Restoration to start on 800-year-old Buddhist statue in Chongqing

Global Times, March 11, 2011

Experts are expected to soon start restoring a famous ancient Buddhist stone-carving statue in Chongqing.

The Qianshou (thousand Hands) Guanyin (the bodhisattva associated with compassion as venerated by East Asian Buddhists) sculpture was carved some 800 years ago during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127 - 1279) on Mount Baoding in Dazu county.

Eight experts from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH), the Palace Museum, the National Museum of China and China Central Academy of Fine Arts approved the plan earlier this month.

Guanyin, or "Goddess of Mercy," has 1,007 arms, with one eye carved in each palm. The cave where the goddess lies is 7.7 meters high and 12.5 meters wide.

Over the centuries, the sculpture's color has faded, some of the gold foil covering her has peeled off and cracks have appeared.

More than 50,000 individual rock carvings lie in the grottos at Dazu. The carvings date back as early as the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907). They were listed as major World Heritage sites by UNESCO in 1999.

The project is expected to kick off on April 18 and the Dazu Rock Carvings Museum authorities are training technicians and compiling detailed working schedules, said He Zunchao, vice president of the museum.

"It is China's No.1 rock heritage preservation project and is expected to offer experience in the field for similar efforts in the restoration of world cultural heritages," said SACH official Lu Qiong.