Tiantishan lies in Zhangyi Town, south of central Wuwei, and is commonly called the Liangzhou Grottoes. Regional heritage accounts associate its founding with the Northern Liang ruler Juqu Mengxun, in the Sixteen Kingdoms period. The site’s early history places it within the development of Buddhist cave art in the Hexi Corridor. Today the grottoes stand above Huangyang River Reservoir, where the cliffs and water form the setting for the surviving caves.
From the journal
The Buddha above Huangyang River Reservoir
At Tiantishan near Wuwei, a large seated Buddha looks over the reservoir from the cliffside grottoes. The site is also known as the Liangzhou Grottoes and is associated with the Northern Liang period.
In the same city · Wuwei ↗The Liangzhou grottoes
Cave 13 and the seated Buddha
Cave 13 contains a seated Shakyamuni figure reported to be about 28 metres high. The grotto faces the mountain slope, with Huangyang River Reservoir below, bringing cliff, cave and water into one view. Conservation work has included the repair of relocated murals and sculptures. The monumental figure gives the cave its distinctive scale within the Liangzhou grotto group.
A northern Gansu cave tradition
Tiantishan is part of a broader network of Buddhist sites across Gansu, each shaped by its location and materials. Mogao in Dunhuang is famous for painted caves and the Library Cave; Maijishan near Tianshui is known for clay sculptures on a wooded cliff. Tiantishan’s signature is the large Buddha above the reservoir and its connection to Liangzhou’s early Buddhist history. Together, these sites show how religious art adapted to different cliffs, valleys and communities along the corridor.