Tianshan Pan Mountain

Pan Mountain in Tianshan County

Pan Mountain in Tianshan County

Located about 4 kilometers southeast of Tianshan County, Pan Mountain is home to the Xianhua Temple, which was originally built in the second year of the Ming Dynasty's Xuande era (1427) as a syncretic temple of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. The temple faces south and covers an area of 20,000 square meters. It includes structures such as the Weituo Hall, Sakyamuni Hall, and Manjusri Tower, while outside the courtyard stand the Jade Emperor Pavilion and the Ashoka Pagoda. On the southern slope of the mountain there are eight Ten Directions Pagodas, and the temple area features eight scenic spots: One-Line Spring, Water-Drum, Sunset Glow, Tang Pine, Locust Embracing Elm, Peony Flowers, Immortal’s Footprint, and Immortal’s Bridge. Parts of the architecture were demolished in the 1960s, but restoration has been gradually carried out. Currently preserved is a stone cave excavated in the fifth year of the Ming Dynasty's Hongzhi era (1492), measuring 3.6 meters wide, 3.7 meters deep, and 2.9 meters high. In front of the cave, over 30 stone steps are carved, each about one foot high, requiring walkers to tread sideways. Inside the cave are stone carvings of three saintly figures seated in meditation and murals of the Eighteen Arhats. Their postures are natural, their garments fluid, and their faces full and serene. Most of the statues feature slender, refined forms, with overlapping folds at the lower parts of their clothing, each expressing distinct expressions. The caisson ceiling features gracefully floating celestial beings. Though weathered by time, the colors of the statues remain vivid. The largest statue is 1.4 meters tall, the smallest about 0.5 meters. The northern cave is known as the Immortal’s Cave, which is 3.9 meters deep, 3.5 meters wide, and requires visitors to pass sideways, press against the cliff face, and climb up. Inside the cave are poems inscribed by literati from the Ming and Qing dynasties who visited the mountain. Coupled with the Great Wall around Li’erkou and the nearby Hua’men Fort, Baoping Fort, and even the Jade Emperor Pavilion and numerous beacon towers of Xinping Fort, they form the unique, majestic beauty of an ancient frontier battlefield.