华亭石拱寺石窟初探

The First Exploration of The Stone Arch Temple in Hua Ting

石拱寺石窟坐落于甘肃华亭县上关乡半川村与陕西陇县新集川镇的交界处。现存的14个窟龛保存了北魏晚期到唐朝的石雕艺术,是研究陇山地区北朝至唐佛教及其历史、交通的珍贵实物资料。唐代营建工作由于受玄宗尚道思想而停滞,后期沦陷于吐蕃以及'会昌法难'致使营建终止。石拱寺石窟地理位置重要,位于'回中'古道上,与陇县龙门洞相望。特殊的地理位置、时代背景及造像思想都表明石拱寺并非简单的宗教活动场所,而是北魏地方政权为稳定社会秩序修建的具有军事意义的石窟。总体来看,石拱寺石窟作为西北地区北魏晚期历史上最具代表性的窟群之一,具有重要的历史研究价值。

The Stone Arch Temple, which is located in the junction of Banchuan, Huating, Pingliang,and New Jichuan town lies in Long county belong to Shaanxi province. Stone carvings, which varies from the later period of Northern Wei dynasty to Tang dynasty, are preserved within 14 existing caverns. These saved caverns and stone are the important materials to research Buddhism, history and traffic situation during the Northern dynasties and Tang dynasty in Longshan area. The construction work of Tang dynasty was stopped due to Xuan zong’s emotion of adoring Dao. In the later period, it was occupied by Tibetan regime in ancient China. And it ended up with 'Huichang Calamity'. The Stone Arch Temple lies in the ancient path of Huizhong, and it across from Long Men Cave. Thus, it’s location is very important. Therefore, the special location,historical background and icon creation, all of them indicate that the Stone Arch Temple is not a general place for religious activities, but a grotto for stablizing the social order of local authority in the Northern Dynasties. It has the military significance. All in all, as one grotto of the most representative grotto of the Northern Dynasties in the history of northwest, the Stone Arch Temple has important historical research value.