Xiangtangshan western paradise of the amitabha

The Xiangtangshan Caves () is a group of Buddhist cave temples located in the

Fengfeng Mining District Fengfeng Mining District () is a district of the city of Handan, Hebei, People's Republic of China. Administrative Divisions Towns: * Linshui (), Fengfeng Town (), Xinpo (), Dashe (), Hecun (), Yijing (), Pengcheng (), Jiecheng (), Dayu Da ...

about 20 km southwest of the City of

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...

, in

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

province, China. The oldest cave temples in the group date to the

Northern Qi Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It ruled the eastern part of northern China ...

, one of the

Northern dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Jin dynasty (266–420)#Eastern Jin, Eastern Jin dy ...

in the sixth century, and were sponsored by the dynasty's court. The caves are located about 20 km to the northwest of the site of Ye, the capital of the Northern Qi and were carved into dense limestone cliffs on mountains that are part of the

Taihang Mountains The Taihang Mountains () are a Chinese mountain range running down the eastern edge of the Loess Plateau in Shanxi, Henan and Hebei provinces. The range extends over from north to south and has an average elevation of . The principal peak is ...

.Angela F. Howard, Buddhist Cave Sculpture of the Northern Qi Dynasty: Shaping a New Style, Formulating New Iconographies, Archives of Asian Art, Vol. 49, p. 6-25, 1996

Description and background

There are a total of 36 caves, clustered in three groups: a northern group () on Mount Gu () near the village of Hecun; a southern group () on Mount Fu; and a site at Shuiyusi that is also known as "Little Xiangtangshan" (). The northern group contains three main caves, the northern cave (cave 7), the central cave (cave 4), and the southern cave (cave 2). According to one historical source, writings by the monk Min Fen, the northern cave group was commissioned by Wen Xuan, the first Northern Qi emperor. The largest cave in the group (the northern cave or cave 7) may have served as the emperor's burial site. Construction of the caves in the southern group started at the initiative of a monk, Hui Yi of the Linghua temple, in 565. The project was continued under the sponsorship of Gao Anahong, the king of Huai Ying and one of the highest official in the Northern Qi dynasty. Work on the southern caves likely ended around the time when the Northern Qi was annexed by 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 ...

in 577. Since they were not sponsored by imperial patrons, the caves in the southern group tend to be smaller than those in the northern group. Many of the sculpture pieces from the sites were removed and sold internationally as early as 1909. A number were sold to the American collector Charles Freer by the art dealer C.T. Loo, who is suspected of arranging for their removal from China without permission. Many are now in the

Freer Gallery The Freer Gallery of Art is an art museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. focusing on Asian art. The Freer and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery together form the National Museum of Asian Art in the United States. The Freer and Sac ...

in Washington, D.C.Anne P. Underhill
A Companion to Chinese Archaeology
John Wiley & Sons, Feb 26, 2013 (Chinese regulations and Western museum practices now promote protection of such cultural treasures) Promoting the protection of Chinese cultural heritage
Freer-Sackler The caves are a

Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level A Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National LevelEnglish translation for "全国重点文物保护单位" varies, it includes Major Site (to Be) Protected for Its Historical and Cultural Value at the National Level, Major Histo ...

(designation 1-40).

Notes

External links

A Journey to Xiangtangshan
Freer-Sackler Museum website, with images and descriptions of each cave.
Xiangtangshan Caves Project
University of Chicago. {{Authority control Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Hebei Northern Qi Chinese Buddhist grottoes Buddhist temples in Handan