Dazu Rock Carvings

"Dazu" redirects here. For the county this site is located in, see Dazu County.

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Dazu Rock Carvings
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List

Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iii
Reference	912
UNESCO region	Asia-Pacific
Inscription history
Inscription	1999 (23rd Session)

The Dazu Rock Carvings^[1] (Chinese: 大足石刻; pinyin: Dà zú Shí kè) are a series of Chinese religious sculptures and carvings, dating 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.

World Heritage Site

Listed as a World Heritage Site, 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. The sites are located in Chongqing Municipality within the steep hillsides throughout Dazu County, located about 60 kilometers west of the urban area of Chongqing. The highlights of the rock grotto are found on Mount Baoding and Mount Beishan.

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."^[2]

History

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.

Off limits to visitors for many years, the carvings were opened to Chinese travellers 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. The isolation helped keep the art unharmed during the massive anti-religious vandalism of the Cultural Revolution.^[3]

Gallery

Dazu rock carving on Mount Baoding.
Dazu Bao Ding Mountain Rock Carvings.
Bao Ding Mountain Buddhas.
Bao Ding Mountain Circle of Life.
Golden Hands Buddha at Bao Ding.
Bao Ding Mountain Buddhas 2.
Bao Ding Mountain 18 layers of hell.
Bao Ding Mountain Demons with Rulers of hell.
Beishan Guan Yin Bodhisattva.
Beishan Mahamayuri Bodhisattva.
Beishan detailed Buddhas.
Bao Ding Mountain Entering Nirvana.

Dazu Shike Rock Carvings Chongqing People's Republic of China

References

↑ "Dazu Rock Carvings Baodangshan Site". TripAdvisor. 21 September 2014.
↑ "Dazu Rock Carvings". UNESCO. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
↑ Terrill, Ross (January 14, 1990). "Serene Haven of Buddhist Art". New York Times. Retrieved February 11, 2009.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dazu Rock Carvings.

UNESCO World Heritage Centre page
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

Municipality of Chongqing

History Politics Economy

Districts	Yuzhong Dadukou Jiangbei Shapingba Jiulongpo Nan'an Beibei Bishan Tongliang Qijiang Dazu Yubei Banan Fuling Wanzhou Qianjiang Changshou Hechuan Jiangjin Nanchuan Yongchuan Rongchang Tongnan

Counties	Chengkou Dianjiang Fengdu Fengjie Kai Liangping Wulong Wushan Wuxi Yunyang Zhong

Autonomous counties	Pengshui Shizhu Xiushan Youyang

Defunct divisions	Wansheng Shuangqiao Shizhong Qianjiang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County

Attractions	Baiheliang Underwater Museum Ciqikou Dazu Rock Carvings Diaoyu Fortress Fengdu Ghost City Foreigners' Street Furong Cave General Joseph W. Stilwell Museum People's Great Hall Red Rock Village Museum Science and Technology Museum Snowy Jade Cave Three Gorges Museum Three Natural Bridges Wulong Karst Zoo Twelve Views of Chongqing

Sports Venues	Chongqing Olympic Sports Center Yanghe Stadium Datianwan Stadium

Higher Education	Chongqing University Southwest University Chongqing Institute of Technology Chongqing Jiaotong University Chongqing Normal University Chongqing Technology and Business University Chongqing Three Gorges University Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications Yangtze Normal University (formerly Fuling Teachers College) Sichuan Fine Arts Institute Sichuan International Studies University Southwest University of Political Science and Law Third Military Medical University Chongqing Medical University Chongqing University of Science and Technology Chongqing Telecommunication Institute

Culture & Demographics	Ba Sichuan Mandarin Szechuan cuisine

Transport	Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport Chongqing Metro China National Highway 210 China National Highway 212

See also: List of Township-level divisions of Chongqing

World Heritage Sites in China

East	Classical Gardens of Suzhou Fujian Tulou Lushan National Park Huangshan Mount Sanqing (Sanqingshan) Mount Tai (Taishan) Mount Wuyi (Wuyishan) Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and Kong Family Mansion, Qufu Ancient villages in Southern Anhui, Xidi, and Hongcun West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou

South Central	Ancient Building Complex in the Wudang Mountains Historic Centre of Macau Kaiping Diaolou and Villages Longmen Grottoes Historic Monuments of Dengfeng, including the Shaolin Monastery and Gaocheng Observatory Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area Yin Xu

Southwest	Chengjiang Fossil Site Dazu Rock Carvings Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, including the Jokhang and Norbulingka Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces Huanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area Old Town of Lijiang Mount Emei Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area Mount Qingcheng and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas

North	Mount Wutai (Wutaishan) Chengde Mountain Resort and its outlying temples, including the Putuo Zongcheng Temple, Xumi Fushou Temple and the Puning Temple Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian Ancient City of Pingyao Summer Palace, an Imperial Garden in Beijing Temple of Heaven, an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing Site of Xanadu Yungang Grottoes

Northeast	Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang

Northwest	Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor Mogao Caves Xinjiang Tianshan

Multiple regions	The Great Wall China Danxia Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties South China Karst The Grand Canal Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor Tusi Sites

Coordinates: 29°22′57.98″N 105°28′21.1″E / 29.3827722°N 105.472528°E / 29.3827722; 105.472528

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