Middle Binyang Cave () is cave number 140 at the Longmen Grottoes near Luoyang, Henan,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Dimensions

12m long, 10.9m wide, 9.3m high.

History

Constructed by order of Emperor Xuanwu of the

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties ...

in honour of his parents

Emperor Xiaowen An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...

and Empress Wenzhao, the cave was supposed to imitate Lingyansi Cave at the

Yungang Caves The Yungang Grottoes (), formerly the Wuzhoushan Grottoes (), are ancient Chinese Buddhist temple grottoes near the city of Datong in the province of Shanxi. They are excellent examples of rock-cut architecture and one of the three most famous anc ...

. Work began in 500 and was completed in 523. In 1987 a brick-entrance was demolished to reveal two new figures: a four-headed, four-armed Brahma and a one headed, four armed Śakra devendra.

Features

The back wall is a carved Sakyamuni, with two disciples and two bodhisattvas. The main Buddha and bodhisattvas are representative of the Northern Wei sculptural style. A lotus-flower pool decorates the floor. The ceiling is engraved with a blossoming lotus flower, 8 musical apsarases, 2 attending apsarases and tassel and drapery patterns. The front wall is covered with a large Vimalakirti relief, the

Prince Sattva Prince Sattva was one of the previous incarnations of Gautama Buddha, according to a jataka story. Ascetic life The son of King Maharatha, he became an ascetic and gained a few disciples. Dilemma On his walk with his closest disciple, he come ...

jataka, the Prince Sudatta jataka, an emperor/empress worshipping scene and ten deity kings.

Nearby caves

The cave is flanked by North and

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

Binyang Caves.

Images

File:Longmen-binyang-middle-cave-wideshot.jpg, Rear and north walls (2004) File:Longmen-binyang-middle-cave-south-wall.jpg, South wall (2004) {{Coord missing, Henan Chinese architectural history Chinese Buddhist grottoes Chinese sculpture Caves of Henan Tourist attractions in Henan Religion in Henan