Ghost King Stone Carvings

A Brief Introduction to Ghost King Stone Carvings

Ghost King Stone Carvings is situated in Shilinggang Village, Shuren Town which is nine kilometers off the northeast of Fengdu County. It is about twenty kilometers away from the new Fengdu County seat. It covers an area of 175 mu (1hectare = 15 mu). Its main ghost King is 138 meters high and 217 meters wide with a 20-meter-wide mouth, a 81-meter-long tongue and a carving depth of 26 meters. On the 10th July of 1996, it was declared as the largest carved stone statue in the world by the Shanghai Macrocosm Guinness Headquarters.

Distant View of Ghost King Stone Carvings

Looking from the distant Yangtze River, you can see a steep cliff, regular and smooth, towering and flat, with a height of over 150 meters, a width of more than 400 meters and a surface area of about 30,000 square meters. The Ghost King Stone Carvings is sculpted based on the stretching trends of the stone, like a marvelous picture stably hanging in the blue sky and white clouds, regardless of winds or rains. On the other hand, the fantastic Ghost King Stone Carvings makes the mountain sheerer and more majestic.

Close View of Ghost King Stone Carvings

Entering the scenic area of Ghost King Stone Carvings, you can see three platforms-called "San-guan-tai". The platforms are respectively tian-guan (platform of heaven), di-guan (platform of earth) and shui-guan (platform of water). According to historical records, in Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhangling and his son Zhangheng advocated the belief of "san-guan", that is, tian-guan, di-guan and shui-guan were respectively the deities controlling the heaven, earth and water. Tian-guan blessed people, di-guan absolved people, and shui-guan relieved people. It is said that when people were caught in hardships, they could prey to the three deities and handed over their san-guan-calligraphy on which they wrote their names and wished by placing one on the mountain, the other underground and the third in the water. In this way, they can remove dangers and disasters.

Culture of Ghost King Stone Carvings

If the Ghost King Stone Carvings had been carved by traditional sculpture skills, it would need ten or even fifteen years to be completed. What is worth mentioning is that famous sculptor He Liping and other sculptors finished the massive undertaking within two years by means of his unique craft and modern blasting technique. This is recognized as top of the world.

The scenic spot of Ghost King Stone Carvings, which is set in the ghost culture of Fengdu, held activities such as "Climbing the Ghost King", "Night Visit to Ghost King" and so on. All of these activities are with notable local features and lay stress on entertainment, artistic quality and tourists' participation, undoubtedly creating a soul-stirring, interesting and mystical trip for the tourists at home and abroad.