Binzhou City Dafo Temple Ganfo Cave Grottoes | A romantic journey through a thousand years.

|A romantic journey through a thousand years. The Thousand Buddha Cave is located to the east of the Dafo Cave and is a large central pillar cave with a nearly square plane. The cave is not very high and the central pillar is relatively large. Only a few large niches on the front of the central pillar seem to have some planning, while the other niches on the wall are arranged in a disorderly manner, which is the result of continuous re-carving after the cave was formed. The Thousand Buddha Cave has a total of 696 statues. Judging from some inscriptions between the statue niches, most of them should be works from the period when Wu Zetian was in power. The statue niches include single Buddha statues, double Buddha statues, one Buddha and two Bodhisattvas, one Buddha, two disciples, two Bodhisattva statues, single Bodhisattva statues, and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statues in Buddha costumes. Some also include heavenly kings and warriors in a group of Buddha, disciple, and Bodhisattva statues. The common era style of these Buddha statues is: they all have the physical characteristics of a drum chest, thin waist, wide crotch, moderate head-to-body ratio, and full and healthy body. This is a statue art that combines the health and beauty of the human body. It is a new type of art developed from the plump Buddha statues of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. In particular, some standing Bodhisattva statues clearly show the graceful body contours of women, coupled with the twisted crotch to one side, like a dance movement, perfectly depicting the charm and grace of the Bodhisattva. This is a reflection of the positive and upward spirit brought by the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty in the Buddhist art of the world, and it is also a typical statue art style of the Tang Dynasty.