Tuoshan () is a mountain located south-west of

Qingzhou Qingzhou () Wade–Giles: Tsing-chou, sometimes written as Ching-chow-fu, formerly Yidu County (Yitu) (), is a county-level city, which is located in the west of the prefecture-level city of Weifang, in the central part of Shandong Province, Chin ...

city,

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

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 ...

. It features a number of historic sites and a native pine forest. Tuoshan is the core scenic zone of Qingzhou National Park.

Qiaoyu's Calligraphy

Qiaoyu was a chief official of Qingzhou during the Ming Dynasty, and inscribed the characters 'Tuo Shan' on the eastern face of the mountain.

Haotian Temple

Haotian Temple (''Hao Tian Gong'' in

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

) measures 150 m from north to south and 100 m from east to west. It lies on the summit of Tuoshan, and commands a view northward to Qingzhou. The temple itself consists of a group of ancient structures, including an old theatre, Yuhuang Palace, Seven Treasures Cabinet, and a garden of stone 'stelae' or tablets. A tablet on the site records the rebuilding of the temple in the

Yuan Dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

(1271–1368). The temple has undergone further repairs since 1986.

Yuhuang Palace

This building is part of Haotian Temple on the summit of the mountain.

Qibao Cabinet

Seven Treasures (''Qi bao'') Cabinet was built in the Yuan Dynasty. It is a non-beam, double-arched stone structure and is rare in China.

River in the Sky

''Tian He''. Adjacent to Haotian Temple. It was completely dry as of 2004 and it is doubtful that it ever 'flows'. A more realistic translation might be 'pool' or 'pond'.

Bridge in the Sky

''Tian Qiao''. The bridge crosses the 'River in the Sky', and provides an entrance to Haotian Temple.

Heavenly Spring

''Tian Quan''. Possibly another name for the 'River in the Sky'.

Wulong Pool

Possibly another name for the 'River in the Sky'.

Gate of the Southern Heaven

''Tian Nan Men'' in

. A recently constructed or reconstructed Chinese gateway atop mountain.

Buddhist Grottoes

There are 638 stone Buddhas in five main grottoes, which were chiselled in the

Northern Zhou Zhou (), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (), was a Xianbei-led dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern dynasties of China's Northern and Southern dynasties period, it succeeded the Western Wei dynasty and ...

(577-581) and

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

(613-907) and lie along the mountain's eastern edge, close to the summit. All of the smaller grottoes are now empty. The main grottoes are mostly intact with the exception of many of the smaller-Buddha's heads. They are protected by cages. The tallest statue, that of a seated Buddha, still survives. It is over 7 m high, making it the largest in the province. The smallest statues at the site are about {{convert, 10, cm, 0, abbr=on tall. The site was placed under national protection in 1988.

References

Chinese Buddhist grottoes Buddhist temples in Weifang Archaeological sites in China Mountains of Shandong Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Shandong