The Dazu Rock Carvings

    The Dazu Rock Carvings is an excellent reflection of Chinese stone-carving art, located in Dazu County, about 168 kilometers away from Chongqing City.
    The so-called Dazu Rock Carvings is the general name for 60, 000-odd religious stone statues at over 76 sites in Dazu County. It emerged in the late period of the Tang Dynasty (6l8-907AD) and flourished in the Northern and Southern Song Dynasty (960-1127), ended in the last years of the Southern Song Dynasty.
    The carved stones are mainly statues of Buddhism, and some of them are those of Confucianism and Taoism, with the most concentrated being Cliff Statues of Buddha at Baoding Mountain, Cliff Statues of Buddha at Northern Mountain, Carved Stones at Southern Mountain, Shimeng Mountain and Shizhuan Mountain.
    The carved stone statues at the Baoding Mountain all center the Big Buddha Bight and are adorned by 13 scenes, namely Small Buddha Bight, Inversed Pagoda, Dragon Head Mountain, Shushi Mountain and Huangjue Slope in the east; lofty kwan-yin in the south; Guangda Mountain, Pine Wood Slope and Buddha Rock in the west; and Rock Curve, Dragon Pond and Opposite Buddha in the north. Among them the stone-carving statues of Big Buddha Bight have the largest scale and the highest artistic value. The U-shaped Big Buddha Bight is seated at a precipice which is 500 meters long and 15~30 meters high and engraved with around 15, 000 statues big or small. Consisted of stone sculptures in l9 groups of the Buddhist stories, the statues in this grotto look so marvellous that each of them is portrayed in different pose and with a different expression. The Yuan Jue Grotto at the hilltop was created in a whole rock, so it is quite specious.
    Additionally, another 10, 000 scatter at Buddha Bight, Yingpan Slope, Kuan-yin Slope, North Pagoda Temple and Buddha's Ears Cave of the Moya Cliff in Northern Mountain. The North Mountain converges a number of Buddha statues with delicate inscriptions and graceful postures. It has 29O shrine caves in all. The most well-known of them is the Xinshenche (the Whee1 of the Universe) Cave. In the centre shrine stands the Buddha, with jingbaoping Guanyin, Duoluo, Manjusri, yuyin Guanyin, Ruyizhu Guanyin, Samantabhadra, riyue Guanyin and suzhushou Guanyin. They are created in a symmetrical manner and proper order, as though they were an integral whole. The eight statues of Bodhisattvas have the features of well-proportioned bodies, exquisitely luxurious garments and distinct characters.

Publishes at : 07-06-25 22:10

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