The Tianlongshan Grottoes lie on Mount Tianlong southwest of Taiyuan. Cutting began in the Eastern Wei and continued through the Northern Qi, Sui and Tang, and twenty-one caves survive. The front porches of the Northern Qi caves carve columns, lintels and bracket sets with great realism, and the interiors are plain. Liang Sicheng judged that the Northern Qi craftsmen here had a better sense of architecture than those of the Northern Wei, and the walls are not crowded with niches as at Yungang and Longmen.
