Buddhist stone carvings in SW China receive world record certification

The largest stone carvings of the Buddhist canon have received certification from the London-headquartered World Record Certification Agency.

Located in Rangtang county of Aba Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture, Southwest China's Sichuan province, the canon contains a collection of approximately 500,000 stone carvings of Buddhist scriptures in the Tibetan language, according to the prefectural government.

Covering an area of 694 square meters, the stone carvings consist of several classical teachings of Tibetan Buddhism including the Kangyur and the Tengyur. They also contain information on traditional Tibetan disciplines, such as medicine, linguistics, architecture and astronomy.

The stone carvings were inscribed during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. More than 60 stonemasons spent a total of nine years to complete these works, said Wang Jia, acting county chief of Rangtang.

"They have great cultural and artistic value," Wang added.