The great Buddhist carving of the Southern Song, cut into the rock of Baoding at Dazu in Changzhou under Zhao Zhifeng: over 6,000 carvings, the Great Buddha Bend with its tableaux of the parinirvana, hell scenes, the Peacock Queen, the Taming the Wild Ox sequence and a thousand-armed Guanyin, and the Little Buddha Bend with the Founder's Pagoda, which shows Master Liu, the Tang layman of the ten austerities, and Zhao Zhifeng himself (English Wikipedia).
The carving mixes Huayan, Chan, Pure Land and Esoteric Buddhism. It is under the chisel on 1 January 1200. Beishan, an older carved hill nearby, is of Tang and Song date.
Who holds it
- Name
- Zhao Zhifeng
- Title
- Zhao Zhifeng, the monk who directs the carving
- Since
- not pinned (the carving was begun in the 1170s on our recollection of Chinese accounts)
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- medium
The English Wikipedia page calls him a monk and gives the work to the Southern Song, 'within 70 years' under one man; it gives no dates for him. The campaign board calls him a layman and says the carving is under way this winter.
Overlord
No lord above the house but the Song state, which licenses monks and priests, grants name-boards and the tax exemptions, and can close a house.
What it holds
- The carved hill and its works
- The labour and offerings that pay for the carving (not itemised)
How it was acquired
Zhao Zhifeng's work, begun in the Southern Song.
Allies and rivals
Local patrons of Changzhou (not named); no known quarrel.
How things stand that morning
Carving in progress. A local sponsor community pays for the work; their names are not known to me.
Wealth
Offerings and local patronage; no figures.
Threats
- Loss of the local patrons.
- Fire or rockfall.
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign board entry calls Zhao Zhifeng a layman; the English Wikipedia page calls him a monk. Not pinned.
Evidence: The site and its contents are from the English Wikipedia page we opened; the start date and Zhao's dates are from our recollection of Chinese accounts and are not confirmed.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
Primary sources for Southern Song
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Continuation of the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government, Bi Yuan (畢沅), completed by Feng Jiwu after his death (late eighteenth century, finished after 1801, from Song and Yuan sources). A Qing scholar's continuous month-by-month chronicle of the Song and Yuan centuries, compiled from the Song shi, the Liao, Jin and Yuan histories, Li Tao, Li Xinchuan and other Song sources. Read online
- Outline and Details of Two Reigns (thirteenth century, after 1224). A Song outline-and-detail chronicle of exactly the two reigns around 1200, drawn from the court's daily records. Read online
- Annals of the Western Xia, Wu Guangcheng (吳廣成) (1825 to 1827, compiled from Song, Liao, Jin and Yuan sources). A Qing scholar's year-by-year reconstruction of Tangut history from the Chinese histories, since the Xia left no surviving annals of their own in Chinese. Read online
- History of the Song, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office (1343 to 1345, from the Song veritable records, state histories and the Huiyao). The official history of the Southern Song, which ruled from Lin'an (Hangzhou) in 1200. Read online
- History of Song, chapters 488 and 489: Jiaozhi, Dali, Champa, Zhenla, Pagan, Srivijaya, Java, Brunei, Chola and Tambralinga, Toqto'a (Tuotuo) and the Yuan history office, from the Song court records (1343 to 1345, from Song veritable records and court diaries). The Chinese court's record of its southern neighbours, compiled from Song archives. Read online
- History of the Jin, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office, with Ouyang Xuan among the chief compilers (1343 to 1344, from the Jin veritable records and the Jin national history). The official history of the Jurchen empire that ruled north China and Manchuria in 1200. Read online
- History of the Song, the chapters on Xia and on foreign states, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office (1343 to 1345). The Song court's accounts of its neighbours, each arranged as an annal of embassies and wars. Read online
- Record of the Great Jin State, Attributed to Yuwen Maozhao (宇文懋昭); the attribution is doubtful (preface dated 1234; probably assembled in the Southern Song from Song and Jin material, with later accretions). A Song-side history of the Jin, with annals for each emperor and chapters on institutions, customs, the capitals and the Jurchen way of life. Read online
12 more in the sources library for South China.
Sources and studies
- Mount Baoding Buddhist Sculptures (en.wikipedia)
- OMNIA board, notes_scc.txt (a lead, not a source)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.