If you want to know about it in a short time in a city, then I recommend that you go to the city's museums, especially those that are listed in the national first-class museum, displaying the weight of the country.
For example, on the first day of my trip to Kunming, I went to the Yunnan Provincial Museum located next to Guandu Ancient Town, although it is a first-class museum, but for many other museums of the same level, it is slightly deserted. But this is also good, so that I can enjoy the cultural relics.
Before entering the museum, let's first talk about this Yunnan Provincial Museum, which was established in 1951 and has a collection of more than 220,000 cultural relics, of which 509 are first-class cultural relics. The value of this kind of cultural relics can only be regarded as modest in China, but fortunately, many first-class cultural relics have Yunnan characteristics, especially the cultural relics excavated in Dali and Nanzhao periods are well-deserved to become the treasures of the town museum, which has played a role in adding bricks and tiles to the Yunnan Provincial Museum to be selected as a national first-class museum.
The picture above shows the Yunnan Museum reproducing the grottoes of the Nanzhao and Dali kingdom periods - the Shizhongshan Grottoes
The picture above shows a statue of the Yunnan Provincial Museum
It can be said that the cultural relics unearthed in Dali in the Yunnan Provincial Museum are not only rich in quantity but also extremely valuable and exquisite, and some have even appeared in CCTV's national treasure programs, so we will start with this Dapeng golden-winged bird that has been on CCTV.
It is said that there is a very fierce bird called the goldfinch, which is very fierce and feeds on dragons, making the dragon tribe miserable. Later, the golden-winged bird converted to Buddhism and became a protector of the Dharma, and the Dali kingdom was flooded, and the people of Dali invited the golden-winged bird to ambush the dragon, and then the people of Dali used it as a protective god to protect the Dali kingdom.
Returning to the cultural relics themselves, this is a gold-winged bird excavated from the top of the Qianxun Pagoda of Dali Chongsheng Temple, 18.5 centimeters high and weighing 125 grams, made of silver gilded gold.
The golden-winged bird has a crown on its head, its wings seem to spread its wings, and its two bird claws stand sharply on the lotus pedestal. The golden-winged bird's tail feathers show a flame-patterned backlight, and there are also 5 crystal beads embedded in the backlight, because the brilliance of the crystal makes the whole golden-winged bird look more vivid.
As exquisite and precious as the golden-winged bird is the silver-backlit golden Akhye Guanyin statue, also unearthed in the Qianxun Pagoda of Dali Chongsheng Temple, the so-called "Akaya" is from the "Nanzhao Tuchuan", which is unique to the Nanzhao and Dali periods of the "true body Guanyin".
The "Akhaya" is about 29.5 meters high, made of pure gold throughout, and the bodhisattva wears a Buddha crown on his head, his upper body is exposed, his neck is covered with a silken belt, and his lower body is dressed with a bouquet of flower-shaped belts.
There is a boat-shaped backlight on the back of Akhye, a silver hollow, a lotus pattern in the inner ring, and a variety of patterns such as yuluo flower, bead pattern and flame pattern on the outer ring, which is very exquisite if you look closely.
It can be said that this silver-backlit gold Akhaya Guanyin statue has become one of the treasures of the Yunnan Provincial Museum with the largest Song Dynasty Buddha statue cast in pure gold and dali guo's superb statue art, and has become a "Yunnan Fuxing".
Perhaps because the silver backlit golden Akhaya Guanyin statue is so dazzling that other statues look inferior, but the gold backlit silver poplar branch Guanyin statue makes me like it with a sense of gold and silver contrast.
It can be said that during the Dali Period, Guanyin was greatly worshipped, and more than 20 Images of Guanyin can be seen from the "Zhang Shengwen Picture Scroll", of which the willow branch Guanyin won the hearts of the people because it sprinkled the human world and eliminated the troubles of sentient beings.
This statue of Guanyin wears a crown on its head, a kind face, a neck with a scarf, a shawl, a long skirt, and a wrist skirt. The left hand holds a water purification bowl and the right hand holds a willow branch, in the shape of a manna sprinkler.
The backlight is made of gold, which contrasts sharply with the silver statue body in front, and stands out among the many statues.
It can be said that the Buddhist culture unearthed in Dali is extremely rich, in addition to the three just seen, like the five-color offering pagoda, the silver backlit stone carved Water Moon Guanyin seated statue, the carved Buddha gold plate and other cultural relics have shown you the Dali Kingdom of the "Myoxiang Buddha Kingdom". (Author: Horse and stop, life is about walking, the journey needs to be recorded!) ）
Yunnan Provincial Museum Travel Tips:
How to get there: Take bus No. 31 at Kunming Station and get off at Yunxiu Junction (Guangfu Road) Station and walk to it.