Cliffside Rock Carvings at Linjiangyan

Cliffside Rock Carvings at Linjiangyan

The Cliffside Rock Carvings at Linjiangyan are a cultural relic protection unit of Chongqing Municipality.

The Cliffside Rock Carvings at Linjiangyan are located at No. 281 Renmin Road, Zhongzhou Town, Zhongxian County, and date back to the Tang Dynasty.

The carvings feature a multitude of figures arranged in a well-balanced composition, with vivid modeling and exquisite craftsmanship, all remarkably well-preserved. The carvings are spread across a 5-meter-wide and 2.5-meter-high section of the cliff facing Linjiang, oriented eastward toward the west. There are a total of five niches containing 33 figures of various types and one inscribed text. The rock face consists of Jurassic quartz sandstone from the Mesozoic era, characterized by its hardness and strong resistance to erosion. There are multiple architectural tenon holes on the cliff face, arranged in an orderly fashion. Based on the arrangement and size of these holes, it can be inferred that the original Linjiangyan site had a gable-roofed wooden structure built into the cliff for shelter. The orientation of the carvings is 260 degrees, and their elevation is 185 meters above sea level.

The Linjiangyan carvings are situated in the heart of the Three Gorges Reservoir area in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, on the eastern edge of the Sichuan-Chongqing grotto temple distribution zone, making their significance self-evident. They serve as a crucial link connecting the early Buddhist sculptural art of Chongqing, Hubei, and Hunan.

In 2000, the Cliffside Rock Carvings at Linjiangyan were designated as part of the first group of cultural relic protection units by the Chongqing Municipal People's Government.