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Dazu
Grottos, 160 km northwest of Chongqing, include
over 60,000 figures scattered in more than 100 places. They
are primarily Buddhist cave sculptures noted for unusual
domestic detail as well as purely religious themes. They were
carved during the times of the Tang Dynasty (618-907AD), Five
Dynasties (907-960), and Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD). The two
major sites are North Hill and Baoding Hill. The North Hill
sculptures and inscriptions, one kilometer northwest of Dazu
County town include over 10,000 figures of Buddha and
Bodhisattvas in various poses; they are famous for their
elegance and exquisiteness. The development of Chinese grotto
art is obvious as one compares figures from earlier and later
periods.
The figures carved during the Tang Dynasty (618-907AD) are
decorous, full and round in appearance, and simple and
honest in temperament. The sculptures carved during the
period of the Five Dynasties are ingenious, subtle, and
dainty, with natural and unrestrained looks. The images from
the time of the Song
Dynasty are graceful in posture and well-proportioned in
physical build; their garments are gorgeous beyond
description. These works were finely wrought with human beings
and deities ingeniously and skillfully merged in the
sculptures exactly conforming to traditional Chinese aesthetic
standards. The Baoding Hill sculptures and inscriptions,
located fifteen kilometers northeast of Dazu town,
were carved
during the Southern Song Dynasty and are the only extant
Buddhist Sect Bohhimandala carved on stone in China. Baoding
Hill figures are centered around a magnificent 100-foot
reclining Buddha.
More than 10,000 figures were carved and inscribed along a
nearly 400 meters long U-shaped cliff bend, very much like a
long picture-story scroll. The overall structure is imposing
and magnificent and the composition is wonderful and
ingenious. These sculptures are very impressive with the
skillful combination of scientific principles and artistic
models, and with rich social content and flavor of life. These
figures are realistic for they originated from life. They
provide rich historic materials for they vividly reflected the
life, thoughts and feelings of the ancient people.
The
grottoes represented by sculptures on North Hill and Baoding
Hill outline the development of the grotto art from later Tang
Dynasty to later Song Dynasty. Pushing Chinese grotto art to a
new summit with distinctive national and local
characteristics, they are masterpieces of the later period of
Chinese grotto art. Dazu Grottoes are now a renowned tourist
attraction.
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