Visitors to Nankan

After the sino-japanese war ended in august 1945, residents in the northern Sichuan city of Bazhong slowly resumed activities that were once part of their lives in prewar times. One significant sign of the revival was a series of relief sculptures of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara that were newly commissioned at Nankan Caves, located at a mountain of the same name about one kilometer south of the city center (fig. 4.1). A venerable center of religious devotion for over a thousand years, the cave complex had long been a popular destination for visitors from all walks of life, far and near.