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.
Dazu Grottoes, aka the Dazu Rock Carvings, are located in Dazu County, Chongqing Municipality*, the closest of which carvings are situated about about 160 kilometers west of the city of Chongqing. The earliest of the Dazu Rock Carvings were carved on the walls of grottoes that were excavated in the first year of the Yonghui (CE 650-655) period of the reign (CE 650-683) of Emperor Gao Zong of the Tang (CE 618-907) Dynasty. The carvings depict both religious (either Buddhist, Confucian, or Taoist) as well as everyday secular motifs. They consist of a large series of figures, some quite large and many in fact tiny, spread out over a vast mountainous area and whose creation spanned more than a millenia, beginning in the early Tang Dynasty and ending during the Qing (CE 1644-1911) Dynasty. They include over 50,000 statues and countless inscriptions and epigraphs, all of which were carved either upon, or from (usually in niches) open cliff walls, or upon the walls or floors of excavated grottoes, some large, some small.
Beishan Rock Carving
It is 2 kilometers (about 1.24 miles) away from the northwest of Dazu County. Figures in this part are something like 'an Assembly of Oriental Beauty', since it enjoys good preservation and elaborate craftsmanship. Tourists can see the graceful statue of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, crowned as 'The Oriental Venus'. Rock carvings in this part reveal the common Buddhist faith. Standing here for a while, one may feel that it is really a Buddhist palace.
The Baodingshan Rock Carvings
The rock carvings on the cliffs of Mt. Baoding commenced in CE 1179 during the Song Dynasty, and were undertaken by a local Buddhist monk, Zhao Qifeng, who had dedicated his life to this work. The most singular aspect of the carvings at Mt. Baoding is that most of them - those that were carved on the initiative of Zhao Qifeng, in any case - form a carefully planned whole. Completed in CE 1249, these carvings, taken as a whole, portray an exhaustive catalogue of the Buddhist rites of the Mi sect, a sub-sect of the mainstream Han Chinese sect of Buddhism. They are carved on those sections of the cliff face of a gully that lend themselves to such a project, the most impressive section of the gully being a kilometer long uninterrupted stretch of cliff face called Dafowan (Great Buddha Crescent), which varies in height from 15 meters to 30 meters. The planning "artist", Zhao Qifeng, rather than leave the placement of these statues to happenstance, carefully exploited his medium's proportions to situate the statues in places that would be appropriate to their relative significance. The result is that Baodingshan - and Dafowan in particular - possesses an inherent harmony that is unsurpassed in Chinese grotto art. There can be no doubt that Zhao Qifeng also profited from the knowledge gained from earlier Chinese grotto art, for the workmanship of the art of Baodingshan represents the pinnacle of Chinese grotto art.
Nanshan Rock Carving
Standing at the southeast of Dazu County, the Taoism doctrine is the main theme in this part. Taoist gods' figures are carved vividly .The cave of Sanqing demonstrates the Taoist gods' ranking in the Song Dynasty (960 1279). Therefore, tourists will be impressed by these colorful clay creations.
The Huayan Sutra (Avatamsaka Sutra in Sanskrit), centers on the three sages, Shakyamuni, Manjusri, and Samantha Bhadra. Bodhisattva Guanyin is traditionally depicted riding on the back of a lion; here she stands, with an eye in each of her thousand hands, but one (the Bodhisattva Guanyin at Baodingshan actually has 1007 hands), the message being that Bodhisattva Guanyin is all-seeing/ all-knowing, hence her nickname as the Goddess of Wisdom. The one hand that does not have an eye in its palm holds instead a tower that symbolically contains a million sacred Buddhist scriptures, also a departure from the traditional image of Bodhisattva Guanyin.
Shimenshan Rock Carving
Apart 20 kilometers (about 12.4miles) from the eastern part of Dazu County, the Shimenshan Rock Carving combines Buddhist and Taoist statues, but the later one predominates. In addition to these stone figures, there are also some inscriptions and remarks beside the figures. Representaion of some gods' figures are lifelike and vivid. For example, outside the niche of the Great Jade Emperor stands the statuary of Shun Feng Er meaning 'Favorable Wind Ears' which looks as if he is looking into the distance and the figure of Chien Li Yen meaning 'Thousand League Eyes' which looks as if he is listening to attentively.
The theme of the third section is Sakyamuni entering nirvana (aka Reclining Buddha), and the accompanying moral state of this stage of enlightenment, which is of course the ultimate goal for a Buddhist. The theme of the fourth section concerns examples of Buddhist life that either lead toward nirvana (the path of purity) or that result in the cycle of continued rebirth, with its concomitant pain and suffering.
The rock carvings of Dazu Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are a precious cultural heritage that share Chinese national and now world recognition with the other famous examples of Chinese grotto art, namely, the art of the Duhuang, Longmen, and Yungang Grottoes.
Travel Tips:
You may take a bus at the Caiyuan Ba, Chongqing Municipal to the Dazu County Bus Station (CNY 45). There are two bus stations at the Dazu County, one for long distance another for short distance which is the one to the spot area. After arrival at Long-Distanced Bus Station of the Dazu County two hours later, you may hire a rickshaw (CNY 2) to the Short-Distanced Bus Station. Then taking a bus to the Baodingshan (CNY 3) will take you twenty minutes and later you will arrive the entrance of this spot. At last you will take a rickshaw to the ticket office of the spot.
Admission Fee: High Season (Mar.1 to Nov.30):
CNY100 for Baodingshan
CNY80 for Beishan
CNY140 for combined ticket of the two sights
Low Season (Dec.1 to Feb.28/29)
Ticket price is adjusted according to tourist number
Opening Hours: 08:40 to 17:00
Recommended Time for a Visit: One and a half hours