Location | Helanshan, Ningxia |
---|---|
History | |
Periods | Neolithic to Western Xia [1] |
Site notes | |
Discovered | 5th century AD [2] |
Rock Paintings of Helan Mountains ( simplified Chinese: 贺兰山岩画; traditional Chinese: 賀蘭山岩畫; pinyin: Hèlánshān Yánhuà), also known as Helanshan Rock Art, [3] are images carved into the rocks of Helan Mountains, Ningxia. [4]
Helanshan Rock Art is representative of rock paintings in northern China, with rich and concentrated subject matter. As of December 2020, tens of thousands of petroglyphs have been discovered, [5] and they were created between 10,000 and 3,000 years ago. [6]
The Helanshan Rock Art was first discovered by Li Daoyuan, a geographer of the Northern Wei dynasty, in the 5th century AD in Commentary on the Water Classic. [7] In modern times, it was rediscovered by Li Xiangshi (李祥石) [8] in 1969. [9]
The truly comprehensive and systematic studies and findings of Helanshan Rock Art have been made since China's reform and opening up. [10]
The creation periods of Helanshan Rock Art can be roughly divided into three stages, the first stage is the Neolithic, [11] the second stage is from the Qin dynasty to the Northern and Southern dynasties, and the third stage is from the Sui dynasty to the Western Xia. [12]
In 1996, Helanshan Rock Art was included in the third batch of the list of Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level in China. [13] In 1997, it was inscribed on the Unofficial List of World Cultural Heritage (非正式世界文化遗产名录) [14] by the International Petroglyph Committee of UNESCO (联合国教科文组织国际岩画委员会). [15]
Media related to Petroglyphs in the Helan Mountains at Wikimedia Commons