大足石刻总概况(英文)

WORLD HERITAGE------DAZU ROCK CARVINGS OF CHINA

Grotto art, which originated in ancient India and came to China with Buddhism, flourished along the Silk Road and the Huanghe River Valley from the brilliant Northern Wei to the prosperous Sui and Tang Dyna sties, and went downhill after the “Rebelling of An Lusan and Shi Siming”. Just at this time of its extinction, Dazu Rock Carvings suddenly began to develop, and constituted another splendid page in the history of grotto art in China.

The general term of “Dazu Rock Carvings” mainly refers to all the cliffside carvings art in Dazu County. Put under conservation and protection are 75 spots of cliffside carvings composed of more than 50,000 statues. Among them, the statues of Beishan, Baodingshan, Nanshan, Shimenshan and Shizhuanshan especially possess their characteristics. Construction of Dazu Rock Carvings started in early Tang Dynasty, went through the Five Dynasties and flourished in the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties. They are the last monumental works in the history of Chinese grotto art.

Based on the centuries-old cultures of “Bashu”, Dazu Rock Carvings put forward new ideas and developed a new field of

grotto art. They are the grotto arts apotheoses of Sinicism with strong characteristics of nationalization, flavor of life and secularization. Displaying the developments and changes of the religious beliefs among Chinese and the art style after late Tang Dynasty, Dazu Rock Carvings and the grottoes of Dunhuang, Yungang, Longmen,etc. have formed the complete history of Chinese grotto art. The UNESCO World Heritage, at its 23th session held in December 1999, decided to inscribe the Dazu Rock Carvings on the World Heritage List.