The great Buddhist cliff carvings of China are mostly famous enough to be crowded, but there are others that see very few visitors, and the Buddha at Tongnan is one. It is cut into a sandstone cliff on the bank of the Fujiang river, a tributary of the Jialing, about two hours north-west of central Chongqing, and it is one of the largest seated Buddhas in the province.
The carving
The figure is seated, about eighteen metres high, with the hands in its lap and a calm, rounded face, and it is gilded, which makes it visible from a distance in the grey rock. Work on it began in the late Tang period and was completed in the Southern Song, so the figure and its setting span several centuries of devotional activity; it was repaired and regilded at intervals, including in recent decades. Because it is sculpted into a cliff rather than standing free, the effect depends on the way the rock has been shaped around it, with attendant figures and niches cut into the wall on either side.
The temple and the setting
A timber hall of several storeys, with tiered eaves, is built against the cliff face to shelter the Buddha, and it is itself an impressive piece of construction - a building hung on a rock wall, its upper galleries level with the head of the figure. The complex also holds stone inscriptions, caves with smaller carvings, a hall with later religious images and a garden on the river terrace. Below the cliff the Fujiang runs wide and slow, with sandbanks and shallows, and the flat farmland on both banks is intensively cultivated, giving the site a feeling of being in the countryside rather than at a monument.
Practical notes
Tongnan is about two hours by road from central Chongqing, and the Buddha is a short taxi ride from the district town; there are also trains to Tongnan, followed by a taxi. The site charges a modest admission, opens daily and needs about an hour. There is a flight of steps up to the temple and the cliff, and the river terrace is pleasant to walk. Because almost nobody goes there, the experience is quiet and unhurried, and it combines well with the old town and the rapeseed fields of the district in spring.
