More than 2,000 ancient Buddha statues have been unearthed by archaeologists in China’s Hebei province, highlighting the popularity of Buddhism in the country ever since it spread from India.
The 2,895 Buddha statues and fragments dating back to the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi period (534-577) were found in the historic site of Yecheng, Linzhang county.
The statues are made of white marble and blue stone and some are painted or gilded, according to archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage.
Zhang Wenrui, an official with the Hebei Provincial Bureau of Cultural Heritage, said the sizes of the statues range from 20 centimetres long to the size of an actual person, and the archaeologists are repairing the statues for protection and research, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Buddhism is supposed to have spread to China from India over 2,000 years ago.
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