The Beishan cliff statues were first carved in the late Tang Dynasty and ended in the Southern Song Dynasty. The stone carvings are located on Beishan Mountain, 2 kilometers north of Dazu County. With Dafowan as the center, there are five places around it: Guanyin Slope, Yingpan Slope, Fo'er Rock and Beita Temple. More than 500 meters long. The rock is about 7 meters high and there are statues along the cliff. From south to north it is shaped like a crescent moon, and its niches are like honeycombs. There are more than 5,000 statues. The sculptures are delicate and exquisite, and the craftsmanship is skillful and ingenious. Except for some of the inscriptions, towers and shallow niches that were damaged, the rest are well preserved.
Beishan, also known as Longgang Mountain in ancient times, is 1.5 kilometers north of Longgang Town, Dazu County, with an altitude of 545.5 meters. The key protection area of ??Beishan cliff statues is 7.62 hectares, the general protection area is 21.82 hectares, and the construction control zone area is 28.15 hectares. The cliff statues at Fowan in Beishan were excavated from 892 to 1162 AD (from the first year of Jingfu in the Tang Dynasty to Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty). The cliff face of the statue is about 300 meters long and 7 to 10 meters high. The niches and grottoes are as dense as a honeycomb and are divided into two sections, the south and the north, collectively numbered 290 (numbers 1 to 100 are the south section, and numbers 101 to 290 are the north section). Among them, there are 264 statues in niches, 1 incised picture, and 8 sutras.
There are nearly 10,000 cliff statues in Beishan, mainly carved for secular prayers. There are 51 kinds of statue themes, mainly Buddhist Tantra, accounting for more than half of the total. Followed by the Third Order Sect, Pure Land Sect, etc. The themes of these statues were extremely popular among the people at that time. They were the product of the secularization of Buddhism and were different from the early Chinese grottoes. Beishan statues are world-famous for their exquisite carvings, superb craftsmanship, and elegance. They show the development and changes of Chinese folk Buddhist beliefs and grotto art styles from the late 9th century to the middle of the 12th century (late Tang Dynasty, Five Dynasties, and Two Song Dynasties).
There are 12 types of sculptures in the late Tang Dynasty at the end of the 9th century AD, with the majority of them being Avalokitesvara and Avalokitesvara, Ksitigarbha and Amitabha. The statue is dignified and plump, with a strong temperament, fine clothing lines, and thin clothing that fits the body, reflecting the legacy of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. No. 5 Bishamon Tenwang Shrine, No. 9 Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara Shrine, No. 10 Sakyamuni Buddha Shrine, No. 51 Third World Buddhist Shrine, and No. 52 Amitabha Buddha Shrine are all his representative works. In particular, the Avalokitesvara Buddhist Sutra No. 245 is rich in content and has clear layers. It is engraved with "Three Saints of the West", "Three Grades and Nine Lives", "No Resentment", "Sixteen Views", Ji Le Tian Ren, Towers and Pavilions, etc.; There are 539 human figures and more than 460 artifacts of various kinds, preserving various historical data on images; it is second to none among similar-themed sculptures in Chinese grottoes.
The statues of the Five Dynasties in the mid-10th century account for more than one-third of the statues in Beishan. They are the area with the most statues in this period in China and play an important role as a link between the past and the future. There are 18 kinds of statue themes, and new contents such as the Medicine Master's Sutra and the Dharani Sutra have appeared. Its artistic features are small and exquisite, changeable postures, free and unrestrained expressions, and increasingly complex patterns, showing the transitional style from the Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty. For example, the Buddha and Bodhisattva statues in No. 53 have both the plumpness and simplicity of Tang Dynasty sculptures and the slender bodies of Song Dynasty sculptures. The Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara and its attendants in No. 273 and the Pure Land Transformation of the Oriental Medicine Master in No. 281 are similar. The thin clothes and close-fitting clothes are quite Tang style, and the beautiful appearance is like Song Dynasty carvings.
The Song Dynasty statues from the late 10th century to the middle of the 12th century had a wide range of themes, with as many as 21 kinds, especially Guanyin, which is the most prominent and is known as the exhibition hall of Chinese Guanyin statues. The works of this period are closer to life and reflect the aesthetic perfection of the Song Dynasty. The statues have the characteristics of distinctive personalities, graceful postures, well-proportioned figures, and gorgeous clothing. The most representative one is Cave No. 136, the Chakravartin Sutra, which was built between 1142 and 1146 AD. The statues in this cave reflect their inner peace with their tranquil facial expressions, and show their nobility with their exquisite clothes. It is shaped with lines, paying equal attention to lines and surfaces, and is full of Chinese national characteristics. The body is covered with necklaces, streamers are all over the body, and there are clusters of flowers and beads, which are exquisite and clear, and have a strong decorative flavor. Most of them are well preserved, as if they were newly carved, and are recognized as "a pearl in the crown of Chinese grotto art." Others such as No. 125 Bead-Counting Avalokitesvara, Nos. 113 and 133 Shuiyue Avalokitesvara, No. 155 Peacock Mingwang Cave, No. 177 Sizhou Great Holy Shrine, No. 180 Thirteen Avalokitesvara Cave, etc. are all from this period. of treasures. The image, posture, character, expression, as well as the pleats of clothes and accessories of these statues are all intriguing. The combinations are rich and varied, the carvings are exquisite, and unexpected artistic conceptions emerge one after another as you move step by step and look at every aspect.
Among the cliff statues in Beishan, there are 7 existing tablets.
Among them, the "Wei Junjing Stele" engraved in 895 AD has important value in supplementing the history of the Tang Dynasty; the "Zhao Yijian Gong Shendao Stele" engraved between 1163 and 1189 AD was written by Cai Jing, one of the four major calligraphers in the Song Dynasty, and is a masterpiece of calligraphy. A treasure of art; the twenty-two chapters of "The Stele of the Classic of Filial Piety" are called "the only moment in the world" by historians. In addition, there are 17 inscriptions and poems and 77 statues. Research on historical geography, religious beliefs, grotto chronology, historical figures, etc. are all of high value.