Table 1 Basic information on grottos excavated from the middle Tang Dynasty
NO | Name | Basic information |
|---|---|---|
86 | Amitabha grotto | This grotto was excavated from the middle Tang Dynasty, with a height of 3.6 m and depth of 1.4 m. The preserved condition is good |
211 | Suting grotto | This grotto was excavated in 723 AD by the Suting. It is a circle arch grotto with a height of 1.8 m, width of 1.64 m, and depth of 0.85 m |
213 | / | NO.213 was excavated from the middle Tang Dynasty, and the detail time is not clear |
214 | Vairocana Buddha grotto | This grotto was excavated from the early stage of Tang Kaiyuan |
400 | Central Stupa grotto | This is an uncompleted grotto. The outer cave is a horizontal rectangle. In the centre, a square column was planned to be excavated but unfinished |
512 | Dayun old grotto | This grotto and NO.513 were both excavated by Weikang, a government official, from 715 to 722 AD. This cave is located in the centre of whole Thousand-Buddha grotto and is the largest grotto |
513 | Weikang grotto | This grotto and NO.512 were both excavated by Weikang, a government official, from 715 to 722AD |
535 | Lotus grotto | This grotto was excavated from the Wuzhou period (690–697 AD) and is below the Thousand-Buddha grotto (NO.689). At the inner top of the grotto there is a lotus, so it was named the “Lotus cave” |
689 | Thousand-Buddha grotto | This grotto was excavated from the middle Tang dynasty and the detail time is unclear. Since the surrounding wall was sculpted with thousands of small buddhas, it was named the “Thousand-Buddha cave” |
805 | Benefactor’s grotto | This grotto is NO.806, and there were 6 couples of benefactors sculpted in the grotto, so it was called the “Benefactor’s grotto” |
806 | Shakyamuni and Prabhutaratna grotto | This grotto is located in the south end of the cliff and is named for its elegant sculpture |