{{Redirect|Dazu|the district this site is located in|Dazu District}} {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site | image = Dazu 2007 685 full view.jpg | image_upright = 1.30 | caption = Dazu Rock Carvings on Mount Baoding | location = Dazu District, Chongqing, China | includes = {{flatlist| #Beishan #Baodingshan #Nanshan #Shizhuanshan #Shimenshan }} | criteria = {{UNESCO WHS type|(i), (ii), (iii)}}(i), (ii), (iii) | ID = 912 | coordinates = {{coord|29|42|4|N|105|42|18|E|format=dms}} | year = 1999 | area = {{convert|20.41|ha|sqmi|abbr=on}} | buffer_zone = {{convert|211.12|ha|sqmi|abbr=on}} | locmapin = Chongqing#China | map_caption = |WHS=|Criteria=}} {{Chinese Buddhism}} The '''Dazu Rock Carvings'''<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g325577-d319625-Reviews-Dazu_Rock_Carvings_Baodangshan_Site-Dazu_County.html | title=Dazu Rock Carvings Baodangshan Site | publisher=TripAdvisor | date=21 September 2014 }}</ref> ({{zh|c={{linktext|大|足|石|刻}}|p=Dàzú Shíkè}}) are a series of Chinese religious sculptures and carvings and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Dazu District, Chongqing, China. The carvings date back as far as the 7th century AD, depicting and influenced by Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist beliefs. Some are in rock-cut cave shrines, in the usual Chinese Buddhist style, but many others are rock reliefs carved into the open rock faces. Listed as a World Heritage Site in 1999, the Dazu Rock Carvings are made up of 75 protected sites containing some 50,000 statues, with over 100,000 Chinese characters forming inscriptions and epigraphs.<ref name = "unesco">{{cite web |url = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/912 |title = Dazu Rock Carvings |website = UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher = United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization |access-date = 4 Apr 2021}}</ref> The sites are located in Chongqing Municipality within the steep hillsides throughout Dazu District, located about 165 kilometers west of the urban area of Chongqing. The highlights of the rock grotto are found on Mount Baoding and Mount Beishan.
==Description== The Dazu Rock Carvings comprise 5 locations in Dazu District, Chongqing Municipality: Beishan, Baodingshan, Nanshan, Shizhuanshan, and Shimenshan.<ref name = "unesco" /> *Beishan (North Mountain) contains two groups of rock carvings and sculptures along a cliff face stretching for 300 meters.<ref name = "unesco" /> These date from the 9th to the 12th century and portray Tantric Buddhist and Taoist themes.<ref name = "nominate">{{cite report |author = State Bureau of Cultural Relics, People's Republic of China |date= 1999 |title= Dazu Rock Carvings |url= http://whc.unesco.org/uploads/nominations/912.pdf |publisher= United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization |access-date= 4 Apr 2021}}</ref> *Baodingshan (Baoding Mountain) includes carvings in a U-shaped valley near the Longevity Pavilion, dating from the 12th and 13th centuries. Stretching for 500 meters, the carved figures depict themes from Tantric Buddhism in addition to secular life.<ref name = "nominate" /> *At Nanshan (South Mountain), the rock art dates from the Song Dynasty during the rule of the Emperor Shao Xing, depicting Taoist themes and symbols.<ref name = "unesco" /> In addition, there is a stele recording the history of Sichuan after a Mongol invasion in the 13th century.<ref name = "nominate" /> *Shizhuanshan (Shizhuan Mountain) carvings are dated from the early 12th century, uniquely integrating rock-hewn sculptures and carvings depicting Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism together. The most prominent of the grotto sculptures are thought to have been sculpted by Wen Wijian, a famous sculptor of the time.<ref name = "nominate" /> *Shimenshan (Shimen Mountain) contains carvings that date from the 12th century, including statues of the Jade Emperor and several gods.<ref name = "nominate" />
==History== The technique for rock carvings may have originated in ancient India.<ref name = "nominate" /> The earliest carvings were begun in 650 AD during the early Tang dynasty, but the main period of their creation began in the late 9th century, when Wei Junjing, Prefect of Changzhou, pioneered the carvings on Mount Beishan, and his example was followed after the collapse of the Tang dynasty by local and gentry, monks and nuns, and ordinary people during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–65). In the 12th century, during the Song dynasty, a Buddhist monk named Zhao Zhifeng began work on the elaborate sculptures and carvings on Mount Baoding, dedicating 70 years of his life to the project. Unlike most collections of rock carvings, the Dazu rock carvings include statues representing all three major religions: Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.<ref name = "nominate" />
Off limits to visitors for many years, the carvings were opened to Chinese travelers in 1961 and foreign visitors in 1980. Until 1975, there was only a muddy path between the town of Dazu and the main cluster of carvings.<ref name="NYTcr">{{cite news| first=Ross | last=Terrill | url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=9C0CE6DA123FF937A25752C0A966958260 | title=Serene Haven of Buddhist Art | newspaper=The New York Times | date=January 14, 1990 | access-date=February 11, 2009 }}</ref>
The carvings were listed as a World Heritage Site in 1999, citing "''…their aesthetic quality, their rich diversity of subject matter, both secular and religious, and the light that they shed on everyday life in China during this period. They provide outstanding evidence of the harmonious synthesis of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.''"<ref name = "unesco" />
== Panorama == {{wide image|Dazu Shike Rock Carvings Chongqing People's Republic of China David McBride Photography-0362 02.jpg|700px|Panorama of a short segment of the carvings, showing figures such as the Ten Wisdom Kings, including Acala, Hayagriva, Ucchusma, Trailokyavijaya, Yamāntaka and Kuṇḍali.}} {{wide image|Dazu Shike Rock Carvings Chongqing People's Republic of China David McBride Photography-0362 01.jpg|700px|Panorama of a short segment of the carvings, showing various Buddhist figures as well as figures from Chinese history.}} {{wide image|Dazu Shike Rock Carvings Chongqing People's Republic of China David McBride Photography-0362 03.jpg|700px|Panorama of a niche in the carvings, with the main image being that of the Thousand-armed manifestation of the Bodhisattva Guanyin, surrounded by various devas.}}
==Gallery== <gallery> File:Dazu Stone Carving.jpg|Dazu rock carving at Baodingshan File:Bao Ding Mountain grotto1.JPG|Dazu rock carvings at Baodingshan File:Dazu rock carvings 1.JPG|Statues of various Buddhas at Baodingshan File:Dazu rock carvings 2 baoding.JPG|A Bhavacakra depicting the realms of samsara at Baodingshan File:Dazu rock carvings golden hands buddha.JPG|The Thousand-armed manifestation of Guanyin at Baodingshan File:Dazu rock carvings baoding buddhas.JPG|Baodingshan Buddha statues File:Dazu rock carvings baoding 18 layers of hell.JPG|Baodingshan panorama of the eighteen layers of hell File:Dazu rock carvings baoding demons 2.JPG|Statues of demons and officials of hell File:Dazu rock carvings beishan 1.JPG|Statue of the bodhisattva Guanyin at Beishan File:Dazu rock carvings beishan 2.JPG|The Wisdom King Mahamayuri riding on her peacock mount File:Dazu rock carvings beishan 3.JPG|Various Buddhas at Beishan File:Bao Ding Mountain Entering Nirvana.jpg|Statue depicting Sakyamuni Buddha entering Nirvana at Beishan </gallery>
==Transport== *Dazushike railway station on Chengdu-Chongqing Central line high-speed railway is currently under construction<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.cqnews.net/1/detail/1078285875661406208/web/content_1078285875661406208.html|title=走进区域看发展 以后坐高铁去看大足石刻 从这个站下走800米就到了}}</ref>
==See also== * Dazu Lotus Manor, a nearby attraction * Tianlongshan Grottoes
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Dazu Rock Carvings}} * [https://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=912 UNESCO World Heritage Centre page] *[http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/62659 Wisdom embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art], a collection catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on the Dazu Rock Carvings
{{Chongqing}} {{World Heritage Sites in China}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Dazu Rock Carvings Category:7th-century sculptures Category:World Heritage Sites in China Category:Buddhist grottoes in China Category:Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Chongqing Category:Song dynasty art Category:Tang dynasty art Category:Outdoor sculptures in China Category:Sculpture series Category:AAAAA-rated tourist attractions Category:Buddhist temples in Chongqing Category:Rock reliefs in China Category:7th-century establishments in China Category:Chinese architectural history