The Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall Grottoes

The Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall Grottoes, first excavated in the 23rd year of the Taihe era of the Northern Wei Dynasty (499 AD), is the earliest and largest grotto group in the northeastern region. Due to years of natural weathering and lack of maintenance, most of the grottoes have been damaged and collapsed, no longer existing. It is known as the treasure trove of grotto sculpture art in northern China. Currently, only more than 20 grottoes (niches) and 430 statues remain. Among them, a 3.5-meter-high cross-legged Maitreya Buddha statue in the sixth grotto is said to be sculpted in the likeness of Emperor Xiaowen, considered a masterpiece of Buddhist sculpture and the crown jewel of the 'Four Treasures of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall.' The Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties period was the most prosperous era for Chinese sculpture. The Northern Wei Empire, which once unified northern China, is also known as the 'Dynasty Carved on Grottoes.' The colorful wall carvings, Buddha statues, and lotus flying apsaras caissons of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall Grottoes are precious relics of the Northern Wei, still vivid and lifelike after 1500 years. The 'Smiling Buddha' is the most beautiful statue in the Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall Grottoes. Although many parts have weathered, the Buddha statue smiles from any angle, earning it the title 'Mona Lisa of the East' from experts and scholars. It is said that craftsmen of various dynasties tried to imitate it, but none could replicate such a simple, natural, subtle, and kind smile. One of the 'Four Treasures of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall,' the Thousand-Hand Thousand-Eye Guanyin statue, is the only Ming Dynasty clay sculpture of Thousand-Hand Thousand-Eye Guanyin in the northeastern region. It is said that this Thousand-Hand Guanyin statue is very effective in answering prayers, and local devotees come to worship and pray for peace on the first and fifteenth of every lunar month. Behind the Thousand-Hand Guanyin Grotto, a thousand-year-old bodhi tree, the only one in the northeastern region, grows on the cliff. The tree is 1500 years old and is praised by experts and scholars as the 'northernmost, most beautiful, and oldest bodhi tree in the world.' Under the tree is an ancient well, said to have been dug by Li Shimin during his eastern expedition to Goguryeo. The well water is sweet. The 'Yuanjing Statue Stele' in the fifth grotto was handwritten by Yuanjing, the general who excavated the grottoes, in 499 AD. The inscription is vigorous and elegant, with a rigorous structure, praised by Kang Youwei as 'the best of the Northern Wei steles.' Today, the original stele is weathered and the characters are unclear.