Mati Si (Horse Hoof Temple) Grottoes
马蹄寺 · Mati Temple · Puguang Temple · Zhangye Mati Si
Sixteen Kingdoms to Yuan (420 – 1368 CE)·Northern Liang Han, Tuyuhun Xianbei, Tibetan, Uyghur, Western Xia Tangut, Mongol·🇨🇳 Gansu Province, Sunan Yugur, Hexi Corridor, Linsong Mountain, China
About
About Mati Si (Horse Hoof Temple) Grottoes
31-cave Buddhist complex chiselled into conglomerate cliffs at the Tibetan-Qilian front, named for a horse-hoof imprint of the miraculous steed of King Gesar in Tiantang cave. Core is the 33 Heavens Pagoda colossus and Guanyin cave with 500 arhats, but the unique architectural form is interior rock-cut halls 30 m long with central pillar and circumambulatory passages imitating wooden temples, plus subterranean tunnel linking Thousand Buddha Cave to Gold Pagoda Cave.
Northern Liang (420 CE), Northern Wei, Western Xia and Yuan layers show Tibetan, Uyghur and Mongol mural palimpsests (mandalas, flying apsaras, Gesar thangka patterns) reflecting Hexi corridor multiculturalism between Silk Road oasis and Amdo nomadism.
Why it mattersOnly Hexi conglomerate cave system documenting 1000-year Buddhist frontier between Chinese and Tibetan ritual architecture.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01How tunnel linked distant caves through solid conglomerate without survey
- 02Whether horse hoof is natural concretion deliberately framed
Theories
- 01Military monastery watching Qilian tribal corridor
- 02Gesar pilgrimage adapting Buddhist cave to Bon sky-cult
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.420 CE Northern Liang founding; intensive 500–1300 CE
- Period
- Sixteen Kingdoms to Yuan (420 – 1368 CE)
- Culture
- Northern Liang Han, Tuyuhun Xianbei, Tibetan, Uyghur, Western Xia Tangut, Mongol
- Builders
- Hexi Buddhist patrons of Zhangye commandery and Tibetan yogins
- Purpose
- Cliff monastery on Hexi-Tibetan frontier controlling Qilian pass and Gesar cult pilgrimage
- Abandoned
- 1368 with Ming centralisation but Tibetan worship continues
- Rediscovered
- 1920s Xibei expeditions; 1970s Gansu survey
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
420 CE
Northern Liang hermit carves first Tiantang cave
534 CE
Northern Wei expands central pillar hall
1220 CE
Western Xia frescoes cover earlier Northern Wei murals
On the ground
Structures & features
38.4760° N · 100.4170° E · 2600 m · 3 mapped features
Thousand Buddha Cave Central Pillar
pillar hall30-m pillar hall with 500 arhats circumambulatory
38.4765° N · 100.4175° E33 Heavens Pagoda Cave
pagoda cave7-storey internal pagoda carved from conglomerate with balconies
38.4758° N · 100.4168° ETiantang Cave Hoof Imprint
relic nookHorse-hoof-shaped concretion framed as Gesar relic
38.4768° N · 100.4180° E