"Budong Dongtian" Grotto

"Budong Dongtian" Grotto

The "Budong Dongtian" Grotto is a cultural relics protection unit of Yinzhou District.

The "Budong Dongtian" Grotto is located at the foot of Xiayu Mountain in Dagong Village, Dongqian Lake, approximately fifty Chinese miles southeast of Ningbo City. The cave entrance faces southwest, connecting the north and south sides. The southern entrance is about thirty meters above the surface of Dongqian Lake, while the rear northern opening is around five meters from the lake. In 1986, it was designated as a county-level cultural relics protection unit.

It was created during the Southern Song Dynasty by Shi Hao, a prime minister of the Song Dynasty, who had the grotto carved in imitation of the Putuo Mountain’s Lingshun Cave as an act of filial piety to his mother for her Buddhist worship. It has a history of over eight hundred years. To this day, the grotto preserves relatively intact stone-carved Buddhist statues, five-clawed dragons, and three cloud motifs from the Southern Song period. The carvings are exquisitely detailed, with majestic and elegant depictions of the Buddha figures, making them of high historical and artistic value. Its discovery provides rare and invaluable material for the study and exploration of the history of the Dongqian Lake area during the Southern Song Dynasty, particularly in the fields of carving, fine arts, and religious culture.