Feilai Feng Grottoes

Feilai Feng, meaning "Peak Flown From Afar," is a limestone outcrop beside Lingyin Temple carved with more than 470 Buddhist rock-relief sculptures dating from the Five Dynasties period (10th century) through the Song and Yuan dynasties (13th-14th centuries), forming the largest surviving collection of Yuan-dynasty Buddhist grotto art in southern China. The most famous carving is a Song-dynasty laughing Maitreya Buddha (Budai) surrounded by 18 luohan, cut directly into the cliff face beside Lingyin Brook in the 12th century. The reliefs are preserved in situ on the natural limestone cliff and within small caves and tunnels running through the peak, rather than in a constructed gallery. Iconography blends Han-Chinese, Tibetan and Central Asian styles, reflecting Mongol Yuan-dynasty patronage of Buddhist art. The carvings have received no restoration overpainting and show natural weathering, with some faces damaged during the Cultural Revolution, though the majority remain intact. Visitors follow a streamside path that is roughly chronological, with older Song-dynasty carvings nearer the temple gate and later Yuan-dynasty carvings deeper along the cliff.