The Dazu carvings were created between the ninth and thirteenth centuries, spanning the late Tang, the Five Dynasties and the Song. They form one of the great grotto complexes of China, alongside Dunhuang, Longmen and Yungang, but they differ in being carved in many separate sites on open cliff faces rather than concentrated in cave temples, and in drawing on Confucian and Taoist imagery as well as Buddhist.
The sites
There are more than seventy protected sites in the area, with the largest and finest at Baodingshan, about fifteen kilometers northeast of Dazu town, and the most varied at Beishan, just outside the town. Baodingshan contains a long horseshoe-shaped cliff carved with a continuous narrative sequence, including a reclining Buddha some thirty-one meters long and scenes of daily life that make the site unusually vivid. Beishan holds a series of smaller, very fine carved niches with portrait-like detail.
Why it matters
The carvings are a compendium of Song-dynasty religious and social life. Figures include Buddhist deities, Taoist immortals, Confucian worthies, and ordinary people in scenes illustrating moral lessons and the consequences of behavior. The carving is intricate and the paint, which has been conserved extensively since the 1990s, adds an extraordinary vividness.
Practical notes
Dazu is about 100 kilometers west of Chongqing, roughly two hours by road, and it can be done as a long day trip or as a stop between Chongqing and Chengdu. Allow three hours for Baodingshan and Beishan. There is walking on stairs and gradients, and little shade at Baodingshan, so bring water and go early. The site is far less crowded than comparable sites in eastern China, which is a strong argument for visiting.
