The Flickr Hebeiprovince Image Generatr

Amitābha Buddha, AD 585
Sui dynasty (AD 581-618)
Hebei province, north China
Marble

This figure represents Amitābha Buddha, the Buddha of Infinite Light. According to the inscription on the base, it was dedicated to the Chongguang Temple 崇光寺 in Hancui village 韓崔村 in AD585. Both the temple and the village can no longer be identified, but it is thought that the location was south-west of Baoding 保定 in Hebei province, a region known for its white marble sculptures.
Buddhism was slowly introduced into China from first century AD and was widespread during the period of division from second to sixth century AD. After achieving the reunification of much of China by AD 581, the two emperors of the Sui dynasty (AD 581-618), both devout Buddhists, made Buddhism a state religion. Amitābha, literally meaning boundless light in Sanskrit, is the principal Buddha of the Pure Land sect 淨土宗 popular in China in the sixth to seventh centuries.
Almost 8m high, this statue is comparable in size with figures carved in the rock at the Buddhist cave temples of central China from the 5th-7th centuries. During this period, Chinese Buddhist sculpture underwent a transition in style. The earliest stylised images gave way to a greater naturalism, characterised with anatomically credible bodies, probably influenced by the art of Gupta India.
The hands of the statue are missing but the right hand would have been raised, palm outwards in the gesture of fearlessness (abhaya mudrā), and the left hand lowered in the gesture of wish-granting (varada mudrā).
A joint and a polished work surface at the waist show that the statue was carved in two separate parts.
Traces of pigments on more than one location on the surface suggest that the statue was once covered with gilding and colours.
Buddhist figures often sit or stand on a lotus. Lotuses, as symbols of purity, enlightenment and divine birth, are an important image in Buddhist art.
This statue was originally flanked by two smaller figures of bodhisattvas (enlightening beings).*

Taken in British Museum

Handan Steel Works, blast furnace.

Handan Steel Works.

Handan Steel Works.

Chinese Buddhism was evolving rapidly during the Northern Qi Dynasty from more of a philosophy admiring the Historical Buddha to a religion complete with a whole host of supernatural beings. These "winged monsters" flanked & protected a bodhisattva, or enlightened being who chooses to stay on Earth to help others rather than ascending into Nirvana (something like a Christian saint). As the Chinese Buddhist pantheon grew, its imaginary denizens made rich fodder for artistic representation. Two series of carved religious grottoes, named the Mountain of Echoing Halls, were completed under the Northern Qi.

Sui Dynasty. Hebei Province, north China. British Museum, London, UK.

And today: Some old houses I encountered on my travels last year.

Tangshan, China (Hebei Province)
Oruga Multicolor

Tangshan, China (Hebei Province)

Look closely. He's playing hide and seek.

Tangshan, China (Hebei Province)

Tangshan, China (Hebei Province)

Tangshan, China (Hebei Province)

On top of the world.

I went on a hike near Matianling 麻田令 with nice views on the Mount Xiaowutai or Little Wutai Mountains. With an altitude of 2,882 m (9,455 ft), it is the highest point in Hebei and the Taihang Mountains.

See more in my blog gerrit-worldwide.de

I went on a hike near Matianling 麻田令 with nice views on the Mount Xiaowutai or Little Wutai Mountains. With an altitude of 2,882 m (9,455 ft), it is the highest point in Hebei and the Taihang Mountains.

See more in my blog gerrit-worldwide.de

the Great Wall of China

Bridge across the BeiYunHe (北運河), aka "Northern Canal", in Xianghe county (香河縣).

Xianghe is one of three counties of Hebei Province that form an exclave which is surrounded by Beijing Municipality in the west and Tianjin Municipality in the east. The three counties belong to LangFang Prefecture, the capital of which, LangFang city, is not part of the exclave, but lies to the south of it. The exclave is thus called "Three Northern Counties" (北三縣). Many of its residents work in Beijing and commute daily. But not across this bridge.