Chongqing - The Dazu Rock Carvings Museum and the Suzhou Museum jointly organized a "Scent of the Chinese Flowering Crabapple: The Discovery and Inheritance of Dazu Rock Carvings" themed exhibition at the Suzhou Museum in east China's Jiangsu province last Friday.
The exhibition is referred to by Li Fangyin, head of the Dazu Rock Carvings Research Institute, as "a continuation predestined relationship" between Suzhou and Dazu, and between the two peoples. The "first encounter" of the two happened 75 years ago when Yang Jialuo, the then-curator of the Chinese Studies Museum, led a team of 15 to conduct the first-ever scientific investigation on Dazu Rock Carvings, according to Li.
Four of the investigation team are from Jiangsu province, including a renowned historian from Suzhou city, Dr. Gu Jiegang, and his wife, Mrs. Zhang Jingqiu. This investigation laid a solid foundation for Dazu Rock Carvings' significance in the history of Chinese grottos and rock caves, said Li. "The name of 'Dazu Rock Carvings' originated from this very investigation."
The "Scent of the Chinese Flowering Crabapple: The Discovery and Inheritance of Dazu Rock Carvings" themed exhibition is divided into four sub-categories, namely the "North Hill Grotto: Stone Sculpture Gallery of Goddesses of Beauty," the "Baoding Hill Grotto: Artistic Temple of Worldly Delights," the "South Hill, Shimen Hill, and Shizhuan Hill Grottos: Grotto Paradigm of Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism Integration," and the "Inheritance and Renovation: Perpetual Historical Missions."
These four pavilions collectively showcased the refined stone sculpture skills, profound cultural deposits, and abundant relic preservation achievements of Dazu Rock Carvings.
During the exhibition's opening ceremony, Liu Xiangao, deputy head of the Dazu Rock Carvings Research Institute, event hosted a live stream inside the Suzhou Museum to guide audiences through the various exhibits from Dazu.
Visitors will be able to see the rarely exposed physical exhibits, series photographies, 3D-printing replicas of Dazu Rock Carvings with their own eyes, including a Sakyamuni Buddha statue and a Liu Benzun statue from the Southern Song dynasty, 50 some pieces/sets of incense burners from Qing dynasty, as well as many other relics from the Song-Qing dynasties period.
"The uniqueness of Dazu Rock Carvings is unparalleled, especially with its integration and fusion of Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, and may be rated as a representative of rock carvings in southern China," said Chen Ruijin, curator of Suzhou Museum. "A sight of the Dazu Rock Carvings here in Suzhou can take you on a journey through thousands of years of history, bringing people pleasure and joy as if the whole city was covered with the scent of Chinese flowering crabapples."