From the reign of Emperor Wu to the Kaiyuan era( 690—740), the construction of Buddhist images at Qianfoya in Guangyuan, Sichuan, was very active. During this period, the construction of the caves can be divided into three phases. Caves of Phase Ⅰ(690—700 CE), represented by cave 535, show in the forms of their images a strong influence from the Huangzesi Grottoes dating to 650 CE. Caves of phase Ⅱ(from the early 710 s-to the first half of the 720 s) are split between two image systems that can be respectively represented by caves 366 and 513. Caves of Phase Ⅲ( from the mid—720 s to 741) exhibit an image style that has combined the two systems formed in Phase II. This is most likely the outcome of the independent development of the Qianfoya image system.
