Tumushuke Buddhist Ruins

Tumushuke Buddhist Ruins

The Tumushuke Buddhist Ruins are a cultural tourism attraction.

Tumushuke Buddhist Ruins

The Tumushuke Buddhist Ruins are located 1 kilometer southwest of Yingmaili Village (the 6th Company of the 51st Regiment) in Tumushuke Town. The coordinates are longitude 79°02′7.74″E and latitude 39°57′53.16″N. Time period: Tang and Song dynasties. Announced on July 29, 1999, as an autonomous region-level cultural heritage protection unit.

The ruins are situated on the second-level slope at the northern end of Tumushuke Mountain. The site is divided into eastern, central, and western sections, with the eastern and western temples covering larger areas, and the middle section being smaller. The eastern temple runs in a roughly north–south to east–west direction. The currently visible parts consist of large red earthen remnants of house walls, distributed in a long-island pattern, with approximately 15 rooms in total. Among these, there appear to be two structures resembling main halls, each measuring 20 meters in length and 15 meters in width, while the rest are smaller rooms. In the central part of the ruins, there are about four visible room wall foundations, spread across two locations. The western temple lies on the same level of slope as the eastern temple, and the visible parts here also consist of wall remains, with around 15 rooms arranged in an inverted triangular formation running from north to south. The northernmost row, from west to east, includes two relatively large rooms, one of which appears to be the remnant of a stupa. Its specific features include a square base structure with a prominent earthen mound in the center. Though heavily damaged, its shape is still recognizable, measuring 10 meters in both length and width. The western side of the ruins borders the road from Tumushuke City to Yijianfang. Along this road, there are three larger house structure wall remnants in sequence, one of which is relatively clear, while the rest consist of a large expanse of red earth with no obvious traces. To the east are four smaller house structure foundations.

About 20 meters down the eastern foothills of the eastern temple, in a mountain hollow, there are several earthen mounds that appear to be either houses or tombs. According to records, the late Huang Wenbi once conducted excavations of monks’ tombs in this area. Currently, due to issues with management rights and poor administration by Bachu County, the site has suffered severe damage from sand and stone excavation. To the north of the ruins, there is an east–west path that skirts the front of the mountain. About 200 meters further ahead is the Tumushuke City–51st Regiment Highway, and to the west is the Tumushuke City–National Highway 314. The western temple measures 60 meters by 50 meters in the east–west direction, and 133 meters by 75 meters in the north–south direction. The middle temple is 72 meters in the north–south direction and 17 meters in the east–west direction. The eastern temple is 60 meters in width and 130 meters in length in the north–south direction. The construction method of the outer walls of the ruins primarily involves layered rammed earth, while the stupas were built with piled earthen blocks.