2024 Self-driving Su Lu Yu (14): A glance at a thousand years - Gongyi Grotto Temple.

Gongyi Grotto Temple (Gong County Grotto) is located 5 kilometers north of Gongyi City, Henan Province, under the Dalishan Mountain in Heluo Town, with beautiful scenery.
The Gongyi Grotto Temple was founded during the Northern Wei Emperor Xiaowen, and is one of the large-scale grottoes excavated by the Northern Wei royal family. The Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi, Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties successively carved niches and statues here. It was originally named Xixuan Temple, and was renamed Jingtusi in the Tang Dynasty. It was called Dalishan Shifang Jingtusi in the Song Dynasty, and it has been called Grotto Temple since the Qing Dynasty.
The Grotto Temple is a place where the Northern Wei Emperor and the Queen held Buddhist activities. Later, Tang Taizong Li Shimin and the Northern Song Dynasty royal family held Buddhist activities here, leaving a large number of precious statues and inscriptions.
After more than 1,500 years of wind and rain, there are 5 existing caves, 1,000 Buddha niches, 3 cliff Buddhas, 7,743 Buddhas, 186 statues inscriptions and other inscriptions.
Gongyi Grotto Temple also has three national treasure-level cultural relics, namely: "Emperor and Queen Buddha, the most beautiful Feitian, Lotus Caojing."
The Emperor and Queen Buddha (Figure 4) reflects the prevalence of Buddhism in the Northern Wei Dynasty. The emperor and queen personally came to the temple to worship the Buddha, and used the high relief carving technique.
The earliest appearance of "Emperor and Queen Buddha" is in the Binyang Middle Cave of Longmen Grottoes. However, unfortunately, after being stolen in 1935, the Gong County Grotto Buddha became the only solitary product in the country! At the beginning, there were 18 Buddha pictures, but now only 15 are well preserved, each of which is a fine art!
The most beautiful Feitian (Figure 8). Feitian originated from the ancient Indian Buddhist classics. They are free and happy gods, they are the attendants of the Buddha, and they serve the Buddha through dancing, playing music, and burning incense. This pair of Feitian, slender body, thin gauze through the body, the ribbon floats from the back of the neck to the shoulders, and then flips to the armpit and floats back! They hold a lotus in one hand and a lotus bud in the other.
The fifth cave has a characteristic lotus cao well (Figure 6) on the top of the grotto. In the middle is a blooming big lotus, surrounded by six flying days around the lotus. There are also birth patterns in the four corners, which are exquisitely shaped. It is said. The sunflower top of the Beijing People's Congress Hall was designed and built according to it.
As a treasure of Chinese grotto art, Gongyi Grotto Temple has preserved many precious cultural heritages after thousands of years of wind and rain. It is not only a representative of Buddhist art in the Northern Wei Dynasty, but also the graceful dance of Feitian Tian, the solemn scene of the emperor and queen Buddha, leading the general public through history and feeling the spirit and belief of ancient China.

Gongyi Grotto Temple

Post by Fork in the Road | Sep 23, 2024