Amidst tranquil woods, winding paths and running brooks, cattlemen direct their herds. While some men wield their whips lightly over the animals, others get together and chat. Among them a man sits playing a bamboo flute and another, with his chest bare, lies on a rock sleeping. A crane approaches the flute player as if to take a rest and drink from the river.

This is a typical scene of a 27-meter-long rock carving in Dazu County, some 165 kilometers west of Chongqing Municipality, southwest China, and the carving imparts to viewers not only a moment of serenity but a Buddhist teaching as well: One can free oneself from earthly worries by self-cultivation and does not need to go beyond his own inner world to find the truth of Buddhism.

More than 50,000 Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian rock carvings and 100,000 characters of inscriptions, which were completed from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) to the Song Dynasty (960-1279), scatter around over 70 places in Dazu.

Dubbed as "the latest treasure house of ancient grottoes", the Dazu Rock Carvings are much "younger" than other big-name Chinese grottoes such as Dunhuang, Yungang and Longmen in northern China, but are not less important than their "forerunners" as far as aesthetic qualities and diversity of subject matter are concerned.

The general term of "Dazu Rock Carvings" refers to all the cliff-side carvings in Beishan Mountain, Baoding Mountain, Nanshan Mountain, Shizhuan Mountain and Shimen Mountain.

It has been listed as a national relic under the state protection since 1961 and has become a sacred place for both tourists and Buddhists. In December 1999, it was listed as a world cultural heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The carving technique and the preaching style of uniting the trinity, namely, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism, into one were representative of the art of grotto and Buddhism in China at that period, said Guo Xiangying, former director of the Dazu Museum of Rock Carving Art.

Especially, in the sites such as Nanshan Mountain and Shizhuan Mountain, there are many statues that integrate Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism, representing the interplay among different religions in China during the Song period.

"Previous grotto art in China seldom touched on Taoism and Confucianism," said Guo, who has immersed himself into the study of the carvings for over 30 years. "In Chongqing, Confucius, Lao Zi and the Buddha are even built together in the same niche, which is rarely found in other places of China."

For example, a set of carvings in Baoding Mountain reflects the introduction of Confucianism, a development in the Song Dynasty. The concept of filial piety, which is highlighted by Confucianism, is imparted through scenes of a woman praying to Buddha so that she can conceive a son. Then it continues depicting how she goes through the burdens of pregnancy, the pain of giving birth and the hard time of bringing up the child. Beneath the caring is a depiction of Hell where the un-filial ones are being punished.

This set of carvings, composed of 11 scenes, has a real life touch and epitomizes the lives of the time, said Guo.

In addition, compared with the famous grottoes of northern China, the Dazu grottoes are more secular and real to life -- that is to say they are more inclined to tell the abstract Buddhist doctrines through the lives of ordinary people.

The carvings not only include the statues of Buddha and Bodhisattva, but also include those of monarchs, ministers, military officers, high and low-ranking officials, jailers, executioners, monks, rich and poor people, and folk art performers.

"The stone carvings are remarkable for their high aesthetic qualities, their rich diversity of subject matter, both secular and religious, and for providing a glimpse into the life of China during this period," said Guo.

Built with the supervision of monk Zhao Zhifeng from 1174 to 1252, the Baoding Mountain Grotto, 15 kilometers northeast of the county seat, is the largest and best preserved among the grottoes in Dazu. It includes almost 10,000 statues that formed a ritual site of Tantric Buddhism, a branch of Buddhism that disappeared 400 years ago in the north.

"Many of the statues bear inscriptions that ask people to follow religious rules in their behaviors. Some statues are enlightening portraits that teach people to be good and to avoid being bad," said Guo.

For instance, a set of carvings teaches the Buddhist doctrine of never killing living things through a story about a woman and her farm of chickens. Early in the morning, the woman lets out the chickens. However, she does not realize that by pecking at the earthworms, her chickens have already committed a sin.

One point has to be made that the Dazu Grottoes are the only ones that were implemented according to an overall design among over 100 grottoes in China.

The Baoding Grotto, for instance, shows traces of a general design in the composition of the carvings.

Starting from the south entrance and going east, visitors can see four sets of carvings that teach people how to rid oneself of earthly worries and the Buddhist theory of punitive justice. Going westward, visitors can see three sets of carvings that tell how to acquire Buddhism's truths and obtain enlightenment.

"The carved images at Baoding never repeat, but you can tell that they are correlated," said Guo. "This can only be achieved through an overall design." The location of the carvings reinforces this design. The carvings that reflect Hell were done on the cliff sides at the low and uneven terrain. The soothing scene of cattlemen and their herds is found on the sunward cliff side that rises and falls gently.

Guo said the ancient artisans at Dazu used many clever innovations. The carvings at Baoding are engraved on the three cliff sides of a U-shaped valley. A huge protrusive rock forms a ceiling above the three cliff sides protecting the carvings from the erosion of rainwater.

The water drainage method used for the Dazu Rock Carvings is also very unique. One carving in the grotto depicts the scene of newly born Sakyamuni being bathed by spring water. The carvers did not chisel patterns of water drops on the cliff side Instead, they channeled spring water to flow out of the mouth of a carved dragon, giving liveliness to the carving and solving the drainage problem at the same time.

Besides drainage techniques, The Bodhisattva of Wisdom carries in the hand a stone pagoda that is one meter high and weighs about half a ton. The hand alone can not support the weight, so the carvers diverted the weight through the loose sleeve of the kasaya that drapes from his wrist to the knee. Thus the stone pagoda has stood in the hand securely for 800 years.

"The Dazu Rock Carvings represents the highest level of the grotto art in the late period of the country and it still has many miracles, attracting people for continuous discovery," said Guo.