▲Liao Dynasty wood carving Water Moon Guanyin statue
Collection of the Nelson Atkinson Museum, USA
Chinese believes that
Avalokiteshvara is a bodhisattva of great compassion and compassion,
All the beings in distress need to recite their names,
"Bodhisattvas immediately contemplate their sounds",
Go to the rescue and deliverance,
Hence the name.
If we talk about the ancient Chinese statue of Guanyin,
This statue is from the Liao Dynasty wood carving Water Moon Guanyin statue in Shanxi,
It's the top pick.
This Liao Dynasty wood carved water moon Guanyin statue,
Praised as "the most spectacular statue in China in existence",
is "a triumph of religion and aesthetics",
Referred to by the media as:
"One of the thirty best works in an American public institution"
The process of this statue flowing into the Nelson Museum in the United States,
It can be described as a twist and turn.
(Exhibited in the "Chinese Temple" hall of the Nelson Museum)
In 1931, the Nelson Museum commissioned the Americans Warner and Chinese Lu Qinzhai to use Beiping as a base to travel through Northern China and purchase a large number of ancient Chinese art works to expand the collection.
▲ Warner reselled many of China's top ancient statues.
Pictured in 1923,
Warner took a picture of the Tang Dynasty squat and kneeling bodhisattva statue out of Cave 328 of dunhuang Mogao Grottoes
When the statue of Guanyin of the Ming Dynasty first appeared in front of Americans, it was divided into several parts and placed in the wasteland of the backyard of Chinese antique dealers for sale. There was snow in the hollows of her body, and the acquirer picked up her head, looked at it, and put it down again. Picked up her hand and put it down again...
After the seller saw it, he thought that this was a statue of Guanyin in the Ming Dynasty, and it was not uncommon to get a Statue of Buddha in the Tang and Song Dynasties at that time, so the American buyer did not look at it and gave up buying.
If we say that this Guanyin is from the Ming Dynasty, it is not without basis. The painting of this wooden Guanyin statue was repainted in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and the face of the bodhisattva also has traces of Ming Restoration, which can be said to have ming dynasty characteristics. Due to a mistake in the generation, the Americans lost contact with this image for the first time, and was bought by Lu Qinzhai who arrived later.
▲ Lu Qinzhai sold too many of China's top ancient statues,
The picture shows it in front of another statue of Guanyin
C.T. Loo (1880-1957), a famous antique dealer. Born in Zhejiang to a wealthy merchant family, he went to France to do business and opened the Lu Wu Antiques Company in Paris, mainly engaged in the business of selling Chinese cultural relics to Europe and the United States.
▲ Lu Qinzhai's antique shop in Paris, the famous Red Chamber
After careful re-identification by experts, it was determined that this wooden statue belonged to the Liao Dynasty. The Nelson Museum gritted its teeth and paid several times more than the price at that time to buy this statue from Lu Qinzhai, and since then the museum has had this treasure of the town museum.
To match this statue, the Nelson Museum has carved out a huge space called the "Chinese Temple Exhibition Hall". Behind the Water Moon Guanyin, a mural of the Yuan Dynasty "Blazing Light Buddha's Society" purchased from Guangsheng Temple in Shanxi Is placed, while on the top is the Ming Dynasty carved Dragon Zaojing and Qing Dynasty Pingqi, and the carved lattice door in front of it comes from a Qing Dynasty official's residence in Beijing. The murals and lattice doors were sold and donated to the museum by Lu Qinzhai in 1932, respectively, and Mooi and Pingqi were purchased by Smenker in China in 1931.
▲ Nelson Museum's imposing Chinese temple exhibition hall
Such an imposing display, stepping into the exhibition hall "Face Saint", this Guanyin can't help but be moved. Since then, such as the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the University of Pennsylvania Museum, etc. have learned this way of exhibiting.
▲Liao Dynasty wood carving Water Moon Guanyin statue (partial)
As the protagonist of the exhibition hall, the Statue of Shuiyue Guanyin of the Liao Dynasty is characterized by a female face and a male upper body, which is a living proof of the "neutral" statue of Guanyin during the transition to female Guanyin. At this time, Guanyin more reflected the trend of sinicization of Buddhism, and the statue gradually failed to see the majesty of religion, like a dignified and elegant woman.
But as for the specific details of where she wandered out of Shanxi and lost it, it is not known...
In addition to this statue of Guanyin,
The statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva that survived from the Liao Dynasty
What else?
What kind of artistic style are the Liao Dynasty Buddha statues shaping?
Next is,
Article written by Cao Jiali of Datong Ancient Building Conservation Research Institute:
Study on the Shaping Style of Buddha Statues in the Liao Dynasty
▲Statue of a Bodhisattva of the Liao Dynasty at Huayan Temple in Datong
Imagination uses more image shaping in religious content and art, which can connect art and religion, so the scholar Hegel believes that it is religion that is very close to the content in the field of art. The influence of Buddhism in the Liao Dynasty was very large, and it left many traces in the socio-economic, political and cultural aspects of the Liao Dynasty. The combination between Buddhism and art not only contained the characteristics of Buddhism in the art form of the Liao Dynasty, but also promoted the prosperity and development of art to a certain extent.
Hegel once pointed out in the article that the original purpose of sculpture was to be able to make and place the idol of the god in the temple, and the shaping of the Buddha statue was also the means of sculpture, so that it could be placed in the temple and form a certain belief, which could make people worship the revered Buddha statue and attract many believers to participate in Buddhism. Buddhism adopts this propaganda method of building Buddhism with Buddha statues, so that a large number of Buddha statue sculptures of the Liao Dynasty of Buddhist beliefs have survived in the world, which are not only widely distributed in the grottoes, temples and pagodas of the Liao Dynasty, but also have a lot of Buddhist crafts in the world today, such as very small gilded Buddha statues, Buddha statues carved from wood, various forms of pagodas and sutras. In addition, Buddhist themes can be found in many buildings in the Liao Dynasty, such as flying images and auspicious clouds that can show the nature of Buddhism, as well as lotus flowers.
Liao Dynasty sculpture to a large extent dependent on the various activities of Buddhism, and to its religious purposes, became one of the important means of propagation of Buddhist teachings, its existence of artistic aesthetic function is only potential, so some people regard Buddha statues as art that can not be called art. To a certain extent, the ancient Chinese art of sculpture did not acquire the value of independence, as Kant often said, but the beauty produced by attachment is not a very pure beauty. The attachment of the Buddha statues of the Liao Dynasty to Buddhism became the basis of their shaping style, and the Liao Dynasty Buddha statues were the art category of religion, and were full of very clear religious characteristics, and at the same time, they could highlight their own shaping style.
The theme of the shaping of Buddha statues in the Liao Dynasty
In the process of shaping the Buddha statues of the Liao Dynasty, their artistic styles and expression techniques contain rich national and local aesthetic concepts, and they can express the characteristics of the times from the selection of the theme of the Buddha statues. Observation of a variety of Buddha statues can be concluded that the choice of Buddha statues in the Liao Dynasty in the shaping of the theme is very rich, which not only has the image themes such as Buddha statues, bodhisattvas, arhats and Lux that often appear in the Xianjiao, but also has the themes of the Five Buddhas and the Eight Great Bodhisattvas circulating in the occult religion, and the choice of these Buddha statue themes can highlight the idea of the comprehensive development of Buddhism in the Liao Dynasty and the phenomenon of the people's widespread belief in Buddhism at that time. Among the many themes, the most important is the Guanyin Bodhisattva shaping theme, which can be called the most popular shaping theme in the Liao Dynasty.
▲ Jixian Dule Temple Liao Dynasty painted statue eleven-sided Guanyin statue
The Liao Dynasty attached great importance to Guanyin Bodhisattva, starting from the time of Emperor Taizong of Liao' Yelü Deguang. From the records in the Khitan Guozhi, it can be understood that after Emperor Taizong of Liao conquered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, he went to the Great Compassion Pavilion in the capital to see the statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva very kind and kind-eyed, and it was consistent with the appearance he saw in his dream, and immediately gave rise to faith. Therefore, he sent this statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva to the ancestral temple of the Khitan tribe at that time, that is, Muye Mountain, and specially built a bodhisattva hall to enshrine it and include it in the ranks of the family gods. Muye Mountain is the place where the Khitan people were born, mainly distributed in the Chifeng area of Liaoning Province, where the gods and ancestors of the Khitan tribe are mainly enshrined. Emperor Taizong of Liao invited Guanyin Bodhisattva to the temple and continued to worship it, which was the respect and worship of Guanyin Bodhisattva by the liao dynasty administrators. Although Emperor Taizong of Liao may have had other considerations for the offering of Guanyin Bodhisattva, it may have been the saving function of Guanyin Bodhisattva in order to be able to subdue the hearts of a large number of Han Chinese and thus achieve maximum help and service in the governance of the country. Under the influence of Emperor Taizong's beliefs, Guanyin Bodhisattva received the faith of the Khitan nation and most of the people in the north from then on, which was very prominent in the Buddhist beliefs of the Liao Dynasty.
▲ The statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva in the Bhagavad Gita Hall of Huayan Monastery under Datong
The statues of Guanyin Bodhisattva in the Liao Dynasty have left more in the world today, the more famous ones are the eleven-sided statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva in Dule Temple in Jixian County, Hebei Province, and the painted statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva in the Bogazang Temple in Xiahuayan Temple in Datong City, Shanxi Province. The existing postures of Guanyin Bodhisattvas are all different, some are standing, some are seated, some are sutras, and some are tantric offerings. For example, the bronze Guanyin Bodhisattva statue treasured by the Capital Museum not only has a high bun on the top of the head, but also enshrines a small Amitabha Buddha on the front of the bun, which is an important symbol that can reflect its image representation, and its full body proportions are very symmetrical, and the texture of the clothing is very strong. This statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva undoubtedly represents the style of Shaping Buddha statues in the Liao Dynasty and can reflect the characteristics of sculpture techniques at that time.
The shaping style of the Buddha statues in the Liao Dynasty
Judging from the current Liao Dynasty Buddha statues that have survived in the world, the physical objects of this period have outstanding characteristics in shaping artistic styles and expression techniques, on the one hand, the dignified and elegant style of Tang Dynasty statues is inherited, the realistic techniques in the Statues of the Southern Song Dynasty are absorbed, and the traditional aesthetic meaning and expression techniques of the Khitan and northern regions are integrated into them, so that a variety of mixed characteristics appear in the style of shaping, which can fully display the characteristics of the Shaping of the Buddha statues in the Liao Dynasty.
Its shaping style is manifested as follows: the shoulders of the Buddha statue are very wide, the muscles of the chest are full, and they are full of strong and healthy momentum, which is in stark contrast to the approachable characteristics formed in the south in the shaping of buddha statues. The face of the Buddha statue is very complete, more fat than the Tang Dynasty statue, the flesh on the top of the head is gentle, and a bun bead is often inlaid in the center of the hair, which is basically consistent with the Southern Song Dynasty. The upper body of the Buddha statue is worn with a robe that exposes the pectoral muscles, and the lower body often wears a long skirt, and there are more wrinkles on the clothes, and the quality of the ornaments on the clothes feels more distinct than that of the Tang Dynasty. The image in the bodhisattva Buddha statue is usually wearing a high flower crown with the hair combed high, and the form of the flower crown is extremely special, similar to the crown pattern in the Khitan nobility; the front chest is often worn with a beaded jewel, and the decoration is more simple and neat than that of the Song Dynasty; the ears on both sides are often equipped with treasures, and they are draped on the shoulders and knotted in sections. The posture of the Buddha statue for meditation and the posture for standing are extremely special, the sitting image has its knees tightly closed, and the legs of the statue are straight and stiff.
▲ Bodhisattva statue in the Bhagavad Gita Hall of Xiahuayan Temple, Datong City
The bronze statue of Shakyamuni Buddha in the palace museum in Beijing is a classic in the shaping of Buddha statues in the Liao Dynasty. This bronze statue is decorated with spiral hair on the head, and the meat bun on the top of the head is very gentle, and there are bun beads in the center of the meat bun, which is consistent with the headdress of the Buddha statue excavated in the Southern Song Dynasty. The buddha's face is round, there is white hair on the forehead, and the expression is very calm. The upper body wears a robe that exposes the pectoral muscles, and the lower half wears a long skirt with a belt tied around the waist, and the texture of the clothes is very strong. On the thighs there are very realistic folds of clothes, which is the classic shape in the shaping of the Liao Dynasty Buddha statue, the body is very strong, but it lacks the round features of the Tang Dynasty; the muscles are very loose and cannot be compared with the strength in the Tang Dynasty statues.
The most typical statue of the Bodhisattva in the Liao Dynasty is a bronze gilded statue of Maitreya Bodhisattva collected by the Tianjin Cultural Relics Company. This bodhisattva is like a sitting posture, with his right hand twisting his thumb and middle finger on his chest, the remaining fingers naturally dispersing, forming a Dharma seal, and holding the jade bottle on his left hand. He wears a flower crown on his head, and wears a sky coat horizontally on his body, a shawl wrapped around his arms, and the ornaments on his chest are mainly yingluo, and the lower body wears a long skirt. The ornaments on the clothes are basically similar to the bodhisattvas in the Song Dynasty, and the difference is reflected in the form and expression of the technique. Maitreya Bodhisattva's head crown system is very distinctive, the overall shape of the high barrel, showing the front high and back low trend, and the crown is printed with two dragon game dragon ball pattern, in the center there is a dragon ball, the two dragons on both sides crouch opposite, the shape is very lively. This shaped crown is the same as the form of a barrel-shaped golden crown excavated from the tomb of Zhangjiayingzi Liao in Jianping County, Liaoning Province. It is understood from relevant investigations that this shaped crown was often an ornament worn by Khitan noble men in the Liao Dynasty, and could often be excavated from tombs in Inner Mongolia and Liaoning. From this, it can be seen that the flower crown of Maitreya Bodhisattva is the representative of the aristocratic headdress at that time, which can highlight the close connection between the shaping style of the Liao Dynasty Buddha statues and the Khitan secular culture. In short, Maitreya Bodhisattva is one of the Buddhist statues with very khitan national characteristics, which can fully reflect the shaping style of the Liao Dynasty Buddha statues.
In summary, the Liao Dynasty Buddha statues have a unique style, rich content and many themes, which have a very important position and influence in the history of the development of Buddhist art in China. The Statue of The Buddha of the Liao Dynasty can not only help us understand the development of Buddhism in the Liao Dynasty, but also help future generations to understand the national culture, living customs and value orientation of the Liao Dynasty. Understanding the shaping style of The Liao Dynasty Buddha statues is of great help for appreciating and collecting the Liao Dynasty Buddha statues.
▲Shanxi Liao Dynasty painted wood carved water moon Guanyin statue
The Metropolitan Museum of Art China Collection
▲Shanxi Liao Dynasty wood carving painted water moon Guanyin statue
Collection of the Nelson Museum of Art, USA
Text| Cao Jiali
Above| synthesized from the collection of the "Oriental Collection"
Originally published in Oriental Collection, Issue 03, 2021
Figure | Archives Jun Network
The copyright of graphics and texts belongs to the original author or institution
Edited | Shanxi Evening News All-Media Editor Nanlijiang
Audit | Fang Tianji
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