Maijishan Grottoes - Upkeep

Upkeep

The Tang was also an era of noteworthy earthquakes, including a very severe one in the region in 734. The Tang poet Tu Fu visited the site 25 years later, and wrote a poem entitled "Mountain Temples" that probably is a description of Maijishan. It translates:

The Sung Dynasty brought major restoration initiatives to Maijishan so that much of what visitors see today are older grottoes with new or replaced Sung-period sculpture. The most notable change in this period is the shift in emphasis from the Buddha to the bodhisattvas "shown most dramatically in Cave 191 on the extreme western face....

"The middle Ming was a period of revival and restoration —the last to make any significant mark on Maijishan before the present century." It was also during this period that the two huge triads of statues on the eastern and western faces of the cliff were repaired—on the southeast cliff face, a seated Maitreya with legs pendant, flanked by two standing bodhisattvas; and on the southwest cliff face, an incomplete triad of a tall standing Buddha flanked by two attendants.

In summary, construction and restoration extended over 12 dynasties at Maijishan: over the course of the Later Qin, Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Period of the Five Dynasties, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing.

Although the region has fallen victim to many earthquakes and other natural and man-made disasters, 194 caves remain, encompassing 7200 pieces of sculpture, and 1000 square meters of frescoes, all excavated on a cliff face 30 to 80 meters above ground.

Caves #1-50 are on the western cliff face; caves #51-191 on the eastern cliff face. These numbers were given the caves by the original 1952-53 Chinese archaeological team.