河北曲阳八会寺隋代刻经龛

A Shrine Inscribed with Buddnist Sutras at Bahuisi, Quyang, Hebei

八会寺刻经龛位于河北省曲阳县西羊平村西北约100米的少容山顶(图一)。少容山,又称黄山,以盛产白石而著名。据县志载:八会寺创建于北齐时期,原有上阁、下阁、菩萨、资福、普同、圣寿诸院和钟、鼓楼。几经劫难,至清末已焚毁殆尽。 1935年,著名的中国古代建筑专家刘敦桢先生曾对八会寺遗址及刻经石龛做过调查。当时尚存覆莲石柱础1件,石造像两尊和若干八角石柱。

The shrine surmounts a hill to the northwest of Xiyangping Village, Quyang, Hebei. Carved out of a large block of stone, it comprises a niched statue on each of its four sides. Five volumes of Buddhist sutras including' Chapter on the Universal Gate of Avalokitsvara' of Lotus Sutra are engraved with the statues. The inscription is dated to the thirteen year (A. D. 593) of the Kaihuang reign of the Sui dynasty. The sponsor seems to be a local rich person or small officer. A tangible document of the early Buddhism in China, this find provides the missing link in the northward spread of Buddhist sutras since the Northern and Southern dynasties. Beside that, it is of much help to the study of calligraphic history.