Visit the Eight Prisms
Jiang Baobing
In The village of Lijizhai in Yucheng, Shandong Province, an eight-sided stele that has been erected for a thousand years, is named the Eight Ridges Sutra in archaeology, and the main body is engraved with the "Diamond Sutra". Because of the lotus flower pattern on the top, the local people figuratively called it "Iron Tree Blossom". Recently, it has been quite ancient and has developed a strong interest in the cultural relics and monuments in Yucheng. On a sunny afternoon, I made an appointment with like-minded friends to visit the long-known Eight Prisms. As the only Song Dynasty golden stone inscription in Yucheng, the Eight Ridge Stele belongs to the national second-level protected cultural relics and the first-class protected cultural relics of Shandong Province.
Taking a bus to Li JiZhai in Zhangzhuang Town, the two walked to the west of the village entrance, came to the Eight Ridge Monument, only to see that this stone stele is more than 6 meters high, a total of 14 sections up and down, meticulous workmanship, exquisite carving, interpreting the superb artistic skills of Song Dynasty gold stone carving. The inscriptions from the bottom to the top are: the base is square, made of two long slabs of stone 20 cm thick; the upper is the lotus throne, which is carved with eight arhats, with different shapes, ring eyes and violent protrusions, squatting waist, carrying heavy eight-sided scriptures on the shoulders; and further up is the lotus throne, carved with a standing Buddha, and stacked with spiraling carved dragons, the edges are decorated with three patterns, all of which are eight edges; the upper section has flying reliefs, eight carved Buddhas embedded in the lower section of the panlong, and the eight-edged cloud lotus is capped. It concentrates on the high skill and artistic achievements of gold stone carving in the Song Dynasty.
The total view of the whole stele, more than ten sections above and below, meticulous workmanship, exquisite carving, realistic and vivid shape, marking the characteristics of the Song Dynasty gold stone carving, is a treasure of pen carving art in the treasure house of cultural relics and monuments.
At this time, an old man with white hair, with a dark face and wrinkles, asked what we were doing? Because the Eight Prisms were stolen in June 2012, they were recovered after the police were filed and relocated, so the local people are very vigilant and carefully protect the treasures in their hometowns. We replied that we had come to visit the artifacts. The old man immediately smiled and proudly introduced us to the treasures of his hometown.
Among the generations of local people, the Eight Ridge Stele was first built in October of the first year of the Taiping Revival (976 AD). During the Cultural Revolution, he was pulled down and scattered. In October 1979, the villagers re-erected the monument and restored it.
It is said that after expert identification, the "Diamond Sutra" on the inscription was written by the Tang Dynasty calligrapher Ouyang Qian. His calligraphy and paintings are vigorous and powerful, neat and beautiful, and they are masterpieces of the world. But Zhang Guangcun, an expert at the Shandong Provincial Museum of Stone Carving Art, carefully interpreted the text on the scriptures. He believes that the scripture was built in the early Northern Song Dynasty, and Ouyang Que belonged to the early Tang Dynasty, hundreds of years apart, and it is unlikely that the "Diamond Sutra" inscription was written by Ouyang Yuan. During the Northern Song Dynasty, jingzhuo rarely invited famous artists to write it, and although the inscription was neatly written, it was dwarfed by Ouyang Qian's calligraphy.
My friends and I circled the Eight Prisms several times to take photos. I carefully observed the inscription on the stele. An attempt was made to decipher the code of the Eight Prism Tablets from the text. The inscription of the Eight Ridges Tablet contains contents such as "Qizhou Lijizhai Terracotta Warriors and Horses Supervision And Supervision Ju Tax" and "Yun Qi Di Binbo and other prefectures patrol Luo Yuan", thus providing researchers with a new way of thinking and linking the Eight Ridges Monument with Li Ji Zhai. The soldiers and horses were an official post, and the "inspection" official position behind it was even greater, and the "Yun Qi Di Bin Bo and other prefectures" respectively referred to Yuncheng, Jinan, Wudi, Binzhou, Boshan and other places, a bit like today's military sub-district commanders. It can be seen from this that during the Song Dynasty, Li Jizhai had a fairly high military status.
The friend said enviously: "How do you know so much!" I smiled and replied to him with the words of Old Master Kong, who said, "I am not born to know, so ancient, sensitive to what I want." Confucius said: "I am not a person who was born with knowledge, but a person who likes ancient culture and is diligent and agile to seek knowledge." My friend laughed and scolded me for bragging, comparing myself to Kong Sage. Everyone laughed and returned home happily.
After returning, I read through the materials and saw the book "Speaking of Yucheng" compiled by the Yucheng City CPPCC Committee, which introduced the Eight Prism Steles in this way, according to the "Yucheng County Chronicle": "The eight prism stele stone carvings, for ancient documents, the Dravidian Sutra; the calligraphy and painting are vigorous, for the Song Ouyang Gong pen, the Taiping Xingguo First Year Jia Shen October construction." Previously, outside the Great Temple of Lijizhai in the fifth district, the original Ershi Jingzhu (Diamond Sutra), in the fifteenth year of the Qing Dynasty, Xu Shouji of Zhixian County moved one of them to the front of the county office lobby. The 23rd year of the Republic of China immigrants to the education hall preservation. After the incident (1937), the damaged stele of the museum was still exposed, and it was later moved to the Yudian Grand Temple. ”
About the author: Jiang Baobing, Zi Jian Mei, Number Sword Mei Lou Lord, Qingfeng Hall Master. He is a member of the Chinese Essay Literature Association, a member of the Whole Committee of the Dezhou Writers Association, a member of the Dezhou Calligraphers Association, a director of the Yucheng Writers Association, and an editorial board member of Yucheng Literature.
The work "Night Reading Lu Xun" won the second prize of the national "Walking with the Republic, Good Books Grow with Me" Reading essay competition, and "Looking at Social Changes from Dietary Changes" won the first prize of the National Day Essay contest for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. "The Green Plane Tree" won the third prize for outstanding literary and artistic works in practicing the core values of socialism. "Growing Up with the Great Motherland" won the first prize of the "Lucky Color Cup, I and New China" with an award for essays. "The Ancient Road of the Yellow River" won the Excellence Award in the Prose Group in the 4th China Xiajin Yuguo Poetry (Prose) Competition.
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