Look at Dazu Rock Carvings and Talk about Six Circulations

The Dazu Rock Carvings, a religious cliff carvings in the late Tang Dynasty and early Song Dynasty, is a famous ancient stone carving art in China, focusing on Buddhist themes, especially the Beishan cliff carvings and Mount Baoding Buddhist Sculptures. Beishan Cliff Statue is located in Beishan, 1.5 kilometers north of Dazu District, Chongqing. With a length of more than 300 meters, Beishan Cliff Statue is a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level and a world cultural heritage. The statue was first excavated in the first year of Jingfu in the late Tang Dynasty (892 AD) and completed over 250 years from the Five Dynasties of Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, Later Zhou to the Southern Song Dynasty in 1162. There are over 4600 existing carved statues, which are representative of late Chinese cave art.

The so-called six paths are the “three good paths”: the “Heavenly Path”, the “Ashura Path”, the “Humanity Path”, and the “Three Evil Path”: the “Hell Path”, the “Hungry Ghost Path”, and the “Animal Path”.

In the picture, the impermanent ghost (5.20 meters high) stands erect and glares angrily. It is said that because Dazu Rock Carvings is the Taoist temple of Tantric Buddhism, and Tantric Buddhism pays attention to deterrence, it pretends to be angry, which makes people feel scared after watching it; In addition, appearing scary can better intimidate people and deter them from doing bad things. The “impermanent big ghost” with its mouth and hands embracing the “six fun” wheel (2.70 meters in diameter) is actually a microcosm of the “bitter sea”. The Great Wheel is divided into four circles in total. In the center of the first circle, there is a person sitting, representing all sentient beings who practice. Six light bands are emitted from the chest, each with a small circle. The circle is engraved with either Buddha or Bodhisattva, indicating that people have Buddha nature. On the left side of the person, there is a little pig, indicating greed; There is a green snake below, showing remorse and malice; The thing on the right that looks like a triangle is a dove, indicating ignorance. Buddhism refers to “greed”, “anger”, and “ignorance” as the “three poisons”. Due to the influence of the “three poisons”, one’s Buddha nature will be covered up, and if one does evil karma, they will receive evil retribution; If we can eliminate the influence of the three poisons and do good deeds, then there will definitely be good results.

The “Heavenly Way” carved with the Heavenly Palace and the Sun and Moon in the middle above the wheel is called the “Heavenly Way”. The Heavenly Way is to enter heaven, which is the best retribution among the three realms. The “Ashura” Way is on the left, and Ashura is the God of War. However, combat can be tiring, so it is lower than the Heavenly Way; On the right, there are four people named “Humanity” engraved, because people have poverty and wealth, and they also have to go through life, aging, illness, and death, so they are also lower than the Ashura path. The three retributions we see are called “the upper three retributions”, but those who engage in evil deeds under the influence of the “three poisons” will face the “lower three retributions”. The one in the middle below is the Hell Way, and those who are sent to Hell will never be able to survive. The one below is the “Hungry Ghost Way”. Those who enter the Hungry Ghost Way after death will either be eaten by the hungry ghost or become hungry ghosts all year round, and those who are engraved with a horse, a lion, and a tiger on the other side are the “Animal Way”, The afterlife that enters the animal kingdom will become animals such as cats, dogs, and dogs, which is the so-called Six Realms of reincarnation.

The third circle represents a group of statues depicting life’s aging, illness, and death, as well as the impermanence of fortune and misfortune; The outermost circle is actually a skin sac that represents the present life of a person, with both fish, shrimp, and animals at the ends of the bag. One side of the foot represents the previous life, and the other side of the head represents the future life, just like the Buddhist saying “to know the fruits of the past life, the recipient of this life is. To know the fruits of the future life, the recipient of this life is”, highlighting the Buddhist concept of “karmic fruition”.

On one side below the wheel, there is a literary minister and a military general, all of whom appear quite arrogant, indicating “greed”. On the other side, there is a woman and a monkey, who cover their shame with their hands, indicating that the man’s lust has not been restrained. This indicates that the statue of “love” reflects that it is precisely because of “greed” and “love” that people cannot be restrained, So Buddhists often sigh, ‘There are ten thousand types of bodies outside the three realms, and since greed has also fallen’.

The “Heavenly Way” carved with the Heavenly Palace and the Sun and Moon in the middle above the wheel is called the “Heavenly Way”. The Heavenly Way is to enter heaven, which is the best retribution among the three realms. The “Ashura” Way is on the left, and Ashura is the God of War. However, combat can be tiring, so it is lower than the Heavenly Way; On the right, there are four people named “Humanity” engraved, because people have poverty and wealth, and they also have to go through life, aging, illness, and death, so they are also lower than the Ashura path. The three retributions we see are called “the upper three retributions”, but those who engage in evil deeds under the influence of the “three poisons” will face the “lower three retributions”. The one in the middle below is the Hell Way, and those who are sent to Hell will never be able to survive. The one below is the “Hungry Ghost Way”. Those who enter the Hungry Ghost Way after death will either be eaten by the hungry ghost or become hungry ghosts all year round, and those who are engraved with a horse, a lion, and a tiger on the other side are the “Animal Way”, The afterlife that enters the animal kingdom will become animals such as cats, dogs, and dogs, which is the so-called Six Realms of reincarnation.

The Great Ghost of impermanence rotates the wheel, and all sentient beings are constantly reincarnating inside the wheel. No one can escape, so someone wrote the sentence “Look at the Buddha outside the wheel, all the old people in the wheel” at this moment. Buddhism advocates to do more good deeds and be kind to others. The entire picture is engraved with 114 bodies, promoting the philosophy of Buddhism of ‘karma, reincarnation, and the immortality of the soul’.