In a new study, Dr Qian Gao explores the interaction of heritage conservation and social values at two Buddhism-inspired rock carvings (Dazu and Anyue) in southwest China.
The study focuses on two controversial cases: the conservation of the Thousand-Hand Guanyin at the UNESCO-listed Dazu Rock Carvings, and the repainting at nearby Anyue. The former was state-led and the latter a grassroots project.
Dr Gao illustrates that these monuments are not simply historical remains, but function as “living heritage”. At these sites, social value is continuously negotiated and dynamic. The influence of local religious beliefs and practices increasingly contest with wider public perceptions of heritage, which are informed by state-authorised conservation frameworks. The study highlights these layered and changing meanings through ethnographic fieldwork, policy analysis and heritage theory.
“Within this shifting terrain, the Buddhism-inspired rock carvings of the Sichuan–Chongqing region exemplify how stone-carved monuments function as living palimpsests – loci of encounter where meanings are performed, contested, and reinscribed.” - Dr Qian Gao
“Within this shifting terrain, the Buddhism-inspired rock carvings of the Sichuan–Chongqing region exemplify how stone-carved monuments function as living palimpsests – loci of encounter where meanings are performed, contested, and reinscribed.”
- Dr Qian Gao
The research does not argue for a resolution of tensions between professional expertise and social values. Rather, it suggests that conservation must recognise these monuments as contact zones where meanings are layered, values negotiated, and future possibilities continually reimagined.
Learn more by reading Dr Qian Gao's article in World Archaeology (open access).
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