; The lower floor is dominated by shallow niches and murals.
Lashao Temple is the essence of the whole scenic spot in water curtain cave. It is called the world's largest open-air cliff relief Buddha statue. Lashao Temple, which means "a cave temple excavated by piling up trees on cliffs", was first excavated in the Northern Zhou Dynasty (559) and was presided over by Wei Chijiong, the secretariat of Qin Zhou. Climb up the observation deck opposite the cliff relief, and a whole wall covered with paintings and murals will come. The protagonist of the relief clay sculpture is one Buddha and two bodhisattvas, with dignified and solid posture. In the middle, Sakyamuni Buddha is 42.3 meters high, with his left foot facing outward, a round face, a short neck and a round neck epaulettes. The Buddha statue consists of seven layers of relief. There are three layers of animal patterns from top to bottom: lying lion, lying deer and standing elephant. They are separated by lotus flowers and covered with heavy petals at the bottom. On both sides of the Buddha, the threatened bodhisattva wears a three-petal lotus crown, two earlobes and two shoulders, lotus branches in her hands and rings on her feet. The threatened bodhisattva on the right is smiling. There is also a small and incomplete hanging sculpture of one Buddha and two bodhisattvas on the Buddha's seat, which is a work of the Song Dynasty and is presumed to be the Three Saints of the West.
Jingchuan South Cave Temple and Qingyang North Cave Temple are dozens of kilometers apart, both of which were excavated by Xi Kang Sheng, the secretariat of Jingzhou in the Northern Wei Dynasty. They are also called "Double Beads of Longdong Grottoes". Nandong Temple is famous and small in scale. 15 minute bus stop, enough time for most people to visit. There are only two caves in the South Cave Temple. Dongdong Cave 1 was excavated in the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 5 10), and its "seven buddha Cave" is exactly the same as the main cave of Beidong Temple, but the scale is smaller than the latter. The grotto statues are seven buddha-three buddhas on the north wall and two buddhas on the east and west walls, with a height of 6 meters. There is a mighty bodhisattva on each side of seven buddha. There is also a small relief at the top of the cave. The red sandstone lines on the Buddha statue are integrated with the grottoes. It is said that when digging, it starts from the bright window at the top of the front wall and digs down bit by bit. The light in the cave is very dim. On a sunny day, the sun shines through the bright windows and doors at the top of the cave, illuminating the Buddha statue. If it rains, it is difficult to see the details of the Buddha statue. Use the flashlight in your mobile phone.
The fourth cave, which is open for visit, was excavated in the Tang and Song Dynasties and made of small stone tires and clay sculptures. In fact, the original works of these Buddha statues are stone carvings, but unfortunately they were stolen in the 20th century. Today all caves were copied after 1925. When no one visited the two grottoes, the doors were closed. After buying the ticket, the manager will accompany you with the key. However, Nandong Temple is being closed for maintenance recently. If you want to go, you'd better ask around first. To go to the South Cave Temple, you can take bus No.4 (2 yuan, 25 minutes) at Xiwangmu Square in Jingchuan and take a taxi to and from 30 yuan.
Qingyang North Grottoes Temple and Heping Liangnan Grottoes correspond to Qingyang North Grottoes, which are larger than the South Grottoes. The cliff is 20 meters high and 120 meters long. There are nearly 300 honeycomb-shaped caves densely distributed on it, but only three are open for visit. The most famous cave 165 is the largest seven buddha cave in China, with a height of 14.5 m, a depth of 15.7 m and a width of 2 1 0.7 m, and the excavation time is earlier than that of the Dongda Cave in Nanku Temple 1 earlier1year (. The shape of the flat rectangular roof is the same as that of the flat rectangular roof, and so are the seven 8-meter-high giant buddhas-three on the main wall and two on the north and south walls, all of which make the gesture of "giving fearlessness" (right hand on the chest, palm forward).
There is a 10 mighty bodhisattva with a height of 4 meters next to the Giant Buddha, two Maitreya Buddhas on the south wall, an elephant riding Buddha on the south side of the gate and a Asura sky statue on the north side. There are also about thousands of Buddha statues, flying and Buddhist story murals of Prince Mahasa who gave his life to feed the tiger on the four walls, but they have been seriously damaged. Cave 222, excavated in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, is small in scale and very interesting. The main wall is a Buddha, two disciples and two bodhisattvas. The main Buddha faces Fiona Fang with fine features. There are 64 small shrines on the north and south walls, mostly one Buddha and two bodhisattvas or a combination of one Buddha and two bodhisattvas, which are excellent sculptures in the Tang Dynasty. The 240 caves excavated in the Northern Zhou Dynasty are relatively small, with one Buddha and two Bodhisattvas on the east, south and north walls, and the statues are thick, heavy and simple.
The Xumishan Grottoes in Guyuan, with the same name as the "mountain at the center of the world" in Buddhist terminology, is symbolized by the tall and graceful Maitreya Buddha in the Tang Dynasty and is located in a vast loess gully. It was called "Shimen" in ancient times, and there was a stream called "Shimen Water" in the middle. The Sui and Tang Dynasties was once an important pass, and it was also an important pass for the Buddha to come to the east and China silk to enter the west. Eventually favored by missionaries and believers, the name "Xumishan" came into being. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, the construction of Buddha statues began here, and the sculpture project continued until the end of the Tang Dynasty. Prior to this, the Buddha statues were mostly clay sculptures and colored sculptures, and Xumishan was the beginning of stone carving, which provided the initial skills for the later Longmen and Yungang Grottoes.
The scenic spot is divided into two parts by a reservoir, the museum and the grottoes. The two sides are far away, and it will take some time to walk. You can also take a paid tour bus (to and from 20 yuan) and go directly to the grottoes. On foot, after entering the scenic spot, climb a section of stone steps along the plank road on the left side of the reservoir to reach the museum. With the theme of grottoes and Buddhist art along the Silk Road, the museum displays and introduces Buddhist grottoes, collections and other deeds related to Buddhism in countries along the Silk Road. Although most of the exhibits are replicas, the use of scenes and multimedia makes these exhibitions quite interesting. However, in order to save energy, the museum is only open in the peak season. This side of the museum is also a good place to take a panoramic view of Mount Sumi.
After visiting the museum, follow the signpost down the mountain and cross the valley to the other side of Mount Sumi. There are 162 grottoes here. Due to serious natural and man-made damage, there are only more than 20 grottoes with complete statues, which are concentrated in five areas: Giant Buddha Pagoda, Children's Palace, Yuanguang Temple, Suoguo Temple and Taohua Cave from southeast to northwest.
Bingling Temple Grottoes are located in the Bingling Temple Grottoes in the ravine of Xiaoji in the upper reaches of Liujiaxia Reservoir. They are the earliest surviving grottoes in China with clear age inscriptions. Sixteen countries were first carved in the Western Qin Dynasty. The Northern Wei Dynasty used to be called "Tangshudong", which was transliterated from the Qiang dialect "Ghost Cave" (this area was once ruled by A Qiang in history). It was renamed "Bingling Temple" at the end of Ming Dynasty, which means "100,000 buddhas" in Tibetan. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, due to the political turmoil in Hezhou, some caves, plank roads and temples of Bingling Temple were seriously damaged, and the caves of Bingling Temple disappeared into the rivers and lakes. It was not until June 195 1 that it was rediscovered by Feng, a scholar of Longxue and director of the Northwest Library, which opened the prelude to the scientific research work of Bingling Temple in China.
There are 2 16 caves and more than 800 statues in Bingling Temple Grottoes, which are divided into three parts: Si Xia, Shangsi and Donggou. Si Xia is the main tourist area and a circular canyon plank road. Grottoes are concentrated in the north wall, and there is only one reclining Buddha temple in the south wall. Shangsi is a Tibetan Buddhist temple, 2.5 kilometers away from Sixia.
The Visitor Center is located at Liujiaxia Reservoir Pier. You need to buy a return ticket here first. The ship must be full before launching (small yacht 13, large yacht, large cruise ship 30).
A one-way yacht needs 1 hour, and the scenery of the reservoir in the first half of the boat trip is unremarkable. As we approached Bingling Temple, a huge Danxia Stone Forest appeared on both sides, which was very beautiful, but it was still under development, so we could only sit on the boat and have an eye addiction. After arriving at the Grottoes Wharf, buy tickets for Bingling Temple Grottoes. Note that general grottoes can be visited, and five special grottoes need to be paid extra (126 80 yuan, 128 60 yuan, 132 90 yuan, 169 and 172 300 yuan). The fees for special grottoes include lecture fees. The ship will stay in the grottoes for 1.5 hours. You need to return by the same boat.