Yinshan Rock Carvings

Yinshan Rock Carvings

The Yinshan Rock Carvings are a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Yinshan Rock Carvings

The Yinshan Rock Carvings are located within the territory of Shajin Sumu in Dengkou County. Most of them are stone carvings made on the cliffs by hunters and nomads from primitive tribes as well as various ethnic groups such as the Xiongnu, Chile, Turks, Tanguts, and Mongols. They originated as early as the late Paleolithic Age. According to experts, over ten thousand pieces have been discovered here, making it one of the world’s largest art galleries.

Stretching thousands of miles from east to west, the Yinshan Mountain Range lies across the central and southern parts of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. With vast grasslands to its north and south and a pleasant climate, it is a place where “the wind blows the grass low to reveal cattle and sheep.” Many northern nomadic peoples of China, such as the Beidi, Xiongnu, Xianbei, Turks, Huihu (Hun), Chile, Tanguts, Khitans, Guifang, Shanrong, and Mongols, have successively lived here and created splendid ancient cultures. In recent years, in the Langshan area of the western section of the Yinshan Mountain Range, a unique gem of the splendid ancient culture of northern China’s nomadic peoples—rock carvings—has been discovered.

Rock carvings, as the name suggests, are images carved or painted on rocks. With their simple, bold, and refined artistic style and rich, unique cultural connotations, they have attracted widespread attention from academic circles both at home and abroad.

As for the Yinshan Rock Carvings, they were discovered as early as the 5th century AD by the Northern Wei Dynasty geographer Li Daoyuan, who recorded them in his “Commentary on the Water Classic”: “The Yellow River flows northeast past the Stone Cliff Mountain to the west, 500 li from the northern region. On the rocks of the mountain, there are naturally occurring patterns resembling tigers and horses, vividly displayed, almost like drawings, hence it is also called the Painted Stone Mountain.” Inner Mongolian archaeologists followed the clues provided in the “Commentary on the Water Classic” and discovered nearly ten thousand rock carvings in the Yinshan-Langshan area, stretching about 300 km from east to west—from Alxa Left Banner in the west, through Dengkou County and Chaoge Banner, to Wulate Zhonghou Banner in the east—and about 40–70 km from north to south. The sheer number, rich content, and ancient origins of these carvings are truly breathtaking.

As early as the 5th century AD, the Yinshan Rock Carvings within the territories of Urad Front Banner, Urad Rear Banner, Urad Middle Banner, and Dengkou County in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region were discovered by the Northern Wei Dynasty geographer Li Daoyuan. He provided detailed descriptions in his famous “Commentary on the Water Classic.” These records are the earliest known accounts of the Yinshan Rock Carvings in the world. However, for several centuries afterward, no one paid them any further attention. It was not until the late 1930s that the Sino-Swedish Northwest Scientific Expedition discovered a few rock carvings. Comprehensive studies of the rock carvings began in 1976. Since then, every year many experts, scholars, and tourists have come to Bayannur to study and visit. To date, more than ten thousand rock carvings have been discovered, with nearly a thousand having been photographed and traced. These rock carvings not only reflect the beliefs, aesthetics, and worldviews of the ancient inhabitants of the Yinshan region but also reveal their nomadic way of life.

The Yinshan Rock Carvings are widely distributed, with the highest concentration in the Heishan Mountain area of Dilihari Mountain in the southern part of Urad Middle Banner, extending over five kilometers from east to west. In this single area alone, there are over a thousand rock carvings. Not far to the northeast of the southern slope and mountaintop of Dilihari Mountain, there are also numerous rock carvings that connect with those of Dilihari Mountain, forming one rock carving distribution zone. About eight kilometers southwest of Dilihari Mountain, on the northern side of Wayaogou, rock carvings appear roughly every two to ten meters—or slightly farther apart—with a total of over nine hundred pieces. Next is the black stone area of Beituolin Valley Mountain in Dengkou County, where rock carvings generally appear every two to three meters, with no more than ten meters between the furthest ones, totaling over five hundred pieces.

The most densely concentrated group of rock carvings is found on a cliff facing north in Molehetugou, spanning approximately 50 meters from east to west and about 20 meters in height, consisting of around eighty human head carvings. Another is located on a cliff facing west in the middle section of Gesenghede Valley, about five meters wide and fifteen meters high, composed of fifty individual carvings.

The largest rock carving by area is a square-shaped carving on the stones at the western mouth of Daba Valley in Urad Rear Banner, covering an area of about 400 square meters, and is listed as a key cultural relic protected at the autonomous region level. On May 25, 2006, the Yinshan Rock Carvings, as stone carvings from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age, were approved by the State Council to be included in the sixth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units