Updated: 2007-04-16 07:24

Dazu Rock Carvings (Chongqing)

a. Brief Introduction

The Dazu Rock Carvings are located in Dazu County, Chongqing Municipality. The construction began in 650, and continued into the 17th century. Thriving since the end of the 9th century, when the grotto art of north China began to decline, the Dazu Rock Carvings are an outstanding representative of China's grotto art in the middle and late period of ancient China.

So far, a total of some 50,000 statues and 100,000 inscribed Chinese characters are extant, and 75 cliff statue sites are under state protection. The cliff statues on the North Hill, the South Hill, Bading Hill, Stone Hill and Stone Gate Hill are large in size, and well carved and preserved.

The Dazu Rock Carvings occupy an important position in the history of China's grotto art. They include not only Buddhist figures, but also Taoist and Confucian figures, which makes them different from grottoes dating from previous times. Its statues, which have strong national and secular features, and depict many activities of ancient people's daily lives, mark the completion of the localization process of China's grotto art and reflect great changes and developments in China's folk religion and grotto art.

b. Cultural Heritage

The Dazu Rock Carvings mainly contain Buddhist statues, but there are also some Taoist, Confucian and historical figures, and many valuable inscribed tablets. The statues show maturity of carving and national features, breaking new ground in religious art.

The Dazu Rock Carvings provide rich and valuable material for research into ancient China's culture, arts, philosophy, religion and history. In the spring of 1945, Chinese historians made an overall investigation of the Dazu Rock Carvings, and published their findings, marking the beginning of full-scale research into the Grottoes. The Chinese Government has made great efforts to protect, research and publicize the Dazu Rock Carvings, and in recent years, the Grottoes have attracted a large number of foreign experts, scholars and visitors.

c. Celebrities and Stone Carvings

The Wei Jun Jing Bei, one of the numerous inscribed tablets at the Grottoes, was carved in 895, and is the first written record about the Dazu Rock Carvings. Another tablet (No. 104 of the northern section) carved by Cai Jing of the Song Dynasty. It was flanked by 22 chapters of Book on Piety in Ancient Characters, which were historically singular because they were inscribed in both ancient Chinese and a more modern one.

d. Art Creation

The artisans created these marvelous rock carvings not simply by replicating images that their predecessors had made. Instead, they broke the yoke of religion and created figures with life and dynamic. Their innovations will be recorded in the history of grotto art forever.