Although it receives relatively little publicity and far fewer visitors than the better known
Dunhuang and Dazu grottos. Anyue, a county in Sichuan Province boasts of a treasure trove of splendid stone sculptures and holds an important place in Chinese art history.
The county seat is 170 kilometers from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, about midway between
Chongqing Municipality and Chengdu. The small town would be entirely unremarkable were it not for the ancient stone sculptures that lie scattered about the four corners of the county.
Dating back to 521, during the Southern Dynasty (420-589), the Anyue grottos have a history of about 1,500 years, with activity reaching a peak during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Today, there are more than 200 grottos housing over 100,000 Buddhist statues and sutras of some 400,000 characters.
Yuanjue Cave
Yuanjue Cave is located on Yunju Mountain, 1 kilometer southeast of the county seat.
Work began in the Tang Dynasty (617-907) and flourished in the period of the Five Dynasties (907-960) and the Song Dynasty. There are now 103 niches with 1,933 statues of various sizes and 25 stele inscriptions, and one Tang Dynasty pagoda.
On the southern slopes of Yunju Mountain stand sculptures from the Tang and Five dynasties, depicting scenes from the Buddhist hell, the Sixteen Arhats, Thousand Buddhas, and Guanyin (the Goddess of Mercy). On the northern slope are grottos containing three well-preserved statues ?one of Sakyamuni and two of Guanyin. These exquisitely carved, magnificent statues are all over 6 meters tall. The niches of the Three Sages of the West, Scenes of Naraka, Kubera and Combination of Three Religions also highlight the superb craftsmanship of the ancient Chinese sculptors.
Statue of Sakyamuni is 6 meters tall. He is wearing an edged kasaya (monastic robe) with his hair in a bun. His smiling face is tilted to the right, looking down at Kasyapa Buddha in the lower right of the grotto, who is looking back at him.
Lotus-Flower-Hand Guanyin is 6.5 meters tall. She wears a crown with a sitting Buddha in the center. Holding a budding lotus in her hands, the smiling Guanyin is looking kindly at a girl to her lower left.
Vase-Holding Guanyin is 7 meters tall. Her shape is similar to the Lotus-Flower-Hand Guanyin, but her hair is of shoulder length. She wears more jewelry, with bead earrings in her ears. She holds a vase in her left hand and a sprig of willow in her right hand.
Thousand-Buddha Stockade
Located on the steep Mount Dayun in the village of Jiadao, the Thousand-Buddha Stockade is 3 kilometers north-west of the county seat. It includes 105 niches with about 3,000 statues, seven cliff bas-reliefs, three Tang Dynasty tablets and 26 inscriptions. Started in 593 AD, they were mostly created in the Tang and Song dynasties.
Of the seven bas-reliefs, the tallest is 4.6 meters and the smallest, just 0.8 meters. The biggest niche-grotto is 6.4 meters wide, 6 meters tall and 3.3 meters deep. There are 14 statues about 3 to 6 meters tall, with the tallest, Sakyamuni, 6.2 meters.
There are statues of Sakyamuni Preaching the Law, Maitreya, the Transformation Texts of the Buddha of Medicine, the Three Sages of the West, Thousand-hand Guanyin and Rajas. The statue of One Buddha With Four Bodhisattvas, though heavily eroded, still shows the fine craftsmanship of the stone carvers. There are a number of rarely seen statues in the grotto of the Buddha of Medicine, such as the Nine Violent Deaths and the Twelve Great Aspirations.
Xuanmiao Temple
Xuanmiao Temple, located on Mount Jisheng, is about 20 kilometers northwest of the Thousand-Buddha Stockade. It has 79 niches housing about 1,300 statues and 13 stele inscriptions, all made during the Tang Dynasty.
Xuanmiao Temple boasts a large number of early Daoist statues, including the Three Purities, Tianzun, Laojun, and the Warriors.
Sleeping-Buddha Temple
It is an hour's drie from Tongxian to Bamiao, a village from where visitors can take a 40-minute boat ride to the Sleeping-Buddha Temple.
Construction of the Sleeping-Buddha Temple started in the Tang Dynasty and it was completed during the Five Dynasties period. It boasts 139 grottos housing 1,600 statues carved along 500 meters of cliffs. The most magnificent site is the Nirvana of the Left-Reclining Sakyamuni.
This huge statue was carved out of a cliff 5 meters high on the northern slope of the temple. The Buddha is 23 meters long; his head alone is 3 meters long. With his feet pointed west, the Buddha faces south, and his head is supported by a lotus flower pillow. He has a high nose and deep-set eyes, half closed to give him a solemn expression. He wears a thin kasaya, with hands stretched out horizontally and feet bared.
There are also 15 grottos of stone-inscribed sutras of 22 kinds with more than 400,000 characters, which is of important value for the study of sutra editions. On January 13, 1985, the cliff bas-reliefs of the Sleeping-Buddha Temple were listed by the State Council as one of the third group of major state-protected cultural relics.
Pilu Cave
Perhaps the most exquisite and best-preserved cave is Pilu Cave. Founded in the early Song Dynasty, it is located on Mount Tazi in Shiyang Town, more than 50 kilometers southeast of Anyue County. A provincial highway between Anyue County and Dazu County passes nearby.
About 6.6 meters high, 14 meters wide and 4.6 meters deep, Pilu Cave has 14 niches with 465 statues. The most exquisite is the Purple Bamboo Guanyin in Grotto 19.
Another special grotto is one with statues depicting Liu Benzun, who devised 10 methods to cultivate himself to attain Buddha status. Ten groups of carvings show Liu Benzun standing barefoot in snow, gouging out his eyes, cutting off his ears and arms, and so on. In each group, Liu Benzun is depicted as the main figure, with smaller Heavenly Kings, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and officials watching. The prominence given to Liu Benzun makes the carvings even more graphic.
Huayan Cave
Dating back to the Song Dynasty, Huayan Cave is located on Mount Xianggai in the village of Chiyun, 6 kilometers east of Pilu Cave. It preserves two large niche-grottos housing 159 statues, including the Three Huayan Kings, the Ten Stages of Mahayana Bodhisattva Development, and the Fifty-three Visits of Sudhana. Also, there is a grotto reflecting a combination of Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism. The statues in Huayan Cave are among the highest ranking in Anyue and have an important status in Chinese art history.
Mingshan Temple
Mingshan Temple, located in the village of Minyue on Hutou Mountain, is 69 kilometers southeast of Anyue town. Founded in the Song Dynasty, Mingshan Temple has over 20 niches with 63 statues and 23 stele inscriptions, including Vairocana Buddha, Guanyin, Mahasthama, Manjusri, the Twelve Lokapalas, and Vairocana Buddha Accompanying the Emperor of the East Peak.
Tips: The grottos in Anyue County gradually spread east and southwest toward neighboring Dazu County, where the famous Dazu Grottos lie. There is a highway linking Anyue and Dazu, making access very convenient.
Accommodation: The two-star Anyue Hotel has rooms for around 120 yuan per night. There is a guest house at the Sleeping Buddha Temple and farmhouses at Jiadao and Bamiao villages offer inexpensive accommodation for those who want a taste of rural life.
Getting there: Return flights to
Chengdu cost between 1,720 and 2,880, depending on discount availability. From
Chengdu there are regular buses, or you can take a taxi for the two hour drive.
