Dazu Rock Carvings Baodingshan Great Buddha Bay Niche 17: Illustration of the Returning Favors Sutra

CHINA, Chongqing, Dazu; Southern Song dynasty

Situated in the north cliff, this niche has a flat ceiling and is 14.7 m wide and 7.1 m high. Its carvings are based primarily on the Returning Favors Sutra, King Suddhodana Parinirvana Sutra, and various Jataka tales. A verse reading “even if a burning-hot iron wheel is turning on the top of my head, no matter how excruciating the pain is, I will not regress from Bodhicitta” is inscribed along the top of the niche just below the ceiling.
A 3.7 m high carving of Sakyamuni Buddha is in the center of the niche. Above the Buddha’s head, there is a heavenly palace, with four Chinese characters above the doorway reading: “Trayastrimsa Heavenly Palace.” A stele constructed to honor a Buddha’s tooth relic is carved below the Buddha. Characters are inscribed on each side of the monument, stating: “the golden relics of my teacher are enshrined here, who has undergone tribulations to make his life everlasting.” Twelve inscriptions and scenes of stories from the Returning Favors Sutra relating to filial piety, as demonstrated by Sakyamuni Buddha in his previous lives, are carved in three tiers on the cliff wall to the left and right of the central Buddha.
Three groups of carvings and inscriptions are in the upper tier on the right side of the wall. They illustrate how Sakaymuni showed filial piety so as to have the Thirty Two Marks of Excellence; how he scooped out his eyes and marrow for medicine; and how he showed filial piety as a parrot. Two groups of carvings and inscriptions showing how in his previous lives, Sakyamuni cut his flesh to feed his parents and sacrificed his life to feed a tigress and her cubs, can be found in the middle tier. A depiction of six non-Buddhist teachers accusing the Buddha of not being filial is found on the bottom row.
There are three sets of carvings and inscriptions on the upper tier of the left side of the wall. They depict how Sakyamuni, as Syama, showed filial piety to his aging parents, even in the face of death; how he cut his flesh to feed his parents; and how he, as a wild goose, delivered a letter to a prince. The two carvings and inscriptions on the middle tier show how Sakaymuni traveled to the palace to cure his father, and how he sacrificed himself for the Dharma in a previous life. At the bottom, there is only one inscription and a carving portraying Sakyamuni carrying his father’s casket.
These scenes display many of the common features of Southern Song dynasty Buddhist rock carvings, and also reflect the integration of Confucianism and Buddhism in the region at the time, particularly the strong emphasis on filial piety.