In October 1996,archaeologists of the Qingzhou Museum excavated a large storage pit in a neighboring construction site, where the famous Buddhist Longxing Temple once stood. The excavation yielded more than two hundred Buddhist icons. This striking event in the archaeology of Buddhist monuments and relics ranked among the ten major archaeological discoveries in China in 1996. The pit is a rectangular earthen pit, measuring 8.7 m from west to east, 6.8 m from north to south, and 3.45 m from the bottom to the surface. The icons, mostly carved of stone, and well arranged, include Buddha and Boddhisattva from the periods of Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, Northern Qi, Tang or Song. The majority of them were destroyed before the interment for unknown reason. Of these icons, those Northern Dynasties ones, elegantly carved and still shining in their original colors, are extremely valuable in both historical and artistic terms.
