Dazu Rocks Carving

Dazu Rock Carvings

The Rock Carvings in Dazu, southwest China, are highly authentic, have high aesthetic qualities and show the coming together of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. They date from the 9th
to 13th centuries.

These Dazu carvings are considered to be the best representatives of the latest phase of rock art in China. They clearly demonstrate the ingenuity and craftsmanship of their artists with respect to carving techniques and subject matter. In that way, they differ from the other, earlier, Chinese rock art world heritage sites Yungang, Longmen and Mogao.

The designated area consists of five separate sites of cliffside carvings: Beishan, Baodingshan, Nanshan, Shizhuanshan and Shimenshan. Baodingshan is the most prominent site of these. It was here that between 1174 and 1252 the Buddhist monk Zhao Zhifeng ordered the start of work on the elaborate carvings along a 500-meter U-shaped section of Mount Baoding. They show the implementation of Buddhist ideas in daily life as represented by Tantric Buddhism.