◎Hu Li Ping
The plaque integrates simple writing, profound connotation, exquisite calligraphy, pleasing lacquer decoration, and hangs high at the head of the door, complementing the classical architecture and showing the solemn beauty. Looking at the plaques of Beijing's gardens, temples and other architectural landscapes, most of them are from the hands of dignitaries and literati inkers.
Cixi (1835–1908), also known as Empress Xiaoqinxian of the Yehenara clan, was a prominent and influential political figure in modern Chinese history. According to the "Chronicle of the Qing Palace", in the fifteenth year of qing guangxu (1889), after the marriage of the Guangxu Emperor, Cixi announced that she had "withdrawn the curtain and returned to the government", which had been "trained to govern", but the power of the government was still in her hands. In addition to "training the government", she is more pleasant to Han Mo, learns to paint flowers, and learns to make big characters in order to seek inner comfort. According to incomplete statistics, there are many plaques inscribed by Cixi in gardens and temples such as Dajue Temple, Reclining Buddha Temple, Miaofeng Mountain, and Dawang Temple, and they are interesting to hear and applaud.
Twelve plaques have been inscribed for Xishan Dajue Temple
Dajue Temple, also known as "Xishan Dajue Temple" and "Dajue Zen Temple", commonly known as "Qingshui temple", is located in the foothills of the balcony mountain in Haidian District, was founded in the fourth year of Liaoxianyong (1068), the Jin Dynasty has been a royal palace, later renamed "Lingquan Temple". It was rebuilt in the third year of Ming Xuande (1428) and renamed "Dajue Temple".
The temple sits on the west and faces the east, the temple is built on the mountain, and from east to west it is composed of four courtyards, including the Hall of the Heavenly King, the Hall of the Great Treasure, the Hall of the Buddha of Infinite Life, and the Temple of Great Compassion. In addition, there are siyi hall, cloud pavilion, consular pavilion, dragon king hall and other buildings. The statues enshrined in the temple are beautiful in shape and vivid in image. There are also dozens of plaques in history, many of which are imperial inscriptions, and Empress Dowager Cixi has written many plaques for Dajue Temple.
According to the "Trivia of Miaofeng Mountain" written by Feng Kuan during the Republic of China, "Dajue Temple is in the west of Xu Gezhuang Village, and the foothills of the mountain are facing east... Each hall has the imperial books of Empress Dowager Cixi' "True as Enlightenment", "Freedom from the Clouds", "Lingjian Seven Treasures", "Xiangyun Pudu", "Xiangyun Fayu", "Dora Secret Collection", "Xiangjiao Hongxuan", "Fa shan auspiciousness", "Fa Wei Xiangtai", and the Royal Book Lian: "Sanming Guanglu Spiritual Opportunity, Eight Interpretations of The Mysterious Truth of The Source". And connected to the 'Golden Rope Road opens three thousand realms, Bao Gai Xiang Fei Twelve Cities'. All are yellow ink books, and the plutonium is used as a royal treasure. ”
Comparing the above records with the existing plaques of Dajue Temple, it can be seen that there should be 12 plaques inscribed by Cixi in the temple, and at present there are only 5 of "Xiangjiao Hongxuan", "Dharma Mirror Changyuan", "True As Enlightenment", "Miao Wu Three Yanas" and "Miao Lotus World". The forehead is rectangular, 3.18 meters long and 2.18 meters wide, yellow silk, black writing, the characters are as large as buckets, and the handwriting is beautiful and dignified. Shangzhao "Peace, Benevolence and Harmony with Heaven and Earth", "Treasure of the Imperial Pen of Empress Dowager Cixi", "Several Plum Blossom Heaven and Earth Hearts" Three Seals, the three seals side by side above the plaque font. Among the many monasteries in the capital, Cixi wrote 12 plaques for a monastery, which is unique.
The plaque inscribed by Cixi is quite allegorical. A piece hangs in the Maitreya Hall, that is, "Xiangjiao Hongxuan", which means to promote the profound and incisive teachings of Guangda Buddhism. The four pieces are suspended in the Daxiong Treasure Hall, that is, "Dharma Mirror Everlasting Circle", which means to integrate and penetrate, and knowledge and knowledge are fully complete; "true as enlightenment", "true as" is a Buddhist term, referring to eternal and unchanging truth, "enlightenment" refers to enlightenment into a Buddha; "three yanas of enlightenment", Buddhism compares the way to the destination as a wheel of operation, so it is called "multiplication", which means that the three paths are all connected to show the buddha's deity; "Myo Lotus World", which means that the Buddha's kingdom is as pure as a lotus flower, and the mud is not stained.
When and what the origin of these plaques is not specifically recorded in historical records. Some scholars have verified that Empress Dowager Cixi believed in Buddhism, and when she was "hanging the curtain and listening to the government", she visited the Buddha in meditation and worshipped the Buddha, and traveled to the Dajue Temple, so at the invitation of the monks in the temple, she gave the word as a forehead.
According to folklore, the Grand Eunuch An Dehai and dajue Temple resident held a friendship with Mo Rebellion. In one conversation, he told emperor Tongzhi about the pox plague that had not been cured for a long time. The abbot told him that there was a monk in the temple named Hui Cheng, who had been practicing medicine for three generations and had ancestral recipes for curing smallpox. When An Dehai heard this, he summoned the monk Huicheng into the palace.
After Huicheng took the pulse for the Tongzhi Emperor, he carefully examined the chickenpox on his body, and then prescribed several doses. After the Tai Hospital had dispensed the medicine, Huicheng personally took it into the Tongzhi Emperor's bedchamber, personally tasted the soup medicine in front of Cixi, and then gave it to the Tongzhi Emperor, and then opened another medicine jar, dipped it in a cotton swab, and gently wiped it for the Tongzhi Emperor. For three consecutive days, Hui Cheng stayed at the bedside and carefully adjusted for him. Half a month later, Emperor Tongzhi's condition improved dramatically.
Cixi thanked the monks of Dajue Temple for curing his son's illness, and gladly inscribed three plaques: "Miao Wu San yan", "Dharma Mirror Chang Yuan", and "Miao Lotus World", and then ordered An Dehai to take a few eunuchs to Dajue Temple. When the old Zen master saw that this plaque was given by Lafayette, he quickly prostrated himself to Xie En and immediately hung it in the Daxiong Treasure Hall.
Inscription "Sex Moon Hengming" for Xiangshan Reclining Buddha Temple
Located in the foothills of Beishou'an Mountain in Haidian District, The Temple was built during the Tang Zhenguan period (627-649), and after being rebuilt in the twelfth year of Qing Yongzheng (1734), it was given the name "Ten Square Pujue Temple", because the temple enshrined a bronze reclining Buddha, commonly known as "Reclining Buddha Temple". The Yongzheng Emperor called it "the first victory into the mountains" and "the crown of The West Mountain Lanruo".
The temple sits north and faces south, and consists of three groups of courtyards side by side, and the main buildings are the Glass Arch, the Mountain Gate Hall, the Heavenly King Hall, the Three Buddha Halls, the Reclining Buddha Hall and the Tibetan Scripture Building. Behind the building, it is located on a hill and climbed from a stone staircase to the top of the mountain, with a pavilion overlooking the temple. The front eaves of the main hall (Reclining Buddha Hall) hangs a gold plaque with the words "Sex Moon Hengming", which is inscribed by Cixi. There are historical records that Cixi has repeatedly driven the Fragrant Mountain, or ascended to the top, or picked up incense. In April of the nineteenth year of Guangxu (1893), she drove to Jingyi Garden, and went to the Shifang Pujue Temple to pick incense, and at the invitation of the Zen master in the temple, she wrote a plaque for the temple "Sex Moon Hengming", which means that Buddha's nature is like the moon, bright and radiant forever.
It is widely rumored that the old abbot of the Reclining Buddha Temple is very good at Fangmo, he saw that the Reclining Buddha Hall already had the forehead of Emperor Gaozong Qianlong's imperial pen of "getting great and free", but there was no plaque under its eaves, which was quite regrettable, and when he learned that Lafayette would drive the Imperial Temple, he wanted to ask her to ask her for a royal inscription. A few days later, when Cixi went to the Reclining Buddha Temple to collect incense, she stopped at the palace courtyard on the west side, and because she believed in Buddhism, the old abbot prepared a fasting meal for her. Cixi Jiu was accustomed to eating mountain treasures and seafood in the deep palace, and when she ate this meal, she suddenly felt light and tasty, but she felt that something was missing. The accompanying grand eunuch Li Lianying took out a bottle of "Lotus White" wine from her arms, poured a cup, and handed it to her. It turned out that Cixi had a habit of drinking a few cups if the dishes were delicious, so when Li Lianying was driving, she brought a few bottles of "lotus white" that Lafayette loved to drink. After drinking a few cups of "Lotus White", Cixi was already a little drunk, and the old abbot immediately ordered someone to bring the four treasures of the study room and asked her to give words for the temple. In the blink of an eye, the four treasures of the study room were ready, and with the strength of wine, she wrote down the four words of "Sex Moon Hengming" with a stroke of her pen. If the old abbot received the most precious treasure, he made Cixi's ink treasure into a gold plaque and hung it under the eaves of the Reclining Buddha Hall.
Three plaques were inscribed for the Niangniang Temple of Miaofeng Mountain
Miaofeng Mountain is located in the northeast of Mentougou District, famous for the Golden Dome Niangniang Temple, dedicated to the Heavenly Immortals Of the Virgin Bixia Yuanjun, commonly known as "Taishan Niangniang", "Taishan Grandmother" and "Taishan Old Mother". Folk believe that she can "protect sentient beings, spiritually respond to Kyushu" and "unify the gods and soldiers of Yue Province, and observe the good and evil in the world", and is a goddess in Taoism, so she has many beliefs. The temple is built at the end of the Ming Dynasty, between the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, and a grand temple fair is held from the first to the fifteenth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar every year. The Qing Dynasty Fu Cha Dun Chong's "Records of the Yanjing Years" said: "Every April, since the first day of the temple, the incense in the half moon is extremely prosperous. "Crowds of people, noisy cars and horses, and the multitude of lights at night, as splendid as a column, counting people from all walks of life, a total of about hundreds of thousands ... The abundance of incense can be used in the world. ”
Niangniang Temple (Inspiration Palace) sits north and south, the main hall has three rooms, and in the middle is a statue of the graceful and magnificent Heavenly Immortal Virgin Bixia Yuanjun, and the vision, descendants, spots, and send-offs are lined with four Niangniang. Inside the hall hangs three plaques written by Empress Dowager Cixi, namely "Ci Guang Pu Zhao", "Gong Gong Fu Yuan" and "Tai Yun Hanging Yin".
Folk legend has it that the Miaofeng Mountain Niangniang is very spiritual, especially the Niangniang of the Sending Son and the Lady of the Spotted Rash are specially enshrined by people. In the eleventh year of Qing Xianfeng (1861), Cixi's only son Zaichun succeeded to the throne, that is, the Tongzhi Emperor. Because of his young age, the government was personally managed by the empresses of the two palaces (Ci'an and Cixi) in the form of "hanging the curtain and listening to the government". In the twelfth year of Tongzhi (1873), after the Tongzhi Emperor came to power, he contracted smallpox (commonly known as "pox plague") and could not be cured for a long time. In a hurry, he listened to the words of the grand eunuch An Dehai, saying that the mother of Miaofeng Mountain was extremely spiritual, so Empress Dowager Cixi personally went to Miaofeng Mountain to incense and prayed for the peace of acne for her son.
Legend has it that Empress Dowager Cixi, in order to show her devotion to Lady Bixia, got off the palanquin from the village of Jiangou at the foot of the Golden Peak Miaofeng Mountain and walked up the mountain. Sometimes the "Qing Palace Words" recorded this incident: "The bunting flag eight treasures are pearls, and the bath Buddha has newly opened an inner dojo." Last night, under the personal edict of Cining, miao peaks entered the head incense. Among them, "Myoko Peak" is the ancient name of Myoho Mountain. "Cining" refers to the Cining Palace in the Forbidden City, which is the residence of Cixi, so "Cining" refers to Cixi. "Head incense" refers to the first incense burned after the opening of the temple, and is said to be the most auspicious. From the analysis of the words and sentences in the poem, the day when Empress Dowager Cixi went to Miaofeng Mountain to enter the incense was the day of the eighth "Bathing Buddha Festival" on the eighth day of the first month of April in the lunar calendar.
Soon after Cixi went to Miaofeng Mountain to incense, the Tongzhi Emperor's acne rash gradually healed, she believed that this was the blessing of the Miaofeng Mountain Lady, in order to be grateful and return the wish, three plaques were written: "Ci Guang Pu Zhao", that is, the light of the Great Mercy of the Buddhas shines on the human world; "Gong Gong Fu Yuan", that is, merit and nature are in harmony, accumulating treasures, and benefiting all sentient beings; "Tai Yun Hanging Yin", that is, the auspicious clouds of Antai are like thick shades, blessing the peace and harmony and happiness of all sentient beings. Immediately sent to the temple, the monks in the temple (since the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, the abbots of the Niangniang Temple of Miaofeng Mountain have been served by monks) hung three plaques of the Cixi Imperial Inscription on the Niangniang Temple, thus becoming the "Treasure of Zhenshan" of Miaofeng Mountain.
The history books on Cixi's ascension to Mount Miaofeng are not recorded in the history books, but it can be confirmed from some inscriptions and other written materials.
According to Jin Xun's "Records of Miaofeng Mountain", in April of the twenty-fifth year of Guangxu (1899), Cixi once again went to Miaofeng Mountain to incense. At the request of the abbot in the temple, three plaques were inscribed for the Niangniang Hall.
Because Miaofeng Mountain is far from the capital, Cixi is inconvenient to go to Miaofeng Mountain to incense, so every year qin cha is sent to the Niangniang Temple to "act" and burn "head incense". Sometimes he also "entrusted" the monks in the temple to burn "head incense" on his behalf. The incense burned was sent from the palace by a eunuch a day in advance of the opening of the temple in early April, wrapped in yellow ayako and packed in a bright yellow brocade box to show the royal "special product". Only after this "head incense" has been burned can the temple be opened.
Inscription "Yongyou Anlan" for the YongdingHe Dawang Temple
Dawang Temple, also known as "Jindi Yonggu Temple", is located in the southwest of Beitian Village, Fengtai District, under the outer slope of the left embankment of the Yongding River, and is the only water temple in the Beijing section of the Yongding River, with a history of 116 years. There are many temples along the Yongding River, and in the hundreds of years, only this one water control memorial temple remains, with three temples: the mountain gate hall, the front hall and the rear hall, the east and west side halls, the east and west halls and the east and west ear rooms. In the front hall, there is the Guangxu imperial inscription "Jin Di Yonggu", and the rear hall is the forehead of "Yongyou Anlan" inscribed by Empress Dowager Cixi.
In the sixteenth year of the Qing Dynasty (1890), the levee of the Yongding River broke during the flood season, and not only dozens of prefectures and counties such as Daxing, Liangxiang, and Zhuozhou became a state of Dodang zeguo, but the flood even flooded to the area around Guang'anmen in the capital. To this end, the Qing government allocated 300,000 taels of silver and instructed Li Hongzhang, the governor directly under him, to organize the blockade of the levee of the Yongding River, and finally in September of that year, the breach was successfully blocked. The following year (1891), in order to commemorate the success of the blockade and rescue, the officials involved in the water control used the surplus materials of the project to build a temple of water control merit on the east side of the Yongding River, which was actually a building for the stationing of flood control personnel and praying for peace. Its main hall is the Hall of the Great King, which is dedicated to the Great King dressed as a warrior. According to legend, because of the blessing of this great king, the dam helong, which was destroyed by the water, was enshrined, and the auxiliary hall was dedicated to the two gods of Wenchang and Guandi. Because the temple is dedicated to the king, it is commonly known as the "temple of the king".
Li Hongzhang felt that the name "Great King Temple" was not elegant enough, so he asked the Guangxu Emperor to give it a name. Immediately, the Guangxu Emperor took the meaning that the river embankment was as strong as the Golden City Tang pond, gave it the name "Jindi Yonggu Temple", and inscribed the four characters of "Jindi Yonggu". The next day, when he went to the Yiluan Hall in Xiyuan (present-day Zhongnanhai) to ask Cixi for peace, he asked the empress dowager to give the "Golden Causeway Yonggu Temple" a gift. Three days later, Empress Dowager Cixi inscribed the inscription "Yongyou Anlan", that is, to always bless the Yongding River with a calm flow and no flooding, which means that the world is peaceful and the country is safe.
Two months later, the "Golden Causeway Yonggu" of the Guangxu Imperial Inscription and the "Yongyou Anlan" given by Empress Dowager Cixi were hung high in the "Great King Temple", and thus the "Great King Temple" was also known as the "Golden Causeway Yonggu Temple".
What is the true level of calligraphy?
What is the true level of Empress Dowager Cixi's calligraphy? Various commentators have commented on different opinions, and their views are different, either positive or negative.
Some researchers believe that Cixi's calligraphy foundation is not very good, but she is talented, diligent and studious, after a period of practice and exploration, she has mastered the basic skills of calligraphy, and has the comprehensive ability to control penmanship, ink and chapter techniques, although it is far from the historical calligraphy, but it has also reached a certain level. Especially after the calligraphy masters entered the palace for guidance, their calligraphy level has greatly improved, the structure of the interstitial frame of the characters is reasonable, and the pen and ink are full.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Xu Ke compiled the "Qing Barnyard Notes", which said: "Xiao Qin (Cixi) likes to make big characters, using zhangyu kula notes, books dragons, tigers, pine cranes and other characters, up to hundreds of paintings. In the palace and the Summer Palace in xiyuan, they are happy to use the four characters of the large round treasure mirror as a plaque. ”
The eunuch Xin Xiuming (also known as Xin Lianjia), who had been on an errand with Empress Dowager Cixi, recalled: "Lafayette was very devoted in writing, especially liked to write six feet or even eight feet of large characters, and every year he had to write a lot and reward the ministers. In addition to the Tang and Song Dynasties Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan, Ouyang Qing, Huang Tingjian, Su Shi, there are also posts by the famous emperor Bao Tie, Liu Yong, and Weng Fanggang, and the empress dowager often copied them, and she made some efforts, so the writing was beautiful. Sometimes he was happy, and he gave the slaves the big characters they had just written. ”
Another scholar believes that carefully viewing the plaque inscribed by Cixi, from the style of the characters, although neat, it is somewhat dull, the pen strength is also weak, the lack of change, may be the use of the pen to cower and hesitate, the skill is not enough. The Palace Museum in Beijing has a painting of Cixi's Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra written in cinnabar ink in the 30th year of Guangxu (1904), which gives a glimpse of the true face of Cixi's personal letters. The structure of this sutra is sluggish and loose, the pen strength is weak and immature, and it is lifeless, which belongs to the level of beginner ink books.
Some researchers believe that Cixi actually has no artistic talent, and her calligraphy and paintings are mostly ghostwritten by people, and the seal dedicated to Cixi on it has become the work of Cixi herself. Strictly speaking, it is more accurate to refer to Cixi's calligraphy and painting as Cixi's calligraphy and painting. For example, the plaque hanging in the Yulan Hall of the Summer Palace, "Restoring the Temple and Staying in the Scenery", is rumored to have been inscribed by Cixi, but from the perspective of calligraphy, these four characters are written in a deep and square manner, but the gestures are flying, and the bones and bones are hidden, which is definitely not written by Cixi himself, but by others. Its progenitor is suspected to be the late Qing Dynasty female calligraphers and painters Miao Jiahui or Ruan Yufen.
This theory has been refuted by some scholars, who believe that Miao Jiahui and Ruan Yufen are better at their flower and bird work strokes, and are known for their small kai, and their pens are round, beautiful, slender, and upright, and they have not seen their thick, vigorous, colossal, and atmospheric works, while the four characters of "Fudian Liujing" are vigorous and thick, which are very different from the calligraphy art of Miao and Ruan, and it is inferred that the plaque of "Fudian Liujing" was not written by the author.
Judging from the seals stamped on the Plaques of Cixi, it can also be proved that these plaques were written by Cixi. The emperor of the Qing Dynasty used a set of strict regulations, if it is a royal inscription plaque, the imperial seal should be covered in the upper middle of the plaque, that is, the forehead position, called the "forehead seal". Only the plaques inscribed by the emperor and empress can be stamped with the jade seal of the "Treasure of the Imperial Pen". The "Treasure of the Imperial Pen" is one of the seals used in the Imperial Book, which is mainly stamped on the Imperial Pen Calligraphy, that is to say, only the plaque of the Imperial Inscription written by Cixi himself can be stamped with the "Treasure of the Imperial Pen of Empress Dowager Cixi".
In addition to the forehead of the "Treasure of the Imperial Pen of Empress Dowager Cixi", the plaque of the Cixi Imperial Pen is generally stamped with "Several Plum Blossom Heaven and Earth Heart" and "Peace, Benevolence and Heaven and Earth Agree", that is, the two seals match, are in groups of three parties, and are used side by side. If it wasn't for Cixi's inscription, who would dare to stamp these three royal seals without authorization?
Courtesy photo/Household Liping