Qihuisi Stone Statue Tombs

Qihuisi Stone Statue Tombs

The Qihuisi Stone Statue Tombs are a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Qihuisi Stone Statue Tombs (Fifth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units)

Era: Tang Dynasty

Address: Qihuisi Village, Sanlou Township, Lingqiu County

This is a precious site of clustered stone sculptures from the Tang Dynasty. Qihuisi Temple was a branch of Mount Wutai and once a Buddhist monastery that housed over a hundred monks. It was renovated during the Song, Liao, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. In 1937, it was burned down by Japanese troops, and now only ruins such as the hall foundation, terrace, pathways, and column bases remain.

The stone statue tombs were first built in the tenth year of the Tang Dynasty’s Tianbao era. Historical records indicate there were originally 60 such tombs, distributed around Qihuisi Temple along the mountain terrain, covering a total area of over 20 square kilometers.

The cluster of stone statue tombs was discovered during a 1980 cultural relics survey. In 1999, the Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology excavated three of them. Each tomb is shaped like an earthen burial mound, covering an area of about 20 square meters, standing 3–4 meters high, with a circumference of around 30 meters. Inside each tomb, stone Buddha statues are sealed in one or two layers, with varying numbers ranging from as few as 30 to as many as 50. The statues differ in size, the tallest being 5 meters and the smallest less than 0.3 meters. They include full-round carvings, half-round carvings, and reliefs, in both sitting and standing postures, with diverse forms. These stone Buddhas were carved from locally quarried “Guifei Red” or “Sesame White” granite, which is hard in texture and well preserved.

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units