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Coordinates: 37°33′44″N 102°44′41″E / 37.562135°N 102.744635°E / 37.562135; 102.744635
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Adding local short description: "Buddhist site in Wuwei, Gansu, China", overriding Wikidata description "building in Tiantishan Grottoes, China"
 
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{{Short description|Buddhist site in Wuwei, Gansu, China}}
[[File:Gansu Museum 2007 236.jpg|thumb|250px|Buddha Triad of the [[Tang dynasty]] from Tiantishan at [[Gansu Provincial Museum]]]]
[[File:Gansu Museum 2007 236.jpg|thumb|250px|Buddha Triad of the [[Tang dynasty]] from Tiantishan at [[Gansu Provincial Museum]]]]
The '''Tiantishan Caves''' ({{zh|s=天梯山石窟|p=Tiāntīshān shíkū}}) is a series of [[rock cut architecture|rock cut]] [[Buddhist art|Buddhist]] cave temples in the [[Liangzhou District]] of [[Wuwei, Gansu|Wuwei]], [[Gansu]], northwest [[China]]. Excavated from the eastern cliffs of the Huangyang River (黃羊河) in the [[Qilian Mountains]] from the time of the [[Northern Liang]], carving, decoration and subsequent modification of the caves continued through the [[Northern Wei]] and [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] to the [[Qing dynasty]].<ref name="Getty">{{cite book |url=http://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_publications/pdf/silkroad6_b.pdf |title=Conservation of Ancient Sites on the Silk Road: Proceedings of an International Conference on the Conservation of Grotto Sites |editor=Agnew, Neville |chapter=Pigment Analysis of Polychrome Statuary and Wall Paintings of the Tiantishan Grottoes |author1=Zhou Guoxin |author2=Zhang Jianquan |author3=Cheng Huaiwan |publisher=[[Getty Conservation Institute]] |year=1997 |isbn=978-0892364169 |pages=362 ff.}}</ref> The complex is identified with the Liangzhou Caves opened during the time of [[Juqu Mengxun]] "one hundred [[Li (unit)|li]] to the south of [[Wuwei, Gansu#History|Liangzhou]]", as recorded in the ''[[Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms]]'' and ''[[Fayuan Zhulin]]''.<ref name="Getty"/><ref name="Wuwei">{{cite book |script-title=zh:武威天梯山石窟 |trans_title=The Grottoes in the Tianti Mountain, Wuwei |author1=Zhang Xuerong |author2=He Jingzhen |author3=Wu Yiru |publisher=Cultural Relics Publishing House |year=2000 |isbn=7501012202 |pages=8, 292–5}}</ref> The name Tiantishan consists of three [[Chinese characters]] ({{linktext|天}}{{linktext|梯}}{{linktext|山}}) that literally translate as "Ladder to Heaven Mountain".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://gansu.chinadaily.com.cn/2013-11/02/content_17076178.htm |title=Tiantishan Grottoes (Wuwei) |work=[[China Daily]] |date=2 November 2013 |accessdate=7 April 2017}}</ref>
The '''Tiantishan Caves''' ({{zh|s=天梯山石窟|p=Tiāntīshān shíkū}}) are a series of [[rock cut architecture|rock cut]] [[Buddhist art|Buddhist]] cave temples in the [[Liangzhou District]] of [[Wuwei, Gansu|Wuwei]], [[Gansu]], northwest [[China]]. Excavated from the eastern cliffs of the Huangyang River ({{lang|zh|黃羊河}}) in the [[Qilian Mountains]] from the time of the [[Northern Liang]], carving, decoration and subsequent modification of the caves continued through the [[Northern Wei]] and [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] to the [[Qing dynasty]].<ref name="Getty">{{cite book |url=http://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_publications/pdf/silkroad6_b.pdf |title=Conservation of Ancient Sites on the Silk Road: Proceedings of an International Conference on the Conservation of Grotto Sites |editor=Agnew, Neville |chapter=Pigment Analysis of Polychrome Statuary and Wall Paintings of the Tiantishan Grottoes |author1=Zhou Guoxin |author2=Zhang Jianquan |author3=Cheng Huaiwan |publisher=[[Getty Conservation Institute]] |year=1997 |isbn=978-0892364169 |pages=362 ff}}</ref> The complex is identified with the Liangzhou Caves opened during the time of [[Juqu Mengxun]] "one hundred [[Li (unit)|li]] to the south of [[Wuwei, Gansu#History|Liangzhou]]", as recorded in the ''[[Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms]]'' and ''[[Fayuan Zhulin]]''.<ref name="Getty"/><ref name="Wuwei">{{cite book |script-title=zh:武威天梯山石窟 |trans-title=The Grottoes in the Tianti Mountain, Wuwei |author1=Zhang Xuerong |author2=He Jingzhen |author3=Wu Yiru |publisher=Cultural Relics Publishing House |year=2000 |isbn=7501012202 |pages=8, 292–5}}</ref> The name Tiantishan consists of three [[Chinese characters]] ({{linktext|天}}{{linktext|梯}}{{linktext|山}}) that literally translate as "Ladder to Heaven Mountain".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://gansu.chinadaily.com.cn/2013-11/02/content_17076178.htm |title=Tiantishan Grottoes (Wuwei) |work=[[China Daily]] |date=2 November 2013 |accessdate=7 April 2017}}</ref>


==Caves==
==Caves==
The [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] monk [[Dàoxuān]] in his ''Ji shenzhou sanbao gantong lu'' ascribes the opening of Tiantishan to the [[Xiongnu]] prince of [[Northern Liang]] [[Juqu Mengxun]]'s devotion to "meritorious deeds" alongside his desire to avoid the [[Impermanence#Buddhism|impermanence]] of the city by fashioning caves from the mountains.<ref name="Religion">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=q2nWdWbN3MQC&pg=PA584 |title=Early Chinese Religion: The Period of Division (220-589 AD) |editor1=John Lagerwey |editor2=Pengzhi Lü |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|BRILL]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-9004175853 |pages=584 ff.}}</ref> Contrary to the account in the ''[[Wei Shu]]'' of monks and Buddhist teachers relocating to the east after the conquest of the [[Northern Liang]] by the [[Northern Wei]] and subsequent persecution, structural, iconographic, and stylistic analysis shows that activity at the site continued.<ref name="Wuwei"/><ref name="Religion"/> A total of nineteen caves in three tiers have been identified:<ref name="Wuwei"/>
The [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] monk [[Daoxuan]] in his ''Ji shenzhou sanbao gantong lu'' ascribes the opening of Tiantishan to the [[Xiongnu]] king of [[Northern Liang]] [[Juqu Mengxun]]'s devotion to "meritorious deeds" alongside his desire to avoid the [[Impermanence#Buddhism|impermanence]] of the city by fashioning caves from the mountains.<ref name="Religion">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q2nWdWbN3MQC&pg=PA584 |title=Early Chinese Religion: The Period of Division (220–589 AD) |editor1=John Lagerwey |editor2=Pengzhi Lü |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|BRILL]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-9004175853 |pages=584 ff}}</ref> Contrary to the account in the ''[[Wei Shu]]'' of monks and Buddhist teachers relocating to the east after the conquest of the [[Northern Liang]] by the [[Northern Wei]] and subsequent persecution, structural, iconographic, and stylistic analysis shows that activity at the site continued.<ref name="Wuwei"/><ref name="Religion"/> A total of nineteen caves in three tiers have been identified:<ref name="Wuwei"/>


{| class="wikitable sortable"
{| class="wikitable sortable"
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==Later history==
==Later history==
[[File:Tiantishan Grotto Budda.jpg|thumb|A giant [[Sakyamuni]] Buddha and attendant figures from the Tiantishan Grottoes]]
Tiantishan disappeared from the historical record after the [[Tang dynasty]].<ref name="Wuwei"/> While decoration and modification of the caves continued into the [[Qing dynasty]], five suffered from collapse over the centuries, exacerbated by an earthquake in 1927.<ref name="Wuwei"/> Despite initial survey in the early 1950s demonstrating the importance of the site, in April 1959 the Gansu provincial government approved the construction of a reservoir that would flood two of the three tiers of caves when commissioned in May the following year.<ref name="Wuwei"/> In the interval, a research team from the [[Dunhuang Research Academy|Dunhuang Academy]] and [[Gansu Provincial Museum]] documented the site and excavated the collapsed caves, although all the written records and colour photographs and most of the black-and-white photographs have since been lost, along with most of the copies of the wall paintings.<ref name="Wuwei"/> Some {{convert|50|sqm}} of the paintings were [[Detachment of wall paintings|detached]], although the colours have since "faded after 40 years of natural weathering", and other than for the largest, most of the sculptures were taken down and removed to the Museum.<ref name="Wuwei"/> In 2001, in recognition of their [[Values (heritage)|significance]] as one of the earliest Buddhist grotto sites in the country, the Tiantishan Caves were designated a [[Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level]] by [[State Administration of Cultural Heritage|SACH]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sach.gov.cn/col/col1644/index.html |script-title=zh:全国重点文物保护单位 |trans_title= Major National Historical and Cultural Sites |publisher=[[State Administration of Cultural Heritage]]| language=Chinese |accessdate=7 April 2017}}</ref>
Tiantishan disappeared from the historical record after the [[Tang dynasty]].<ref name="Wuwei"/> While decoration and modification of the caves continued into the [[Qing dynasty]], five suffered from collapse over the centuries, exacerbated by an earthquake in 1927.<ref name="Wuwei"/> Despite initial survey in the early 1950s demonstrating the importance of the site, in April 1959 the Gansu provincial government approved the construction of a reservoir that would flood two of the three tiers of caves when commissioned in May the following year.<ref name="Wuwei"/> In the interval, a research team from the [[Dunhuang Research Academy|Dunhuang Academy]] and [[Gansu Provincial Museum]] documented the site and excavated the collapsed caves, although all the written records and colour photographs and most of the black-and-white photographs have since been lost, along with most of the copies of the wall paintings.<ref name="Wuwei"/> Some {{convert|50|sqm}} of the paintings were [[Detachment of wall paintings|detached]], although the colours have since "faded after 40 years of natural weathering", and other than for the largest, most of the sculptures were taken down and removed to the Museum.<ref name="Wuwei"/> In 2001, in recognition of their [[Values (heritage)|significance]] as one of the earliest [[Buddhist]] grotto sites in the country, the Tiantishan Caves were designated a [[Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level]] by [[State Administration of Cultural Heritage|SACH]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sach.gov.cn/col/col1644/index.html |script-title=zh:全国重点文物保护单位 |trans-title=Major National Historical and Cultural Sites |publisher=[[State Administration of Cultural Heritage]] |language=Chinese |accessdate=7 April 2017 |archive-date=8 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008014045/http://www.sach.gov.cn/col/col1644/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
{{Commonscat|Tiantishan Caves}}
{{Commons category|Tiantishan Caves}}
* [[Major National Historical and Cultural Sites (Gansu)]]
* [[Major National Historical and Cultural Sites (Gansu)]]
* [[Principles for the Conservation of Heritage Sites in China]]
* [[Principles for the Conservation of Heritage Sites in China]]
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==External links==
==External links==
* {{zh icon}} [http://public.dha.ac.cn/Content.aspx?id=299278164314&Page=1 Tiantishan Caves] ([[Dunhuang Research Academy|Dunhuang Academy]])
* {{in lang|zh}} [http://public.dha.ac.cn/Content.aspx?id=299278164314&Page=1 Tiantishan Caves] ([[Dunhuang Research Academy|Dunhuang Academy]])
* {{zh icon}} [http://www.mzb.com.cn/html/report/160137523-1.htm Photos of the detachment of the paintings]
* {{in lang|zh}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20170407144655/http://www.mzb.com.cn/html/report/160137523-1.htm Photos of the detachment of the paintings]


{{Caves of China}}
{{Caves of China}}
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{{Coord|37.562135|N|102.744635|E|display=title|region:CN|format=dms}}
{{Coord|37.562135|N|102.744635|E|display=title|region:CN|format=dms}}


[[Category:Caves of Gansu]]
[[Category:Buddhist grottoes in Gansu]]
[[Category:Chinese sculpture]]
[[Category:Northern Liang]]
[[Category:Chinese Buddhist grottoes]]
[[Category:Northern Wei]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Gansu]]
[[Category:Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Gansu]]
[[Category:Religion in Gansu]]
[[Category:Sites along the Silk Road]]

Latest revision as of 13:38, 13 April 2024

Buddha Triad of the Tang dynasty from Tiantishan at Gansu Provincial Museum

The Tiantishan Caves (Chinese: 天梯山石窟; pinyin: Tiāntīshān shíkū) are a series of rock cut Buddhist cave temples in the Liangzhou District of Wuwei, Gansu, northwest China. Excavated from the eastern cliffs of the Huangyang River (黃羊河) in the Qilian Mountains from the time of the Northern Liang, carving, decoration and subsequent modification of the caves continued through the Northern Wei and Tang to the Qing dynasty.[1] The complex is identified with the Liangzhou Caves opened during the time of Juqu Mengxun "one hundred li to the south of Liangzhou", as recorded in the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms and Fayuan Zhulin.[1][2] The name Tiantishan consists of three Chinese characters (天梯山) that literally translate as "Ladder to Heaven Mountain".[3]

Caves

[edit]

The Tang monk Daoxuan in his Ji shenzhou sanbao gantong lu ascribes the opening of Tiantishan to the Xiongnu king of Northern Liang Juqu Mengxun's devotion to "meritorious deeds" alongside his desire to avoid the impermanence of the city by fashioning caves from the mountains.[4] Contrary to the account in the Wei Shu of monks and Buddhist teachers relocating to the east after the conquest of the Northern Liang by the Northern Wei and subsequent persecution, structural, iconographic, and stylistic analysis shows that activity at the site continued.[2][4] A total of nineteen caves in three tiers have been identified:[2]

Cave Bauwesen Modifications Typ
Cave 1 Northern Liang Northern Wei, Tang (beginning, early, mid, and late), Western Xia, Yuan, Ming, Qing central pillar
Cave 2 beginning of the Tang early Tang, Western Xia, Ming square
Cave 3 beginning of the Tang Western Xia, Ming square
Cave 4 Northern Liang Northern Wei, Tang (early and mid), Western Xia, Yuan, Ming, Qing central pillar
Cave 5 uncertain uncertain
Cave 6 uncertain Tang, Ming, Qing square
Cave 7 Northern Wei Northern Zhou, Western Xia, Yuan, Ming square
Cave 8 Northern Wei Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang (early and mid), Song, Ming square
Cave 9 Tang Ming square
Cave 10 uncertain uncertain
Cave 11 uncertain uncertain
Cave 12 uncertain uncertain
Cave 13 Tang Western Xia, Yuan, Ming, Qing
Cave 14 Tang Western Xia, Yuan, Ming
Cave 15 Northern Liang to Northern Wei Western Xia, Yuan, Ming
Cave 16 Northern Wei Western Xia, Yuan
Cave 17 Northern Liang to Northern Wei Sui, Tang (mid), Western Xia, Yuan, Ming
Cave 18 Northern Liang Northern Wei, Tang (late), Western Xia, Yuan, Ming, Qing central pillar
Cave 19 uncertain uncertain square

Later history

[edit]
A giant Sakyamuni Buddha and attendant figures from the Tiantishan Grottoes

Tiantishan disappeared from the historical record after the Tang dynasty.[2] While decoration and modification of the caves continued into the Qing dynasty, five suffered from collapse over the centuries, exacerbated by an earthquake in 1927.[2] Despite initial survey in the early 1950s demonstrating the importance of the site, in April 1959 the Gansu provincial government approved the construction of a reservoir that would flood two of the three tiers of caves when commissioned in May the following year.[2] In the interval, a research team from the Dunhuang Academy and Gansu Provincial Museum documented the site and excavated the collapsed caves, although all the written records and colour photographs and most of the black-and-white photographs have since been lost, along with most of the copies of the wall paintings.[2] Some 50 square metres (540 sq ft) of the paintings were detached, although the colours have since "faded after 40 years of natural weathering", and other than for the largest, most of the sculptures were taken down and removed to the Museum.[2] In 2001, in recognition of their significance as one of the earliest Buddhist grotto sites in the country, the Tiantishan Caves were designated a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level by SACH.[5]

See also

[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tiantishan Caves.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Zhou Guoxin; Zhang Jianquan; Cheng Huaiwan (1997). "Pigment Analysis of Polychrome Statuary and Wall Paintings of the Tiantishan Grottoes". In Agnew, Neville (ed.). Conservation of Ancient Sites on the Silk Road: Proceedings of an International Conference on the Conservation of Grotto Sites (PDF). Getty Conservation Institute. pp. 362 ff. ISBN 978-0892364169.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Zhang Xuerong; He Jingzhen; Wu Yiru (2000). 武威天梯山石窟 [The Grottoes in the Tianti Mountain, Wuwei]. Cultural Relics Publishing House. pp. 8, 292–5. ISBN 7501012202.
  3. ^ "Tiantishan Grottoes (Wuwei)". China Daily. 2 November 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  4. ^ a b John Lagerwey; Pengzhi Lü, eds. (2010). Early Chinese Religion: The Period of Division (220–589 AD). BRILL. pp. 584 ff. ISBN 978-9004175853.
  5. ^ 全国重点文物保护单位 [Major National Historical and Cultural Sites] (in Chinese). State Administration of Cultural Heritage. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
[edit]

37°33′44″N 102°44′41″E / 37.562135°N 102.744635°E / 37.562135; 102.744635

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