FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, August 02, 2010

The Art Museum of Dazu Rock Carvings and the DaZu Grottoes Cultural Innovation Investment Company with the approval of the Chongqing government of the People’s Republic of China are carefully selecting cities for the worldwide tour of the Chinese National Cultural Relic and the 1999 UNESCO World Heritage Site, Dazu Rock Carvings. Forty to sixty actual pieces of national relics on loan from the museum will be on this tour.

The Dazu Rock Carvings are a series of Chinese religious sculptures that were begun in the mid 7^th century during the early Tang Dynasty, with the bulk of the 50,000 carvings and 100,000 Chinese characters forming inscriptions and epigraphs being completed during the late Tang period in the late 9^th century[i]. The latest documented sculptures were completed in the 13^th century. During this period of the Song Dynasty in the 13^th century, the Buddhist monk Zhao Zhifeng dedicated 70 years of his life during1174 -1252[ii] building some of the more elaborate structures. It is believed that the Dazu rock carvings were a direct result of competing religious philosophies and beliefs where progressively larger carvings were built using harder materials.[iii]

In 1999 UNESCO listed the Dazu Rock Carvings as a World Heritage Site, stating that, "The Dazu Rock Carvings are remarkable for their aesthetic quality, their rich diversity of subject matter, both secular and religious, and the light that they shed on everyday life in China during this period. They provide outstanding evidence of the harmonious synthesis of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism."[iv] [v]

It is our great pleasure to introduce the Dazu Rock Carvings and invite you to have further discussions with us.

With great respect,

Glendon Thompson, Area Project Manager (USA)

DaZu Grottoes Cultural Innovation Investment Corporation

Dazu, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China

678-404-8130; gthompson@arcomgroup.net

 References

[i] Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazu_Rock_Carvings, June 1, 2010, Accessed July 5, 2010.

[ii] United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/912/, July 5, 2010, Accessed July 5, 2010

[iii] Ministry of Culture, People’s Republic of China, 2003, http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_artqa/2006-09/14/content_85646.htm, Accessed July 5, 2010

[iv] Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazu_Rock_Carvings, June 1, 2010, Accessed July 5, 2010.

[v] Ministry of Culture, People’s Republic of China, 2003, http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_artqa/2006-09/14/content_85646.htm, Accessed July 5, 2010