After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, a large number of universities and research 
institutions were relocated to Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan and other areas, and consequently many scholars began to turn their research focus to this region. During this period, the Society for Research in Chinese Architecture carried out the Sichuan-Xikang Ancient Architecture Survey, conducting archaeological investigations of grotto statues in Sichuan, Chongqing and other areas. On the eve of the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Dazu Rock Carvings Investigation Team performed the first archaeological survey of the Dazu Rock Carvings, and concluded that they could be ranked alongside the Yungang and Longmen Grottoes as one of China’s three major grotto sites. The series of archaeological surveys in this period marked the first investigation of the Sichuan-Chongqing grottoes with modern academic significance, and constituted a significant event of Chinese grotto archaeology during the Republican era. The contents of the investigation provided valuable materials for the research in this field, laying a foundation for the later Sichuan-Chongqing grotto archaeology.