At sixty-two meters the Leshan Buddha in southwest China is the
world's tallest premodern statue. Carved out of a riverside cliff
in the eighth century, it has evolved from a religious center to a
UNESCO World Heritage Site and popular tourist destination. But
this Buddha does not stand alone: Sichuan is home to many cave
temples with such monumental sculptures, part of a centuries-long
tradition of art-making intricately tied to how local inhabitants
made use of their natural resources with purpose and creativity.
These examples of art embedded in nature have altered landscapes
and have influenced the behaviors, values, and worldviews of users
through multiple cycles of revival, restoration, and recreation. As
hybrid spaces that are at once natural and artificial, they embody
the interaction of art and the environment over a long period of
time. This far-ranging study of cave temples in Sichuan shows that
they are part of the world's sustainable future, as their continued
presence is a reminder of the urgency to preserve culture as part
of today's response to climate change. Temples in the Cliffside
brings art history into close dialogue with current discourse on
environmental issues and contributes to a new understanding of the
ecological impact of artistic monuments.
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