The shrine surmounts a hill to the northwest of Xiyangping Village, Quyang, Hebei. Carved out of a large block of stone, it comprises a niched statue on each of its four sides. Five volumes of Buddhist sutras including" Chapter on the Universal Gate of Avalokitsvara" of Lotus Sutra are engraved with the statues. The inscription is dated to the thirteen year (A. D. 593) of the Kaihuang reign of the Sui dynasty. The sponsor seems to be a local rich person or small officer. A tangible document of the early Buddhism in China, this find provides the missing link in the northward spread of Buddhist sutras since the Northern and Southern dynasties. Beside that, it is of much help to the study of calligraphic history.
