Huinan Cliff Paintings

Huinan Cliff Paintings

The Huinan Cliff Paintings are a protected cultural relic site of Chongqing Municipality.

The Huinan Cliff Paintings are located to the east of Hongtong Village, Simianshan Town, Jiangjin City, dating back to the pre-Han Dynasty period.

Simianshan is home to a rich legacy of human historical and cultural heritage. Just as Dunhuang has the Mogao Caves and Chongqing has the Dazu Rock Carvings — masterpieces from the golden age of ancient rock carving art — Simianshan may lack such pinnacle works, but it does have the Huinan Cliff Murals, which hold historical and cultural value that rivals those renowned stone artworks. The origin of the Huinan Cliff Murals can be traced back 5,000 years to the Neolithic Age. They are a crystallization of the labor, life, and culture of the ancient Ba people. Not only do they fill a gap in the rock mural history of the Bashu region, but they also push back the recorded history of the ancient Ba people in Chongqing and Bashu culture by more than a thousand years. These are rare southern rock carvings that exhibit characteristics of the northern steppe rock art tradition, rewriting the previous belief that no carved rock paintings existed in southern China. They hold significant historical and cultural importance. This mural, embodying the wisdom and courage of the ancient Ba people, not only fills a void in the region’s rock art history but was also created much earlier than the famous ancient cliff murals of Yunnan, pushing back the timeline of the ancient Ba people’s history and Bashu culture by over 1,000 years. As a result, the ancient Huinan Cliff Paintings of Simianshan hold considerable historical and cultural significance. In 1992, they were designated as a municipal-level protected cultural relic site by the Chongqing Municipal People's Government.

The Huinan Cliff Murals stretch 102 meters in length and stand 30 meters high. The rock surface features more than ten types of clearly discernible animal images, including cattle, bears, fish, and goats, with approximately 40 identifiable animal figures. The carvings depict a variety of creatures such as fish, sheep, bears, and cattle, rendered both in full form and in partial outline. Some images overlap in size, while others stand alone. Among the murals, several old goats are shown with curled beards, seemingly still bleating and calling to their companions as they roam the land of Simianshan where they were born and raised. Nearby, a sturdy black bear lifts its massive head, searching the surroundings as if a powerful warrior yearning for a new challenger to unleash its long-pent-up strength. The mural also depicts an extinct species of swordfish, glaring fiercely with tiger-like eyes, fixed on a distant stream as if nostalgic for the clear waters it once freely swam in. Particularly striking are the numerous and prominent depictions of cattle. The largest cow measures three meters in length and two meters in height, uniquely shaped and majestic, radiating raw power. The entire mural is carved using a dot-to-line technique, seemingly casual yet refined, vividly expressing some intense imagery from the artist’s inner world.

The ancient Ba people of the late Neolithic Age, using only simply polished stone and bone tools, managed to create this massive cliff painting on the steep cliffs — a feat that never fails to awe later generations. But why did they take such risks to carve these images on the sheer cliffs? Was it a form of totem worship for primitive tribes? Or a display of hunting prowess to flaunt wealth and strength? And what about those mysterious symbols that remain undeciphered to this day — all of these leave behind a series of unresolved mysteries for posterity. It is said that in ancient times, Simianshan was once covered by ocean. After tectonic shifts, many marine creatures were left behind. The over ten animal figures depicted on the cliffs, drawn from real life, include both marine and terrestrial species. To have hunted such animals, the inhabitants must have been part of a large tribe or ethnic group. Due to natural conditions at the time, the tribe decided to cross the Dawopu virgin forest in search of a new habitat. However, due to backward productivity and harsh natural environments, the tribe perished within the forest. Years later, experts discovered human remains from that era in the virgin forest, lending credence to this theory.

Hongtong Village: Jiangjin Simianshan's Hongtong Village Awarded Title of National Famous Village for Characteristic Landscape Tourism

A national symposium on famous towns and villages for characteristic landscape tourism was held in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, where the first and second batches of national famous villages and towns for characteristic landscape tourism were honored. Hongtong Village in Simianshan Town, Jiangjin District, was listed among the national famous villages for characteristic landscape tourism, and attended the award ceremony on-site.

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