Southeast of Tianshui city in northwest China's Gansu province, deep in the forests in the west of the Qinling Mountains, stands the peak of the Maiji Mountain, hidden in clouds and mist. On its cliff, lifelike clay sculptures can be observed, which serve as a witness to the history of civilization. The Maiji Mountain Grottoes, with a history of over 1,600 years, contain 221 existing caves that house more than 10,000 sculptures and nearly 1,000 square meters of murals.
They are one of China's four largest Buddhist cave complexes, along with Mogao, Yungang and Longmen grottoes in Gansu, Shanxi and Henan provinces respectively. Tourists visit the Maiji Mountain Grottoes in Tianshui, northwest China's Gansu province. (People's Daily Online/Wang Wensuo) Stepping into the Maiji Mountain Grottoes is like unfolding a scroll of history.
The grottoes were first built in the Later Qin (384–417) era of the Sixteen Kingdoms period, and constructed and restored in over 10 dynasties. It marks a crucial turning point when Buddhist cave temples became localized and Sinicized in China. Here, one can find the largest cave in all of China's grottoes modeled after traditional Chinese architecture, and graceful flying apsaras.
It meticulously documents the historical process of Buddhism's Sinicization. The gleaming clay sculptures on the cliff range from towering figures over ten meters tall to delicate pieces just tens of centimeters in size. Despite their varied dimensions and forms, they all.