On the afternoon of the 30th, the "Forbidden Fanhua - Exhibition of Tibetan Buddhist Ritual Instruments in the Palace Museum" was launched at the Shishi Shimao Haisi Museum in Quanzhou, and the exhibition lasted for one year.
Magic artifacts are an important category in the collection of the Palace Museum, most of which are deeply hidden in the palace and rarely exhibited, so they are not known to the outside world. This exhibition is the second large-scale collective exhibition of Tibetan Buddhist magic instruments in the Palace Museum, and 127 Tibetan Buddhist ritual instruments of different materials and different processes in the collection of the Palace Museum are selected, which are divided into three units: "Salute and Prayer - Ritual Ritual Instrument", "Offering to the Buddhas - Offering the Dharma Instrument" and "Practicing the Dharma - Holding the Dharma Instrument" for display.
From December 30, 2021 to December 29, 2022, Shimao Haisi Museum and the Palace Museum jointly launched the "Forbidden Vatican - Exhibition of Tibetan Buddhist Ritual Instruments in the Palace Museum", which is presented in three units: ritual ritual instruments, offering ritual instruments, and holding testers, and selects more than 100 Pieces of Tibetan Buddhist Ritual Instruments of Different Materials and Different Processes in the Collection of the Palace Museum.
They're so beautiful! First, let's introduce a group of offerings, and see the wonderful cultural relics in advance!
Offerings
An offering vessel is a dharma vessel that offers offerings to the Buddhas during ritual activities, Buddhist ceremonies, and the practice of the Dharma. Various offerings are used to make offerings to the Buddhas and are used on different occasions, representing different meanings.
Many Buddhist halls in the Qing Dynasty court are furnished with a large number of offerings, rich in variety, exquisite craftsmanship, exquisite materials, and luxurious decoration, reflecting the unique aesthetic interest of the court. The most common are the Five Offerings, the Seven Treasures, and the Eight Treasures, which can be seen in Buddhist halls everywhere. Some of these offerings have become special symbols of Tibetan Buddhism because of their auspicious meanings, and have gradually been widely used as decorative patterns in religious objects and secular life.
Filigree enamel Great Wei De Vajrapani Mandala City Qing
This mandala is made of filigree enamel craftsmanship, with a large body, complex structure, a wide variety of components, inlaid with various colors of jewelry, and rich in enamel colors, which can be called the finest in enamelware, reflecting the superb craftsmanship level of the court craftsmen. The altar city enshrines the statue of The Great Weed Vajra, which is the Dharma palace of the Great Weed Vajra, called the Great Weed Vajra Mandala, which is mainly used for the practice of the Great Weed Tantric Dharma. This mandala has an outer circle and an inner square three-dimensional structure, a round chassis, a square pedestal, and the four sides of the pedestal represent four different directions with white, green, red, and yellow; the palace is built on the platform, the gilded roof, the palace has a statue of Vajrayogini and its attendants, and the temple is decorated with banners, eight auspicious, offering flowers, etc., constituting the imaginary World of The Buddha, which is used for visualization when practicing tantra.
Copper lotus shaped immeasurable life Buddha mandala Qing
This bronze immeasurable life mandala is a statue of a mandala in a three-dimensional form. The statue base symbolizes the sea, decorated with flowers and exotic animal patterns, a lotus branch protruding upwards from it, the two sides of the flower branches hanging, and also decorated with a pair of sun and moon wheels. At the top of the lotus branch, an eight-petal lotus flower is held, and each petal of the lotus flower can be opened and closed. When the lotus petals are opened, the center of the lotus petal can be seen to sit the main Buddha, and two immeasurable life Buddhas are juxtaposed on the inside of each lotus petal, both facing the main figure, thus forming a combination of sixteen immeasurable life Buddhas surrounding one main figure. The top of the lotus petal is equipped with a small copper cap, and the lotus petal can be fastened when the lotus petal is closed.
This unique form of statues, which has appeared in India since the Pala period, has been absorbed and developed by Tibet, and even affected the Han Dynasty, and the most exquisite of these statues in existence is such works in the Ming Yongxuan period. This three-dimensional mandala was figuratively called "blossoming to see the Buddha" in the Qing Dynasty court archives, and it is recorded that the Qianlong Emperor once ordered the office to imitate such statues.
The golden hammer flower is full of Da Qing
This piece is full of old Tibetan Yangxin Hall, made of 90% gold, and shaped like a round cover. The whole vessel uses the technique of engraving and inlaying, and the center of the top surface is composed of lapis lazuli, turquoise, coral, etc., symbolizing Mount Meru at the center of the universe, and the abstract symbols embedded with coral, turquoise, lapis lazuli, etc. are distributed around Mount Meru, representing the four major continents of Buddhism, during which the engraving is covered with fine curly grass patterns and tangled branches, and is surrounded by three circles of beads. The upper and lower circumferences are decorated with beaded beads and curly grass patterns, and the middle is decorated with Sanskrit characters for a week. The lower rosewood carved double-stacked pitched lotus petal seat, with columns in between, the column is short, the center resembles a ball, and the bottom is a round lotus petal base. The whole vessel is gorgeous and solemn, dazzling and dazzling, reflecting the superb craftsmanship of the court craftsmen.
Copper gilded turquoise five offerings (including one furnace, two waxes, two flowers) clear
These five offerings are all made of copper gilding, gilded brilliantly, and full of various ornaments composed of lapis lazuli and turquoise, with full shapes and intricate ornaments, showing the exquisite craftsmanship of the Qing Dynasty court. The utensils are decorated with various dragon shapes, highlighting the honor of the utensils. Judging from the shape and style, it should be a qianlong dynasty court work.
Jin Falun Qing
The wheel of Dharma is one of the most common instruments in Tibetan Buddhism. It is either a treasure of the Eight Jewels or can be enshrined separately to represent the Buddha, the authority and solemnity of the Dharma. This wheel of Law is made of 90% gold, in the shape of a flat peach, and is placed on a trumpet-shaped lotus seat. The two sides are symmetrical, with a carved raised seawater curl pattern, and the center of the wheel is embellished with turquoise, bright and bright. The Old Temple of the Heart.
Qianlong green pastel lotus pattern nectar bottle Qingqianlong
Bottle straight mouth, slender diameter, oblique shoulders, flat abdomen, oblique shin, umbrella lid circle foot. The whole body is lightly decorated with peacock green glaze, with exquisite pastel depiction gold ornamentation, which is the regulation of imitation copper tire painting enamelware. The pattern used in the decoration is mostly a cross flower structure, the accompanying branches and leaves are slender and curved, the flower and leaf layout is neat and symmetrical, the ornament is outlined with a black single line, the filling is complex, and the tips of the flowers and leaves are dyed with white dots, so that the ornamentation is rich in light and shade changes, from the pattern, layout to color are imitated from the decorative painting method of Western utensils in the same period. The outsole is signed with a red color seal body "Qianlong Year of the Great Qing Dynasty" with six characters and three lines.
The shape of this bottle imitates the architectural image of a single-storey bowl-covered pagoda, which was used in religious activities to hold water or arrange flowers and grasses, and the shape and function are derived from the pure bottles used in early Buddhism. According to the Dunhuang Buddhist murals, the phase wheel in the lower part of this type of bottleneck has both a symbolic pagoda and a practical function that is easy to hold during ritual activities. The support structures such as the phase wheel and the circle foot of this bottle are decorated with lotus petals, all of which retain the traditional elements of Buddhist utensils.
Bronze gilded Vajrasattva (15th century)
Tibetan Buddhism usually worships Vajrasattva as Atti Buddha (Primal Buddha). This figure wears a three-leaf crown with an animal face, a high bun, and a manipuri at the top of the bun. There are square pekoe between the eyebrows, and two ears wear flower earrings. Upper body, perimeter, armband. Long skirt at the waist with a pattern on the skirt. The right hand holds the Vajrapani pestle on the chest, and the left hand holds the Vajra bell around the waist. Sit on your knees, with a lotus seat on your back, and a gilded cross pestle on the base.
Bronze gilded deity over Buddha Mother Qing (17th century)
The Mother of the Buddha was three-sided and eight-armed, and her face was slightly angry. He wears a five-leaf crown of turquoise inlaid on his head, a shawl belt over his shoulders, ear ornaments, and a chest full of ornaments. The cross pestle is held in the second hand on the chest and the silk rope is held in the left hand. On the upper right hand, the small statue of Amitabha Buddha is held, which is a prominent sign of the victory over the Mother Buddha. The rest of the hands either hold bows or arrows, or knots with the seal of wishes or the seal of meditation. Sit fully on a single-storey lotus pedestal. The mother Buddha and the lotus seat are cast in separate bodies and then joined together. The Buddha Mother is known as the Three Longevity Buddhas of Tibetan Buddhism, along with the Infinite Life Buddha and the White Tara. It is said that worship she brings happiness to people. Judging from the production process of this statue, the statue has the style of statue making in Tashilhunpo Monastery in Tibet in the middle of the Qing Dynasty.
"Another set of salutation instruments"
Qingyu carved Qianlong Imperial Inscription Poem Seven Buddha Bowl QingQianlong (1736-1795)
Qingyu Seven Buddha Bowl QingQianlong
Silver gilded inlaid conch (right-handed) Qingqianlong
The Qianlong style is engraved with seven Buddhas inlaid with gold-plated mouths and inlaid with gemstones
Qianlong style filigree enamel mani wheel QingQianlong
Through this exhibition, I hope that people can understand and understand the mysterious Tibetan Buddhist culture of the Qing Palace and the various types of magic tools used.
Source: Shishi Daily, Fujian Shimao Maritime Silk Road Museum