North Binyang Cave () is cave number 104 at the

Longmen Grottoes The Longmen Grottoes () or Longmen Caves are some of the finest examples of Chinese Buddhist art. Housing tens of thousands of statues of Shakyamuni Buddha and his disciples, they are located south of present-day Luoyang in Henan province, C ...

near

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

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 ...

History

Initiated by order of

Emperor Xuanwu Emperor Xuanwu of Northern Wei (May or June 483 – February 12, 515) was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty (499-515). He was born Tuoba Ke, but later changed his surname so that he became Yuan Ke. During Xuanwu's reign, N ...

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 and Empress Wenzhao, the cave was not completed until the

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

Features

The main image is an Amitabha with a patterned halo.

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

-head shaped column bases dating from the

flank the cave entrance. Other figures are also present (possibly

bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

s).

Nearby caves

Middle Binyang Cave Middle Binyang Cave () is cave number 140 at the Longmen Grottoes near Luoyang, Henan, China. Dimensions 12m long, 10.9m wide, 9.3m high. History Constructed by order of Emperor Xuanwu of Northern Wei China, Emperor Xuanwu of the Northern Wei in ...

and South Binyang Cave are adjacent to the south.

Images

File:North Binyang Cave.JPG, North Binyang Cave rear wall File:longmen-binyang-north-cave-roof.jpg, Detail of roof adjoining southern wall (2004) File:longmen-binyang-north-cave-south-wall.jpg, The south wall showing standing figures (2004) {{Coord missing, Henan Chinese Buddhist grottoes Chinese architectural history Archaeological sites in China Chinese sculpture Caves of Henan Tourist attractions in Henan Religion in Henan