The National Treasure Legend in the Dense Forests and Countryside of Sichuan｜Anyue and Dazu Rock Carvings

⛰️Scattered across the Bashu region are a considerable number of ancient grottoes and cliff carvings, totaling 2,850 sites. The most representative among them are the Anyue Grottoes and the Dazu Rock Carvings.

⛰️The Anyue Grottoes feature several highlights: the largest Tang Dynasty left-side stone-carved Buddha, 210,000 characters of stone-carved Buddhist scriptures, China’s most exquisite Avalokitesvara (Guanyin) transformation images—including the Northern Song Dynasty Purple Bamboo Guanyin in Pilu Cave—the largest Tang Dynasty Taoist stone carving group—the Xuanmiao Temple Grottoes—and the most concentrated grotto group from the Five Dynasties period—the Antang Temple.

1. Huayan Cave
Currently, there are 2 major caves with 159 statues. The cliff carvings in Huayan Cave were carved in the early Northern Song Dynasty, featuring the Huayan Trinity and the Ten Great Bodhisattvas inside the cave.
2. Mingshan Temple
Carved during the Northern Song Dynasty, it currently has 20 niches and 63 statues. The statues are large in size.
3. Pilu Cave
Also known as the Thousand Buddha Cave, named for the 322 small 20-centimeter cliff carvings inside. The main square of the cave features cliff carvings of the Western Pure Land Trinity.
4. Xuanmiao Temple
Carved between the 6th year of the Kaiyuan era and the 7th year of the Tianbao era in the Tang Dynasty. It currently has 79 niches and 1,293 statues, mainly Taoist images, followed by combined Buddhist and Taoist niches.
5. Qianfozhai
Originating from the Tang, Five Dynasties, and Two Song Dynasties, continuing through the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it currently has 105 niches and 3,061 statues.
6. Yuanjue Cave
Carved during the Tang, Five Dynasties, and Northern Song periods, it currently has 103 niches and 1,933 statues. Major statues include Shakyamuni Buddha on the northern cliff, Pure Water Vase Guanyin, Lotus Hand Guanyin, and on the southern cliff, Vaisravana King, Sixteen Arhats, Kṣitigarbha and Ten Kings transformations, and combined Buddhist and Taoist niche statues.

⛰️The Dazu Rock Carvings flourished in the 9th to 10th centuries AD. They extend from Beishan to Baodingshan, Nanshan, Shizhuanshan, and Shimenshan, forming a large cliff carving group with over 100,000 cliff statues, making it one of the world’s eight major grotto sites.

⛰️Baodingshan Rock Carvings
The well-preserved Baodingshan carvings feature a thousand unique Buddha statues, each accompanied by scriptures and hymns, richly illustrated, and are acclaimed as the pinnacle of Chinese grotto art.

⛰️Beishan Rock Carvings
Beishan mainly consists of cliff carvings, carved from the late Tang Dynasty and ending large-scale carving in the Southern Song Dynasty, showcasing artistic features from different dynasties and earning the reputation of a “Tang and Song Stone Carving Art Gallery.”

⛰️Nanshan Rock Carvings
Nanshan has the most complete Taoist deity carving group from the Southern Song Dynasty, with extremely exquisite craftsmanship. Especially the Sanqing Ancient Cave, which reflects the historical shift in Taoist belief from Laozi and the “Three Officials” to the “Three Pure Ones” and “Four Sovereigns,” making it a precious Taoist study resource.

⛰️Shizhuanshan Rock Carvings
The representative work is the “Ten Disciples of Confucius” carving, rare in the world. The carving features Confucius sitting solemnly in the center, flanked by his ten major disciples.

⛰️Shimenshan Rock Carvings
The Dazu Rock Carvings’ grandest integrated Buddhist and Taoist carving group: Taoist images skillfully combine the majesty of deities with the vividness of humans, with the representative work being the Ten Saints Guanyin Cave.