The Maijishan Grottoes

Seven thousand Buddhist sculptures grace the caves and a sheer rock cliff face of the Maijishan Grottoes in Gansu Province, China. The work on these carvings took hundreds of years, peaking around 500AD, but continued until the beginning of the 20th century. Some are carved out of the cliff itself, some are made of clay, and some rock sculptures have been brought in from elsewhere. See lots of photographs of this amazing landmark from various vantage points at Kuriositas. Link -via the Presurfer

(Image credit: Flickr user mke1963)


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"these caravans of propriety, of social mores too foreign for our contemporary eyes,"

Huh? Haven't this writer heard of the separate beaches for Muslim men and women and seen some of the Muslim bathing outfits for women?
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The concept of going to the beach and wading or swimming was new at the time. Something that a lot of people glaze over is that these are not the social norms for the past in general, but the Victorian period in particular. We got a lot more modest in the Victorian period than we were in centuries past, the pendulum of social modesty and permissiveness swings back and forth.
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From the bathing-machine came a din
As of jollification within;
It was heard far and wide
And the incoming tide
Had a definite flavor of gin.

-Edward Gorey

Once the machine had been pushed into the water, a woman could enter the water through doors on the seaward side, the body of the machine and the open doors forming a screen shielding her from the view of those on the beach.
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