Tianlongshan Cave 1: Eaves

CHINA, Shanxi, Taiyuan; Northern Qi dynasty

Located on the east peak of Tianlongshan, Cave 1 faces south and was constructed on the eastern side of the peak, 32 m east of Cave 2. The cave, structured with stone eaves designed to imitate timber, has a three-bay wide portico which measures 2.4 m high, 3.56 m wide, and 1.2 m deep. There were once two columns standing in the center of the portico, but they no longer exist. There are recessed pointed caps on the architrave above where the column capitals stood, in between tripartite bracket sets. Parts of these are not sculpted due to space constraints on the sides of the architrave.
The portico leads to a double-layer doorway. The outer door is arched and flanked by two octagonal columns with lotuses decorating the capitals, which support the beam and lintel of the arched door. The center of the door beam is decorated with a bundled lotus. The ends of the lintel originally had a pair of phoenixes tilting backwards that have since been removed. The inner door is rectangular and the lintel is decorated with three six-petaled lotus pegs. In addition to Cave 1, Caves 10 and 16 also have porticos that imitate timber structures, similar to those found at the North Xiangtangshan Grottoes 1 to 3 and South Xiangtangshan Grottoes 5 and 7, which were constructed during the Northern Qi dynasty (550–577). The construction of these porticos took place around the same time.