The old photo of Bazhong, Sichuan in 1914: the style and features of Shuining Temple Grottoes a hundred years ago

Share a group of old photos of Bazhong, Sichuan in 1914, showing Shuining Temple and stone niches a hundred years ago. The photos were taken by Xie Gelan

Victor· Victor Segalen (1878-1919) was a famous French poet, writer, sinologist and archaeologist. His life has a deep relationship with China, and he is also famous for writing about China. He has lived in China for a long time and visited China many times. He has a deep understanding and rich perception of China’s long civilization and unique culture, and has taken a large number of old photos of China

In 1914, Xie Gelan prepared equipment and funds for the archaeological activities to be carried out in China, which was supported by famous sinologists such as Cener, Kaurdie, Shawan, and Boehe. On February 1 of that year, the delegation left Beijing for Luoyang, Henan, and then turned west into Shaanxi via the Yellow River valley to investigate the imperial tombs located but not yet excavated near Xi’an, and then left for Sichuan

This group of photos was taken here

水宁寺石窟，位于巴中县城东37公里的清江、斯连、花溪三乡交界处。水宁寺，古为始宁寺。《寰宇记》云“废始宁县，在县东南五十里。梁普通六年（公元526年）于此置遂宁郡，又于郡理置始宁县，因山为名”。隋开皇三年废郡。

水宁寺石窟，现存造像27龛，近300躯，全系佛教造像艺术。主要内容有“释迦说法像”、“药师三尊变”、“释迦多宝并坐说法像”、“五佛”、“释迦真如舍利塔”、“观音菩萨”等。

造像多为盛唐作品，少数为晚唐雕刻。塑造了许多栩栩如生的人物、动物、植物形象，达到了引人入胜的境界，堪称我国唐代石窟艺术中高水平的作品之一。