Nankan Grottoes

Nankan Grottoes

Bazhong City, Sichuan Province, once won the reputation of the hometown of grottoes. It has niches, South niches, North niches and West niches, especially the South niches. It is large-scale, exquisitely carved and inlaid, and connected by arms. It is an excellent representative of ancient Grottoes art and the crystallization of ancient Bazhou culture.

geographical position

Nankan grottoes, or nanyanpo Grottoes in Bazhong, are located in the hillside of nanyanpo, one kilometer south of Baicheng. They are more than ten feet high and hundreds of feet long. They are square and square. They are divided into layers and inlaid with Buddhas. Nankan grottoes were created in Sui Dynasty and flourished in Tang Dynasty. They have been engraved more and more, forming a large-scale group of grottoes. At present, there are 176 niches with more than 2700 statues, including one Sutra building, 17 steles, one tablet of "Zou Biao" by Yanwu (Tang Bazhou mu), 35 inscriptions and 51 poems. The statues are exquisite and exquisite, with different postures, rich temperament, dignified and plump, natural and unrestrained spirit, elegant and generous. They are the exquisite works of art of the ancient working people and the ancient culture of Bazhong It's a historical witness of China.

Nankan statue is a religious art mainly based on Buddhism. The statues mainly include "Dharma Buddha", "Sanshi Buddha", "Sakyamuni Buddha", "guizimu Buddha", "seven Buddhas", "Thousand Buddhas", "Amitabha Buddha", "double headed Buddha", "Guanyin Bodhisattva", "Ruyi lunguanyin", "Pisan heavenly king" and "eight Dharma protectors". Most of the statues are works of the Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty and modern times.

Artistic features

The statues in Nankan are characterized by a strong body, a plump face, and rich clothing. For example, the statue of Lushena in 107 niche is 4.45 meters tall, iron red and jumping, with a crown of Huayu on the head. Wearing a cassock with bare right shoulder, it has a full face, moist lips, a strong body, and a solemn expression, which fully shows the artistic charm of conversion. Niche 116 is carved in the 2.7 meters high and 4.2 meters wide niche cave The 93 Buddha statues, the heavenly king statues in the niches, wearing straw sandals, are unique and full of the characteristics of northern Sichuan tombs at that time; the one Buddha's second brother and eight Dharma protectors' niches in niches 53 and 76 have strict layout and delicate carving.

The characters of Nankan statues are quite distinct. The statue of Bodhisattva is graceful, harmonious and vivid; the statue of strongman is majestic and powerful; the statue of flying Apsaras is graceful, lively, exquisitely carved and powerful. Most of these statues are carved in high relief, with smooth and bright lines for clothing patterns and tassels. The knife technique is skillful and refined. It not only expresses the stories of different contents of Buddhist "Jing Bian", but also vividly reflects the aesthetic standards and social life of different times. The unity of form and content fully embodies the wisdom of ancient craftsmen, and provides valuable information for us to study the politics, economy and culture of the past dynasties.

Nankan is a national key cultural relic protection unit. On the top of the mountain, there is a stele forest of Sichuan Shaanxi Soviet generals, which records more than 6550 resumes, photos and more than 5000 manuscripts of the Fourth Front Army of the Red Army. On the hillside, there is a Sichuan Shaanxi revolutionary base Museum inscribed by Deng Xiaoping. It has more than 20000 cultural relics and more than 18 million words of historical materials, representing the great achievements of the Fourth Front Army of the Red Army For the national patriotic education base.

Address: Bazhou District, Bazhong City

Longitude: 106.760242

Latitude: 31.844538