Kaihe Temple Grottoes

Kaihe Temple Grottoes

Kaihe Temple Grottoes is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Kaihe Temple Grottoes

Kaihe Temple Grottoes (Fourth Batch of Provincial-Level Protected Sites)

Period: Northern Wei Dynasty

Address: South slope of the cliff on the north bank of the Tao River at Kuaitou Mountain, Luanliu Village, Yanhui Township, Pingding County

Kaihe Temple Grottoes are located on the southern cliff slope of the north bank of the Tao River at Kuaitou Mountain, Luanliu Village, Yanhui Township, Pingding County. Carved between the Eastern Wei and early Sui dynasties, they were largely damaged around the end of the Qing Dynasty, with nearly all the heads of the statues being chiseled away.

The Kaihe Temple Grottoes are not large in scale, consisting of three small caves and eight auxiliary niches, one cliff carving, and 18 inscriptions. From east to west, they are respectively Cave 1 to Cave 3, carved between the fifth year of Wuding in the Eastern Wei Dynasty (547 AD) and the second year of Heqing in the Northern Qi Dynasty (563 AD). All three caves feature a three-wall, three-niche layout, measuring 1.2–1.6 meters in width, 1.1–1.5 meters in depth, and 1.42–1.72 meters in height, with a total of 88 stone carvings. The cliff carving was created in the first year of Kaihuang in the Sui Dynasty (581 AD), utilizing a steep cliff face. The main Buddha statue is 4.63 meters tall, with a round sculpture of a disciple on each side of the pedestal, and two attendant bodhisattvas further out. In front of the large cliff statue, a stone arched cave was built against the cliff wall, with a double-eaved front porch constructed in front of the cave. Originally, there were two round sculptures inside the cave, both of which have been stolen. On the slightly lower cliff face west of the cave, there is another Buddha statue. This is one of the pair of giant 2.8-meter Buddha statues.

The Kaihe Temple Grottoes are an important grotto temple site in central Shanxi, featuring exquisite carvings and clear dating, providing valuable material evidence for the study of the evolution of Buddhist statue styles from the Eastern Wei to the Northern Qi dynasties.

In May 2013, the Kaihe Temple Grottoes were designated as part of the Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Shanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units