Qualla: General Cliff Rock Paintings

General Cliff Rock Paintings: Introduction

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Maalikwong, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Chinese call them Dongfang Tianshu -- the "Oriental Book from Heaven" -- and the name captures both their allure and their frustration. Carved into the rocks of General Cliff, fourteen kilometers west of Lianyungang in Jiangsu Province, these Neolithic petroglyphs have defied complete interpretation since their discovery in 1979. Scholars agree they are ancient. They agree they are significant. Beyond that, consensus dissolves into competing theories about who made them, what they depict, and what they were for.

Image: Maalikwong | CC BY-SA 3.0

General Cliff Rock Paintings: A Book Nobody Can Read

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Maalikwong, CC BY-SA 3.0. In the 1980s, researchers identified three separate petroglyph groups spanning several square meters on the cliff face. The images include what appear to be human faces, agricultural symbols, and celestial motifs, but their specific meanings remain the subject of vigorous academi...

Image: Maalikwong | CC BY-SA 3.0

General Cliff Rock Paintings: Reaching Back Ten Thousand Years

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Maalikwong, CC BY-SA 3.0. Dating the General Cliff carvings has produced one of the more remarkable claims in Chinese archaeology. One school of thought places their creation around 8000 BC, which would make them the oldest rock paintings ever discovered in China. This is not universally accepted -- Neoli...

Image: Maalikwong | CC BY-SA 3.0

General Cliff Rock Paintings: Protected but Still Mysterious

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Maalikwong, CC BY-SA 3.0. In 1988, the State Council included the General Cliff Rock Paintings in the third batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level, placing them among China's most important heritage sites. The designation brought conservation resources and public atte...

Image: Maalikwong | CC BY-SA 3.0