Cishan Temple Grottoes 慈善寺石窟

About Cishan Temple Grottoes

Cishan Temple Grottoes (慈善寺石窟) are Buddhist cave temples cut into a cliff about 5 km east of the county town of Linyou (麟游), Baoji (宝鸡), Shaanxi. They date mainly from the Sui and Tang dynasties and have been a national key cultural relics protection site since 2001.

Linyou was the site of the Sui dynasty's Renshou Palace (仁寿宫), known under the Tang as Jiucheng Palace (九成宫), a summer palace where four Sui and Tang emperors stayed on 21 occasions. The Linyou County government names the imperial temple of Cishan among the relics that period left behind. Chinese Wikipedia records that the caves were made so that emperors summering at Linyou could hold Buddhist rites. Carving began in the Renshou reign of the Sui, and after the fall of the Sui the temple became the first imperial temple of the Tang, with new carving under Emperor Gaozong from 653 and in the time of Wu Zetian (武则天). A flood damaged the temple buildings in 836, and they were repaired several times afterwards.

A 28 m cliff carries the caves: three large caves on its west face and mostly smaller niches on its south face, 12 caves, 6 niches and 47 statues in all. Caves 1 and 2 on the west cliff have horseshoe-shaped floor plans and large figures. The main Buddha of Cave 1, 5.5 m tall, was paid for by the Sui imperial house. The south cliff has nine niches carved into the rock face with smaller Buddhas. The main Buddhas of the two large southern and northern caves both stand over 4.5 m.

What to look for

• Cave 1 on the west cliff, with a 5.5 m main Buddha funded by the Sui imperial house
• Caves 1 and 2, with horseshoe-shaped floor plans and large-scale statues
• The nine rock-cut niches with small Buddhas on the south cliff
• The 28 m cliff face holding 12 caves, 6 niches and 47 statues
• Tang carving added from 653 under Emperor Gaozong and in Wu Zetian's time

Location & getting there

Getting to Cishan Temple Grottoes

• Search for 慈善寺石窟 with 宝鸡市 and 麟游县.