Dazu Stone Carvings is situated in
Dazu County of Chongqing City in Sichuan Province, which is reputed as the
Homeland of Stone Carvings. Dazu Stone Carvings was cut originally in 649 during
the Yonghui reign of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), flourished in the Song Dynasty
(960-1279) and expanded in the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911). Finally, a
large-scale collection of stone carvings came into being. Dazu Stone Carvings is
as famous as Yungang Grottoes, Longmen Grottoes, and Mogao Grottoes.
Dazu Stone Carvings include
over 100,000 statues in more than 70 sites, especially densely distributed on
North Mountain, Baoding Mountain, South Mountain, Sichuan Mountain, Shimen
Mountain.
Among Dazu stone carvings, quite a few are
related to religious beliefs with more than 50,000 Buddhist, Taoist and
Confucian statues. Along with the statues, there are all kinds of sutra, eulogy,
inscriptions, event records, totaling more 150,000 characters. These
inscriptions and epigraphs are of great academic value and provide plenty of
vivid materials for research on politics, economy, religious art, customs, and
social life of the Song Dynasty.