The Xiangtang Mountain Scenic Area is a national 4A-level tourist attraction with very rich natural resources and cultural attractions. In particular, the famous Xiangtang Temple is said to have a long history, and the internal environment is elegant and quiet, making it suitable for living. Take photos with me during the trip, and I’ll share with you the detailed travel guide below. Is Xiangtang Mountain Scenic Area fun? How about it?
Xiangtang Mountain is very interesting. It is not only blessed with natural landscapes, but also has a large number of various high-quality artificial buildings and historical legends, giving people an immersive fairyland and charisma, which will make you Your thinking can be released and developed in all directions, and you can find a mysterious element in nature.
Tour Handan on the weekend and visit Fengfeng Xiangtang Temple in Handan. Departing from Handan in the early morning, the journey takes about one hour.
Attraction display map of Xiangtang Mountain Scenic Area. The supporting facilities in the tourist center are relatively complete.
For us living in the plains, seeing such a high mountain feels quite majestic.
Famous mountains have ancient temples, and this place is no exception. The Buddhist altar from the Song Dynasty still stands today.
Xiangtangshan has quite a few titles.
The supporting facilities are pretty good, so you don’t have to worry about getting lost.
The ancient stone road has red ropes for people’s blessings on the railings.
I admire the perseverance of the ancients and carved out Buddha statues on this cliff. Basic introduction
Xiangtang Mountain is located in Fengfeng Mining Area, Handan City, Hebei Province. It is divided into South Xiangtang Mountain and North Xiangtang Mountain. It is a national key cultural relic protection unit. Both mountains are branches of the Taihang Mountains. The southern Xiangtang Mountain was originally named Fushan, and the northern Xiangtang Mountain was originally named Gushan. It was listed as the eighth batch of national scenic spots by the State Council on November 5, 2012. The adjacent Taihang Grand Canyon and Wa Palace were also selected for inclusion. The Xiangtangshan Grottoes are divided into two parts, the north and the south, commonly known as the North and South Xiangtang Temple Grottoes. The two temples are 15 kilometers apart, and both Xiangtang Grottoes were built in the Northern Qi Dynasty. At that time, the Northern Qi Dynasty had two political centers, one was the capital Ye (in Handan and Linzhang), and the other was the other capital Jinyang (Taiyuan, Shanxi). Gushan, which straddles the east-west transportation pass of Taihang Mountain, is a must-pass for the two cities. The mountains and rivers here are beautiful, the scenery is beautiful, and the rocks are of high quality. Emperor Gao Yang of the Northern Qi Dynasty, who regarded Buddhism as the state religion, chose this place to dig caves and build temples and create official gardens as a place for him to escape the summer, play and worship Buddha when he traveled between the two capitals. Since then, the Sui, Tang, Song and Ming dynasties have added more sculptures here. Attraction introduction
Nanxiangtang Grottoes
Nanxiangtang Grottoes are located in the northwest of Zhifang Village, Linshui Town, and south of Gushan Mountain. Lu, on the north bank of Fuyang River. There are currently 7 large and small grottoes in the scenic area, divided into upper and lower floors, 5 on the upper floor and 2 on the lower floor. From bottom to top, they are Huayan Cave, Prajna Cave, Kongkong, Amitabha Cave, Shijia Cave, Lux Cave and Thousand Buddha Cave. Among them, Huayan Cave is the largest, with a height of about 4.9 meters, a width and a depth of about 6.3 meters each. The Huayan Sutra of Dafang Guangfo is engraved inside, so it is called Huayan Cave. There is a large relief sculpture of the story of Amitabha Buddha's Pure Land on the middle upper part of the south wall of the cave. On the upper part of the central pillar on the south side, there is a relief sculpture of a picture of Sakyamuni's teachings and a story of the Buddha's Jataka. The Thousand Buddha Cave located on the upper level is small and exquisite and well preserved. The upper outer wall of the cave roof is carved with a bowl tower. The end of the tower is carved with cirrus-shaped mountain flowers and banana leaves, and the middle is carved with a golden-winged crow spreading its wings. The top of the bowl is carved with orbs, and the octagonal orb-shaped pillars are carved on each side. Each niche on the three altars in the cave is carved with one Buddha, two disciples and two Bodhisattvas. The main statue in the front niche is the Buddha Shiji. Thousand Buddhas are widely built on the cave wall, with 1028 large and small statues, hence the name Thousand Buddha Cave. The top of the cave is slightly raised, with a lotus carved in the center, and eight flying sculptures around it, facing each other, forming symmetrical groups of singing and dancing gods' paradise. The structure of this cave is rigorous and the carvings are exquisite. Especially the large carvings on the outer wall and the flying carvings on the top of the cave are unparalleled art treasures.
Beixiangtang Grottoes
Beixiangtang Grottoes are located on the west slope of Tiangong Peak on Gushan Mountain in the east of Hecun Village. There are 9 caves in total, from left to right they are Daye Cave, Carved Sutra Cave, Erfo Cave, Shiying Cave, Jiajing Cave, Wuming Cave, Big Buddha Cave and two Wuming Cave. Among them, the Big Buddha Cave is the largest and most gorgeously decorated. The cave is 13.3 meters deep, 13 meters wide and 11.4 meters high. The main statue in the front niche is a seated statue of Sakyamuni. The entire seat is 5 meters high. It is well-proportioned, solemn and honest. It is the largest statue in the Xiangtang Grottoes.
Its back is embossed with flames and honeysuckle patterns with seven fire dragons interspersed among them. It is exquisitely carved and gorgeously decorated, and is a representative of the superb art of the Northern Qi Dynasty. ?
Xiangtang Mountain
There are 11 caves in the late Northern Dynasties in Xiangtang Mountain, including 7 in the South and 4 in the North. There are many cave corridors in the Northern Qi Dynasty Grottoes with imitation wood structure, including Cave 3 and 7 in Nanxiangtang and Cave 2 and 3 in Beixiangtang. Above the cave corridor with four pillars and three bays in front of the cave, there are also large covered bowls, mountain flowers and banana leaves, and temples carved above the cave corridor. Rods and flame orbs, etc., form a very distinctive tower-shaped cave. Octagonal lotus pillars are carved on both sides of the cave door. The door forehead is decorated with exquisite pagodas and flying apsaras. The side walls of the door are lightly carved with fat honeysuckle patterns. The entire appearance is gorgeously decorated. In the second cave of Nanxiangtang, there are five pavilions carved on the eaves of the corridor. It is the only example of grotto architecture and is a rare material for studying the architecture of the Northern Dynasties. Introduction to the history of Xiangtang Mountain
There are a large number of scriptures carved on cliffs in Xiangtang Mountain, which was one of the most important scripture carving sites in the Northern Qi Dynasty. The Vimalakirti Sutra, the Maitreya Buddha Sutra, and the Bo Sutra were written and engraved by Tang Yong, the founder of Jinchang County, from the fourth year of Tiantong (568) to the third year of Wuping (572 AD) in Cave 2 of Beixiangtang. , "Sheng □ Sutra", there is "Tang Yong Sutra Writing Stele" recording the sutra engraving process. This stele is well preserved and has important historical value. It has always been valued by Chinese and foreign cultural relics and history researchers.
During the Northern Qi Dynasty, Ye (southwest of Linzhang County, Hebei Province) was the capital, and Jinyang (now Taiyuan, Shanxi) was the companion capital. Gushan Mountain is located in Fukou County, one of the Eight Mountains in Taihang. It has beautiful mountains and clear waters and excellent stone quality. Emperor Gao Yang of the Northern Qi Dynasty, who advocated Buddhism, ordered the construction of grottoes, palaces and temples here so that he could escape the summer heat, play and worship Buddha when he traveled between Jinyang and Ye. Today, the emperor's palace has long since disappeared, and the temples are in dilapidated condition, but the statues of Buddhist niches carved into the rock walls have been preserved.
After the Northern Qi Dynasty, six caves were dug in the Sui, Tang and Ming dynasties. The scales were not large and the carvings and decorations were relatively simple. In addition, many statue niches were excavated using the rock walls inside and outside the caves of the Northern Qi Dynasty
Among them, there are nearly 50 niches in the Sui Dynasty, the earliest in the fourth year of Kaihuang (584 AD), and about 300 niches in the Tang Dynasty. Most of the time. Both grottoes have ancillary buildings. The Changle Temple ruins below the Beixiangtang Grottoes cover an area of ??7,000 square meters and contain Song pagodas, scripture buildings, stone tablets and statues from the Song Dynasty to the Republic of China. There are Song pagodas, pavilions, palaces, etc. near the Nanxiangtang Grottoes. In 1986, the outer eaves of Nanxiangtang Grottoes were cleaned up, and the "Stele of Fushan Grottoes" from the Sui Dynasty was exposed outside the door of Cave 2. It records the founding of the cave and the destruction of the Dharma in the Northern Zhou Dynasty and other major events. It is a relevant An important discovery in the construction history of the Xiangtangshan Grottoes.
The Xiangtang Temple Cultural Relics Depository was established in 1957. From 1981 to 1982, the Handan City and Fengfeng Mining Area Cultural Relics Custody Offices cooperated to conduct a comprehensive survey of the grottoes, establish data files, and successively repaired the walls, temples and other ancillary buildings of the grottoes.
Repairs to the Nanxiangtang Grottoes began in 1989.
The Xiangtang Mountain Grottoes, Buddha statues, flowers and other carvings are beautiful and elegant. Their carving skills are a link between the past and the future. They are an important symbol of the transitional stage from Yungang in Datong to Longmen in Luoyang in the history of the development of Chinese grotto art. They are also an important symbol for the study of Chinese Buddhism and One of the important treasures of architecture, sculpture, painting and calligraphy.
Due to equipment limitations, it is impossible to show the magnificence of the Buddha statues in the grotto at close range.