Temple at Dazu Chongqing

Temple at Dazu Chongqing

The Dazu Rock Carvings (Chinese: 大足石刻; pinyin: Dàzú Shíkè) 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. 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."[1] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazu_Roc…

大足石刻位于中国西南部重庆市大足区境内，是唐末宋初时期的摩崖石刻，以佛教题材为主，其中以宝顶山摩崖造像和北山摩崖造像最为著名。大足石刻是中国著名的古代石刻艺术，1999年被列为世界文化遗产。

大足石刻最初开凿于初唐永徽元年（公元650年）（尖山子摩崖造像），历经晚唐、五代（公元907～959年），盛于两宋（960～1278年），明清时期（14～19世纪）亦有所增刻，最终形成了一处规模庞大，集中国石刻艺术精华之大成的石刻群，其内容为释儒道三教合一，堪称中国晚期石窟艺术的代表，也是中国南方石窟艺术中的顶尖之作。zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A…

Good information on some of the carvings here:
rainer.typke.org/chongqingdazu…

David McBride Photography