宜昌沮水石窟群考察

宜昌市沮水两岸有近三千座悬崖石窟，多年来被传为万窟之谜。石窟最为集中、数量最多的地段，有当阳市的百宝寨、百家洞、岩屋庙，及远安县的旧县镇、鸣凤山、鹿苑寺等。经过笔者2002年的两次调查，认为这些石窟分为道教石窟与应付兵匪之乱的石窟两类。道教石窟的年代大约为明清时期。应付兵匪之难的石窟年代大多在清咸丰年间，也有早至明末的。

Survey on Grottoes at Jushui, Yichang

There are near three thousand grottoes along the Jushui River, Yichang, while tradition- ally it is said more than ten thousand grottoes once existing there. Grottoes are distributed with a high density in Baibaozhai, Baijiadong, Yanwumiao, Jiuxianzhen, Mingfengshan, and Luyuansi. Two sur- veys conducted by the author in 2002 reveal that the grottoes could be divided into two categories, Daoism grottoes of the Ming and Qing dynasties and shelters, mainly dated to the Xianfeng reign of the Qing dynasty except that some traced back as early as the end of the Ming dynasty.