Cliff Carvings of the Tongnan Giant Buddha Temple

Cliff Carvings of the Tongnan Giant Buddha Temple

The cliff carvings of the Tongnan Giant Buddha Temple are a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The cliff carvings of the Tongnan Giant Buddha Temple are located at the foot of Dingming Mountain, 1.5 kilometers northwest of Tongnan County in Chongqing.

The Tongnan Giant Buddha Temple was first built during the Xiantong era (860–874) of the Tang Dynasty and was originally named "Dingming Yuan," also known as "Nan Chan Temple." Later, during the Song Dynasty, a large Buddha statue was carved into the mountain inside the temple, leading to its renaming as the "Giant Buddha Temple." The temple stands dramatically atop the cliffs, with the main hall rising 33 meters high in a terraced structure. Its seven-story Buddha pavilion features upturned eaves on each level, all covered with glazed tiles. During the Ming Dynasty, a seven-tiered roof was added above the great statue to protect it from wind and rain, and this structure remains well-preserved today. The Giant Buddha Temple has been rebuilt three times in its history, with the last reconstruction taking place in the 11th year of the Republic of China (1922). Today, the site preserves four ancient wooden structures: the Great Buddha Pavilion, Guanyin Hall, Jade Emperor Hall, and Jian Pavilion, most of which date back to the late Qing Dynasty. The Jade Emperor Hall was built in the 11th year of the Republic of China (1922), reportedly constructed by local residents to pray for rain. Located between the Jade Emperor Hall and the Great Buddha Hall, the Guanyin Hall was built during the Song and Yuan dynasties and rebuilt in 1946, housing a Thousand-Armed Guanyin statue. It is said that the placement of Guanyin on the right side of the Buddha distinguishes the Tongnan Giant Buddha Temple from other Buddhist monasteries.

Inside the Great Buddha Hall is a seated statue of Sakyamuni Buddha, carved directly into the cliff. The Buddha features a spiral topknot, a broad face, large ears, kind and serene eyes, and full cheeks. Facing the river with its back to the mountain, the barefoot Buddha sits cross-legged, entirely gilded and radiating brilliance. This is why the statue is commonly known as the "Eight-Zhang Golden Immortal." It is the largest gold-covered Buddha in China and the seventh largest in the world. The seated Sakyamuni statue is 18.43 meters tall, with a chest circumference of 8.35 meters. In the lotus position, the Buddha’s chest is exposed and draped in a double-layered robe, with the left hand resting on the knee and the right hand held flat over the chest in the abhaya mudra (fear-not gesture). The proportions of the Buddha’s body are harmonious, the drapery lines smooth, the expression lifelike, and the overall posture solemn and majestic, with strikingly vivid eyes that enhance the statue’s imposing presence. According to inscriptions, the carving of the Tongnan Giant Buddha’s head and body were undertaken in vastly different time periods. The head was carved in the first year of the Xiantong era (860) of the Tang Dynasty and completed in the first year of the Guangming era (880). However, the carving of the body spanned over 250 years across the Five Dynasties period and into the Northern Song Dynasty, not being completed until the first year of the Jingkang era (1126).

Afterward, it took another 26 years to proportionally extend the body according to the head, finally completing the entire carving in the 21st year of the Shaoxing era (1151) of the Southern Song Dynasty. In total, the carving of the entire Buddha statue took over 290 years. After its completion, in the renshen year (1152) of the Shaoxing era, to gild the statue, further fine polishing was carried out. A monk from the temple, Faxisu, traveled to Luzhou to seek funding from the Luzhou prefect Feng Ji. Feng Ji, a devout Buddhist layman, generously donated his salary for the gilding and even personally composed an inscription to commemorate the event. In February of the 22nd year of Shaoxing (1152), the gilding of the Great Buddha was completed, and the statue was fully covered in gold. Later, the Buddha was regilded four more times—in the 7th year of the Jiaqing era (1802) of the Qing Dynasty, the 9th year of the Tongzhi era (1870), the 3rd year of the Republic of China (1914), and the 10th year of the Republic of China (1921).

The Tongnan Giant Buddha is a rare masterpiece among stone carvings and was once known as one of the "Four Great Buddhas of Shu." In August 1956, it was designated by the People's Government of Sichuan Province as one of the first batch of key protected cultural relics. Centered around the Great Buddha, the surrounding cliff faces stretching over a mile to the east and west feature 83 historical inscriptions, poems, steles, and carvings by literati through the ages, 20 gilded couplets, 5 hydrological inscriptions, 104 niches, and over 700 Buddha statues. Other scenic spots such as the "Stone Staircase Musical Sound," "Heaven-Reaching Buddha," "Jian Pavilion," and "Autumn Moon over Emerald Screen" are collectively known as the Eighteen Scenic Spots alongside the "Eight-Zhang Golden Immortal."

Further to the left of the Seven Emotions Terrace lies a sheer cliff along the river. Stretching over a mile, the cliff is inscribed with numerous historical texts, poems, steles, and carvings by literati. Among them, the most eye-catching is a massive carved character of "Buddha." This "Buddha" character, carved on a steep and towering rock face, is 8.85 meters tall, 6.78 meters wide, and covers an area of 60 square meters. It was inscribed in the 10th year of the Tongzhi era (1870) of the Qing Dynasty by Yunyan Fucheng and is the largest cliff-carved Buddha character in China. The character is simple yet powerful, vigorous and upright, with strokes that seem to carry a force of a thousand pounds. Resting on the riverbank and reaching toward the blue sky, it is also called the "Heaven-Reaching Buddha Character" or "Becoming Buddha While Standing Firm."

In 2006, the cliff carvings of the Tongnan Giant Buddha Temple were approved by the State Council to be included in the sixth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Additional content added in March 2015:

Cliff Carvings of the Qianfo Temple

Time Period: Tang to Yuan and Ming Dynasties

Location: At the northern foot of Zhangjia Bay, north of Group 1, Xuejiawan, Chongkan Town, Tongnan County, Chongqing

The cliff carvings of Qianfo Temple were buried when a reservoir was constructed and stone materials were quarried in the 1950s. In August 2011, they were rediscovered during construction for crushed stone extraction. From September to November 2011, the Chongqing Cultural Heritage Research Institute (formerly the Chongqing Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute) conducted rescue archaeological excavations, rubbing data extraction, iconographic descriptions, tracing drawings, and high-precision photography of the carvings and nearby cliff faces. Together with the School of History and Culture at Sichuan University, a 3D scan of the carvings was also performed, yielding significant preliminary results.

The excavated and cleared cliff carvings of Qianfo Temple run east-west, stretching 30 meters in length with a remaining height of 4 meters. The lowest part is 1.5 meters above ground level. Archaeological excavation at the base of the cliff revealed architectural remains from the Ming and Qing periods, though these are heavily damaged and their layout is unclear. There are 43 exposed niches on the cliff face, categorized by type into square niches, outer-square inner-arched niches, arched niches, and house-shaped niches. Approximately 283 individual carvings have been identified, along with 27 textual inscriptions. Based on the subjects, artistic styles, and dated inscriptions, it is preliminarily inferred that the Qianfo Temple cliff carvings date as early as the mid-Tang Dynasty and as late as the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, with a concentration from the late Tang and Northern Song periods. As these cultural and artistic treasures, nestled in the aesthetics of the Tang and Song styles, come to light, they are truly exquisitely magnificent.

The Qianfo Temple cliff carvings are large in scale, early in age, and well-preserved, featuring a rich variety of subjects and exquisite carving. They hold significant artistic and Buddhist archaeological value. Notably, niche 39 contains an inscription dating to the "11th Year of Tianbao," providing important material for the study of mid-Tang Buddhist archaeology in the Chongqing region. The late Tang carvings at Qianfo Temple also show an increasingly diverse range of themes. In addition to common combinations of Buddhist figures, there are also carvings within single niches that combine elements of both Buddhism and Taoism, serving as further evidence of the diversification of worship objects and the de-classicization of carving styles in the Sichuan-Chongqing region from the late Tang to the Song Dynasty. The repeated appearance of bodhi twin trees, anthropomorphic celestial beings of the Eight Divisions, and bodhi auspicious images among the cave clusters indicates elements of Esoteric Buddhist art. Such themes underwent a transition from Exoteric to Esoteric in the Buddhist carving systems of the two capitals during the early Tang Dynasty. According to Mr. Long Xianzhao’s proposition that “the Buddhist teachings of Chang’an shone upon the Ba River,” the twin-tree and Eight Divisions motifs seen in the Sichuan-Chongqing carving systems of the late Tang period can also be viewed as being influenced and radiated by the carving styles of the two capitals.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units