Water Curtain Cave Grottoes

Water Curtain Cave Grottoes

The Water Curtain Cave Grottoes are a cultural relic protection unit of Gansu Province.

The Water Curtain Cave Grottoes are located in Luban Gorge, Zhonglouwan Village, Yupan Town, Wushan County, Tianshui City. Currently, they consist of four parts: the Thousand Buddha Cave, Water Curtain Cave, Lashao Temple, and Xiansheng Pool, featuring over 60 statues and more than 1,000 square meters of murals. The niches were carved either in natural caves or along cliff faces to create statues or murals. The structures are mainly characterized by pointed-arched round lintels, flat ceilings, and shallow square niches, with most statues being clay sculptures on cliff faces.

Lashao Temple, also known as Great Buddha Cliff, currently has 23 niches. It mainly features cliff-hanging clay sculptures, round-arched shallow niches, flat square ceiling niches, stupa niches, and sloped-roof rectangular niches. The No. 1 statue is the centerpiece, standing 42.5 meters tall and 43 meters wide, depicting a large relief of a Buddha flanked by two bodhisattvas, with a stone core and clay coating. The Buddha is seated in the lotus position with hands in meditation mudra, wearing a round-necked, shoulder-covering kasaya. The Buddha’s pedestal consists of seven layers of alternating reliefs including lotus flowers, reclining lions, reclining deer, and standing elephants. The attendant bodhisattvas stand on either side of the Buddha, wearing three-petal lotus-shaped crowns. Other Northern Zhou dynasty statues include ten Buddhas, one Buddha with two disciples and two bodhisattvas, etc. Tang and Five Dynasties murals feature transformation scenes. Song dynasty niches include No. 2, 6, and 7, depicting one Buddha with two bodhisattvas, a seated Buddha, and murals such as Dharma preaching scenes, thousand Buddhas, and compositions of one Buddha with two disciples, two bodhisattvas, and two guardian warriors. Jin dynasty murals consist of two pieces, both depicting bodhisattva Dharma preaching scenes. Yuan dynasty carvings include lama stupas inside stupa niches, and murals depict Buddhas, stupas, and bodhisattvas. A copper bell and copper mirror from the Yuan dynasty hang from the awning above the No. 1 Great Buddha. Ming dynasty statues include three clay Buddhist figures in the “Heavenly Scripture Cave.”

The Water Curtain Cave is a natural cave, 30 meters high, 50 meters wide, and over 20 meters deep. The eastern wall of the cave features large-scale murals, with 19 existing murals and relief stupas. The largest Northern Zhou mural, No. 6, is about 5 meters wide and 4 meters high, depicting a grand Dharma preaching scene with one Buddha, two bodhisattvas, attendant bodhisattvas, disciples, flying apsaras, and rows of donors. The mural colors are primarily mineral blue, mineral green, and ochre red, accented with ink lines and bold red strokes. Three extant Northern Zhou relief stupa pagodas are in bowl shape. Song dynasty murals include seven Buddhas and Dharma preaching scenes.

The Thousand Buddha Cave, also known as Seven Buddha Valley, is located on the wall of a natural cave approximately 25 meters long, 25 meters high, and 8 meters deep. It features shallow niches with clay sculptures and murals. There are currently 36 niches, mainly with pointed-arched round lintels, flat shallow niches, and square shallow niches. Existing Northern Zhou statues and murals depict one Buddha with two bodhisattvas, one Buddha with two disciples and two bodhisattvas, seven Buddhas (only one Buddha head remains, 1.2 meters high), Dharma preaching scenes, thousand Buddhas, flying apsaras, donors, dragons, and lions. The statues are all relief clay sculptures, with clothing depicted using raised clay strips and incised lines. Five Dynasties murals include Dharma preaching scenes and thousand Buddhas.

The Xiansheng Pool is a natural cave chamber, covering an area of about 150 square meters. It currently has 12 Northern Zhou murals and 2 suspended sculptures, but due to long-term weathering and erosion, the sculptures have almost completely disintegrated.

Yupan Town: Yupan Town is located in the northern part of Wushan County. The township administers 18 villages, with a total population of 16,144 and a total area of 156 square kilometers. It has 47,000 mu of arable land, all of which is dryland, averaging 2.96 mu of farmland per person. Reforested farmland totals 10,533.84 mu, and 8,000 mu of barren hills have been afforested, making it one of the county's townships with reforestation efforts spanning over ten thousand mu. The climate is temperate continental, with cold winters and hot summers, and distinct seasons. Agriculture is primarily planting-based, with main grain crops including wheat, corn, and potatoes; cash crops are mainly oilseeds and medicinal herbs. All villages have access to electricity, and National Highway 316 runs through the… More detailed information about Yupan Town++