Mount Baoding Buddhist Sculptures

[1] Primary construction at Baodingshan took place during the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279 CE) but it remained largely unknown to the outside world until its reopening to the public in the 1980s, the earliest documented research on the site dating to 1944.

[6] Great Buddha Bend also claims some of the biggest Chinese versions of certain Buddhist works – in particular the Hell tableau and the 1000-Armed 1000-Eyed Avalokitesvara or Guanyin figure.

[12] Other areas of Baodingshan include the Vimalakirti Hall, situated at the pinnacle of the summit, and the Longevity Pavilion located just above the Oxherding sequence of texts and images in Great Buddha Bend.

[13] Early Western language work by H. Sorensen, A. Howard and K. Kucera has since been augmented by increasing interest among foreign scholars brought on by Baodingshan’s movement onto the global stage and its subsequent acquisition of World Heritage status.

[14][15][16][17] The Dazu Academy of Rock Carvings now holds an international conference every five years to commemorate that landmark bringing together scholars from all over the world, the last of which was held in fall 2014.