Cliff statues of Thousand Buddhas in Guangyuan

Cliff statues of Thousand Buddhas in Guangyuan

It is on the East Bank of Jialing River, 4km north of Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province. It is the most magnificent Grottoes in Sichuan, stretching for more than half a mile. The statue is of great scale and momentum. According to the inscriptions in the fourth year of Xianfeng (1854) of the Qing Dynasty, there are more than 17000 Buddha statues on the cliff. In 1935, the Sichuan Shaanxi highway was built and more than half of the statues were destroyed. The existing stone carvings are more than 20d meters long from north to south, and the highest is about 40 meters long. There are more than 400 niches and more than 7000 statues on Qianfo cliff in Guangyuan. The niches are densely overlapped, with more than 13 layers.

In April 1961, it was listed as one of the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council.

General situation

The statues of thousand Buddha cliff are the most magnificent Grottoes in Sichuan. On the cliff surface, which is 420 meters long and 40 meters high, there are 13 layers of niches. According to the records of the stone tablet erected in 1854, there are more than 17000 statues in Quanyan. But when the Sichuan Shaanxi highway was built in 1935, more than half of the statues were destroyed. There are more than 400 large and small niches and more than 7000 statues. According to the statistics of Guangyuan county annals, there are 27 inscriptions in Tang Dynasty, 5 inscriptions in Five Dynasties, 26 inscriptions in Song Dynasty, 26 inscriptions in Yuan Dynasty, 8 inscriptions in Ming Dynasty and 41 inscriptions without year number. There are also more than 100 inscriptions and cliff inscriptions in Tang, song, yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Features of scenic spots

The statue of thousand Buddha cliff, centered on Dayun cave, is divided into North and South sections. The famous niches in the southern section include Buddha cave, lotus cave, Muni cave, thousand Buddha cave, Sleeping Buddha cave, Duobao Buddha cave, Ruyi wheel Guanyin cave, etc.; the famous niches in the northern section include Sanshi Buddha cave, carefree tree Buddha cave, Maitreya Buddha cave, Sanshen Buddha cave, Bodhi statue cave, Lushena Buddha cave, and Tibetan Buddha cave in the Qing Dynasty, which are a collection of stone carvings from the northern and Southern Dynasties, Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, It has a unique artistic style.

Detailed introduction

Dayun cave is in the center of Qianfo cliff, 3.8 meters high, 3.6 meters wide and 10.6 meters deep. In the middle of the cave is the Standing Statue of Maitreya, with broad shoulders, fat body, round face, curved eyebrows, and a smile on his belly. There are many small niches and orderly arranged Bodhisattvas carved on both sides. Two deep niches are chiseled out on the left and right walls, and seven statues of one Buddha, two disciples, two Bodhisattvas and two powerful men are carved inside. The north and south walls are carved with a semicircle carving method, and 148 Guanyin statues are carved, both of which are full of crowns, full of costumes and feet on Yunlian, with extraordinary momentum.

The Buddha in the Great Buddha cave and the three holy niches has a delicate appearance, small eyes and thin lips. The shoulder length Buddha clothes are folded and carved in a straight line, with a soft and thin texture. He has a protruding forehead, a high nose, deep cleft lips and elegant expression. His two beards are high on his head, and there is a ribbon hanging on his ears. His shoulders are crossed in front of his abdomen. From the modeling features of liantai, Buddhist niches, mosquito dragon arch eyebrows and so on, they are different from other niches in style, which should be the works of the northern and Southern Dynasties. In the Sansheng niche cave on the right side of Dayun cave, there is a written inscription of the first year of Liang Tiancheng (555) of the Southern Dynasty. The statue of the third niche in the cave has a simple face and elegant clothes. It is similar to the statue of Dafo cave and belongs to the earliest statue of Qianfo cliff.

Lotus cave is named after a lotus flower with a diameter of 1.2 meters in the middle of the caisson. The peony around the lotus is painted by the people of Song Dynasty, and the lotus cone is the "eight trigrams Tai Chi diagram" of Chinese Taoism. A large niche is carved on the East, North and south walls of the cave. Inside, there is a Buddha with two flanks. The Buddha has a square face and wide shoulders. He is dressed in a coat with a round collar and shoulder, a cassock on the outside and a peach shaped halo on the back. In the space of the three niches, there are 96 niches and more than 130 statues of Buddha, arhat and Guanyin. In the sleeping niche, Sakyamuni lies on his side with a serene look, like the disciples behind him. Some beat their chests, others wailed and sobbed, with different postures and expressions. There is a Bodhisattva standing on both ends of the tree, with a dragon on each trunk. In the north wall relief of the cave niche, there are two groups of stories about the Buddha's self Immolation of the golden coffin. This niche is a masterpiece of stone sculptures of the Tang Dynasty.

There are also many small niches on Qianfo cliff, which are carefully carved and vivid in character images, such as musicians in Hu clothes, flying Apsaras dancing with the music, flying people with wings, warriors in armor, birds and animals, fairy tales and so on. They are rich in content and are a treasure house for the study of ancient Chinese Grotto Art.

Construction history

Qianfo cliff cliff statues began in the Northern Wei Dynasty. After nearly 1500 years, the 45 meter high cliff with a length of more than 200 meters from north to south is full of niches, overlapping 13 layers, dense as a beehive.

According to the inscriptions of emperor Xianfeng of the Qing Dynasty in 1854, the total number of statues on the cliff is 17000. Unfortunately, when the Sichuan Shaanxi highway was built in 1935, more than half of the statues were destroyed. There are only more than 400 niches and 7000 statues. The whole cliff statue takes Dayun cave as the center and is divided into North and South sections. The niches in the southern section include: Buddha cave, lotus cave, Muni Pavilion, thousand Buddha cave, Sleeping Buddha niche, Duobao Buddha niche, Jieyin Buddha niche, donor niche, Shenlong Buddha, Ruyi wheel Guanyin, single Buddha cave, etc;

There are three niches in the northern section: the third Buddha niches, the no worry tree niches, the Maitreya niches, the Sanshen niches, the Jiexing monk niches, the Bodhi niches, the Jile Tianren niches, the dizang wangniches, the Lishi niches, the Lushena niches, the eleven Guanyin niches, the Amitabha niches, the Feitian niches, and the Tibetan Buddha Caves in the Qing Dynasty.

Dayun cave is located in the center of Qianfo cliff, with the largest scale. There are 234 statues, 148 lotus Guanyin statues on the left and right walls, and Maitreya Buddha is the largest statue in the middle of the cave. It is said that Maitreya is the incarnation of Empress Wu. In 690, when Wu Zetian officially ascended the throne, 12 monks, including Xue Huaiyi, the faming monk of Baima temple, wrote Dayun Jing to meet the needs of Wu Zetian as emperor.

According to Dayun Jing, Wu Zetian was born as Maitreya Buddha and should replace Li Tang as emperor. Wu Zetian was overjoyed and wrote a preface in her own handwriting, which was promulgated in the world. She also ordered the States to build Dayun temple to collect Dayun Scripture.

Because Wu Zetian was born in Lizhou, the local people built Dayun cave on Qianfo cliff, and carved this statue of Maitreya Buddha and the two saints in the back niche, Gaozong Lizhi and Wu Zetian. According to the Chinese tradition, men should be left and women should be right, and the arrangement of the two saints is women left and men right, while men in the Buddhist niche are higher and women are lower, which reflects the ingenious idea of the designer.

Address: East Bank of Jialing River, Lizhou District, Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province

Longitude: 105.85362036644

Latitude: 32.469372448576

Chinese PinYin : Guang Yuan Qian Fo Ya Mo Ya Zao Xiang