Beixiangtangshan Grottoes are excavated on a steep cliff, and there are nine grottoes, which are divided into three groups: south, north and middle. The appearance of Zhongzu Grottoes looks like pavilions, and the inner wall is embossed with flowers, animals and Buddha statues, which is simple and elegant. The largest is the Giant Buddha Cave, which is13.3m wide and12.5m deep. There is a sitting Buddha about 4 meters high in the cave. The Buddha statue is elegant and dignified, full of muscles, soft lines and plain face. Although the Buddha statue has been eroded by thousands of years of wind and rain, it is still as clean as new.
The inner and outer walls of the cave are covered with Buddhist scriptures, including four Vimalakīrti Classics written by Tang Yong from the fourth year of Tiantong (568) to the third year of Wuping (572) in the Northern Qi Dynasty. The inscription is an official script, sharp and vigorous with a pen.
The original Chorakuji Temple in front of the mountain has only one octagonal nine-story brick tower, which has become an important symbol of the grottoes. At the top of Xiangtang Mountain, there are also precious cultural relics such as East Palace, West Palace, Song and Jin classic buildings and inscriptions.
Beixiangtangshan Grottoes, located in towns and villages in the west of Gu Bei, have Chorakuji Temple, Buddha statues and brick pagodas in the Song Dynasty at the foot of the mountain. There are 9 existing grottoes on the mountain, among which the Giant Buddha Cave at the northern end of the grottoes is the largest, with the highest artistic value and the most gorgeous decoration, with a depth of13.3m and a width of1.4m. It is a tower-shaped pillar with niches on three sides. The front niche is 5 meters high, and its backlight consists of 7 fire dragons, which is very rare. There are 16 gorgeous niches on the upper part of the tower column and the cave wall, which fully shows the superb carving art in the Northern Qi Dynasty. There is a clear palm print on the stone wall in front of Jing Ke Cave, and there is a footprint shaped like a three-inch golden lotus on the ground. It is said that this was left by Mrs. Luban.
Thousand Buddha Cave is the most exquisite cave in Nanxiangtang, and all the walls in the cave are carved with Buddha statues of different sizes. In this space of less than1000 square meter, 1028 stone buddhas are carved into rows, full of strong religious flavor, leaving no room for daydreaming and hiding worldly desires. Only by quietly appreciating these elegant flying geisha and the mighty and fierce King Kong Lux, the original noisy mood was slowly immersed by the Buddha, and a former me was restored.
There are 16 grottoes, more than 450 cliff statues, more than 5,000 statues of different sizes, and a large number of scriptures and inscriptions. It is the largest grotto discovered in Hebei Province and the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units announced by the State Council.
Nanxiangtang Grottoes are located in the northwest of Zhifang Village, Linshui Town, at the southern foot of Gushan Mountain and on the north bank of Fuyang River. There are temples, pavilions, pagodas and other ancillary buildings nearby. There are 7 existing grottoes, divided into upper and lower floors, 5 upper floors and 2 lower floors. From bottom to top are Huayan Cave, Prajna Cave, Empty Valley Cave, Amitabha Cave, Shi Jia Cave, Lux Cave and Thousand Buddha Cave. Its China Cave is the largest, with a height of 4.9 meters, a width of 6.3 meters and a depth of 6.3 meters. It is engraved with the Huayan Sutra of Dafang Guangfo, so it is called Huayan Cave. There is a large relief of Amitabha's pure land story in the middle and upper part of the south wall in the cave, and there are reliefs of Buddhism and Buddhist stories in the upper part of the south pillar. Located on the upper floor, the Thousand Buddha Cave is small and exquisite and well preserved. Above the outer wall of the cave roof, there is a pot tower carved. At the end of the tower, a cloud-like banana leaf is carved. Carve a black bird with golden wings in the middle and a treasure on the top of the pot. There are octagonal orb pillars carved on both sides. Each niche on the three-sided treasure altar in the cave is carved with a Buddha, two disciples and two bodhisattvas, and the niche in front is the Buddha who released the trace. Thousands of Buddhas are widely built in the cave walls, with large and small Buddha statues 1028, hence the name Thousand Buddhas Cave. The top of the cave is slightly longer, with lotus flowers carved in the center and flying around, standing opposite each other, forming each group of symmetrical fairy paradise, singing and dancing lightly. This cave has a rigorous structure and exquisite carving techniques, especially the large-scale carving on the outer wall and the flying carving on the ceiling, which are unparalleled artistic treasures.
Xiangtang Grottoes are located on the west slope of the Tiangong Peak in Gushan, east of the village. There are 9 caves, which are Daye Cave, Jingke Cave, Erfo Cave, Shiying Cave, Jiajing Cave, Unknown Cave, Giant Buddha Cave and Two Unknown Caves from left to right. Among them, the Giant Buddha Cave has the largest scale and the most gorgeous decoration. The cave is13.3m deep,13m wide and1.4m high. The front niche is a sitting statue of Sakyamuni, 5 meters high, symmetrical and solemn, and it is the largest statue in Xiangtang Grottoes. Its back relief flame and seven gold and silver pattern fire dragons are interspersed among them, beautifully carved and luxuriantly decorated, which is the representative of superb art in the Northern Qi Dynasty.
Both Xiangtang Grottoes were built in the Northern Qi Dynasty. At that time, there were two political centers in Northern Qi Dynasty, one was Guo Duye (now Linzhang) and the other was Biedu Jinyang (now Taiyuan, Shanxi). The isolated mountain, which is adjacent to the east-west traffic artery of Taihang Mountain, is the only place for the two cities to travel. Here are beautiful mountains and rivers, beautiful scenery and excellent stones. Gao Yang, the emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty who regarded Buddhism as the state religion, chose this place to build a temple and an official garden as a place for him to spend the summer, play and worship Buddha between Beijing and Beijing. Since then, the Sui, Tang, Song and Ming dynasties have added chisels here. Xiangtangshan Grottoes, Buddha statues and flowers are exquisitely carved, and their carving art is a link between the past and the future. It is an important symbol of the transition from Yungang in Datong to Longmen in Luoyang in the history of grotto art development in China, and it is also one of the important treasure houses for studying Buddhism, architecture, sculpture, calligraphy and painting in China.
Both grottoes have ancillary buildings. The Chorakuji Temple site under the Beixiangtang Grottoes covers an area of 7,000 square meters, including the Song Pagoda, the Jingfu and the stone tablets and statues from the Song Dynasty to the Republic of China. There are Song pagodas, pavilions and temples near Nanxiangtang Grottoes. 1986, the outer eaves of Nanxiangtang Grottoes were cleared, and the memorial of Lushan Grottoes in Sui Dynasty was exposed outside the second grottoes, which described the important events such as the creation of grottoes and the extinction of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, which was an important discovery about the history of Xiangtangshan Grottoes. 1957, Xiangtang Temple Cultural Relics Preservation Institute was established. 198 1 ~ 1982 Handan cooperated with Fengfeng mining area to conduct a comprehensive survey and measurement of the grottoes, set up data files, and successively maintained the enclosure walls and temples of the grottoes. 1989 began to repair Nanxiangtang Grottoes.