Qianzhen Cave

The Qianzhen Cave is located on Qingliangding in the northwest direction of Chashan Scenic Area in R[...]

The Qianzhen Cave is located on Qingliangding in the northwest direction of Chashan Scenic Area in Rongcheng City. During the Dading period of the Jin Dynasty, Wang Chongyang came from the east to teach disciples and founded Quanzhen Taoism. Wang Chuyi of Dongmu, with the courtesy name Yuyang, worshipped Wang Chongyang as his teacher at Yanxia Cave in Kunyu Mountain and practiced Taoist methods. After achieving success in Taoism, Wang Yuyang came to Chashan from the east and lived in Yunguang Cave. He continued to study Taoist methods and founded the Kunshan School of Quanzhen Taoism. His religious teachings are named ‘Yunguang Collection’. Later, more and more tourists came to Yunguang Cave. Unable to bear the disturbance, Wang Yuyang took a fancy to this treasured land of Qingliangding. He led his disciples to move here and excavated a cave on the north cliff, named ‘Quanzhen Cave’. In the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, when Taoism declined and Buddhism rose, a monk traveled here. Seeing the extraordinary scenery of Quanzhen Cave, he carved a thousand Buddha statues on the cave wall. Thus, ‘Quanzhen Cave’ was renamed ‘Qianzhen Cave’ or ‘Thousand Buddha Cave’. The entrance of Qianzhen Cave faces south and is about the size of a room. The cave wall is engraved with densely packed Buddha statues. The large ones are as big as a person, and the small ones can be held in the fist. The carving is exquisite, the shapes are realistic, in various poses and vivid. The Buddha statues are carved in an orderly manner. There are nine rows on the left and eight rows on the right. There is a large Buddha statue on each side of the cave entrance. In total, there are 998 statues. The other two are on the side wall of a place called ‘Ascending to Heaven Ladder’ on the north hillside. According to legend, the small Buddha statues can help avoid disasters and eliminate disasters and increase wisdom and strength. The specific business hours and operating status are subject to the opening situation on that day.