A new Buddhist grotto, the Fohui Temple Cave, was recently discovered in North China’s Shanxi Province. The discovery adds new materials for the study of caves in the Shanxi Taiyuan area. Based on the design of the statues inside, archaeologists preliminarily date the cave to the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) dynasties from over 1,000 years ago.
The grotto was carved into a massive rock and contains three large Buddha statues with smaller Buddha figures carved along both side walls. The grotto measures 8.2 meters in length, 4.26 meters in height, and 1.63 meters in depth, CCTV News reported. Over time, the cave has tilted, with the eastern side becoming higher than the western side. The base of the eastern side is cracked and has lifted by more than a meter.
“This grotto is relatively large compared to others we’ve examined, and the Buddha niches inside are quite detailed. The statues of disciples, Bodhisattvas, and flying devas are especially well-preserved,” Pei Jingrong, an archaeologist with the Taiyuan Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics, told the Global Times. “The tilt in the grotto is a result of geological instability.”
The figures and clothing details on the sculptures are clear and have smooth lines, reflecting a high level of stone carving craftsmanship and immense artistic value, reported by CCTV News. And according to the China News Service, Shanxi, with a long history of excavation and a rich variety of types, has the largest number of cave temples and cliff carvings among the provinces in China. These caves reflect the province’s distinctive cultural resources. Cave temples combine statues, murals, and architecture and possess rich historical heritage, profound cultural connotations, and exquisite artistic representations. These sites hold key importance in reflecting the characteristics of Chinese culture.
“Especially during the Sui and Tang dynasties, the cave art in Shanxi reached an unprecedented peak, becoming a concentrated representation of the Buddhist cultural and artistic achievements of that era,” Wang Wei, an archaeology expert based in Shanxi, told the Global Times.
Wang noted that Buddhism experienced remarkable development during that period, and cave art, as a key medium of Buddhist culture, was closely tied to the social and cultural context of the time.
Given the historical and cultural significance of cave art in Buddhist practices, it’s also crucial to consider the physical factors that affect the preservation of these temples.
The internal factors influencing the stability of cave temples include lithology, original structure, topography, cave design, and cave density, all of which are key representative factors, according to a report from Earth Science. Different types of structural surfaces not only cause rock masses to display significant anisotropy but also weaken the mechanical properties of the rock, increasing the likelihood of deformation, slipping, collapse, and displacement of cave temples. External factors such as acid rain, particulate pollution, tourist activities, and construction vibrations have intensified, leading to an accelerated rate of damage.
“Today, through technologies like 3D scanning and digital restoration, we can fully document and virtually restore these caves,” Wang added. “For example, the digital restoration project of the Tianlong Mountain Caves has successfully brought back statues lost overseas in digital form.”
