Yanxia Cave Statues

Yanxia Cave is an important component of Hangzhou Nanshan Statues, a national key cultural relic protection unit. Situated on the southern slope of the Wengjia Ridge of the Southern Peak, it is a natural limestone karst cave. At a depth of 30 meters, the cave narrows from the outside to the inside, resembling an ox horn. The Statues inside the caves are carved according to the shapes of the mountain rocks, making them very natural, and cleverly blending nature, culture, history, and art into one, adding a unique charm to the picturesque West Lake.

Yanxia Cave Statues are among the oldest cave Statues in Hangzhou, and its "Sixteen Arhats" statues from the Five Dynasties period are currently one of the earliest stone carvings of "Sixteen Arhats" discovered nationwide. Above the cliff wall to the east of the cave, a baby dragon is depicted launching a fierce attack at an arhat riding on an auspicious cloud below, while the arhat, armed with a magical golden bowl, stares steadfastly at the baby dragon and prepares to subdue it with the magical golden bowl.

In the past, people referred to the grotto as "The Arhat Subduing a Dragon". However, in 2021 when eight inscriptions of Wuyue arhat sculptures were discovered in Yanxia Cave, experts not only confirmed that the arhat sculptures inside Yanxia Cave were currently the earliest discovered "Eighteen Arhats" sculptures, but they also matched these arhats one by one with the arhats in "Records of Dharma Abiding", a Buddhist classic to speculate the true identity of the arhat.

Both the dragon and the arhat were re-created during the Ming Dynasty, based on the prevailing beliefs in the worship of the arhat at the time. However, they still vividly depict the Arhat subduing the dragon.

Opening hours: All day

Address: Inside Yanxia Cave, southern part of Yanxia Peak, on the west side of Southern Peak