Taji ruins
On the 16th, the fourth live broadcast of the "Guansheng Tang, Come to Luoyang, See the Longmen Grottoes" - Longmen Grottoes Research Institute "Dragon Gate on the Clouds" series of live broadcast activities jointly sponsored by the Longmen Grottoes Research Institute and the Luoyang Daily Newspaper Group "Pocket Luoyang" client was held at the site of Tangxiangshan Temple in longmen grottoes. During the live broadcast, Lu Wei, director of the Historical and Humanities Research Center of the Longmen Grotto research institute, showed the public for the first time a number of important achievements in the archaeological excavation of the Tangxiangshan Temple site, giving us the opportunity to see the "Longmen Secret Place".
The grand scale was created on the site of the pagoda courtyard of the tomb of the ancient Indian monk
Xiangshan Temple is one of the famous "Longmen Ten Temples" around the Longmen Grottoes in the Tang and Song Dynasties, which is different from the geographical location of the Xiangshan Temple rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty as we know it today, the ruins of Tangxiangshan Temple are located in the southern foothills of Longmen Dongshan Mountain, sitting on the north and south, because the mountain is in place, it is distributed in a stepped shape on the multi-level terrace. Its geographical location, quiet environment and inaccessible people make it a little-known "Dragon Gate Secret".
Lovell said the construction of the Temple was related to an ancient Indian monk. According to volume I of the Biography of the Huayan Sutra of the (Tang) Fazang, this ancient Indian monk named Di PoHara, whose practice was profound, translated more than ten Buddhist scriptures in Chang'an and Luoyang in the late Tang Gaozong and Wu Zetian periods, and won the respect and courtesy of Wu Zetian, who once translated the sutra "Imperial Preamble and Deep Praise". Wu Zetian heard that Di Bohara was "deeply mourned" and ordered him to be buried in "the sun of Longmen Mountain and the left of Yishui" (that is, the southern foothills of Longmen East Mountain).
After that, Wu Zetian's nephew Wu Sansi the Prince of Liang proposed to expand the monastery on the basis of the DiBohara Tomb Pagoda Courtyard, and Wu Zetian was named Xiangshan Temple. Because Longmen Dongshan is rich in fragrant kudzu, the aroma is scattered in the mountains and is also called Xiangshan, so the name of the temple is closely related to Xiangshan. "We found a remnant of a pagoda during the excavations, most likely the tomb tower of Di Bhagavatam." According to Lovells, archaeologists based on the topography, the structure of the underground palace, the excavated bricks and stone carvings, combined with the literature, determined that it was possible to be a tomb tower of Di Bohara.
Gathering tang and Song dynasty literary rhymes, the "Dragon Gate Secret Realm" in the eyes of literati and inkers
Xiangshan Temple has given birth to many literary stories, and "Xiangshan Fushi Won the Golden Robe" is one of them. Lu Wei said that in the spring of the first year of the Wuzhou Holy Calendar (698 AD), Wu Zetian once rode the Xiangshan Temple, traveled to the feast and gave poetry, so that congchen Wu Sansi, Shen Qi, Song Zhiqing, Dongfang Qiu and other poems should be systemized, and the golden robe was given, leaving behind the poetic story of "Xiangshan Fushi and Winning the Golden Robe", which also made the Xiangshan Temple have the color of an official temple because of the cause of the royal family and nobles, and it was prominent at that time.
"The victory of the four wild mountains and rivers of Luodu, the first of the dragon gates." The victory of the Longmen Ten Temples, the first of the Fragrant Mountains. Bai Juyi, in his "Records of Xiuxiangshan Temple", once praised the pleasant scenery of Xiangshan Temple and crowned the "Ten Longmen Temples". In his later years, Bai Juyi lived in Luoyang for a long time, devoted himself to teachings, admired Longmen Xiangshan, and married the "Incense Society" with the monks of Xiangshan, and formed the "Nine Elders Society" with Hu Gao, Lu Zhen and other nine people, and sang and exchanged. Due to the long-term disrepair of Xiangshan Temple and its gradual decline, Baiju Yi daiwa funded the rebuilding and expansion of Xiangshan Temple during the Yamato period, making Xiangshan Temple a new look. Since then, Bai Juyi has newly repaired the scripture collection hall here, sorted out and continued to supplement the scripture collection, and carefully supported the Xiangshan Temple, making the Xiangshan Temple a famous Buddhist temple and a scenic spot in the suburbs of Luoyang in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. “
There are more than 80 existing poems about Xiangshan Temple, accounting for about a quarter of the total number of existing Longmen related poems. Lu Wei said that during the Tang and Song dynasties, many famous literati and bureaucrats such as Shen Qi, Song Zhiqing, Li Bai, Wei Yingwu, Wu Yuanheng, and Bai Juyi of the Tang Dynasty, Shao Yong, Sima Guang, Wen Yanbo, Mei Yaochen, Lü Gongzhuo, Zhang Qian, Ouyang Xiu, and Cai Xiang of the Song Dynasty went to xiangshan temple to visit, stay overnight, and sing under the forest in front of the hall, leaving behind a large number of poems singing the colors of Xiangshan Temple or Longmen Mountain, and the Xiangshan Temple thus carried a heavy historical and cultural information.
Lovell said that the literature records that Bai Juyi was buried next to the Ruman Monk Pagoda in Xiangshan Temple, and in this archaeological excavation, the other tower base remains found are speculated to be the tomb tower of the Ruman monk, which means that Bai Juyi's tomb may also be found in subsequent excavations.
In addition, in the "stone building" mentioned in Bai Juyi's poem "Xiangshan Stone Building Leaning on the Sky, Cuiping Wall Libo Loop", archaeologists combined the topographic terrain and terrain investigation and Tang and Song dynasty literature records, and found a stone basin spring under the stone building described in Bai Juyi's poem, thus speculating that the location of the remains of the stone building is more in line with the location of the stone building, which needs to be determined by subsequent archaeological excavations.
Hand-printed bricks
Fruitful archaeological work Plans to build an archaeological site park
According to Lovells, the archaeological excavation of the Tangxiangshan Temple site began in 2016, and the archaeological team of the Xiangshan Temple site was jointly formed by the Longmen Grotto Research Institute, the School of Archaeology and Literature of Peking University, and the Luoyang Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology to carry out archaeological excavations. The existing area of the site is more than 40,000 square meters, and the excavation area of the first phase is 3,000 square meters, which has now been completed.
This excavation revealed two remains of square buildings, both tower bases. It was also found on the north cliff of Xiangshan Temple's North Wanfogou cave and the remains of unfinished shallow niches. One of the highest terraces in the Xiangshan Temple ruins area is surrounded by bricks, stone walls and a circle of loose water that is relatively well preserved. In addition, hand-printed bricks, relics, stone slabs, Buddhist statues, porcelain fragments, stone architectural components, Song People's Travel Monuments, etc. were found, and a variety of relics were unearthed. These relics are not only of great significance for discussing the layout, historical evolution and relationship with The Drum Terrace Area of Xiangshan Temple, cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, but also provide important basic information for in-depth study of the relationship between longmen grottoes and surrounding monasteries and the layout of Buddhist temples in the middle and middle ages of China, and accumulate experience for the archaeology of Chinese Buddhist temple architecture.
"Di Po Ha Luo was the earliest Tianzhu (ancient Indian) monk buried in the eastern capital Luoyang in the Tang Dynasty, and this excavation is also the first excavation of the tomb tower of an Indian monk who entered the Tang Dynasty in China. During the excavations, we deliberately preserved some of the relics for the public to visit. Lovells said that in order to better inherit and carry forward the profound cultural connotation of the Longmen Grottoes and tell wonderful stories, they plan to protect and display the original site of the Tangxiangshan Temple site in the future, plan to build archaeological site parks, museums, etc., and hold public archaeological activities such as research and summer camps, so that the public can intuitively experience the beauty of Xiangshan and feel the atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty. (Luo Bao Rong Media Luoyang Network reporter Liang Xiaoyu)