Images Dated 18th May 2014

Beech (Fagus sylvatica) forest in Tarcu mountains nature reserve, Natura 2000 area

Beech (Fagus sylvatica) forest in Tarcu mountains nature reserve, Natura 2000 area, Southern Carpathians, Romania, May 2014

© www.naturepl.com

Angiosperm, Angiospermae, Beech, Beech Tree, Castanea Fagus, Colour, Common Beech, Dicot, Dicotyledon, East Europe, Eastern Europe, Europe, European Beech Tree, Fagaceae, Fagales, Fagus, Fagus Asplenifolia, Fagus Cristata, Fagus Sylvatica, Flowering Plant, Forest, Green, Landscape, Magnoliopsida, Mountain, Plant, Plantae, Rewilding, Romania, Rosanae, Rosid, Seed Plant, Southern Carpathians, Spermatophyte, Spermatophytina, Staffan Widstrand, Tracheophyta, Tree, Trees, Vascular Plant, Wild Wonders Of Europe, Wwe

Rock Carvings, Baodingshan, Dazu, China

Part of the Ox herding parable. In this Scene two hersdmen relax by a pond and enjoy the beauty of nature (represented by a crane) while one of them plays a flute. The ox is nowhere to be found, showing that at this state the concerns of the active mind are absent; the Zen doctrine of no mind'.The Dazu rock carvings, one of Chinas most impressive UNESCO World Heritage Sites, are situated between Chengdu and Chongqing in the southern part of China, in Sichuan Province.The carvings at Dazu are a most beautiful form of rock art and symbolise the integration of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, the 3 main religions of China. Besides images of the Buddha, the carvings show different people including ministers, military officers, executioners, monks, rich and poor people, and performers. The carvings date from the 9th to 13th centuries.Baodingshan is the most visited grotto in Dazu, and has the best preserved sculptures. It was here that between 1174 and 1252 the Buddhist monk Zhao Zhifeng ordered the start of work on the elaborate carvings along a 500-meter U-shaped section of Mount Baoding. They show the implementation of Buddhist ideas in daily life as represented by Tantric Buddhism

© Claire Plumridge

Rock Carvings, Beishan, Dazu, Chongqing, China

The Dazu Rock Carvings are a series of Chinese religious sculptures and carvings, dating back as far as the 7th century AD, depicting and influenced by Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist beliefs.Listed as a World Heritage Site, the Dazu Rock Carvings are made up of 75 protected sites containing some 50, 000 statues, with over 100, 000 Chinese characters forming inscriptions and epigraphs. The sites are located in Chongqing Municipality within the steep hillsides throughout Dazu County, located about 60 kilometers west of the urban area of Chongqing.The largest cluster at Beishan contains two groups along a cliff face 7-10m high stretching for around 300m. There are more than 10, 000 carvings dating from the late 9th to the mid-12th century which depict themes of Tantric Buddhism and Taoism. Inscriptions give insight to the history, religious beliefs, dating and the identification of historical figures

© Claire Plumridge