Gong County Caves - Gong County Caves

This Northern Wei cave temple is located about 1.5 km northwest of Gong County, Henan Province, China. There are five caves facing south on the cliffs of Mount Dali. It was once called Pure Land Temple, and according to a Ming Dynasty restoration monument, it was excavated during the Jingming period of the Northern Wei Dynasty (500-504). Caves 1 and 2 are located in the west, while caves 3, 4, and 5 are located in the east. A large cliff-carved statue of Shaka is carved between caves 1 and 2. Caves 1 to 4 are square pillar caves, with niches on all four sides of the square pillar, and niches and a thousand Buddhas carved into the surrounding walls. The lower wall is decorated with statues of heavenly beings, demons, gods, and beasts from the Gigaku music genre. On both sides of the entrance are paintings of the Buddhas beings performed by royalty and nobility. The coffered ceiling spaces are decorated with stylized designs of lotus flowers, lotus-flower-born beings, and heavenly beings. Cave 5 is the only Buddhist cave, so its internal structure and decoration are different, and it was built in the late 520s. Construction was carried out at almost the same time, and since Cave 2 was abandoned unfinished, it is assumed that construction ended with the fall of the Northern Wei dynasty.

[Rei Yoshimura]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、河南省の鞏県城北西、約1.5キロメートルにある北魏(ほくぎ)の石窟寺院。大力山の断崖(だんがい)に南面して5窟がある。古く浄土寺といわれ、明(みん)代の重修碑によると、北魏景明年間（500～504）に開削されたと伝える。第1洞と第2洞は西部に、第3、第4、第5洞の3窟は東部に位置しており、第1洞と第2洞の間には摩崖の釈迦(しゃか)大像が刻まれている。第1洞から第4洞までの4窟は方柱窟で、方柱の四面に仏龕(ぶつがん)をつくり、周壁にも仏龕、千仏などを刻み、また腰壁には伎楽(ぎがく)の天人、鬼神怪獣の像。門口内両側には王侯貴族の礼仏図。天井の格間には図案化した蓮華(れんげ)、蓮華化生(けしょう)、天人などを描いている。第5洞だけが仏龕窟であるために、内部構造や荘厳(しょうごん)も異なり、造営年代も520年代の後半。ほとんど同時に工事が進められ、第2洞が未完成のまま廃棄されているところをみると、北魏の滅亡とともに造営を終えたものと推測される。

［吉村　怜］

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