Bingling Temple Grottoes
炳灵寺石窟 · Yongjing County, Linxia, Gansu, China
A thousand-year-old complex of grottoes on the cliffs of a Yellow River gorge, with 183 caves and niches, 694 stone statues and 82 clay sculptures, the largest a Maitreya Buddha more than 27 metres tall; inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2014 as part of the Silk Roads: Routes Network of Chang'an–Tianshan Corridor.
Know before you go
- Flash photography inside the caves
- touching statues or murals
- making noise in front of the caves
This article is Not yet verified. Please check official announcements for prices, opening hours and dates.
Stories & people
Stories & people
History
The earliest date
Cave 169 holds an ink inscription dated to the first year of the Jianhong era of the Western Qin (420), the earliest dated record at Bingling and a key reference for dating the grottoes.
Source: Chinese Wikipedia: Bingling Temple Grottoes; Wikipedia: Bingling Temple
History
The name Bingling
The site was first known as the Tangshu Caves; in the Tang it was called Longxing Temple, in the Song Lingyan Temple, and only after the Yongle reign of the Ming did it become Bingling Temple. Bingling is usually explained as short for a Tibetan phrase meaning "land of a hundred thousand Maitreyas"; some scholars, however, think it was a Tibetan rendering of Fenglin, a Tang place name in Hezhou, with no meaning in Tibetan, and that the "hundred thousand Buddhas" reading was a later folk explanation.
Culture
Culture & customs
Background
The Bingling Temple Grottoes lie in Yongjing County, Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, in a canyon just north of where the Yellow River enters the Liujiaxia Reservoir, about 100 km southwest of Lanzhou. The caves and niches are carved into the north side of the canyon for about 200 metres, each like a miniature temple filled with Buddhist images and murals; they culminate in a huge natural cavern where wooden walkways wind up the rock face to hidden cliffside caves and the Maitreya Buddha, more than 27 metres tall. The first caves were begun around 420 under the Western Qin, and more were added in the Northern Wei, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing, over more than a millennium; the style of each cave matches the art of its dynasty. Both stylistically and geographically, Bingling stands midway between the Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan and the Yungang and Longmen grottoes of central China. Earthquakes, erosion and looting have damaged many caves over the centuries, but the surviving sculptures and murals remain outstanding examples of Buddhist art.
Local customs
- Take a boat across the Liujiaxia Reservoir to the canyon and follow the wooden walkways cave by cave to see the statues and murals
- don't miss the Maitreya Buddha, and listen to a guide explain the Western Qin inscription in Cave 169 and how statue styles changed from dynasty to dynasty.
Etiquette & taboos
Etiquette & taboos
Don’t DON'T
- Flash photography inside the caves
- touching statues or murals
- making noise in front of the caves
- carving on the cliffs or walkways
- leaving the walkways
Locals appreciate DO
- Keep quiet
- stay on the walkways
- wear non-slip shoes
Plan your visit
Practical info
Travel tips
- The grottoes are remote and are usually reached by boat across the Liujiaxia Reservoir only in summer and autumn
- boats leave from near the Liujiaxia Dam in the Yongjing county seat, and sometimes from other piers on the reservoir. In other seasons access is difficult, so be sure to confirm boat services and opening status before you go. By car from central Lanzhou it takes about two and a half hours on winding roads. The canyon is windy and the walkways run beside the water, so wear non-slip shoes and take care. Tickets and boat fares are as officially announced, and boat services vary with the season and water level
- check at the pier.
- Summer and autumn are the main visiting season, when the reservoir is navigable and the weather mild
- winter and spring trips are difficult and not recommended.
Photos
Photos
Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 4.0
Thebrainchamber1 · CC BY-SA 4.0
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