Nanshan Stone Carving, Buddhist stone sculptures in Pingyao town, Hangzhou, China.

Nanshan Stone Carving consists of 23 cliff sculptures cut into the exposed welded-tuff quarry walls on the southeast slope of Nanshan, in Pingyao, Yuhang. The 14 Yuan figures, mostly seated Amitabha Buddhas, run west to east over 200 m; the largest is nearly 10 m tall. Nine Ming figures stand in three niches at the east end.

The carvings were cut during the Yuan and Ming dynasties, not the Southern Song. Fourteen Yuan figures, mostly seated Amitabha Buddhas, were carved between 1328 and 1341, as two inscriptions record, and were sponsored by monks of the nearby Wanxiang Temple. Nine Ming figures, in three niches, were added at the eastern end; the central niche is 1.72 m high. About 30 figures originally existed, but quarrying around 1978 destroyed many, leaving 23.

The Yuan-era figures are mostly seated Amitabha Buddhas, their hands forming the nine-grade mudras that welcome believers to the Pure Land, a product of Pure Land faith. Two inscriptions beside niches record carvings made in 1328 and 1341, sponsored by monks of nearby Wanxiang Temple. The Ming group at the east end has three niches: the central one holds the Buddhist Western Three Saints, the right a Taoist Zhenwu, and the left possibly Confucian figures or Taoist Three Officials.

The carvings are scattered along a 200-metre stretch of exposed rock on the southeast slope, starting at the western end near the mid-slope and descending eastward to the foot. The rock is welded tuff, coarse and uneven underfoot. The site is about 1 km west of Pingyao Old Street, by Dongtiao Creek.

The Ming-era right niche holds a Zhenwu figure in official dress flanked by two sword-wielding, loose-haired Zhenwu images. The left niche may show Confucius, Zengzi and Yan Hui, or the Taoist Three Officials; scholars still debate which.