山东微山县出土唐代石刻

Weishan County Office for the Preservation of Ancient Monuments,

In 1997, more than 60 stone carvings were unearthed from the bed of the Xuehe River at Daguankou village, Xiazhen town, Weishan county, Shandong province. Among them are steles with the date 5th year, Kaiyuan reign, Tang dynasty, with images and the date 25th year, Kaiyuan reign, or without date mark, as well broken stone Buddhist statues, pedestals and structural members of temple buildings. It has been known from the inscription on an image-stele of the 2nd year, Daye reign, Sui period, unearthed at the same locality in February, 1989, that a stone bridge was built there at that time and repeatedly repaired later. This suggests that the stone carvings concentrated in the River bed were unearthed as remains of the bridge which must have been built of stones left over by a temple that was abandoned during the fall of Buddhism. The use of the stone material taken from ruined temples for the construction of stone bridges in the mid and late Tang period reflect an aspect of the historical events that Buddhism flourished and fell in the Tang period.