Qingzhou Longxing Temple

Qingzhou Longxing Temple
龍興寺
Buddhist statue from Qingzhou Longxing Temple
Religion
Affiliation	Buddhism
Location
Location	Qingzhou, Shandong
Country	China
Shown within China
Geographic coordinates	36°41′03″N 118°27′45″E / 36.6841°N 118.4625°E / 36.6841; 118.4625
Architecture
Completed	Northern and Southern dynasties

Qingzhou Longxing Temple (Chinese: 龍興寺; lóng xīng sì) was a Northern and Southern dynasties-era Buddhist temple in Qingzhou, Shandong, China. It has been deemed one of China's 100 major archaeological discoveries in the 20th century, containing a hoard of Buddhist statues.

The temple was built during the period of the Northern and Southern dynasties, and was destroyed some 800 years later. The location was rediscovered in 1996, when a stone oil lamp was discovered during the refurbishment of a school sports field.^[1] Subsequent excavation uncovered more than 400 statues on the site, which were primarily placed in the collection of the Shenzhen Museum.^[1] In July 2015, it was announced that Italian professor Salvatore Lorusso, of the Department of Cultural Heritage at the University of Bologna, would direct "[a] new Italian research project dedicated to the restoration and enhancement of the statues kept in the Buddhist temple of Qingzhou Longxing".^[2]