Bingling Temple Grotto

Located in the Greater and Minor Jishi (Piled Stone) Hills some 35 kilometers to the southwest of Yongjing County, the Bingling Temple Grotto was chiseled out on the western cliff of Dasi(Great Temple) Valley on the right of the Yellow River. The geological formation of the Jishi Hills where lies the Bingling Grotto Temple is of fine sandstone structure which is easier to be caved and engrave. However, it doesn’t resist weathering and water erosion. The Bingling Temple Grotto is located at a transportation hub on a feeder line of the ancient Silk Road leading from China to western countries. Buddhists started to cave grottoes and sculptures as early as the Western Jin Dynasty. During the period of the Sixteen States, the nobles of the Xianbei ethnic tribe established the Western Qin Regime here. They were for the Buddhism cult and so many eminent monks from inland and western regions swarmed to the place, preaching and sermonizing. The Dasi Valley in the Minor Jishi Hills within the territory of the Western Qin, namely the area where Bingling Temple was located came to be the Buddhist venue of the time. 

Bingling is the transliteration of a Tibetan expression, which means “Ten Thousand Buddhas”, equivalent to “Thousand Buddha Hill” or “Ten Thousand Buddha Cave” of literary translation in Chinese. The formal construction of the Bingling Temple took place in 420, the first year under the reign of Jianhong of the Western Qin Dynasty. And it was carried on during the ensuing dynasties of Northern Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui and Tang, and murals and decorations were made even in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties.

Well-preserved here now are 183 caves and enshrined in them are 900 square meters of frescoes and 694 Buddha statues, of which 82 are clay sculptures. They are disposed on a large cliff of 200 by 60 meters. The main-body of the temple is centered round the huge “Natural Buddha” chiseled out in the Tang Dynasty on the highest cliff and some other caves nearby and round it, of which that of the Tang Dynasty account for two thirds, a total of 20 caves. The representative works of the Northern Wei finds its expression in Cave 169, the clay-sculptured Goddess of Mercy and the stone-carved Sakyamuni and other Buddha figures in Cave 125. All of them are the masterpieces well kept in the Bingling Temple Grotto.