Little Le Mountain Cliff Carvings

Little Le Mountain Cliff Carvings

The Little Le Mountain Cliff Carvings are a cultural relic protection unit of Sichuan Province.

The Little Le Mountain Cliff Carvings are located in Luoshan Village, Heshu Town, about 15 kilometers southeast of Peng’an County, Sichuan Province, facing the ancient city of Yunsan, a resistance site against the Yuan Dynasty, in the distance. With an elevation of 600.1 meters, the mountain ridge runs from northeast to southwest. The carvings are situated on the northern slope of the mountain, stretching over 200 meters from east to west. From east to west, they include the Giant Buddha head, the Great Buddha Hall, the Eight Immortals Cave, and the Thousand Buddha Cliff.

Since the late Ming Dynasty, the construction of Buddhist carvings and temples began on Little Le Mountain. Original temples such as the Guanyin Pavilion and the Great Buddha Hall were built and rebuilt multiple times, but were eventually destroyed during the Great Leap Forward in 1958 and the Cultural Revolution after 1966. However, due to the difficult access, apart from major political movements, construction and destruction were not very convenient. The Thousand Buddha Cliff carvings were preserved intact in the mid-20th century as they were used as the back wall of a residence, and other carvings also remained relatively undamaged. According to a fragmentary inscription on a merit stele on the right side of the Giant Buddha head, renovations were carried out on the mountain and temples in the 13th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1749 AD), but no other written records exist. Before being designated as a county-level cultural relic protection unit in 1983, the carvings underwent restoration. In 1994, they were listed as a municipal-level cultural relic protection unit.

The Giant Buddha head is carved into a rock slightly below the mountaintop, facing south with its back to the north. The head is 5.93 meters high, 8.3 meters wide, and 4.4 meters thick, with ears 1.7 meters long, a nose 1.5 meters long and 1.48 meters wide, and a mouth 2.1 meters wide in a rare open-mouthed expression, with the upper lip spacing 0.72 meters. The carving has a dignified appearance, a kind expression, and a serene demeanor, with exquisite craftsmanship. Located at the mountaintop, the head uses the mountain ridges extending hundreds of meters on both sides as the outline of the body, making the entire mountain appear as a giant seated Buddha when viewed from afar. This ingenious design of using the mountain as the body is exceptional. Hence, within the mountain, the mountain itself is the Buddha, and it is also known as the Great Buddha Cliff or Great Buddha Mountain, renowned far and wide.

The Great Buddha Hall is located 10 meters west of the Giant Buddha head. Inside the hall is a rectangular open niche, 4.63 meters high and 8.22 meters wide. Its main feature is a sculpture of one Buddha and two disciples, 4.63 meters high and 5.25 meters wide; in the upper left corner are three small standing figures. Currently, from the left and going upwards, the arrangement is as follows: (from left to right) the first row consists of six seated figures: the Laughing Buddha, Kṣitigarbha, the Ox King, the Goddess of Childbirth, the Earth Goddess, and the Earth God; the second row includes five seated figures: Guanyin, various deities, Fuyou, the God of War, and the God of Literature; the third row features five standing figures of Tang Sanzang and his disciples encountering the Bull Demon King; the fourth row has five seated figures resembling court officials; the fifth row comprises five seated figures of underworld emperors; the sixth row includes five seated figures of heavenly Buddha emperors. There are a total of 37 sculptures in the hall. The stone walls inside the hall are 6.3 meters high, and the hall covers an area of approximately 100 square meters.

The Eight Immortals Cave (grotto), located between the Great Buddha Hall and the Thousand Buddha Cliff, has a cave entrance 1.5 meters wide and 1.7 meters high, with a depth of 6 meters. It is named for the carvings of the Eight Immortals and others on the cave walls. Inside the cave, there are 10 niches with a total of 17 sculptures, as well as one stone bed, one stone table, and one stone stove. A stone reclining lion is carved on each side of the cave entrance.

The Thousand Buddha Cliff is located 20 meters west of the Great Buddha Hall. The lower edge of the niche is 0.8 meters above the ground, with a width of 5.6 meters and a height of 1.84 meters. The entire niche is divided into left, middle, and right sections. The left section has 14 layers, with 29–31 figures per layer; the middle section features sculptures such as the Goddess of Childbirth Guanyin, the Eighteen Immortals, and the Filial Piety Buddha; the right section includes the Thousand-Handed Guanyin, the Platform of Longing, the Ten Halls Diagram, and the Buddhist Hall of Mount Emei. The site is divided into 87 niches, with a total of 1,000 Buddhist statues, 99 disciples or attendants, making 1,099 sculptures in all. This niche was spared from various disasters over the years as it was used as the back wall of a residence for a long time, thus remaining intact, and it also has the least weathering. It is considered the finest part of the carving complex.

The Little Le Mountain Cliff Carvings are extremely valuable physical materials for studying the localization of Buddhism and the integration of Buddhism with folklore. They also provide a rare and unique case study for researching the design and construction of giant Buddha statues. The overall composition and interrelation of its various parts offer valuable insights for the study of cliff carvings.

The Little Le Mountain Cliff Carvings blend religious themes with folk legends, carrying a strong folk flavor and offering a distinctive appeal. They are rare and precious physical materials for studying the religious culture and folklore of northeastern Sichuan. In June 2007, they were designated as part of the seventh batch of cultural relic protection units by the People’s Government of Sichuan Province.

Protected Area: East to the small path behind the Great Buddha Hall, south to 5 meters to the left of the Giant Buddha head, west to the small path below the mountain, and north to 5 meters to the left of the Tomb of the Little Le Lay Buddhist.

Construction Control Zone: Eastward from the protected area to the mountaintop of the Great Buddha Hall, southward to the original temple site at the main peak of Little Le Mountain, westward to the lower end of the long stone staircase, and northward to the mountain ridge on the right side of the Tomb of the Little Le Lay Buddhist.

Heshu Town: In 2019, Liutan Township and Kaiyuan Township were abolished, and their administrative regions were incorporated into Heshu Town, which is now under the jurisdiction of Heshu Town People's Government located at No. 13 Wenhua Street.

A town under the jurisdiction of Peng’an County. A pilot town for small-town construction in Sichuan Province. Established as Heshu Township in 1913 and upgraded to a town in 1986. Located in the central part of the county, 8 kilometers from the county seat. It covers an area of 41 square kilometers with a population of 23,000. The Chengdu-Dazhou Railway and the Yilong-Beibei Highway pass through the area. It administers villages including Yanshan, Tangkang, Longyuan, Cisheng, Luoshan, Guihua, Jianfeng, Huangling, Zhulin, Jindou, Jin’e, Yanzi, Huanghua... More detailed information on Heshu Town++