Maijishan Grottoes, one of the four major grottoes

Maijishan Grottoes It's over three hours from Xi'an, the highway to the east of Tianshui is easy to travel, staying in a homestay in the scenic area, you can overlook the grottoes from the terrace, you can stroll in the scenic area in the early morning, the stream is gurgling, it's a natural oxygen bar, the grottoes open at half past eight, the ticket is 80 yuan, and you can finish the visit in about two hours, passing through a mountain cave 1.2 meters high on both sides. Maijishan Grottoes is located in the Longshan jungle 28 kilometers southeast of Maiji District, Tianshui City, a famous historical and cultural city in China. It is named after its mountain shape which is similar to a farmer's wheat stack. It has beautiful ancient natural scenery and is known as the 'crown of forest and spring in Qin area'. It was created during the Later Qin period of the Sixteen Kingdoms (386--417), and has been excavated and renovated through more than ten dynasties such as the Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing, etc. There are currently 221 caves of various sizes, 3938 statues of 10632 bodies, and murals of 979.54 square meters. Because of its large number of exquisite ancient clay sculptures, it is known as the 'Oriental Sculpture Exhibition Hall'. The large-scale sutra paintings in the 4th, 26th, 27th, 127th, 135th and other caves, such as the Western Pure Land, Vimalakirti, Nirvana, Lotus Sutra, etc., are the earliest and most complete large-scale sutra paintings in China, and they have very important research value for the development and evolution of Chinese sutra paintings. The murals and the cave niches such as cliff pavilions and tent-shaped niches carved on the cliff, which imitate architectural entities, provide vivid physical materials for the study of Northern Dynasty architecture. The Northern Wei 'Fasheng Statue Stele', the Song Dynasty 'Ruiying Temple Re-Buddha Relic Stele', 'Sichuan Governor's Office Granting Land to the Public Stele', the Ming Dynasty 'Maijishan Exemption from Permanent Residence Grain Stele', 'Qinzhou Tianshui County Maiji Cliff Buddha Niches Inscription and Preface', as well as the numerous steles, cliff inscriptions and ink inscriptions in the 4th, 5th, 76th, 78th, 115th, 168th and other caves, are the first-hand documentary materials recording the development and evolution of Maijishan Grottoes. Ruiying Temple was first built during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and has been repaired and renovated through the ages. The relic pagoda was first built by Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty in the first year of Ren Shou (601), and the existing one was rebuilt by Monk Yuanhui and others in the eighth year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (1669). It is an important part of the cultural heritage of Maijishan Grottoes. The large number of pottery, porcelain, bronze, steles, calligraphy and painting, ancient documents, rubbings and clay sculptures preserved, especially the large number of ancient Buddhist scriptures from the Tang Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, as well as a small number of Taoist and social documents, have extremely high historical value. Some of them have been included in the national list of precious ancient books. Maijishan Grottoes is now a World Cultural Heritage site, the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units, and a national 5A-level scenic spot.