Buddha hall oldest in China

By Zhang Zihan Source:Global Times Published: 2012-9-23 23:45:06

Administrators of Leiyin Cave in Yunju Temple, Fangshan district, have claimed it is the earliest example of a  Buddha hall in China.

The cave, in which there are four pillars with over 1,000 small Buddha statues carved on them, is said to date from 616, according to inscriptions discovered on the relics, a report from the Relic Management Office of Yunju Temple said Sunday.

However, archeologists have said that more research is required before concluding the cave is the oldest Buddha hall in China. 

"Our discovery has advanced the historical record of Buddha halls by two centuries," said Luo Zhao, head of the researching team from the Institute of World Religions, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. 

The discovery has meant significant progress in the research of ancient Chinese architecture, he said.

"Before this discovery, the Buddha halls in Nanchan Temple and Foguang Temple in Wutaishan, Shanxi Province were recognized as China's earliest ones, dating from around the 8th century," he said.

"Our team agreed that the cave stands for the top architectural standard of the Sui Dynasty (589-618)," said Luo, "it should have equal status to Zhaozhou Bridge [a stone bridge built dating from 610 in Henan Province, still in use] in Chinese architectural history."

The cave was traditionally recognized as a depositary of Buddhist classics, but the report shows it was built following the style of symmetry, and it exhibits all the traits of a Buddha hall.

However, Hang Kan, deputy director of the school of Archaeology and Museology from Peking University, pointed out that style is not the determining factor to measure whether a site is categorized as a Buddha hall.

"The function of a site is determined by many aspects and style is only part of it. Buddha halls are built to worship the gods, so they must have a Buddha sculpture," said Hang.

"Other traces showing that religious events have been held in the place are also needed to backup the argument," he noted.

Luo admitted there are still many questions remaining unsolved, not least the mystery of how the pillars, each of which weighs around four tons, were installed inside.

"The cave is 450 meters above sea level and deep in a rocky mountain," said Luo, "so how did those craftsmen 1,400 years ago manage to do this?"

Xu Xiaoyu, director from the management office of Yunju Temple, said the cave is not now open to tourists.

"The cave is on a mountain; right now we are working on a safety project to prevent rockfalls. The cave won't open to the public before this project ends," she said.



Posted in: Society, Metro Beijing

blog comments powered by Disqus