Dazu Rock Carvings Beishan Grottoes (Cave Art) Chongqing Travel Guide

At noon, I left Baoding Mountain and took a half-hour taxi ride to Beishan. I managed to participate in the scenic spot's activity, where the first 200 visitors each day get free admission. After getting my ticket and entering, I was just steps away from the grottoes. The tour guide began by explaining the statue and inscription of Wei Junjing, the person who commissioned the caves, and then proceeded in order. When I asked about the inscription in a later cave mentioning "XX Jing," and whether it was the same person who later experienced misfortune, became someone's adopted son, and changed his last name to Wei Junjing, the guide said that this was just speculation, one of the theories, implying that its credibility wasn't high. She didn't use dismissive terms like "groundless rumors" to evaluate this matter, showing her professionalism through her words. The most prominent feature of the Beishan Rock Carvings is the various Guanyin statues. Their exquisite beauty goes without saying, leaving viewers dazzled and refreshed. This is something you have to experience for yourself; words can't describe it. There is also a niche depicting the "Transformation of the Sutra of Infinite Life" here. It's best to compare it with the one at Baoding Mountain. The Beishan niche is much smaller, less secular, and less chaotic. Personally, I find this one more solemn and exquisite. The upper level depicts the Three Saints of the West, while the lower level shows the Three Grades and Nine Births. The Sixteen Contemplations are carved on the stone pillars on both sides. The Sixteen Contemplations are sixteen ways of visualizing and reciting Buddha's name, visualizing the natural environment, visualizing the Buddha's body, and visualizing the grades of the Pure Land. Eminent monks practice true reality mindfulness of Buddha, while the next level is the Sixteen Contemplations, which are also very complex. It's extremely difficult for ordinary people to reach the Pure Land through the Sixteen Contemplations. Fortunately, we have the masters of the Pure Land School, who tell us that we can also reach the Pure Land through chanting Buddha's name, and good people, bad people, virtuous people, and evil people can all attain one of the Nine Grades. Who's left then? Can women and people with disabilities be reborn in the Pure Land? At this point, Shandao, the Third Patriarch of the Pure Land School, declared emphatically: Women and people with disabilities can also go to the Western Pure Land. For thousands of years, this marginalized group that has been rejected and forgotten—women and people with disabilities—can also be reborn in the Western Pure Land! Four words: universal jubilation. Last time, I asked who could have higher cultivation and greater fame than Master Daochuo? It's the Third Patriarch of the Pure Land School, who surpassed his master—the luminous Shandao. As the Pure Land School gained more fame and followers, Shandao became a living Bodhisattva. Unfortunately, he was later framed by Wu Zetian, who claimed to be the reincarnation of Maitreya. Since Wu Zetian was Maitreya, she must have seen Shandao of the Amitabha Pure Land as a thorn in her side. By the way, the fiercest competitor of the Amitabha Pure Land during the Tang Dynasty was the Maitreya Pure Land. The Tang Monk, Master Xuanzang, whom we all know, believed in the Maitreya Pure Land. The threshold is extremely high; you can't go there without cultivating for 10 or 20 billion years.