Mount Xumi Grottoes

Mount Xumi Grottoes are located on the easterm slope of the mountainabout 60kilometres northwest of Guyuan County.Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.The ideal geographical position of the mountain has a close bearing on the building of the grottoes.The area used to be a key passage on the ancient Silk Road between the East and the West and also a thoroughfare for exchanges between the Han and other ethnic groups of China.There-fore，it was the scene of many battles.In the Sui（581-618）and Tang（618-907）dynasties，people built temples on the mountain in token of their ap-peal for peace and stability and against war and murder as well as their faith in Buddhism.

The most celebrated place of interest in the mountain is the Giant Sit-ting-Buddha Maifreya in Grotto No 2.The Maitreya measures 26 metres in height，with its ears the length of two adults put together.The Maitreya has a benign look.It is considered a representative masterpiece of the grotto in the mountain.Grotto No 5 is the biggest of its kind in the mountain.Made of a mound hollowed out，it is called the“Haloes of Xumi”.The grotto consists of seven well-preserved Buddhist statues，each six metres tall，and seven Bodhisattva statue.These sculptures look mysterious and fascinating undera few rays of light that enter the groto through a hold in the mound.Sub-iected.to devastation by earthquakes and windstorms in its 1，400-year his-tory，half of the grotto was caved-in，but it has recently been restored.

The grotto began its construction around the time of the Northern Wei Dynasty（368-534）and was completed in the Sui（581-618）and.Tang（618-907）dynasties.The Buddhist statues，which were made with an artis-tic approach of realism，reflect the true features of people in the Northern and Southern Dynasties（420-581），the Sui and Tang dynasties.

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