Naniei Water Stone Carvings Museum

Naniei Water Stone Carvings Museum

Naniei Water Stone Carvings Museum is a cultural tourism attraction.

Naniei Water Stone Carvings Museum

Naniei Water Stone Carvings Museum, also known as "Erlangshan Stone Carvings Museum", is located on Erlang Mountain in the southern part of Qinxian County and is a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit. In 1959, more than 1,100 stone carvings and statues were unearthed in Naniei Water Village, located 30 kilometers northeast of Qinxian County. According to the inscriptions on the carvings, these are folk stone carving artworks accumulated from the second year of the Yongping era of the Northern Wei Dynasty (510 AD) to the ninth year of the Tiansheng era of the Northern Song Dynasty (1031 AD). They predate both the Yungang Grottoes and the Longmen Grottoes. To properly preserve these cultural relics, the state allocated special funds to begin constructing the "Naniei Water Stone Carvings Museum" in 1984, which was completed and opened to the public in 1989, bringing these artistic treasures back to life. It is currently the largest specialized museum of folk stone carving art in China, ranking first nationwide in terms of quantity, age, and richness of content. With diverse schools and styles, most of the carvings are made from white sandstone and feature strong folk characteristics, making them true artistic masterpieces.

Arriving at West Lake Reservoir at the foot of Erlang Mountain, a gentle breeze rustles by, creating sparkling ripples on the lake surface, while the lush green pines and cypresses on the mountains are reflected in the water, forming a beautiful landscape painting. Standing in front of the museum, you’ll see a group of antique-style pavilions and towers. The name of the museum, inscribed by the renowned Buddhist scholar Zhao Puchu, is engraved on the cliff of Erlang Mountain, adding even more charm to the stone carvings museum. The museum faces south and covers an area of 30,000 square meters, with a construction area of 5,013 square meters. It consists of three courtyards: the Bronze Tablet Forest, the Buddha Palace, and the Ten Thousand Statues Hall, totaling 250 halls, chambers, rooms, and lodges. First, enter the North Courtyard’s Bronze Tablet Forest (where “Bronze” refers to the ancient name of Qinxian County). In this rolled-roof-style stele corridor, over 100 steles and inscribed tablets from temples and tombs across Qinxian County are displayed. Please pay attention to this hand-carved stone inscription—it is the Tao Tie Precious Engraving. "Tao" refers to Tao Yuanming, the famous poet and essayist of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. His works such as "The Peach Blossom Spring" and "Biography of Mr. Five Willows" are still widely read today, but his original handwriting is rarely seen. In the sixth year of the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty (1741 AD), when Zhang Xiaoniao, a native of Qinzhou, served as an imperial censor touring the south, he obtained twelve poems handwritten by Tao Yuanming titled "Imitated Ancient Miscellaneous Poems". Finding the handwriting to be “ancient, vigorous, smooth, and the ink traces vivid,” he asked skilled artisans to engrave them on white marble and spread them widely under the name "Calligraphy of Zhiyuan Hall," drawing significant attention from the calligraphy community.

Research confirms that these poems were handwritten by Tao Yuanming in the twelfth year of the Yixi era of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (416 AD) and addressed to "Yunkan Shangren." In the second year of the Shengli era of the Tang Dynasty (699 AD), Empress Wu Zetian personally wrote a colophon for them. Additionally, there are inscriptions by Di Renjie, Shen Yue, and others after viewing them. This highly regarded set of hand-carved stone inscriptions consists of nine pieces, each 35 cm high and 110 cm wide, all of the same size, containing twelve poems totaling 810 characters. From “Luxuriant orchids beneath the window, dense willows in front of the hall” to “The sorrowful find it hard to speak, the spring night feels long and distant,” the poems are fresh and natural, celebrated through the ages; the calligraphy is vigorous and precise, truly a timeless treasure.

These precious stone carvings have always been treasured heirlooms of the Zhang family. After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937, the Zhang descendants buried them underground. The Japanese army searched for them three times but never found them. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Zhang family donated them intact to the state—an act of great merit and virtue. Climbing to the second-floor pavilion of the North Courtyard, the red-walled and yellow-tiled "Wangchun Tower" with its bracket arms and upturned eaves offers a panoramic view of the ancient city of Qinxian. Next, we will visit the Central Courtyard’s Buddha Palace. Built on a high platform, the Grand Buddha Hall is seven bays wide and three bays deep, featuring a single-eave hip-and-gable roof. There are also facilities such as the Premium Hall, Calligraphy and Painting Hall, and Guest Reception Hall, displaying over 400 stone Buddha statues and heads from various dynasties in Qinxian, as well as over a hundred pieces of calligraphy and paintings and stele rubbings. If you’re interested in calligraphy and painting, you’re in for a real treat today.

The South Courtyard is the Ten Thousand Statues Hall. The museum houses seven exhibition halls, including the Stupa Forest Hall, Stone Buddha Hall, and Statue Stele Hall, focusing on displays of various stone carvings and related images and materials, with the Naniei Water Stone Carvings as the highlight—totaling over 1,600 pieces, including many national first- and second-class collections. The stupas exhibited here are mostly stacked tower-shaped, built by layering square stone blocks with Buddha statues carved on four sides. There are usually nine layers, sometimes as few as five. Each square column features exquisitely carved and richly decorated niches on all four sides. Together, the Buddha statues, lotus flowers, and lions create mythological tales of the Buddhist realm, transforming Buddhist stories into tangible, touchable series of statues—truly conveying a lofty artistic vision. In addition, there are relief carvings depicting lively street performances, reflecting folk acrobatics such as pole balancing, acrobatics, and qigong.

Among the Naniei Water Stone Carvings, individual statues are the most numerous, especially those from the Northern Qi, Sui, and Tang dynasties. The most distinctive and unique are the carved stone tablets. These are stones that feature not only reliefs of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, pedestals, and halos, but also the names of patrons and believers who commissioned the statues, along with carving dates. They are delicate, self-contained works of art. In short, the Naniei Water Stone Carvings hold both aesthetic and scientific research value. They present Buddhist scriptures in the most authentic way, like a magnificent and profound art palace that is truly awe-inspiring.

Wu Dian (1637–1705), styled Bomei and commonly known as Grand Secretary Wu, was a native of Qinzhou. During the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty, he entered officialdom through the imperial examination and rose to the position of Grand Secretary of the Baohe Hall and Minister of Justice. Known for being “kind, gentle, and upright, as well as honest and incorruptible,” he earned the deep trust of Emperor Kangxi. Kangxi once presented Wu Dian with his own calligraphy, including an imitation of a regulated verse by Song dynasty’s Mi Fu, the “Thousand Character Classic,” and two passages of preface and postscript written by himself, all considered “imperial calligraphy.” Wu Dian personally selected white marble and commissioned skilled artisans to engrave and preserve these works. After Wu Dian’s death, his son Wu Shiqian built a “Chenhan Tower” in the Wu family ancestral hall in Qinxian County, embedding all the stone engravings into the walls—people called it the “Imperial Calligraphy Tower.” The ancestral hall was later destroyed, but the Imperial Calligraphy Tower survived. In 1988, it was relocated to the county cultural relics museum.

The courtyard house is now the county cultural relics museum, which has been renovated into the Wu Dian Memorial Hall. The courtyard is filled with stone tablets and adorned with flowers and trees. The Imperial Calligraphy Tower we are about to visit is located here. It faces south, is five bays wide, and has two floors, with bright interiors. The walls are inlaid with 48 stele inscriptions handwritten by Emperor Kangxi, each 35 cm high and 100 cm wide, all the same size, containing a total of 1,246 characters in Kangxi’s handwriting—all in a style blending regular and cursive script, deeply inheriting the calligraphic essence of Mi Fu’s “wind-wall-like momentum and decisive vigor.” Have you noticed? These inscriptions use five specially prepared seals, including “Yuanjian Han” at the beginning of the Thousand Character Classic and “Kangxi Chenhan” at the end—rarely seen in inscriptions, which adds to their preciousness. Qinxian County not only boasts rich cultural heritage but also a wealth of famous local specialties. The most renowned is undoubtedly “Qinzhou Yellow” millet. “Qinzhou Yellow” is a premium variety of millet produced in the Tanshan area of Cicun Township, Qinxian County. Each grain is round and golden, growing more fragrant the more you chew. Legend has it that over 300 years ago, a young monk cultivated this variety, which local officials presented as a tribute to the imperial court and named “Qinzhou Yellow.” From a nutritional perspective, this type of millet has higher fat and protein content than rice or wheat flour. Nowadays, aren’t we all advocating for “green food”? “Qinzhou Yellow” is truly pure, natural green food because it only grows well in the poor, dry mountain soils. Once fertilized with phosphorus or potassium, its yield decreases and quality declines. Moreover, it can only be cultivated on Qinxian County’s 16,000 mu of land. If introduced elsewhere, it degenerates completely the following year. Currently, a series of scientific experiments are underway to expand the planting area of “Qinzhou Yellow” and increase its yield, so more people can taste the authentic “Qinzhou Yellow.”

Contact number: 0355-7023657

Address: Naniei Water Village, 30 kilometers northeast of Qinxian County

Further reading:

· China National Third-Class Museum