I dare not say that October is the most beautiful time in Suzhou, but Suzhou at this time will definitely make you fall in love at a glance. The last time I came to Suzhou was 11 years ago, just hurried by, nothing special.
This time when I walked out of the subway station, the face was full of osmanthus fragrance, I suddenly found that the whole city is the smell of osmanthus flowers, whether it is early in the morning, or full of sunshine at noon, or the evening breeze, whether you can see the osmanthus tree, that or light or thick osmanthus fragrance, hidden in the air, lingering on the tip of your nose, the tip of the hair will not disperse for a long time, even in the room, when sleeping, are accompanied by the fragrance of osmanthus flowers. Because of the fragrance of osmanthus flowers, I fell in love with the city.
The most important itinerary of this trip is to take a walk to the Suzhou Museum. In this new Suzhou Museum, designed by Master I.M. Pei, more than 30,000 cultural relics will dazzle you, and the most eye-catching of them are the excavated cultural relics of Ruiguang Temple Pagoda and Yunyan Temple Pagoda, which are known as the "treasures of the two pagodas". In that spring more than thirty years ago, the treasures of the Buddha Country, which had been sealed for thousands of years, reappeared in the world.
In the southwest of Suzhou City, there is a thousand-year-old pagoda called Ruiguang Pagoda. During the Three Kingdoms Eastern Wu Sun Quan period, in order to welcome the Kangju monk Ren Ren Kang to Suzhou, Ruiguang Temple was built, and in 247 AD, Sun Quan built a thirteen-level stupa in this temple in order to repay his mother's kindness. During the Five Dynasties and Later Jin Dynasty, the pagoda was rebuilt and a bronze medal was given to the top of the pagoda; in the first year of the Northern Song Dynasty (1004), it was rebuilt as a pavilion-style pagoda with a seven-level eight-sided brick and wood structure, and was given the title of "Ruiguang Zen Temple". For more than a thousand years, the pagoda has been burned by war many times and destroyed. From the 10th year of Qing Xianfeng (1860) to the second year of Tongzhi (1863), the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was fought, the monastery was destroyed, and only one pagoda became independent. In 1978, a wooden letter more than 1 meter high was found in the Ruiguang Pagoda. And Muhan was found to be very accidental.
On April 12, 1978, three local primary school students took advantage of the summer vacation to go to Ruiguang Pagoda to play, and at that time, Ruiguang Pagoda was unattended, so several primary school students went to the top of the pagoda. When they came to the third floor of the stupa, there were several birds flying around under the eaves, and then they found the nest near the eaves, and several people discussed digging the bird eggs together, but inadvertently touched a loose core brick of the tower. They lifted the heavy brick niche and found a dark hole in the ground below. The black hole can allow a person to enter, the children can't help but be a little scared, but driven by curiosity, several students still entered the black hole, in the dark room of the cave they found a "black box" more than 1 meter high, a thousand years of sleep of the national treasure level cultural relics of the pearl relics to see the light of day.
Song Ginkgo biloba wood painted four heavenly kings like Neihan - Northern Duowen Heavenly King
The cultural relics experts who rushed to hear the news opened the "black box", which contained a wooden letter made of ginkgo biloba wood, and the four sides were painted with the images of the four heavenly kings. The painted Inner Wooden Letter is 124 cm high and made of ginkgo biloba wood, and the inner wall of the wooden letter is written with the words "Six Years of the Great Zhongxiang Symbol", that is, 1013 AD. The wooden letter is very exquisite, the cultural relics experts know the treasure at a glance, but the wooden letter is opened, the cultural relics experts present are stunned, the original real treasure in the treasure, hidden in this wooden letter, what kind of rare treasure, this later, or first look at this large box painted with the four kings.
Although the two treasures of the town hall exhibited in Subori are replicas, if you think that the replicas have nothing to see, you are wrong, when you have seen its colorful colors, seen its intricacies and exquisites, you will feel that the ancients at that time incredible craftsmanship.
It is no exaggeration to say that after reading the inner letter of the four heavenly kings painted in ginkgo wood, you will understand the idiom of "buying the tree and returning the pearl".
Uchigi is made of ginkgo biloba wood and is a five-section square stack. The first section is a canopy, surrounded by four painted statues of the four kings. From its inner ink book "Diary of April 18, 6th Year of Dazhong Xiangfu" and "Du Guo Dang (Song Dynasty Official in Charge of Finance) Fang Yunsheng's Wife Sun ShiNiang" and other signatures, it can be seen that this object is a relic of the Northern Song Dynasty.
The outer mural has painted four heavenly kings, with uniform proportions, rich colors, exaggerated and vivid facial expressions of the characters, majestic and powerful, with a sense of realism and movement. In terms of pen and coloring, they all inherit the painting style of the Wu Daozi school of the Tang Dynasty, whose strokes are like clouds and flowing water, the ink is thick and strong, and the willow leaf is used to depict the line smoothly and richly changed, and the meaning of "Wu belt when the wind" is revealed between the belts. The color is slightly dyed and the danqing is flicked. The picture is mainly outlined, and the natural color of the wooden board is used as the color of the character body. Zhudanshi green and pink white is only used for coloring external objects such as clothing, armor, and weapons, resulting in a thick and beautiful and simple color effect. The painter's superb skill makes the whole painting reach a near-perfect state.
The four great kings depicted in this piece are all heroic warriors, among which the Eastern Heavenly King Doroza, with his right hand crossed at the waist, his left hand holding a sword, his back is straight, his eyes are round, and the corners of his mouth are tightly closed, as if he wants to leap and snipe;
The Western Guangmu Heavenly King Virubo wears a phoenix helmet on his forked head, holds an axe, bows his waist and abdomen, roars with thunder in his vertical eyes, and flies with a beard, as if he will meet the enemy demon;
The Southern Growth Heavenly King Viruli holds a spear (shuò spear) in his left hand, stands on the left side of his body, swings his right hand downwards, and his hair rushes to the crown with anger, and his eyes are round;
In the north, the Heavenly King Vishamon looked solemn, holding the stupa in his hand, surrounded by auspicious clouds, his eyes were staring, and his lips and teeth were slightly open, like a mindfulness mantra.
The four great heavenly kings of the east, west, south, and north are all mighty and majestic, showing infinite divine power, and at their feet, they all step on the two night forks, and some of these evil spirits carry their heads and shoulders, some kneel with their backs on their backs, or tame, or deceitful, or deceitful, or fierce, or cursed, with different postures, different looks, and even more set off the majesty of the four heavenly kings. Although the wooden hancai painting is no more than 124 centimeters long, the character depiction is vivid, and the form and spirit are both in the same form as the statue of the heavenly king painted in the four corners of the "Engraving and Printing < the Great Sui Qiu Dravidian > Sutra Mantra" discovered at the same time.
The "Four Heavenly Kings" painted by Muhan are different from the four heavenly kings in the temple today, they are the four magicians who have been transformed by later generations to combine ancient Chinese mythological stories. They are the southern growth of the Heavenly King Mo Li Qing, sculpted blue, holding a sword; the Western Guangmu Heavenly King Mo Li Hong, sculpting red, holding a snake; the North smells more heavenly king Mo Li Hai, sculpting green, holding an umbrella; the East holding the Kingdom Heavenly King Mo Li Shou, shaping white, holding a pipa. According to their duties, each pipe wind, pipe adjustment, pipe rain, pipe shun, together is to manage the wind and adjust the rain smoothly, to bless the world peace. This kind of heavenly king, which symbolizes good luck and auspiciousness, is more easily accepted by ordinary Chinese than the Indian heavenly king, which symbolizes the four great powers (earth, water, fire and wind).
Although the painted four heavenly kings have gone through thousands of years, they are still colorful and imposing. The box alone is so precious and rare that you can imagine what a rare treasure is inside. Now it's time to unveil the treasure of the Suzhou Museum.
When several experts opened the exquisite "box" and saw the contents of the wooden letter, they were all stunned one by one. The contents of the wooden letter are the treasures of the treasures- the Northern Song Dynasty Pearl Relic, which is a container for storing the relics. The beauty of the shape, the preciousness of the selection of materials, and the exquisite craftsmanship are all rare in the world.
The main body of the treasure building is composed of nan wood, which is divided into three parts: the Sumerian Seat, the Buddha Palace, and the Brake.
The eight-sided shape of The Seat of Meru symbolizes the Eight Heavens in Buddhism and is divided into three layers, including the base, the Sea of Meru and Mount Meru. The base is surrounded by eight small silver lions with different looks, which are vividly shaped. The sumerian throne depicts a treasure phase and a tangled branch pattern throughout, with a girdle in the middle and a wooden gold hook railing around it.
Carved inside the railing is Mount Meru Sea, and a pillar of the sea is held up in the rough waves, and above it is Mount Meru. A gilded gold and silver wire pierced with beaded nine-headed dragon coiled around the sea pillar, legend has it that it is the symbol of the Dragon King, who rules the drought and flooding of the human world, and the dragon claws and dragon whiskers woven of gold wire are clearly visible.
Eight golden wood carved auspicious clouds rose around the sea, and the "Four Heavenly Kings" stood above the clouds, holding various weapons, with extraordinary momentum, while the "Four Heavenly Women" standing next to them were gentle and beautiful, and Ana was colorful.
On Mount Meru, which is supported, stand the eight protector gods of wood carving, with different postures and flying skirts, giving people a flexible beauty. Guarded by the gods in the middle is the main part of the treasure building, the Buddha Palace.
In the center of the Buddhist palace stands a royal blue octagonal scripture, on which the eight corners are inscribed with the Sanskrit words "Nam no Mahabharata Prajnaparamita", which means "great wisdom and great wisdom can reach the paradise on the other shore", and it can be guessed that the secret of the treasure building is in this sutra.
The sutra is hollow, with two engraved plates of the Great Sutra and a small porcelain vase in the shape of a light blue gourd, which contains nine relics.
There are eight pillars outside the Buddhist palace, which bear the roof and corners of the octagonal bucket arch beam. The upper part of the shrine is covered with an octagonal gold and silver wire beaded canopy, and the cover is covered with gilt and silver wire woven with eight small dragons as ridges, making a swooping shape with its head held high, representing the eight dragon kings. Octagonal weeping treasure flowers are splendid, wearing pearls and agate with coral pearls. At the top of the temple, there is also a Dan lacquered Buddha shrine, the niche is built with a gold carved fine neck treasure vase, the surface is embossed with Guanyin and the child, and the four sides are cloud patterned as the base, with flying sky and phoenix.
The upper part of the canopy is a brake, made of white jade, crystal and gold and silver. Eight silver chains hang from the brakes and connect to the octagon of the canopy. The top of the brake is a large crystal ball with a diameter of 3.4 cm, surrounded by a halo of silver wire flames, which means "Buddha's light shines".
At this point, the entire treasure house is decorated with dazzling decorations, which makes people linger.
The beauty of the shape of the pearl relic, the preciousness of the selection of materials, and the exquisite craftsmanship of the pearl relics are all rare in the world. According to the "Seven Treasures" of the world in Buddhism, the makers select precious crystals, agates, amber, pearls, sandalwood, gold, silver and other materials.
In terms of production technology, more than ten kinds of special craft techniques such as jade carving, gold and silver wire weaving, gold and silver skin carving, sandalwood carving, crystal carving, lacquer carving, gold tracing, beading, and ancient painting are used, condensing the wisdom and painstaking efforts of many skilled craftsmen, and is a rare and precious religious art.
Seventeen wooden statues of gods are more in line with the skills of the makers at that time, each Buddha statue is less than 10 centimeters high, the carving is extremely difficult, the majesty of the king of heaven, the graceful and colorful appearance of the goddess of heaven, the angry look of the lux, and the quiet solemnity of the Buddha, all of which have been carved to be divine, which can be described as ingenious and exquisite.
From the zhenzhu relics, people can see the prosperity and exquisiteness of Suzhou arts and crafts in the five generations and the Northern Song Dynasty, and also see the high aesthetic standards and rich cultural connotations of the Wu people in the five generations and the Northern Song Dynasty.
This real jewelry building is too expensive, it is not displayed in the Suzhou Museum, but is deeply hidden in the safe in the basement, according to a person who has seen the layered assembly of the real jewelry building, this real jewelry building has a total of more than 40,000 pearls, which can be preserved in separate pieces, if necessary, can be assembled together section by section, and finally form a set of crystal, agate, amber, pearls, sandalwood, gold and silver and many other precious materials in one of the treasures...
In the second half of 1978, the Suzhou Institute of Arts and Crafts specially set up a reproduction group for the pearl relics treasure building, and it took nearly a year to successfully copy the treasure building, but the reproduction parts still could not reach the level of the original in some processes, which showed the subtlety of the craftsmanship of that year, so that the contemporary craft masters could not reach.
Unfortunately, when the jewel relics were handed over to the hands of cultural relics experts, there was some damage, and according to the limited information currently available, it is still impossible to determine who the maker of the treasure building is, nor can it be determined which monk the relics enshrined in it belong to.
The Ruiguang Temple Pagoda, where the treasure was found, was originally named Puji Zen Temple, located in the Panmen Gate southwest of Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, and was named after the five-colored Buddha light that once appeared in the pagoda. The excavation of this Northern Song Dynasty Pearl Relic proves that the Ruiguang Pagoda was rebuilt during the Zhenzong period of the Northern Song Dynasty. It also reflects the prosperity and exquisite craftsmanship technology in the Jiangnan region of the Song Dynasty, as well as the superb aesthetic standards and rich cultural connotations of the Song Dynasty.
In the brick niches in the center of the third floor of the Ruiguang Pagoda, a number of precious cultural relics from the Five Dynasties and the early Northern Song Dynasty were also found, such as two copper gilded pagodas from the Five Dynasties, nine statues of Jizo, Guanyin and Rulai Buddha and Bodhisattva in the Song Dynasty, and more than 120 volumes of scriptures with woodcut printing and green paper gold books.
Song inlaid luodian prayer box
The warp box is made of wooden tires, black paint, and the whole body is inlaid with natural color screws into various patterns, which is graceful and luxurious. The lid of the case is covered with three clusters of flowers, set with semicircular crystals in the middle and decorated with multicolored gemstones. The surrounding slopes and edges are inlaid with flowers, diamond-shaped rings with butterfly and bird-like tungsten sheets. The pedestal adopts the form of a Sumire seat, with 16 concave doors, and there are piles of paint depicting golden grass, which is golden and brilliant. The precious golden book of the Lotus Sutra was carefully stored in this black lacquered screw-inlaid scripture box, which reappeared in the sky after a thousand years.
Song engraving printing "Myofa Lotus Sutra"
This sutra is written in gold, which refers to the mixture of mercury and gold powder into a clay-like object, and the paper it matches is blue, also known as the "Golden Book of Green Paper".
Green paper is magnetic green paper, using indigo dye dyeing paper, the production process of this paper is very cumbersome, you need to lift the xylarin from the stem and leaf of indigo, after a long period of fermentation, by the action of sugar and dilute acid free phenol after shrinking into indigo. In the 20th year of the Ming Dynasty, a piece of magnetic green paper was worth one dollar of silver, and at that time, a piece of silver could buy 2 bottles of shochu, otherwise it was 10 pounds of white noodles or 5 pounds of iron nails, and magnetic green paper could be said to be the most expensive paper at that time.
Five generations of copper gilded towers
The pagoda is square and detachable, the entire tower is carved in the Indian style, each side is engraved with Buddhist stories, the banana leaf-shaped corner is engraved on the outside of a total of thirty-two stories, and the inside is separated by four statues of the heavenly kings.
These treasures unearthed from ruiguang pagoda are preserved in the Suzhou Museum, and these national treasures that have seen the light of day show the world a glorious history and also show the wisdom and skills of a generation of craftsmen.
In the next issue, we will continue to talk about another treasure of the Suzhou Museum. Welcome to everyone's attention