Hidden in the mountains

Yunju Temple lies at the foot of Shijing Mountain, about 70 kilometers southwest of central Beijing. Rugged hills, winding valleys and clusters of ancient caves form a landscape that has quietly sheltered the scriptures for centuries.

Hidden among the mountains are caves where over 4,000 carved tablets were stored. The mountain itself later became known as Shijing Mountain, or "Stone Sutra Mountain".

"Yunju Temple exists because of the scriptures," says Wang Xiaoning, a guide at the temple and a deputy to the Beijing Municipal People's Congress.

"The temple was built to preserve them, and the scriptures are what give the temple its significance," she says.

Nine caves were eventually carved into the mountainside to store the tablets. Among them, Leiyin Cave is particularly important. It was the earliest artificially constructed cave temple, created specifically for engraving the Fangshan Stone Sutras, and played a central role in their preservation and transmission.

Inscriptions found inside the cave show that it was completed in 616 during the Sui Dynasty. Over 1,400 years later, many of its structures and relics remain remarkably intact, offering a rare insight into early Buddhist architecture.

Monumental craftsmanship

Creating the stone sutras required extraordinary effort and remarkable craftsmanship.

The stone used for the tablets was quarried in Dushu village, about 10 kilometers from Yunju Temple. After extraction, the blocks were transported to carving workshops before being moved to the mountain caves.

The stone tablets were produced in roughly three standard sizes: large — about 214 centimeters long and 60 cm wide; medium — about 160 cm long and 62 cm wide; and small — about 46 cm long and 76 cm wide. Some of the larger tablets weigh nearly one metric ton.

"The stone used here is a type of locally sourced marble that is suitable for carving yet durable enough to last centuries," Wang says.

Carving and transporting such massive stones were immense challenges in ancient times.

"If a single character was incorrect, the entire surface had to be polished down and carved again," she explains.

Despite the enormous effort required, the project continued for more than a millennium, supported by the faith and dedication of generations of believers.

Scholars note that the carvings are remarkably accurate, with almost no errors found among the millions of engraved characters.