Huashan Rock Painting Telling the Tales of Luoyue Culture

Mo Tingting

More than 2，000 years ago， the Luoyue people created some magnificent pictures on the precipice along the banks of the Zuojiang River. It constitutes the splendid cultural landscape of Zuojiang River and Huashan Rock Painting together with its relying mountains， rivers and platforms， which includes about 105 km of Zuojiang River and Mingjiang River section. After thousands of years， it continuously attracts numerous scholars and tourists at home and abroad to do research as well as visit the magical rock painting left in Chongzuo， Guangxi.

On both banks of Zuojiang River， there are mountains towering steep without stop， beautiful sceneries， as well as mysterious cliff pictures and suspending coffins of cliff burial， and it is one of the birthplaces of ancient Luoyue nationality that is full of mysteries.

Landscape of Zuojiang River near the southern border

Go southward from the capital of Guangxi， Nanning， you would come to the Sino-Vietnam border city — Chongzuo， and in such a mysterious neat and graceful place， there are unique regional advantages， beautiful landscape sceneries， profound national customs， dignified cultural accumulation， and extremely abundant tourism resources. Anyone having been to Chongzuo will be captivated by its beautiful feelings. The whole city is equipped with more than 500 different kinds of tourism resources such as landscape sceneries， human heritages， rare animals， ancient trees， and primitive ecologies， etc.， and it is one of the significant tourism destinations in Guangxi. The ecological grand valley rising high to the sky and down to the earth， the extremely skillful magnificent strange stone forests， the world-famous Friendship Pass， the biggest Asian cross-border Detian Waterfall， and the millennium Huashan Rock Painting， etc.， all of which could make people feel too excited to be homesick.

Zuojiang River originates from Vietnam， and converges with the Longzhou Shuikou River after passing through Pingxiang Pinger River， and then passes through Longzhou Lijiang， and converges with Mingjiang River and Blackwater Rush in Ningming， and then passes through Jiangzhou District， Chongzuo and Fusui River section to enter Yongjiang River， and in general it passes through “three counties and one city”， namely Pingxiang City， Longzhou County， Ningming County， Jiangzhou District and Fusui County. On both banks of Zuojiang River， there are mountains towering steep without stop， beautiful sceneries， as well as mysterious cliff pictures and suspending coffins of cliff burial， and it is one of the birthplaces of ancient Luoyue nationality that is full of mysteries.

On July 15， 2016， the cultural landscape of Zuojiang River and Huashan Rock Painting was approved of being listed in the List of World Cultural Heritages in the 40th World Heritage Convention after 13 years of application for world heritage. the cultural landscape of Zuojiang River and Huashan Rock Painting succeeded in the application， and became the 35th world cultural heritage and the 49th world heritage. The heritage area of Huashan Rock Painting listed in the List of World Cultural Heritages is 6，621 hectares， including Ningming County is the first heritage area， Longzhou County is the second heritage area， and Jiangzhou District and Fusui County are the third heritage area.

The successful application for heritage of the item is not only conducive to guarding such a common cultural wealth of the human beings as Huashan Rock Painting， but also conducive to handing down the Luoyue painting scrolls which remain undestroyed after two thousand years weathering from generation to generation.

The long-drawn-out Luoyue culture

Situated in southwest Guangxi， Chongzuo in ancient times was one of the original areas inhabited by the Luoyue minority， an important branch of Baiyue ethnic group， from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties （1600 BC-256 BC） to the Qin and Han Dynasties （221 BC-220 AD）. During the Qin Dynasty （221 BC-207 BC）， Chongzuo was under the jurisdiction of Xiang Prefecture.

Chongzuo once was a place for the Luoyue ancestors to make hunting， tillage and reproduction. With abundant sunshine， rainfall， little frost and snowfall， it provides ideal conditions for the remarkable member of the grass family -- rice. As far as the eye can see， Chongzuos paddy field is one of the most amazing engineering feats of the preindustrial China. For thousands of years， Luoyue people were farming ethnic， and it seems that every square inch of this land had been developed into cultivation by Luoyue people. Actually， the rice-farming culture of Luoyue people is an adaptation to the geographical conditions of the mountainous areas in Chongzuo， and also a connection with the traditional conventions of a minority group. They developed a remarkable rice-farming culture， a rather complete farming system and plentiful experience in irrigation. The long history of rice farming in Chongzuo and their food structure with rice as the staple food determine that their catering habits have impenetrated in peoples daily life， weddings， funerals and festivals. Now farming is a major occupation of the local villagers.

During the Qing Dynasty （1616-1912）， with the emigration of the Han people， the Zhuang people scattered and continued to develop in Guangxi and the neighboring countries. Nowadays， this is a tourism cooperation area for friendly exchange and common development of the Chinese and Vietnamese. Also， there are close historical and ethnic links between Luoyue people and Zhuang people for Chongzuo was regarded as one of the earliest centers of Zhuang culture. Probably， Zhuang people are the descendants of the Luoyue people. Since the ancient times， Luoyue people believed in the propagation， totem and their ancestors， developing numerous kinds of beliefs. Nowadays， sacrifice activities are usually held in Chongzuo to pray for heavenly blessing. By virtue of rich culture left by the Luoyue people， Zhuang people now are skilled at beautiful handicrafts： Embroideries， batiks， paper cuts and woodcarvings. In addition， there are a house of colorful oral literature and art， including poetry， legends， fairy tales and fables， enjoying a great reputation at home and abroad. “Huashan” is the Chinese translation of the “Ba Lai” in Zhuang language， including the “Ba” means mountain， while “Lai” means dense pits， and the name is gained due to that the auburn images painted on the grey yellow cliffs take on flecky red pits.

Rock painting remaining intact through a millennium

Huashan Rock Painting is the representative of the rock painting group in Zuojiang River basin， as well as a rock painting of the maximum single volume， richest contents and best preservation as discovered in China up to now. The Rock Painting located on the west bank of Mingjiang River in Yaoda Village， Chengzhong Town， Ningming County has had a history of 1，800-2，500 years up to now， and by virtue of its large scale， grand spectacle and numerous images， it becomes a typical representative of rock paintings of Zuojiang River basin in Guangxi.

Rock paintings are painted on cliffs beside the river， and there will be a natural sense of shock if looking far on the boats. Exposing to the landscape of green sky and earth， you could see that the cliffs standing beside the surging river water are covered by auburn portraits of the front side and portraits of the sideways， animals， birds， weapons and ritual and musical instruments and other images created by flat-coating silhouette method.

The basic form of the portraits of the front side on the rock paintings is： Both arms stretch flat to both sides， and hold upward by flexing the elbows; both legs squat flat， and keep downward by bending the knees. The forms of the body are mostly inverted triangles with the upper part being big and the lower part being small， and sometimes they are columns with equal width in both the upper part and the lower part. Most of them wear no ornaments around their waists， and a few of them wear knife， sword and other weapons. The body of portraits of sideways is smaller than that of portraits of the front side， and they face towards left or right， with the hands and feet stretching to the same side of the body. They squat or stand， and most of them hold their hands upward by flexing the elbows， while some have the hands stretching upward straightly in an inclining way， and most of the palms have no visible fingers; some of them have their head， neck and body in a straight line， while some are in different thicknesses.

Generally speaking， as for whether the portraits of front side or the portraits of the sideways， their forms are highly stylized. The height of the images is two to three meters， and after all， there are not so many rock paintings at the height exceeding 1 m both at home and abroad. Among the densely connected images， there are also overlapping images. Standing in front of the rock painting， you will feel like entering into a far ancient society， enjoying happiness and gratefulness with them， and already forgetting to return.

Great miracles originating from religious consciousness

Under the direct sunlight， the auburn of the rock paintings becomes slightly dim， but is still clear and distinguishable. Why should the color of the rock paintings having exposed to the weathering environment for more than 2，000 years disappear？ Research has discovered that， this is because that the paint pigments are mainly made of hematite mixed with animal blood or hide glue， while animal glue as adhesive could make the iron mineral pigments attached to the cliffs firmly.

The rock paintings are mostly concentrated on middle and lower parts of the cliffs， and the peak is generally dozens of meters high above the water level. How did the Luoyue people get close to the cliffs to make the painting？ Toward this there are many assumptions in the academic field. For example， some people think that direct shelf method could be applied in low painting places. While some believe that， the bottom-up climbing method may be applied. And some even think that， the Luoyue people could make the painting through hanging climbing from the cliff top to the bottom with ropes or rattans as auxiliary means. Another possibility is high water level floating method. At the time of flash flood and river water increase， people went to make direct painting by boats or kayaks making use of the high water level.

Being strong， solemn and respectful， a mysterious breath disperses among the Zuojiang River Rock Paintings. Under the extremely difficult and dangerous painting conditions， what is the significance of such highly stylized rock paintings created by the Luoyue people spending hundreds of years？ It is generally acknowledged that， the painting of the Zuojiang River Rock Paintings was greatly driven by the primitive religious consciousness. Other scholars think that， what is painted on the Zuojiang River Rock Paintings is a group dancing scene of the Luoyue people imitating the frogs movements， and it is a representation of the frog worship for the purpose of praying for rain in rice-farming culture. There is no conclusion yet for the content of the painting up to now. Those who have ever been to Huashan， not only highly praised its magnificence， but also were surprised at its mysteriousness.

Whenever you take a floating bamboo raft on the misty Mingjiang River， or catch a sight of the Huashan Rock Painting in Huashan， you are in Chongzuo where the Luoyue culture was well inherited. Listening to the thunders in the silence， it contains abundant information of early history of the Luoyue ancestors， which is quite precious.