A long time ago, a farmer in Ningming County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,
accidentally found some small human figure designs on the steep cliffs by
the Zuojiang
River. The figures were very vivid, with some seemingly running and
some dancing. The farmer was astonished by his discovery and immediately ran
away. It turned out to be a monumental work of arts, measuring 40-60 meters
in height and 172-210 meters in width.
Since then, the local of Zhuang minority people called the painted cliff “Pay
Laiz”, which means “Colorful Rocks”in Chinese. As the Chinese pronounces colorful
rocks and painted rocks in the same way, it is also known as “painted rocks”.
In fact, what was discovered in Guangxi has gone far beyond the imagination
of the people. There were more than 70 places of rock paintings, 5 in Ningming
County, 21 in Longzhou County, 1 in Daxin County, 28 in Congzuo City and 18
in Fusui County, extending for more than 200 kilometers, covering more than
60 mountains. Up till today, more than 4,000 pictures have been discovered.
As the rock painting groups are very much the same in shapes, styles and strokes,
they are called “Huashan rock paintings” by researchers.
Of these discoveries, the rock painting in Ningming County is the largest
in scale and the most numerous in images and the most magnificent in sight.
The shocking rock paintings are on the rock of cliffs of the mountain on the
eastern bank of Mingjiang, a tributary of Zuojiang River. The cliff wall seemingly
looks down on the river from about more than 120 meters from the foot of the
mountain, with the lowest part being about 10 meters and about 172-210 meters
in width for an area of more than 8000 square meters. There are 111 groups
of paintings, with 1,900 images, including figures, animals, bronze drums,
knives, swords, bells, boats and roads.
The most famous of all are two rock paintings, one in Ningming County and
the other in Mianjiang. The Huashan rock painting at Ningming County is 40-60
meters high and 172-210 meters wide. The one in Mianjiang extends more than
40 meters, with more than 298 images. One group of images measures 2-5 meters
for the smallest and 20-30 meters for the biggest. Usually, a figure is 0.6-1.5
meters high, with the biggest being 3 meters. Viewed sideways, the Huashan
Mountain seems to have been cut through from top to bottom by half, with the
foot of the mountain stretching out into the river and the river water flows
around the mountain. The rock paintings start from the waist of the mountain
and extend downward till the foot of the mountain. The protruding cliff top
well protects the rock paintings. Crossing the river, there is an open space,
the best place to view the rock paintings.
