Encyclopedia of Buddhism Volume One A -L Robert E. Buswell

C AVE
S ANCTUARIES
The late-seventh-century Fengxiansi at Longmen, Henan Province, China. The seated Buddha is fifty-five feet high. © Robert D. Fiala,
Concordia University, Seward, Nebraska. Reproduced by permission.
careful carving. Other centers, many of which were begun
after the dissolution of the Northern Wei empire
in the mid-sixth century, include Gongxian and Xiangtangshan
in Hebei, Tianlongshan in Shansi, and
other sites in Shandong. Numerous smaller excavations,
often consisting of a single cave, are also known
at many sites in northern China. A few sites are also
found in the south.
Although not common after the tenth century, cave
sanctuary construction flourished in the southwestern
province of Sichuan during the Tang and Song
(960–1279) dynasties. Several centers are found near
Dazu. The Sichuan caves contain distinctive imagery
including scenes of daily life, Chan OXHERDING PIC-
TURES, and icons common in later esoteric traditions.
Carefully assembled with cut-stone panels,
SŎKKURAM, located on top of Mount T’oham on the
eastern outskirts of Kyŏngju, is a Korean response to
Indian cave sanctuaries. In contrast to India and
China, there were no natural caves in Korea, or at least
none suitable, and Sŏkkuram was entirely manmade.
Constructed between 751 and 774, Sŏkkuram has a
round main hall that opens to a rectangular anteroom.
A large free-standing buddha seated in the center of
the main hall is attended by bodhisattvas, guardians,
and other figures carved on the walls in high relief.
See also: Monastic Architecture
Bibliography
Caswell, James, O. Written and Unwritten: A New History of the
Buddhist Caves at Yungang. Vancouver: University of British
Columbia Press, 1988.
Chu goku Sekkutsu (The Grotto Art of China). A series in Japanese
and Chinese on major Chinese sites. Beijing: Wenwu
Chubansha; Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1980–.
Dehejia, Vidya. Early Buddhist Rock Temples: A Chronology.
Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1972.
Howard, Angela Falco. Summit of Treasures: Buddhist Cave Art
of Dazu, China. Trumbull, CT: Weatherhill, 2001.
Mitra, Debala. Buddhist Monuments. Calcutta: Sahitay Samsad,
1971.
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