Dazu Rock Carvings
Dazu County, located 160 kilometers (100 miles) west of Chongqing, Sichuan Province, in central China, contains an exceptional series of rock carvings, most dating from the ninth to the thirteenth centuries CE. Construction of the Dazu carvings began during the early period of the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE) and continued until the late Song dynasty (960–1279). Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian influences are evident in the fifty thousand individual statues found in grottoes and shrines at seventy-five major sites across the mountainous county. The largest and most spectacular grottoes are found at Beishan and Baodingshan. Built during the Song dynasty, the Baodingshan Grotto is carved beneath the overhang of a horse-shoe-shaped cliff. The grotto, known as the "Great Buddha Bend," stretches for 500 meters (1,640 feet) and houses over ten thousand sculptures. The Dazu sculptures depict religious and secular life in China and are noted for their diverse subject matter. Many bear inscriptions asking people to embrace moral and religious principles. Dazu County has attracted pilgrims and other travelers for over a thousand years. The rock carvings were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1999.
Further Reading
Mizuno Seiichi. (1960) Bronze and Stone Sculpture of China: From the Yin to the Tang Dynasty. Tokyo: Nikon Keizai.
Ziran Bai, ed. (1984) Dazu Grottoes. Beijing: Foreign Language Press.
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