Yunya Temple Grottoes, also known as the Main Mountain Baiyun Cave, is located in the east of GuoMan Village, Handian Town, Zhuanglang County, 30 kilometers away from the county seat of Zhuanglang County, located in the dense forest area of the eastern foothills of Liupan Mountain (Guanshan), bordering Huating County and Zhangjiachuan Hui Autonomous County in the southeast, and Jingyuan County in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in the north. It is an important post station and Buddhist holy place on the ancient Silk Road.
Distant view of the Grottoes of Yunya Temple
The Yunya Temple Grottoes Group was originally built in the Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and then formed eight major temples such as Yunya Temple, Red Cliff Temple, Zhulin Temple, Great Temple, West Temple, Qiaoyang Temple, Jinwa Temple, Fogou Temple, and grottoes such as The Three Sect Caves, Carpenter Cliff, Dianwan, dianxia and other grottoes, with a total of 99 cave kilns, 25 stone statues, 128 clay statues, and 60 square meters of murals. Among them, the Yunya Temple grottoes are distributed in the main peak of Yunya 50 meters high, about 80 meters long west cliff cliff, the cave column three layers, layer by layer, a total of 18 numbered cave niches, 20 stone statues, 72 clay sculptures, murals of 14 square meters, Ming Dynasty inscriptions 2 passes. In 2006, the State Council announced the Yunya Temple Grottoes as a national key cultural relics protection unit.
Close-up view of the Grottoes of Yunya Temple
Yunya Temple grottoes are distributed in the main peak of Yunya West Cliff cliff, from bottom to top a total of three floors, the first layer from the riverbed about 10 meters high, is a semi-circular platform of about 500 square meters, formerly known as the Incense Storage Platform, there are two wooden buildings, the south is the Great Buddha Hall, the north is the Lingguan Building.
Through the stone ladder to reach the second floor of the grotto, is a stone niche more than 80 meters long, about 20 meters high, 2-3 meters wide, 8 cave niches on the top, there are 17 existing stone statues, most of which are works of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Among them, the statues in Caves No. 2 and No. 4 are relatively well preserved and the most eye-catching. Cave No. 2 is carved with 2 Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, with a clean face and a slender body, which is a work of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Cave No. 4 is a medium-sized statue cave, with an inner carving of 1 Buddha and 2 bodhisattvas, the Buddha knot sits on a square pedestal, the left hand gives the fearless seal, the right hand gives the wish seal; the bodhisattva wears a golden crown on his head, decorates the wisp, one hand is close to the chest, the other hand holds the Buddha dust, and the body is slender. The cave statue has a simple style, the face is plump, the flesh bun is low and flat, and the clothing pattern is regularly curved, which belongs to the Northern Wei statue.
Yunya Temple Grotto No. 4, a stone statue of the Buddha and the Second Bodhisattva on the North Monday
During the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the stone statues and clay statues of the Yunya Temple Grottoes reached a climax, of which caves No. 2, 3, 11, 12, Special No. 1 and the small and medium-sized niches on the left side of the main peak were all opened during this period.
Yunya Temple Grotto No. 10 is the largest cave on the second floor, flat roof square corner, the statues and murals in the cave have been destroyed, only the Ming Wanli twelve years of the "Main Mountain Yunya Temple Monument" and "Yunya Stone Writing Stele" two stone stele, the inscription does not mention the historical evolution of the grotto construction, can only see the repair situation at that time and the history of the presiding monks.
Ming Dynasty "Yunya Magazine Stone Writing" stele
Ming Dynasty "Main Mountain Yunya Temple Into a Monument" stele
A third floor was built on top of Cave 10. The three floors are 30 meters long and 2-3 meters wide stone niches, excavated in Caves No. 6 and No. 7, and 54 clay statues have survived. Cave No. 6 is a clay statue of 1 Buddha, 2 Bodhisattva, 18 Arhats, and 28 Gods, for the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Cave No. 7 sculpture 5 Buddhas 10 Bodhisattvas 24 small bodhisattvas, properly shaped, delicately painted, is a rare Ming Dynasty masterpiece. During the Qing Dynasty, the Yunya Temple Grottoes had some repairs and statues, of which the two statues in front of the Buddha statue of the lord of Grotto No. 6 were rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty.
Yunya Temple Grotto Cave No. 6 is a clay statue of a Ming Dynasty bodhisattva on the main wall
Yunya Temple GrottoEs Cave No. 6 Cave East Wall Ming Dynasty Luohan Statue
Yunya Temple Grotto No. 6 Cave West Wall Ming Dynasty Luohan Statue
According to the "Chronicle of The Addition of Huating County", "(Yunya) Temple is divided into five platforms: middle, east, south, west and north... On the left wall of the middle platform there is a Baiyun Cave, which was chiseled by the Song Dynasty monks. Ming Zhengde Jinshi's Right Deputy Governor Yushi Hu Muzong wrote in the "Records of the White Cloud Cave of the Main Mountain": "There is a cave on the left wall, and the cave of the mountain monk's seal is cloudy in the morning and evening; and the clouds are white, the clouds in the cave are out, the clouds in the cave are disks, the clouds in front of the cave are stationed, and the clouds at the bottom of the cave are cloudy, and the four hours are in full swing." The main mountain is victorious, that is, baiyun cave one of them. "The Baiyun Cave mentioned above refers to Cave No. 7. Because the cave is built on a cliff more than 50 meters high, it naturally produces clouds, and the name of Yunya Temple is derived from this.
According to the statue style and historical data, the Yunya Temple Grottoes were created in the Northern Wei, Western Wei and Northern Zhou Dynasties, and the main stone statues were also created in this period. The Yunya Temple Grottoes formed an unprecedented style of opening caves and making statues during the Northern Wei Dynasty. At the same time, due to the rule of the Hu family in Northern Weijing Prefecture (present-day Jingchuan County) and the Hu family in Linjing (southeast of present-day Zhenyuan County) and their admiration and support for Buddhism, Buddhism developed rapidly, and the Yunya Temple grotto group gradually formed a certain scale. The Northern Wei Grottoes of Yunya Temple were later formed in the Bingling Temple and Maijishan Grottoes in our province, and the Qingyang North Grottoes and the Jingchuan South Grottoes were at the same time. From the perspective of the history of grotto construction, the artistic style of Cave 4 is greatly influenced by the Yungang Grottoes.
Yunya Temple Grotto No. 7 Cave is a statue of a Ming Dynasty bodhisattva on the main wall
Yunya Temple Grottoes No. 7 Cave On the left side of the north wall of the Ming Dynasty Bodhisattva statue
Statue of a Ming Dynasty bodhisattva on the right side of the north wall of Cave 7 of Yunya Temple Grottoes
Statues of Ming Dynasty Buddhas and Bodhisattvas on the left side of Yunya Temple Grotto Cave No. 7
Yunya Temple GrottoEs No. 7 Cave West Wall Ming Dynasty Buddha, Bodhisattva statue
The Yunya Temple Grottoes were the fiefdom of king Pingliang Han during the Ming Yongle years, and successive Han kings believed in Buddhism and supported the local Buddhist cause, so that the Yunya Temple grottoes achieved unprecedented prosperity and development. According to yunya temple "main mountain Yunya Temple into the monument" record: the ninth generation of Han Duan Wang Zhu Langkun (1569-1606 AD) wrote the "Main Mountain Yunya Temple Monument" inscription, under its initiative to excavate and build the Yunya Temple essence cave No. 6, No. 7 cave, the clay statues in these two grottoes can be called "clay sculpture treasures", the statue is plump and natural, each has its own mood, color decoration depiction, ingenious craftsmanship, can be called a masterpiece of plastic arts, its exquisite sculptural art and unique modeling style are rare in China, is "the collection of late Chinese grottoes", Represents the highest achievement of the royal iconography.
Source: Cultural Relics Section, Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism