Past exhibition of rock carvings of Dazu at National Museum of Wales

The steep hillsides of the Dazu world heritage site near Chongqing, China contain an exceptional series of rock carvings dating from the 9th -13th century.

   The carvings comprise some 50,000 figures in total. They are remarkable for their aesthetic quality, rich diversity of subject matter, both secular and religious, and the light that they shed on everyday life in China during this period.

   The exhibition provided a unique opportunity to see some of these sculptures, which had never before been seen outside China.

   From Steep Hillsides: Ancient Rock Carvings from Dazu, China contained superb examples that have become detached from their original setting, along with accurate replicas of some of the most important sculptures still in situ and dramatic large-scale images to give some idea of what it is like to visit these spectacular places.

   Whilst the rock carvings have now returned to China there are links to photos and other stuff here.