UBC Community, Partners, and Alumni Publications

Nie’s Shrine (聶公龕), Niche 58, the southern cliff (南岩), Yuanjue Cave (圓覺洞) Anderl, Christoph

Description

Niche 58 is located in the southern cliff (南岩) of Yuanjue Cave Cliff Sculpture Scenic Area (圓覺洞摩崖造像風景區), Yujishan (雲居山), situated in the northeast of Anyue County (安岳縣), Ziyang City (資陽巿), Sichuan. The southern cliff contains fifty-eight niches (Niches 15 to 72) of rock carvings, mostly dating from the Tang Dynasty唐 (618-907) to the Five Dynasties 五代 (907-960). The ceiling and the right side wall of this niche are destroyed. The middle wall depicts a statue standing 2.1 metres high. The figure, whose face is damaged, wears an official’s attire with both hands holding a sceptre (hu, 笏) in front of the chest. The upper part of the sceptre is lost. A small pouch, named a purple goldfish pouch (zi jin yu dai 紫金魚袋), is tied on the right side of the figure’s belt, indicating that the figure is an official ranked the third grade or higher. Inscriptions were engraved on the statue's left side and the left side wall. According to the remaining characters, the identity of this statue is a prefectural governor of Puzhou (普州) with the surname Nie (聶) who organized the construction of the sculptures on the southern cliff of Yuanjue Cave. In addition, this niche was established in 941 CE (廣政四年) of the Later Shu (後蜀) during the Five Dynasties. Source: Lei Yuhua 雷玉華, Wang Jianping 王劍平, Lu Yinke 盧引科, Fu Chengjin 付成金, Liu Jian 劉健, and Li Chongfeng 李崇峰. " Sichuan Anyue xian Yuanjuedong moya shike zaoxiang diaocha baogao 四川安岳縣圓覺洞摩崖石刻造像調查報告 [The Investigation Report of Yuanjue Cave Cliff Sculptures, Anyue, Sichuan]." Nanfang minzu kaogu 南方民族考古 (2013): 356-499. Descriptions of the photos: [Image 01]. Overview of Niche 58 [Image 02, Image 03]. Close-up of the inscriptions on the left side of the figure [Image 04]. Close-up of the inscriptions on the left side wall [image 05]. Metadata created by: Sau Ling Wendy Yu.

Item Citations and Data

Rights

Attribution 4.0 International