【Ethnic Culture】Jigang rubs ‖ Yang Sujun

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Jigang rub

Yang Sujun

Jigang (Jiarong for "heart") is located in Miazu Village, Shaerzong Town, Malkang City, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, and is divided into Shangjigang and Xiajigang. On a mountain in Jigang there are two large lakes and many small lakes, and the overflowing lake water converges on the mountain into two rivers, one flowing north into the Yellow River, one flowing south through Jigang and then into the Yangtze River.

In March 2016, villagers in Miazu Expanded a path in Shimogigang, and when they dug into a rock wall halfway up the mountain where several tall vine trees grew, an excavator dug up the vine tree, revealing a large cave behind the tree, and a large pile of mud rolled out of the hole. The excavator master took a closer look, and in front of him was a huge amount of clay sculpture rubbing. Looking at the rubbing that kept rolling out of the hole, people did not know what to do, so they quickly stopped the excavator and informed the Bon monks who were practicing in the nearby retreat at that time.

Rubbing has a long history of development, whether it is Bon (also known as "Yongzhong Bon") or Tibetan Buddhism, both rubbing as a sacred object. The tradition of making wipes is still maintained in Jigang.

This batch of rubbings reached tens of thousands of pieces, more than 50 types, not only a huge number, a wide variety of types, but also a long age and exquisite craftsmanship. More importantly, this is a unique cultural relic with Bon symbols, which has the significance of living fossils for the study of Bon culture, which is very rare in the whole country, and some of them may be about a thousand years old. This is undoubtedly an exciting discovery.

The uniqueness of Jigang rubbing is that it has obvious Bon characteristics. Some rub the heart mantra printed with Bon scriptures, and some have the image of The Founder of Zhangxiong Bon, Xin Shuo Mi wo (also translated as "Lucky Rao Mi Wo").

In particular, four of them are not only very Bon characteristics, but also a huge number, which is really rare. As can be seen from the fine works, its molds are made according to the rituals of the time, and the patterns are exquisite, as vivid as the ancient Thangka painting figures. The four rulais on it are the most important four of the 1028 Bon rulais, and the image characteristics are completely consistent with those described in the Bon classic text "Yongzhongkong Guangjing", the first one on the upper left is the Bon Loving Mother Buddha with his hands folded, and the base is Leo; the upper right is the second Xingla Voga Buddha, the base of the Buddha statue is an elephant, and the heart part of the Buddha has a Tibetan "Ah" heart mantra; the third Sampo Ben Chi Buddha, the base of the Buddha statue is the "Qiong" bird - Dapeng Golden-winged Bird; the lower right fourth is the founder of Xiangxiong Bon, Xinghuan Miwo Buddha. The base of the Buddha statue is a four-petaled lotus flower. The ritual vessels on the back of each Buddha statue, the gestures of the Buddha statues, and various jewelry are completely consistent with the descriptions of the Bon scriptures, and also coincide with the ancient thangka of Bon and the ancient murals of Bon Buddha statues.

Four such as the scrubbing

The four statues of the Buddha are very gentle, and the dharma vessels described in the scriptures are not held in the hands, but are placed on the back niches, with Bon sutra mantras on the edges of the back niches, dragons and lotuses on the left and right edges, and Qiong birds on the top. The four parts are all wide foreheads and large eyes, full shoulders, thin waist and knees, light clothing, wearing large earrings, treasure strings, arm bracelets, bracelets, etc., which is an extremely rare Bon rubbing treasure.

Among the rubbings unearthed in Jigang, there are a large number of tower-shaped rubbings, that is, tower-shaped rubbings. Some rub on the side or bottom of the tower with the Bon "swastika" symbol printed on it. Most of them are solid, and some rub have a deep hole for easy storage. According to the Bon Khenpo Syol Zhapa, the Bon texts record that in general, there are 360 kinds of pagodas in the "Gong Qiao Ming" mentioned by the Buddha of Great Compassion, but the exquisite pagodas described in them say that only 120 of them can be depicted and made in the human world. Jigang has found a wide range of tower rubbing shapes, only according to the type of division, can be divided into four square 108 tower wipe, 108 small tower combination wipe, five square tower rub, seven square tower rub, seven square carved tower rub, eight square top wordless tower rub, etc., of which, the same type of tower rub in the tower is different shapes, the types are innumerable.

Jigang rub also has a very mysterious type of rub. No one can recognize the text printed on this rubbing, but can only confirm that it is not a modern Tibetan alphabet. There is speculation that this is the letter of the ancient Zhang-xiong script.

The cave where Jigang is covered with rubbings is not the only one, and the Bon monk Who has lived in the village of Miazu for many years, Xingyuba Langka, said that caves containing tibetan rubbings have also been found here before. The large number of rubbings unearthed this time is very well preserved, which is of great value for the study of Bon and the ancient Jiarong Tibetan culture.

Jigang Rub Museum

Jigang rubbing, seemingly very small clay sculptures, but their artistic level is high, the variety of shapes, and the complete richness of the Bon cultural symbols they carry, which is rare in the rubbing culture. The cultural inheritance relationships they reveal are even more intriguing.

Source: Zhizhong Aba (according to the journal "XueyuanYuanshi" of the Local History Office of Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture)

Author: Yang Sujun

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