Maiji Mountain Grottoes

Maijishan is so-named because its shape resembles that of a shaft of wheat. Jutting straight-up out of the surrounding landscape, Maiji Shan was accessible by a series of stairs once joined to its side by logs thrust like pegs in holes carved out of the rock face. In modern times this series of wooden stairs has been replaced by metal ones and a new adhering material has been applied to the face of the mountain. These grottoes are found on the precipices of Maiji Mountain thirty kilometers south of Tianshui County, Gansu Province. The grottoes were cut during a period of 1,500 years from the Later Qin Dynasty (384-417) up to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). During an earthquake in the seventh century, the cliff broke in two and the grottoes were thus divided into east and west sections. The 194 remaining grottoes today contain a total of seven thousand clay and stone statues and 1,300 square meters of mural paintings. The sculptures representing celestial figures portray them as real people, full of life and energy.