山西武乡石仁底石窟调查简报

An Investigative Report on the Shirendi Grottoes in Wuxiang County,Shanxi Province

石仁底石窟位于山西省长治市武乡县西石仁底村东部的麓台山半山腰上,只有一窟,坐北朝南。窟内三壁开龛,龛下方有低坛基。正壁雕凿二佛并坐,两侧开龛雕凿胁侍菩萨,壁面上方雕刻飞天。西壁雕凿一佛二菩萨,壁面上方雕刻文殊菩萨说法。东壁雕凿结跏趺坐佛,北侧雕刻菩萨,菩萨上方雕刻维摩诘。窟外西侧壁面刻有题记,风化剥落严重,仅存下部文字。从洞窟形制、造像题材、布局与风格来看,石仁底石窟开凿于北魏晚期至东魏时期。这一发现完善了当地石窟寺演变的年代序列,为研究北朝民间石窟寺的开凿情况以及佛教造像的传播提供了重要资料。

The Shirendi Grottoes are located on the slopes of Lutai Mountain to the east of Shirendi Village in Wuxiang County,Changzhi City,Shanxi Province.There is just one cave that has survived intact to the present day,which faces south.Niches and carvings are dug out of the north,east and west walls of the cave with a low altar under each niche.In the center of the north wall are statues of Sakyamuni and Prabhutaratna sitting side by side,the statues are flanked on either side by niches housing an attendant bodhisattva and on the upper of the wall are apasaras.On the west wall there is a niche housing a group of statues that include a Buddha and two attendant Bodhisattvas,with a scene of Manjushri preaching above them.Inside the niche in the east wall is a Buddha seated in the lotus position.On the north side,a bodhisattva is depicted with an image of Vimalakirti above it.The inscription on the west side of the cave has experienced severe weathering and only the words of the lower part of the text have survived.Judging from the form,image themes,layout and style of the cave,it can be inferred that the grottoes were built in the period between the late Northern Wei and the Eastern Wei dynasties(500550 CE).This new discovery not only supplements the evolutionary history of local cave temples in the region,but also provides important material for studying cave construction initiated by folk society as well as the dissemination of Buddhist statuary during the Northern Dynasties.