Stele of Emperor Wen of Northern Zhou and Cliff Carvings

Stele of Emperor Wen of Northern Zhou and Cliff Carvings

The Stele of Emperor Wen of Northern Zhou and Cliff Carvings is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Stele of Emperor Wen of Northern Zhou and Cliff Carvings

The Stele of Emperor Wen of Northern Zhou is located at Dafoyan in Shanquan Township, Longquanyi District, Chengdu. The stele is carved into the rock wall of the middle section of Longquan Mountain, on an ancient rock known as Tianluoshi (Heavenly Fallen Stone). It stands 2.24 meters tall and is 1.25 meters wide. The stele’s cap is adorned with bas-reliefs of a vermilion bird and four small Buddha figures. The top of the stele features 15 rows of upright script carved in relief, with 4 characters per row, each character measuring 5.4 cm, all within 7 cm square positive-line grids. In 1980, the People's Government of Sichuan Province designated it as a Provincial-Level Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

In May 2013, the Stele of Emperor Wen of Northern Zhou and Cliff Carvings were listed as part of the seventh group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Protected Area: Bounded by the existing perimeter wall.

Construction Control Zone: Extending 60 meters beyond the protected area.

Yuwen Tai (505–556), also known as Heitu, was a leading minister of the Western Wei regime and the founding figure of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. He was a renowned statesman and military strategist during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period. Of Xianbei ethnicity from the Yuwen clan, his family was from Wuchuan Town in Dai Commandery (present-day western Wuchuan County, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region). He administered the Guanzhong region for many years, implementing reforms that promoted the Sinicization of Xianbei politics, rapidly strengthening the power of the Western Wei and laying the foundation for the Northern Zhou’s unification of northern China.

In early 534, during the third year of the Yongxi era of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the military governor of the Western Region, Helian Yue, was assassinated by his subordinate Houmochen Yue. At the time, Yuwen Tai, serving as Colonel of the Imperial Guard and Governor of Xiazhou, took it upon himself to… More details about Yuwen Tai ++

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units