Shikong Temple Grottoes 石空寺石窟

About Shikong Temple Grottoes

The caves are cut in the hill at Yuding Township in Zhongning County and are dated to the Tang dynasty. A government description, republished on the China Ethnic Culture Resource Database with 中卫市人民政府网 credited as the source and 中宁县人民政府网 as the material source, quotes the historical works Longyou jinshi lu and Gansu xin tongzhi: the Shikong Temple took its name from the temple, the temple was founded in Tang times, caves were cut following the shape of the hill and the images inside were all made in Tang style. The same text calls the site an important cultural and religious centre on the Tang-dynasty Silk Road.

The temple has 13 grottoes. The largest, the nine-bay Wuliang cave, is the centre of the site: 25 m high, 15 m deep and 13 m wide, holding 88 Buddha images, with coloured murals on both sides of the niches. A three-storey building was raised against the hillside outside the caves, and the page says the place was known at night for the "Shikong lamplight".

Ming-dynasty wall runs across the top of the grottoes with beacon towers scattered along the ridge; the Tengger Desert lies north of the hill and the Yellow River winds eastward not far to the south. In 1961 the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region People's Government listed the site as a key cultural relic protection unit. The page gives no visitor information and says nothing about the present condition of the caves or their images.

What to look for

• The nine-bay Wuliang cave, 25 m high, 15 m deep and 13 m wide, with 88 Buddha images and coloured murals flanking the niches.
• The three-storey building set against the hillside outside the caves.
• The Ming-dynasty wall and the beacon towers running along the ridge above the grottoes.

Location & getting there

Getting to Shikong Temple Grottoes

Check which interiors and courtyards are accessible. Active places of worship and protected monuments may have different visitor rules.

• Search for 石空寺石窟 with 中卫市 and 中宁县.