The history of Qianfoya cliff—side

趙希

Abstract：Guangyuan is located among the three provinces， Sichuan， Shaanxi and Gansu， along the southern border of Qinba mountains. Such geographical and cultural advantages make Guangyuan the converging point of Northern and Southern Buddhist cultures， leading to the earliest formation of Thousand-Buddha Cliffside during the Northern Wei Dynasty （386-534）. The original Thousand-Buddha Cliffside was historically bigger， but it was reduced in size after thousands of years of natural and man-made destruction. It is especially true after the construction of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Highway in 1935， which bombed many of the statues， making the extant ones even more precious.

Key words： history grottoes Golden Bull Road

Qianfoya cliff-side statues and inscriptions began to appear in the late-northern-Wei dynasty and thrived in Tang dynasty，during which most of the grottoes were carved .unfortunately， there are only 1192 shrines and over 7000 statues left. Back in 1961， Qianfoya grottoes were published to be the first group of national key cultural relics by the state council.

Exquisite statues

Unfortunately， the Kuomintang administration exploded nearly half of the cliff when they built the Sichuan-Shanxi Highway in 1935， and thousands of statues were destroyed. According to historical materials of Qing dynasty， there were over 17000 statues. However， after thousand years of weathering and man-made destruction， especially the fatal damages caused in 1935. Today， only about 7000 statues are left. However， Qianfoya still holds the largest cliff statues in Sichuan province.

Before the earthquake in 2008， Qianfoya had been suffering in severe conditions. Because of the traffic artery that lied in front of the cliff， destruction was caused by exhaust emission and vibration when cars and trucks passed. In October， 2009， the government spent a tremendous sum of money to better protect the Cliff-side by moving the highway， which was originally built in front of the Cliff-side to the back of the of it， which now extends through a tunnel inside the mountain. Qianfoya presented a whole new look ever after.

New look

Except for grottoes， there is another historic site， the Golden Bull Road. Travelling along the cliff road to Sichuan was even more difficult than reaching the sky. After the Three Kingdoms Period， the Golden Bull Road was developed along Jialing River and the Qianfoya Cliffside became part of this road. The Sichuan-Shanxi Highway built during the Republican Era also stretched along the Cliff-side.

Old picture of the Golden Bull Road

Golden Bull Road is an important traffic gateway between the two historical capitals， Luoyang and Changan and Sichuan district. It is an important part of “Shudao”， which was published to be the sixth group of national key cultural relics by the state council in 2006. Golden Bull Roads history can be dated back to pre-Qin Period， in slavery society， which is longer than that of the ancient Roman Road. As the artery that connected northern China and Sichuan area， Golden Bull Road was also the bridge between the Buddhism statuary of the two areas.