On Sunday, March 14, the sun shone brightly for two consecutive days, which is rare in Chongqing. After a cold winter, it is particularly pleasant to feel under the warm and baking sun. After breakfast we decided to go to the Dazu Stone Carving Expo Park to see the stone carvings and eat chen crucian carp. Get ready and start driving right away.
When it comes to Chinese grottoes, we all know the four major grottoes, Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, Luoyang Longmen Grottoes, Datong Yungang Grottoes, and Tianshui Maijishan Grottoes. The Dazu stone carvings are little known, and I didn't take them seriously, although I knew it, but I didn't go back and forth to Chongqing several times, and I always wanted to have the opportunity to go back and forth when it was convenient or passed by.
Entering this stone gate is the Big Buddha Bay of the dojo statue group, the Big Buddha Bay is a deep U-shaped mountain bay, the cliff surface is about 500 meters long, about 20 meters high, the statue is carved on the east, south and north cliffs, there are more than 10,000 statues and inscriptions, inscriptions, Buddha caves, stupas and so on.
Each statue is carved lifelike, solemn and generous, with a kind face. And the preservation is very good, the protruding part of the top of the cliff is like an eaves, which can be shaded from the sun and rain. There is almost no man-made destruction, and the local Chongqing people (formerly Sichuanese) are still quite rational.
The Dazu stone carvings are really well preserved, and for more than 800 years, they have hardly been damaged in any way. Neither the foreign invaders nor the Cultural Revolution Red Guards had a chance to get into the area because they could not go. Dazu was located in the mountainous area, and after the reform and opening up, the road was built around the stone carvings, and it was the poverty and backwardness at that time that protected the stone carvings. In recent years, there have been two cases of stealing and cutting the head of the Buddha, one is that in the ninth year, someone stole the head of a Buddha in Dazu, and the case was quickly solved, and the thief was sentenced to death by the court. The other case was the theft of two Buddha heads in 2004, which has not been solved, and then Wen Qiang, former deputy director of the Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau, had an accident and copied a Buddha head in his villa, which was confirmed to be stolen and cut from the Dazu Stone Carving (another scenic spot).
Shakya Nirvana, this bust reclining Buddha is the largest Buddha statue in the Dazu stone carving, 31 meters long. Shakyamuni Nirvana has been sleeping here for more than 800 years.
Thousand Hands Guanyin, with 1007 arms, stretched out from the left, upper and right, there are also hands with various magic tools, a variety of styles, no one is the same, is the largest cliff carving Thousand Hands Guanyin in China, known as the wonder of the world.
Manjushri's sleeves are light and thin and textured, naturally hanging down as if they are really worn on the body, not only beautiful, but also more important is to support the arm to support the pagoda weighing nearly a thousand pounds, which has stood resolutely for 800 years.
The six reincarnation diagrams, the impermanent ghost responsible for reincarnation bites a wheel, sits cross-legged in the middle and sits a practitioner, and from his body, six Buddha's rays fly out of his body to divide the wheel into six pieces, representing the six levels of the reincarnation world, namely: the Heavenly Dao, the Asura Dao, the Humane Path, the Hungry Ghost Dao, the Hell Dao, and the Animal Path. The explanation says: Only by doing more good deeds can we survive in the first three paths, and we are human beings in this life, which is a blessing cultivated in previous lives, and we must cherish it well.
"Guess what kind of animal this is, guess correctly you can go into the cave to visit." That's what the docent said. I guess it was a lion, but it didn't look like it, but because there were usually stone lions at the door, so I went in to visit, and it turned out that all of them entered and visited.
The Dazu rock carvings were excavated later than the well-known four major grottoes, and are the last monument of human grotto art, and can also be said to be the final work of grotto art. The statues of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism are different from the early grottoes, and have irreplaceable history, artistic and scientific values. It is also known for its grand scale, exquisite carving, rich content and well-preserved. It was inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1999.
This should be the main entrance, out is the shengshou temple on the top of the mountain, we are with the tourists according to the tour route, the back door may be for the convenience of the tour and then built, because once you enter the back door there is a cement bridge across the ravine, that era will not build a bridge here. There are many contents of the big Buddha Bay stone carvings, I just selectively take some Buddha statues that I think are the key points, and if I want to fully understand it, I have to personally come to see it carefully.
The Shengshou Temple on the top of the hill was built in the Southern Song Dynasty, and the existing temple is a Ming and Qing Dynasty building, with a majestic temple and exquisite carvings, a temple with a certain scale. The main halls are the Hall of the Heavenly King, the Hall of the Jade Emperor, the Hall of the Great Treasure, the Hall of Scriptures, the Hall of Burning Lamps, and the Hall of Vimo. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, incense was at its peak.
Go through the temple and go out through the back door to visit the Dazu Rock Carving Museum by electric shuttle bus.
On the left in front of the gate of shengshou temple on Baoding Mountain, and on the upper right of the sleeping Buddha, is an ancient long-lived building. Seeing that the pillars are tilted, it may have become a dangerous building, and it is impossible to go in and visit.
The Dazu Stone Carving Museum, with several exhibition halls, mainly introduces stone carvings from all over the world and in China. The focus is on the history, collection, protection and research process of Dazu rock carvings, showing the value of historical relics of Dazu rock carvings.
There are also pictures of the Kyzyl Caves in Xinjiang.
The Dazu Rock Carving Museum is a national first-class museum, and the Dazu Institute of Rock Carvings has been established here. This shows that the state attaches great importance to Dazu stone carvings.
Pulled out of the museum by electric shuttle bus to the newly built Southern Song Dynasty-style commercial street in recent years, there are snacks and local souvenirs. After crossing the commercial street, take the electric shuttle bus to the parking lot at the gate.
The shuttle fare is 15 yuan for the whole round trip, and the parking fee is 6 yuan.
After the tour of dazu rock carvings, the next target is the Chen crucian carp in the town of Youting. Drive about 20 kilometers to the long-established Chen Crucian Carp General Store in Youting Town, Dazu District.
Look at the plaque on the door, it was issued by the government.
If nothing else, order a pot of aged crucian carp. Cooked to order, you need to wait 40 minutes, fortunately there are not many diners today. Many people drive more than 80 kilometers from the main city of Chongqing to eat crucian carp here, and this delicious taste cannot be eaten anywhere else. I declare that it is not an advertisement, but just a delicacy for donkey friends to introduce to the Dazu Stone Carving.
The fish is full of fat and roe, and spring is the best time to eat crucian carp.
Chen crucian carp is also a historical, and the traditional production technique of eel is the intangible cultural production of Chongqing. Chen crucian carp is a famous specialty of Bashu and the southwest of Manchuria, which is worth your taste.
Dazu stone carving ticket 105 yuan, 60 years old half price, 65 years old free ticket. Chen crucian carp is 40 yuan a pound.