The Dazu Rock Carving is located in the southeast of the Sichuan Basin, 271 kilometers away from the west of Chengdu, 167 kilometers away from the east of Chongqing. The Dazu Rock Carving lies in Dazu County, which is 167 kilometers away from the urban area of Chongqing city. It's a general designation of the stone statues distributed in 76 places in the whole Dazu County. The number of the stone statues amounts to 60,000.

 

The Dazu Rock Carvings contains all the cliffside carvings in Dazu County. The collection is composed of the rock carvings in Beishan, Baodingshan, Nanshan, Shimenshan as well as Shizhuanshan, all of which are of the highest artistic attainment and demonstrate the most exquisite skills.

 

The Dazu Rock Carvings was built from 650 in the Tang Dynasty and continued to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911). It is as famous as the Mogao Cave in Dunhuang, Gansu Province. The rock carvings in these places are very distinguished both at home and abroad. Among the rock carvings, there are more than 5,000 statues and over100, 000 Chinese characters of inscriptions and epigraphs. The Buddhist statues dominate in this rock carving group, and the Taoist and the Confucian stone figures can also be seen.

 

Bei Shan Carvings

The carvings are Bei Shan are the oldest works at Dazu, begun in 892 AD. They were started by the military governor Wei Junjing, who was posted here while campaigning against Sichuanese insurgents. The sculptures here are somewhat worn and formal in execution, making an interesting comparison with the more lively sculptures of Baoding Shan. They fill 264 numbered recesses in two groups and are protected by an awning.

 

The first group is the oldest and features several military pieces, including a life-sized Wei Junjing dressed in armor. Tucked away in the first niche beside the entrance, this was sculpted by a defeated Shu warlord.

 

The second group dates from the 12th century and is spread over a 500-meter-long overhang. The sculptures here mostly feature Kwanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, accompanied by monks, nuns and the donors who funded the project. In niche 130, Kwanyin appears unusually like a fearsome Tantric goddess, holding weapons and a severed head in her many hands. Next door, in niche 131, she is in her more typical peaceful form, gazing at the moon's reflection. In niche 136 is a 4.5-meter-high prayer wheel surrounded by Kwanyin images. The most impressive work is in niche 245, which depicts the Kingdom of the Buddha. The Buddhist trinity is surrounded by clouds of Bodhisattvas, with heavenly palaces above and earthly toil below.

 

Baoding Shan Carvings

Variously exciting, comic and realistic, the carvings at Baoding Shan are unmissable if you're in Dazu. They are the life work of the monk Zhao Zheifeng, who raised the money and designed the carving work from 1179 to 1245. This accounts for the unusually harmonious nature of the 10,000 sculptures here.

 

Dafowan is the most impressive group of carvings on Baoding Shan, with 31 niches incorporated into the inner side of a broad, horseshoe-shaped gully. The sculptures depict scenes from the Buddhist scriptures intercut with images of daily life. They are all in amazing condition given their exposure to the weather. The Cave of Full Enlightenment is a lion-guarded deep grotto with 12 life-sized lohans surrounding the Buddhist trinity and a roof carved with clouds. An overhang beyond is decorated with demonic guardian figures painted in blue, red and green; this is followed by Anicca holding the wheel of predestination.

 

Midway around the site, visitors come upon a 20-meter-long Reclining Buddha inset into the cliff face, fronted by realistic portraits of important donors. The following two panels, Parental Kindness and Sakyamuni's Filial Piety, interestingly use Buddhist themes to illustrate Confucian morals. Next is the Eighteen Layers of Hell, a horrific scene interspersed with amusing images like the Hen Wife and the Drunkard and His Mother. The final panel illustrates the life of Liu Benzun, a Tang-dynasty ascetic from Leshan showing strong Tantric influence.

 

Many statues show the Buddhist and the Confucius doctrines, particularly the filial piety. In 1999, the Dazu Rock Carving was ranked as a World Cultural Heritage Site. Every year many thousands of tourists from home and abroad pay it a visit.

 

Admission Fee: RMB 123 (including charges of carving in Beishan, Baodingshan and bus fare)
Opening Hours: 08:40 to 17:00