Xiangtangshan

The Buddhist cave temples of Xiangtangshan were largely created during the Northern Qi dynasty (550–577 ce ), in the early medieval period of Chinese history. Begun with imperial sponsorship of large‐scale cave construction at the Northern Xiangtangshan site, where there are three principal cave shrines, they continued at other sites, including Southern Xiangtangshan, with the support of other less elite lay patrons and the participation of Buddhist monks and nuns. Buddhism was widely adopted in the early medieval period, when large parts of China were controlled by non‐Han Chinese rulers and large parts of the population converted to religious Buddhism introduced from India. Among the practices transmitted across Asia into China was the construction of large‐scale Buddhist cave temples. The multicultural character of the Northern Qi period was a contributing factor to the high level of artistic skills that emerged in this very brief period, as is evident in the Buddhist sculptures from the Xiangtangshan cave temples that can be seen today in many museums around the world.