The Dazu Caves are started to carve from Tang Dynasty (650 A.D) and reach its peak in Song Dynasty (960-1278 A.D.). For the period of more than 600 years, the designers not only inherit the style of single Buddha statue in the past, but also create the new way. The features of Dazu Caves include Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. In carving style, Dazu Caves are deeply influenced by Mahāvaipulya Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra and Esoteric Buddhism, therefore, they are extremely unique from all the other caves in the central and northwestern China. Moreover, Dazu Caves could be seen as the masterpiece of carving arts in Southern China. Mañjuśrī is often shown as an attendant or foremost Bodhisattva in Dazu Caves. Samantabhadra is always coupled with Mañjuśrī with symmetry. This article will roughly discuss the style, ornamentation and implication of Mañjuśrī in Dazu Caves and bring some new ideas that might not be shown in the current studies about Mañjuśrī.
