Project overview
In order to thoroughly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on the protection and utilization of cave temples, implement the Guiding Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Strengthening the Protection and Utilization of Cave Temples, and strengthen the archaeology, protection and display and utilization of Cave Temples in Chongqing in accordance with the relevant requirements of the Medium- and Long-term Plan for the Archaeology of Chinese Cave Temples (2021-2035) issued by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, Approved by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Chongqing Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology began to carry out active archaeological work on the statue of The Ten Thousand Buddha Rocks and the site of the temple building in Tongnan in October 2021.
The site of the Statue and Temple building of The Ten Thousand Buddhas Rock Cliff in Tongnan District is located in Chonggong Town, Tongnan District, in the hilly area on the east bank of the Qiongjiang River, a tributary of the Fujiang River, and is currently a cultural relics protection unit of Chongqing Municipality. There are moya statues from the Tang Dynasty to the late Tang Dynasty, as well as more temple architectural remains, monk tombs, etc., which form a large-scale Moya statue group with the National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit Thousand Buddhas Temple Moya Statue.
Location map of the Moya statue group in Chonggong Town, Tongnan Province
Map of the relative position of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Rock and the Thousand Buddhas Temple
Discover ideas, methods and purposes
The cave temple is a collection of religious relics, in addition to the Moya cave niche itself, there should also be associated with the temple building, cave front building, monk tomb, inscription, road and other contents, can be regarded as a religious settlement. From a more macroscopic point of view, the cave temple is also inseparable from the towns, transportation routes, industries, etc. at that time, and the development history of the cave temple itself is also closely related to the historical background at that time, and it is necessary to analyze the cave temple from a broader time and space range.
Under the guidance of this concept, we not only carry out a large-scale regional systematic survey and exploration in the Moya Statue Group in Chonggong Town, looking for relics such as temple building ruins, buried and rolled down statues, tombs, roads and other relics, but also carried out a survey in the Fujiang River Basin based on the city sites and Moya statues in the Tang and Song Dynasties, providing a richer historical, geographical and cultural background for the interpretation of the Moya statues in Chonggong. On this basis, archaeological excavations were carried out in key areas of the Wanfo Rock to reveal the remains of temple buildings and cave front buildings.
Investigation of the Tang and Song county towns and cave temples in the Fujiang and Qiongjiang river basins
The purpose of this archaeological excavation is to strengthen the archaeological investigation and excavation of small and medium-sized cave temples scattered in Chongqing, scientifically obtain relevant information, fill the gap in the systematic development of cave temple archaeology in the lower reaches of the Fujiang River, and accelerate the publication of the archaeological report of Chongqing Cave Temple.
Phased results
The archaeological excavation covers an area of 500 square meters, and the archaeological excavation is currently underway, and a series of important phased results have been achieved.
(1) Cleaning and recording of the statue of Moya
The statues are distributed on 8 cliffs, with a total of 81 niches and more than 500 statues, of which 1 niche has been newly discovered through archaeological excavations. The main themes are Western Pure Land Transformation, Guan WuLiang Shou Sutra Change, Sangha Disguise, Thousand Hands Guanyin Sutra Change, Thirty-five Buddhas, Buddhist Path Shrine and other themes, in addition to a number of group portraits, large niches and so on. The era of these statues is mainly in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, and individual statues can be as early as the Sheng Tang Dynasty, and the statues of the Song Dynasty are not seen.
Guan Wuliangshou Jingchang (51st Niche, Tang Dynasty)
Archaeological excavations unearthed a statue niche on the cliff (1st niche, Tang Dynasty)
(2) Excavation of the remains of monastic buildings and pre-cave buildings
Found 2 building waste accumulation, the accumulation feature is covered with a large area of tiles and rubble blocks, some of the stones for building components or living tools, from the characteristics of the excavated artifacts, the age of the waste accumulation should be the Ming Dynasty. At present, we have used anatomical method to conduct anatomical excavation of one of the abandoned buildings, and some pillar foundations, paving floors and wall foundations have been found below it, and the specific structure and nature need to be further excavated and confirmed.
Remains of monastic architecture
Wanfo Rock Cliff Statue 2 sections of cliff body (65th niche -67 niches) on the top of the cliff found to have a more regular arrangement of beams and tenons, should be to cover the statue niches eaves architectural remains, the surrounding strata excavated more Tang and Song Dynasty pottery building components, the age of the building can be traced back to at least the Tang and Song Dynasties.
Architectural remains of the Ten Thousand Buddha Rock Cliff Statue Cave Eaves (Tang and Song Dynasties)
In addition, on the niche terrace of the Ten Thousand Buddha Rock Cliff Statue, rubble accumulation of the Ming Dynasty was also found, which may also be related to the abandonment of the temple building.
(3) Various forms of monk tombs have been revealed
A total of three monks were found this time: (1) Moya Gong, a total of 8. Mainly distributed in the northern distribution area of the Wanfo Rock Cliff Statue 3-7 sections of the cliff body, characterized by carved and chiseled circular arch niches on the cliff wall, carved chiseled in the niches, the base of the tower can be seen on the square niches, its function should be to bury the ashes of monks. Judging from the shape of the tower, it should be a Tang Dynasty Moya gong; (2) cremation tank tombs, a total of 2. It was found at the head end of a section of the cliff in the southern distribution area of the Wanfo Rock Cliff Statue, buried among the stones around the collapsed No. 1 niche, and used a clay pot as a burial tool, and bone slag was found inside. Judging from the pottery pot shape, it may be a remnant of the Song Dynasty; (3) a stone chamber tomb. There are 2 seats in total. Found under the steep ridge in front of the Cliff Statue of the Thousand Buddhas Temple, they are all multi-chamber stone chamber tombs, which may be related to the burial of monks, and are Ming Dynasty tombs from the perspective of shape.
Moya Fistula Pagoda (Tang Dynasty)
Cremation Tomb (Song Dynasty)
(4) A number of important cultural relics have been unearthed
At present, there are more than 100 specimens of cultural relics excavated, mainly including ceramic building components, stone components, stone statues, etc., of which the ceramic building components include tiles, plate tiles, dripping water, partridges, plovers, etc.; stone components include stone pillar foundations, stone wall foundations, stone pillars, stone grinding discs and other stone building components; stone statues include Buddha head, bodhisattva head, residual statue body, statue seat, etc. In addition, in the waste accumulation of the cleaned building, a copper seal was also unearthed, the seal is "Dharma Monk Treasure", which is a common three-treasure seal in the temple, and also reflects from the side that the building base site should be related to the temple.
Cylinder tile (Song Dynasty)
Wadang (Tang Dynasty)
Parts of the partridge (Song Dynasty)
Bronze seal (in chinese "Dharma Sangha Treasure", Ming Dynasty)
Significant value
(1) This excavation has greatly enriched the connotation of the Chonggong Moya statue group, which is a relatively complete grotto temple composed of Moya statues, temple buildings, monk tombs, etc., which provides important research cases for the study of worship space, living space, production space, funeral space, etc. associated with the grotto, and is of great value for further understanding the type, site selection, layout structure and structure of the grotto temples in Sichuan and Chongqing.
(2) The Chonggong Moya Statue Group is a representative Moya statue group from the Tang Dynasty to the early Song Dynasty in the Fujiang River Basin, which is the key node for the spread of grotto statue art from northern Sichuan to western Chongqing, which is of great significance for understanding the distribution law, transmission path, phased partitioning, development and evolution of Sichuan-Chongqing Grotto Temple.
(3) The Chonggong Moya Statue Group preserves a large number of Tang Dynasty architectural images, including pavilions, towers, hook bars, etc., which provides important reference materials for the study of Tang Dynasty architectural styles and buddhist temple layouts. At the same time, the discovery of cave eaves remains provides a real scientific basis for the restoration of cave eaves architecture.
(4) The Tombs of monks from the Tang Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty with diverse types, large numbers and clear eras have been discovered in the Chonggong Moya Statue Group, which has deepened the understanding of the burial methods of monks and has important academic value for the study of the monks' fistula burial system and the functional partitioning of the grotto temple.
(5) The excavation of the Chonggong Moya Statue Group provides rich content for the protection and display and utilization, deeply excavates the value of the Chonggong Moya Statue Group, and displays the profound historical, cultural and artistic value of the Chonggong Moya Statue Group, which is of great significance for carrying out rural revitalization and rural tourism.
Text: Niu Yingbin, YanNi, Li Feng
Editor-in-charge: Dong Yongjia
Editor: Liu Wei
Review: Lin Bizhong
About author:Niu Yingbin, Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Chongqing Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Deputy Research Librarian of Culture and Bo. Yan Ni is an associate research librarian of the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Chongqing Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Li Feng, Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Chongqing Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, is a librarian of cultural museums.
Reprinted from Chongqing Archaeology