Tuoshan, Buddhist grottoes and mountain in Qingzhou, China
Tuoshan is a mountain featuring 638 stone Buddha statues carved along its eastern edge, with ancient grottoes distributed across multiple levels of the terrain. The caves vary in size and depth, holding carvings of differing detail and style from different periods.
During the Northern Zhou and Tang dynasties, artisans carved Buddhist sculptures into the mountain caves, drawing on diverse artistic influences from Central Asia. This period of intensive stone-carving activity left behind one of China's major centers of Buddhist stone art.
The grottoes display statues wearing non-Chinese garments, including a figure dressed in Persian style inside Grotto Number 2. These representations show how artisans here engaged with distant cultures through their work.
The mountain sits about 4 kilometers southwest of Qingzhou's center and is accessible by gondola, which connects different sections of the archaeological site. Visitors should wear sturdy footwear since the pathways across the terrain are uneven and occasionally steep.
The Qibao Cabinet at Haotian Temple showcases unusual architecture with a double-arched stone structure that requires no supporting beams. This engineering achievement was remarkable for its time and remains a testament to innovative building methods.
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