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Let the artifacts speak,
Let history speak,
Let the cultural relics enter the public,
Let the public perceive the history and culture.
Editor's Note:
Lanzhou, known as Jincheng in ancient times, is a Key Silk Road place that "controls the main thrust and connects the Western Regions", and is a witness to the process of the Chinese nation's pluralism and integration, with a rich history and culture and rich cultural relics. In order to further implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's instructions on the protection of cultural relics, the spirit of the instructions and the major decisions on ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin, the Lanzhou Cultural Relics Protection Center edited the "Treasures of the Golden City" series of pictures and texts, and strived to better present the cultural relics that carry civilization and witness history to everyone, let the cultural relics enter the public, let the cultural relics "come alive", publicize and promote Lanzhou's cultural relics resources, disseminate the scientific ideological and cultural values contained in the cultural relics, and inherit and carry forward the excellent traditional culture of the Yellow River. We look forward to cultivating the connotation of public culture, cultivating the feelings of home and country, enhancing cultural self-confidence, and promoting the in-depth integration of culture and tourism and the comprehensive modernization of our city.
Issue 6
Silk Road Ancient Town Famous Brake: Red City Thanksgiving Temple
Hongcheng Thanksgiving Temple, commonly known as the Great Buddha Temple, is a national key cultural relics protection unit, located in Yong'an Village, Hongcheng Town, in the south of the Zhuanglang River in Yongdeng County, and is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery with Chinese architectural style. According to the Inscription of the Thanksgiving Temple in the fourth year of the temple, the temple was built by Lu Lin, the fifth lu tusi, was built in the fifth year of Ming Hongzhi (1492), and completed in the eighth year of Hongzhi (1495), 529 years ago, and is an auxiliary temple of Lu Tusi in Liancheng. After the temple was completed, he wrote to the imperial court, and Emperor Hongzhi of The Ming Dynasty gave the "Thanksgiving Temple" in recognition of the loyalty of the Liancheng Lu Tusi Shi Shou Xi And Baojing Anmin.
Thanksgiving Temple, north and south, 133 meters long from north to south, 19.3 meters wide from east to west, covers an area of about 2660 square meters, and has a construction area of 456 square meters. The main buildings mainly include the mountain gate, the stele pavilion, the weeping flower gate, the Lux Hall, the Heavenly King Hall, the Protector Hall, the Bodhisattva Hall, the Daxiong Treasure Hall, etc., with a strict layout and complete preservation. There are 147 Buddha statues, 5 wall murals, 284 arched eye murals, a panoramic statue of Journey to the West and 116 mandalas in the Daxiong Treasure Hall, all of which are treasures. Thanksgiving Temple is a treasure house of culture and art in the Northwest Ming and Qing Dynasties, an important witness to the cultural exchange and integration of Mongolian, Tibetan and Han Chinese cultures, and the effective governance of the northwest frontier by the central government of the Ming Dynasty, and has high historical, cultural, scientific, artistic and social values. In 2006, the State Council announced it as the sixth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.
One
Gate
Front of the mountain gate
The back of the mountain gate
The mountain gate is a four-pillar and three-yang structure archway gate (archway gate, one of the Chinese characteristic architectural cultures, used to flaunt merit or commend merit, virtue, loyalty and filial piety, etc., can be used as a mountain gate of the temple, can also indicate the place name. Hanging Mountain Ridge Bronze Plate Tile Roof Building, Qing Xianfeng Eight Years (1858 AD), presided over by the Seventeenth Tusi Lu Rugao of Liancheng, the Ming Ma Ma Tablet has four big characters of "Ci is Boundless", and the title has couplets, the upper link is: The empty color sees the empty color of the sky, the empty color is silent, the floating clouds outside the sky are not stained, and the lower link is: Fan Hao hao hao hu mountain bright moon eyes Chang Shu. At the top of the mountain gate ridge there are wheel conch umbrella lid flower jar fish long Buddhist eight treasure brick carvings, namely the Falun, the treasure umbrella, the goldfish (pisces), the treasure vase (can), the lotus, the conch, the plate length, and the white lid. The gate of the Thanksgiving Temple is a Zhu lacquer gate, and the Door Nails of the Qing Dynasty are stipulated according to the hierarchy, or the Ninth Road, or the Seventh Road, or the Fifth Road, and the hereditary commander of Lu Tusi is the official title of Zheng Sanpin, so the Seven Road Door Nails show the prominent and noble status of Lu Tusi.
Two
Monument Pavilion
Monument Pavilion, three wide rooms, one deep, the plane is square, the front and back are placed solid door, green brick wall, under the eaves of the single warp single Ang three stepping bucket arch, the mountain ridge of the bronze plate tile roof.
In the interior, there is a stone stele of the "Monument to the Temple of Thanksgiving" erected in the fourth year of Ming Jiajing (1525 AD). The monument is 4.19 meters high and is divided into three parts: the head of the monument, the body of the monument and the pedestal. The stone is reddish-gray and the texture is delicate and firm. The front of the stele is engraved with the word "敕授" in the willow leaf seal book, and there is a relief dragon on the left and right of the text, and the dragon's head is upwards, the posture is symmetrical, and a bead is played together. The reverse side of the stele is also a two-dragon play bead pattern, and the dragon's head is downward. Engraved with a small seal "Monument of thanksgiving temple", the seal character is written by Lu Zhan, the eldest son of the Sixth Tusi Lujing. The stele is in a trapezoidal shape, and a high relief in each of the four corners is made of a stele, and the lux is raised in one hand, and the knee is supported by the other, and the head is bulging and the abdomen is large. There are inscriptions on both sides of the stele, the front is Chinese, the back is Tibetan, the calligraphy is neat and rigorous, and the handwriting is clear and legible. The Chinese content of the stele was written by the Fifth Tusi Lulin, and the sixth Tusi Lu Jing Dan, counting 1148 words. Typical Ming Dynasty Guan Ge style of calligraphy, the font is square with pen, exquisite structure, dignified and graceful, graceful and measured. The Tibetan content on the back of the stele is carved in three columns, and the content is different from the Chinese part. The right side mainly describes the promotion of the official position of Lu Tusi and the devotion to the Dharma. The middle part mainly tells a brief history of Buddhism, including the history of Buddhism in ancient India, the spread of Buddhism to the Central Plains, etc., and the last few sentences are prayerful greetings. On the left, the rutusi family history and merits of sustenance are recorded. This Piece of Sino-Tibetan Stele is a rare Ming Dynasty inscription with a clear chronology in Yongdeng and even in Hexi, which has high historical, literary, calligraphy and art research value, and is also a reflection of the cultural and religious exchanges between Han and Tibet in the Ming Dynasty and the integration of nationalities, which is very precious.
Three
Hanging flower door
The hanging flower gate is a bronze plate tile roof on the front ridge of the hanging mountain, and there is a wind duo hanging on the flying head on both sides of the front, and the three stepping arches under the eaves are placed, which is an independent column bearing beam type hanging flower door, and is also figuratively called "Erlang Danshan style hanging flower door". The whole building is small, but the structure is compact and sturdy, and it is very harmonious.
Four
Lux Hall
The Hall of Lux, also known as the Hall of the Second General of Hum Ha, is three rooms wide and one deep, and the plane is rectangular. The front is equipped with a solid door and the back is equipped with six partition fans. Under the eaves, the single upturned single ang three-step bucket arch, the suspension door is ridged on the bronze plate tile roof. This hall is the original building when the temple was built during the Hongzhi period of the Ming Dynasty. Above the main entrance hangs the "Daming" plaque, which is the only existing Ming Dynasty plaque in the temple, the words above this plaque were originally "Daqing", and when the temple was repaired in 1982, the original "Daqing" plaque fell off, revealing the "Daming" plaque hidden below. There are six golden dragon motifs carved on the top and bottom of the plaque, left and right.
Inside the hall, there is a statue of the second general of Hum Ha (hum ha two will be the Chinese folk common name for the two Vajrapani who guard the temple gate in the Buddhist temple), which is 2.2 meters high and about 1.9 meters wide. To the east is general Akawa, commonly known as general Ha Ha and general shui. The western part is the Secret Trace King Kong, commonly known as the Hum General, the Fire General. The statue is tall and majestic, and was repaired in 1986.
Hum Ha Second General
There are two original murals on the east and west gables and the north wall, two of which are the "Six Reincarnation Diagrams" and the "Thirty-two Bodhisattva Diagrams" drawn by Akihiro 6th year (1493). The Six Reincarnation Diagrams are based on the Beijing engraving of the Ming Dynasty's Gannan Tibetan monk Ban Dan Zashi Dazhi. On each side, there are large chinese and Tibetan inscriptions corresponding to each other, which are based on the original text of the reincarnation diagram and the source stream of this image. The wheel of life and death is drawn in the form of a pile of gold, and the edges are divided into three circles. The outer circle is divided into 12 grids, which are images of the dependent arising chain representing the twelve causes of Buddhism, and there are seven existing grids. The inscription on the mural concludes: "Nine Years of Orthodoxy of the Ming Dynasty, Years of Jiazi, New Zhengji Day, Da Long Shan Monastery Empowerment Pure Awakening Western Heaven Buddha Zi Great Master Pandan Shipa Tsangbu Jinzhi." When Shi Hongzhi was six years old, he was on an auspicious day in the autumn of the ugly Mengqiu, and he printed the picture catalogue according to the Beijing edition. "This is the out-of-print Beijing engraved Buddhist story picture currently found in China, which is extremely precious."
The Six Reincarnation Diagrams
The Thirty-Two Diagrams of the Bodhisattva
Arched eye murals
Five
The Hall of The Kings
The Hall of the Heavenly King is three rooms wide and one deep, with a rectangular plan, a horizontal width of 10.2 meters, and a vertical well depth of 4.5 meters. The front and back are all placed with six partition fans, green brick walls, single upturned single ang three-step bucket arch under the eaves, single eaves Xieshan temple roof building, bronze tile roof, wooden frame painted with Ming Dynasty paintings, arch eye murals, and basically intact preservation.
There are four heavenly kings in the hall, with a height of about 2 meters and a width of about 1.3 meters, which is the protector of Buddhism, commonly known as the "Four Great Vajras", the four gods of the twenty heavens, also known as the "Four Heavenly Kings of the Guardian World". On the west side of the hall are the Western Hiromō Tenno who holds the dragon and snake, and the Northern Domon Tenno who holds the umbrella, and on the east side of the hall is the Southern Growth Heavenly King who holds the sword and the Eastern Heavenly King who holds the pipa. Although these statues have been renovated, they still maintain the style of the middle Ming Dynasty by large. These four deities wear tall, intricate and richly decorated golden flower crowns, and are clad in Han-style warrior armor, with grim faces and round eyes. Consistent with the style of the statues of the Second General Hall of Hum Ha, it belongs to the works of the same group of craftsmen in the same period, and is also a fine work of ming dynasty painted sculpture art. In addition, there are eight small kongo hanging in the hall, all of which are the vice admirals of the four heavenly kings, holding eight weapons, riding horses of eight colors, and the hooves of the horses soar above the auspicious clouds.
Six
The Protector's Hall
The Protector Hall is the east side hall of the Daxiong Treasure Hall, the structure is shaped like a four-corner pavilion, and it is a single-eaves hilltop building, with a height of about 5.60 meters, a width of 5.85 meters, and a length of 5.25 meters. The face is one wide, one deep, the plane is square, the front is placed with six partition fans, and the eaves are single upturned and single ang three step bucket arches.
Inside the hall, there are eight Buddhist statues with a height of about 1.8 meters and a width of about 1.2 meters, all of which are wrathful statues of the protector, wearing a five-leaf flower crown, the facial muscles are vivid and realistic, strong and powerful, and they are in a vicious and terrifying state, and they are covered with gold painted treasures and wisps, although they have undergone minor repairs, but to a certain extent, they have maintained the popular style of the 15th century in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. In the middle of the main hall, the main offering is the protector god Da Wei De Vajra, this da Wei De is five sides, thirty-four arms and 18 feet, the main face is the bull's head, the top is the yellow Manjushri face, and the Great Wei De Vajra is the wrath image of Manjushri Bodhisattva. On the left and right sides of the Main Deity are the great black heavens, two-armed and four-armed great black heavens, and the great black heavens are Sanskrit for Mahakala or Mahakala. On the north side of the temple, two idols are enshrined: the Protector of Qujia, the Protector of Kampot and the Mule King; on the south side, Vishamon and Yama Demon King.
There are 32 arches in the Protector's Hall, and 16 in the inner and outer arches. The arch-eye murals inside the temple are well preserved, and the arch-eye murals outside the hall are more damaged, and some of the pictures have been partially mutilated or seriously faded. The arched-eye mural depicts the Bodhisattva Tara.
Seven
Bodhisattva Hall
The Bodhisattva Hall is the western hall of the Daxiong Treasure Hall, which is a single-eaves hilltop building with a depth and width, about 5.60 meters high, 5.85 meters wide and 5.25 meters long.
The main statue of the bodhisattva in the middle is three statues, and there are three sets of gorgeous backlights behind them, which have a more typical style of the early Ming Dynasty. In the middle of the lord's two arms, both hands on the legs to make a meditation seal, can not be instrumented. The statue on the left is three sides and six arms, the main arm holds the bell when the chest is crossed, the upper arm is raised, the left holds the flower and the right side holds the paving knife, the lower arm is extended forward, and the left arm holds the arrow and the right bow. The statue on the right side has four arms, the upper two arms are raised, the left hand holds the flower and the right hand holds the rosary; the lower two arms make the meditation seal and the right hand makes the wish seal.
There are also three statues on the left and right sides of the main statue, the first one on the left is the lion roaring Guanyin from the inside out, the second is half-shackled, the left hand is given the wish seal, and the palm of the hand is presented with the eye of wisdom, which is the white Tara. The third is the four-armed elephant trunk heaven. On the right, from the inside out, the first statue is the lion roaring Guanyin, and the second one is half-shackled, similar to its opposite white Tara form, with no eyes in the palm, when it is green Tara. The third statue is quite peculiar, sitting with two arms in full shackles, with a chant on the face, known as the Eagle's Mouth Bodhisattva.
The inner arch eye painting is a Tibetan Tara to save the eight difficulties, and it is very well preserved. The eight difficulties of Tara rescue in the inner arched eye are divided into two groups, one group is the white Tara rescue eight difficulties, and the other group is the green Tara rescue eight difficulties. Each wall composition is similar, all of them are the same style of sitting bodhisattva statues of Tara, one hand caressing the side of the side to do pious and respectful children, the plot next to the children is different, there are non-human, fire, thieves, lions, elephants, torture, snakes, prison and other eight difficulties, also known as "saving the eight difficult mothers".
The south wall of the Bodhisattva Hall of thanksgiving temple is painted as the Western Bliss Pure Land Transformation, and the classic on which it is based is the famous "Pure Land Three Sutras". The three statues in the main part of this mural, namely Amitabha Buddha, Guanyin Bodhisattva and Dashizhi Bodhisattva, are surrounded by numerous Buddhas and bodhisattvas, and the central main buddha, Amitabha Buddha, is completely slumped on a lotus seat, with a red body, a tightly decorated top bead, a serene and serene face, and a slight smile. Cloaked in a pile of gold trims, the inner lining of the jacket is a green background, embroidered with a gold-rimmed lotus pattern, the placket is decorated with a tangled lotus pattern, and the hands are entrusted with a knotted meditation seal. Behind it is the head light and body light of the gold bottom edge, the edge of the head light is a lingzhi pattern made of powder and asphalt, and the edge of the body light is a gold flame pattern, and the style style is born from the common Tibetan flame painting method in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Near the door, there are portraits of the offerings, the walls have been broken, and the figures are faintly recognizable, for a total of four people. The figure on the far right is a middle-aged man with a frontal image, wearing a typical Ming Dynasty official costume, wearing a black winged gauze hat, dressed in a robe like a vermilion patch, wearing a jade belt around the waist, a broad face, a glowing eye, a beard on the lips, and a beard on the lower collar. The right hand is obscure, and the left hand is raised in the chest as a fist, like a beautiful bearded man sitting precariously. On its left is the image of a noblewoman, standing quietly facing the man. This statue wears a crown of gold flowers, wears a red brocade robe, wears gold-rimmed cloud shoulders, wears a jade belt around the waist, and hands are arched under the sleeves of the robe, with a kind face and a slight smile, which is quite noble and graceful. Behind the lady, there were also two waiters. The former man was dressed in a blue cloth shirt, smiling, and holding a black gold pot in his hands, which was quite respectful. The latter was dressed in a red shirt and a white skirt, and stood with his hands bowed, and both of them looked like female dependents. According to expert research, this may be a portrait of Lu Lin and his wife, this kind of portrait of the provider is relatively rare, and its discovery has very important significance.
Portrait of the provider
Eight
The Great Treasure Hall
The Great Treasure Hall, also known as the Great Buddha Hall, is the main hall of the temple. The main hall is a hilltop building, with a square plan, three rooms in width and three deep rooms, a bronze tile roof, and a single single bow under the eaves. The layout of the hall reflects the characteristics of the Tibetan Buddhist temple, the four pillars in the hall are located in the four corners, surrounded by a prayer corridor, in the pattern of the front hall and the rear porch.
In the central hall, the main offering is the golden lacquered Third Buddha, the central main figure is the statue of Shakyamuni and his second disciples (Gaya and Ananda), on the left is maitreya Buddha, the future Buddha who is the seal of the Wheel of Transformation, and on the right is the past Buddha who makes the Dharma Seal in the left hand of the meditation tray. The three statues all sat on the throne of Vajrapani, which was very solemn. The back has a delicate and gorgeous gold paint backlight, and there is a golden-winged bird in the center of it, which is vivid and vivid, and the dragon girls on both sides of the foot are spread and want to fly. On both sides are Mokai fish, with a face like a dragon, looking back at the Lord, and the long tail curls up like a stem and a flower. There is an eleven-sided and six-armed Guanyin statue on each side of the Third Buddha, and the eight bodhisattvas are seated on the left and right sides, and the shaping method is consistent with the decorative style. All the bodhisattvas tread on the lotus platform and wear a five-leaf crown with manichabs inserted in the upper part of the middle crown. On the left and right front pillars of the temple, there is a statue of a virtuous boy, with his hands as a seal, and a streamer standing above the clouds, creating a beautiful portrait.
The corridor has a hanging rock mountain from west to east, divided into three layers. The upper layer is the "Journey to the West" story color sculpture group portrait, with a total length of about 27 meters, more than 10 centimeters of "Journey to the West" story characters more than 1500 bodies, Tang Xuanzang Xitian took the storyline of the 9981 difficult process is basically complete, but the wonderful portrait, vivid, more than 80 years before Wu Cheng'en's "Journey to the West" was written, the panoramic serial suspension art is unique in Gansu. The middle and lower levels are 78 clay statues of Buddhas, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Buddha Mothers, Arhats and Senior Monks, which are very rich in content, and each statue has a Chinese-Tibetan inscription in front of it, indicating the identity of the statue.
In the middle of the main hall, there is a painting of a moi, 60 paintings of the mandala, and 56 paintings of the mandala in the cloister. These paintings are typical Tibetan Buddhist paintings of the early Ming Dynasty and are rich in meaning.
There is a Ming Dynasty table in the hall, which is thick in texture, fine in workmanship, carved with patterns, and is of great value. There are frescoes on the inside and outside of the temple.
The Hongcheng Thanksgiving Temple has preserved a wealth of precious cultural relics, embodies an important process of cultural exchange and integration of ethnic cultures in northwest China, is an important witness to the pluralism and unity of the Chinese nation, and is worthy of being a treasure of the country.
Source | Lanzhou Cultural Tourism