Thousand Buddha Cliff Stone Carvings

We arrived at the Thousand Buddha Cliff in Guangyuan in the evening. Luckily, we still had more than an hour to visit, and there were few tourists. The Thousand Buddha Cliff Stone Carvings in Guangyuan are located on the east bank of the Jialing River, 4 km north of the old city of Lizhou District, Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province. The carvings were first created during the Northern Wei Dynasty, and were continuously carved during the Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties. The carvings have the longest history in Sichuan and are the largest group of stone carvings in Sichuan Province. They are known as the "Exhibition Hall of Stone Carving Art of All Dynasties." The stone carvings are the result of the Sinicization of Buddhism and cave temples. Cave temples originated in India and were carved into natural rocks and cliffs to provide a place for monks to practice. After Buddhism was introduced to China, as it became more secular, cave temples could no longer meet the needs of more believers. Therefore, shallow niches were carved into natural cliffs or statues were directly carved to form large-scale venues. In terms of architectural form, they were centered around open stone carvings of large Buddhas or large Buddha caves. The Thousand Buddha Cliff Stone Carvings are the result of the Sinicization of Buddhism. On March 4, 1961, the Thousand Buddha Cliff Stone Carvings in Guangyuan were announced as one of the first national key cultural relics protection units. Thousand Buddha Cliff