Bin Country Cave Introduction

(1) Contribution to the Silk Roads' OUV

The Bin County Cave Temple is an important Buddhist Temple adjacent to Chang’an, capital of Tang Dynasty, built in 7th-10th centuries at the peak of Central China culture. With the largest clay sculptured Buddhist figure of Tang Dynasty in Chang’an city and surrounding areas, it embodied the transmission of buddha carving art from Central China and its prevalence in Guanzhong Basin.

(2) General Information

Bin County Cave Temple is situated in Chengguan town, bin county, Shaanxi Province. 116 caves were constructed on the sandstone cliff in an area of 400 meters in length on the mountains of the Jing River Valley. The cave carving started from the 5th century (Northern and Southern Dynasties)113, intensively constructed in 7th- 10th century (Tang Dynasty) as advocated by emperors, and was repaired and maintained in Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. The caves are divided into five groups: Great Buddha Cave, Thousand-Buddha Cave, Arhat Cave, Monk's Quarter Cave and Zhangba Buddha Cave, with a total of 466 niches and over 1980 statues. In front of the Great Buddha Cave there is a five-floor, squarecone- shape pavilion of brick-wood structure, 32 meters in height, repaired in the Jiajing period (1522-1566) of Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty. In addition, there are two Jingchuang(Stone Buddhist Pillar), 8 stone tablets, 178 inscriptions, including 24 inscriptions of Tang Dynasty, 68 of Northern Song Dynasty, 2 of Jin Dynasty, 18 of Yuan Dynasty, 65 of Ming Dynasty, and 1 of Qing Dynasty.

(3) Attributes

The caves of Bin County Cave Temple carved during 7th-10th centuries are important remains exhibiting achievements of Chinese-style Buddhist art in Chang’an and surrounding areas at the flourishing period of Tang Dynasty. The Great Buddhist Statue is the largest one in Chang’an and surrounding regions, reflecting the eastbound transmission of Buddhism and its prevalence in Guanzhong region. The figure of Great Buddha replaced Shakyamuni with Amitabha, exhibiting the localization of Buddhism in Central China.

The Great Buddha Cave of Bin County Cave Temple, has a semicircle shape with 34-meter diameter; inside there are three stone-clay statues, including one Buddha and two Bodhisattva statues. The Amitabha Statue(the Great Buddha Statue) stands in the middle leaning on the cliff, 20 meters in height with a 13-meter-wide shoulder. Built in early Tang Dynasty, it is among the remains of this special Buddhist ar tistic form spreading from the west to Central China. The figure of Amitabha Statue is related to the development and prevalence of Pure Land Buddhism School in Tang Dynasty. As located near Chang’an city, many of the caves carved in early and mid Tang Dynasty, were closely related to royalty and upper class of the Tang Dynasty. The style of the Buddhist niches in the Great Buddha Cave and the Thousand-Buddha Cave are typical remains of Tang Dynasty at its flourishing period114. The statue style and theme of the Bin County Cave Temple, of the largest scale in Chang’an and surrounding areas, reflect the prevalence of Buddhist ar t in Chang’an of the time. As highly valuable remains of localized Buddhist ar t in China, it illustrates Central China’s position as the world center of Buddhism dissemination after the 7th century.