In 1939, Mianyang
In the early morning of November 21, the 28th year of the Republic of China (1939), In Mianyang County, Sichuan Province, Mr. Liang Sicheng and Mr. Liu Dunzhen got up from the North Sichuan Hotel. In the early winter, the weather in the Sichuan Basin was gloomy and harsh, and it was from Guanghan and Deyang to here, and there was no sunshine for several consecutive days. At ten o'clock in the morning, Liang Sicheng and his party put on their cameras and survey books and walked to the north gate of Mianyang, and the target of their investigation was the West Mountain View in the north of the city.
Mianyang City was once a fortress of Shu Province, and there are relics of the Han Que, Cliff Tomb, Jiang Wan's Tomb and other historical relics. The West Mountain View is on the Phoenix Mountain two kilometers north of the city, when the temple view is in decline, the Taoist priests have long been gone, and there are dozens of niche grottoes on the rock wall of the back mountain, or hidden in the wild grass, or not in the soil. "Near the Mountainside Ziyun Pavilion, there are more than 80 niches of Moya statues, staggered from east to west, of different sizes, and all of them belong to Taoism except for a Buddhist statue." At two o'clock in the afternoon, the society left Xishan Temple and went to Yanshi Street to view the Han Dynasty cultural relics collected by Mr. Chen Jisheng.
The Xishanguan Grottoes are on the stone bag next to the Yunu Spring in Xishan Park, and the mountain spring does not stop all day long, gushing into the pool, and naughty children often step into the pool to catch fish. (Gan Lin/Photo)
At the beginning of 2017, I undertook the collation work of the "Chuankang Ancient Architecture Survey", and although there are only 31 photos of the Mianyang Xishan Temple, I have visited many times in the past few years. The Taoist temple of that year has now been changed to Xishan Park, and the grotto is on the stone bag next to the Jade Girl Spring in the garden, and the mountain spring does not stop all day long, gushing into the pool. The spring water is clear and delicious, especially suitable for brewing jasmine tea, many elderly people come to the park early in the morning, call for a cup of fragrant flower tea, and sit in the cloister to swing the dragon gate array. As soon as they turned their heads, they could see the Yuan Shi Tianzun on the stone bag.
The stone bag next to the Jade Girl Spring is engraved with 30 niches, of which 8 small niches numbered 1-8 were excavated in the late Sui and early Tang dynasties, the first niche is 52 cm high and 35.5 cm wide, yuan shi tian zun head high bun, wearing a taoist robe, sitting on the lotus platform, there is a millet seat under the lotus platform, and the lush lotus stems and curly grasses protrude from both sides. On each side of the Heavenly Figure stood a real person, slender in stature, wearing a cardigan robe, wearing a belt, and holding a wat board with both hands on his chest.
The size and layout of the other niches are almost the same, and the statues in the niches are both Yuan Shi Tianzun and Erzhen People, and this kind of theme is also known as "Tianzun Fa Tu". After a thousand years of time, coupled with the proximity to the Jade Girl Spring, the statues were dyed emerald green by moss, and the statues of Tianzun or their heads were indistinct, or their bodies were damaged, and only those lotus stems and curly grasses seemed to grow out of the stones, blooming from the Sui Dynasty to the present.
There is Phoenix Mountain in the west of Mianyang City, and there are statues of Xishan In the mountains, there are two stone bags, on which 31 niches are engraved. However, judging from the photos of the Construction Society, at least 3 stone bags have disappeared, and this is one of the disappeared stone bags, mr. Segaran named the Koshi bag. (Photo courtesy of Xiao Yi/Photo)
Tianzun is the highest level of gods and immortals in Taoism, and Taoism has Yuanshi Tianzun, Lingbao Tianzun, Daode Tianzun, Taiyi Saving Suffering Tianzun, etc., with the status of Yuanshi Tianzun being the most honorable. Curiously, although Yuan Shi Tianzun ranked first among the immortals, it was found in ancient Chinese mythology and early Taoist texts. The Daoist Ge Hong's "Book of pillows" left some clues: "The former two yi are not divided, the Ming Shu Hongmeng is not formed, the heavens and the earth are not formed, the sun and the moon are not formed, the shape is like a chicken, the chaos is yellow, there are Pangu Zhenren, the essence of heaven and earth, the self-proclaimed Yuanshi Heavenly King, swimming in it." "Pangu is a pioneering mythological figure in ancient China, and the YuanShi Tianwang may have appeared under the influence of the Pangu faith. In Ge Hong's other "Baopuzi", there is another Yuan Jun who can reconcile yin and yang and serve the ghost gods. Yuan Shi Tianwang and Yuan Jun may be the predecessors of Yuan Shi Tianzun.
For the first time, Tao Hongjing of the Southern Dynasty Gaodao sorted out the huge and complex Taoist gods, dividing the nearly 700 gods, earth, human ghosts, and immortals of Taoism into seven levels, and each level had a main god who ruled the left and right immortals. In the "True Spirit Bit Karma Map", The Yuan Shi Tianzun was officially named -- "Shanghe Emperor Daojun Ying Yuan Shi Tianzun, Yuqing Realm Yuan Shi Tianzun as the mainstay", ranking first class, living in the highest fairyland in the celestial realm "Yuqing".
Taoism has always been honored by Lao Tzu and the five thousand texts of the Tao Te Ching as the classic, so why did the Yuan Shi Tianzun be invented during the Southern and Northern Dynasties? The reason is that Lao Tzu really has his own person in history, and when he was the zhou dynasty to guard the history of Tibet, the history books also clearly recorded his life, no matter how hard the Taoists preached, Lao Tzu is more like a man than a god. In this way, Lao Tzu handed over the first chair, and this situation did not change again until his descendants founded the country.
The 8 small niches of Xishanguan Number 1 to No. 8 were all excavated in the Sui Dynasty, and the theme was "Tianzun Fatu", and the Sui Dynasty Yuan Shi Tianzun became the most respected Taoist god. (Gan Lin/Photo)
Six years of great business
There are two stone bags in Xishan Park, one next to the Jade Girl Spring, the other under the Ziyun Pavilion, numbered 31st niche, excavated in the twelfth year of Tang Xiantong (871), Tianzun and Laojun sat side by side, there were three Daoist monks next to them, the niches were not large, there were as many as ninety providers, most of them wore heads, wore round-necked robes, their hands were folded, and there were rectangular inscriptions next to them, and the names of some lucky people were faintly visible: Li Gonggao, Yin Furong, Yang Jin, Zhang Yuancheng, Tian Gong... It seems that this is a collective statue.
There are 31 niches in Xishanguan, and Mr. Liang Sicheng investigated more than 80 niches, that is to say, in more than 80 years, more than 50 niches have disappeared. This view was also confirmed by the investigation of the French sinologist Segaran, who in 1914 led an expedition from the Beijing Division, through Luoyang and Xi'an, along the Golden Bull Road into Sichuan, and arrived in Mianyang in early summer. In 1923, Sejialan's "Archaeological Records of Western China" was published in Europe, in which he mistakenly believed that the Xishan view was a Buddhist statue, he clearly recorded that there were four stone bags in this place: there were seven statues on the Jia Stone Bag; the B Stone Bag had the Xiantong Year Number; the Propyl Stone Bag engraved with many statues of men and women, like paintings; the Ding Stone Bag had the Six Years of Daye and the Ten Year Shrine of Daye, which were rare statues of the Sui Dynasty in Sichuan.
The four stone bags can be seen in the photos of the Construction Society, and one is next to the Yunu Spring, which is one of the existing stone bags. In this way, there may be three stone bags in the Western Mountain Temple that no longer exist. In 1953, the Baocheng Railway was built, and because Xishanguan was close to the railway, workers took stones nearby and chiseled the stones into a strip of stone to fill the roadbed.
This niche still exists today, now numbered 31st niche, located under the modern building "Yang Xiong Reading Platform", that is, the Yishi Bao recorded by Segalan. (Photo courtesy of Xiao Yi/Photo)
The photos of the Construction Society reveal the spatial relationship between the Stone Packs of the Nishiyama Temple, and we can reconstruct the main statues on each stone pack, and then stitch together the original appearance of the Nishiyama Temple. Among the many disappeared stone bags, the Ding Stone Bag is the largest, and from the location point of view, it is located between the two existing stone bags, and now it has been built into a staircase, and there are no traces of it. At that time, it stood in the grass, and a crack divided it into two parts, left and right, and more than forty niches of various sizes were engraved on it. Mr. Liang Sicheng described the niches he saw this way:
Inside the niches are carved a statue of Tianzun sitting like a body, smiling, with a graceful and profound look; with a round light behind the head, and a fearless hand; and the lower clothes are draped under the seat. On both sides of the seat, a lion is carved on each side, which is almost indistinguishable from the Buddhist statues at that time. However, the left and right attendants, holding the gui, and the crown style are slightly abnormal, which is its characteristic.
This is the largest niche of the Xishan Temple, the main figure wears a high crown on his head, the front of the crown is decorated with a Boshan-shaped dragon, the eyebrows are long, the eyes are slightly open, the left hand is drooping, the Buddhist "Wish seal", the right hand is raised, the "Shi Fearless Seal", and the body is draped in a cardigan robe, with an inner tie, and the folds of the clothes hang in front of the seat. Standing on the left side are two real people, with a square face, both hands on the chest holding a wat board (Mr. Liang Sicheng recognizes as Gui), a wide sleeve robe and legs, feet wearing cloud shoes, and two squat lions under it. On the left side of the niche is an inscription in ze kai, "Daye 6th Year Tai Nian Geng Noon / December 28th Three Caves / Taoist Huang Fatun is enshrined as a shrine for the survival / death of the second to create a statue of heaven." ”
In the 1980s, when the roadbed was excavated in Xishan Park, workers dug out many remnants of stone in the ground, including this inscription, along with which two small niches were unearthed, and the academic community usually believes that the left side is the Daye Six-year shrine.
Mr. Liang Sicheng and Mr. Liu Dunzhen regard this niche as "the niche of the great cause of six years". (Photo courtesy of Xiao Yi/Photo)
According to the custom of cave excavation, the earlier the niches tend to occupy the preferred position of the rock wall, and the large niches are located in the center of the stone package. In front of the Tianzun crown there is a Boshan-shaped dragon, which is the fashion of the two Jin Dynasties and the Southern and Northern Dynasties. In the "Female History Zhentu" painted by Gu Kaizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Han Yuan Emperor wore a tongtian crown on his head, and there was a "珰" under the crown beam; in the mural painting of Lou Rui Yongdao, the king of Dong'an of Northern Qi, the crown worn by wen officials was also painted with gold.
During the Northern Dynasty, a kind of hanging seat was quite popular in the Longmen Grottoes, Gongxian Grottoes, and Maijishan Grottoes, such as Longmen Guyang Cave, Lotus Cave, Binyang Zhongdong Cave, Laisi Jiu Cave, Gongxian No. 3 Cave, Cave 4, Maijishan Cave 142, etc. The main figure has a thin face, a smile, dressed in a robe and belt, and the clothes hang in front of the seat, gorgeous and complex, and the carving is delicate. Interestingly, the Xishan Guan Dagong Tianzun Yiju also hangs in front of the seat, with the characteristics of the North and South Dynasties Hanging Seat. Ding Shi Bao Da Gong has the style of an early grotto, and we have reason to believe that it may be the six years of Daye Shrine – Mr. Liang Sicheng's judgment is credible.
Most of the Taoist grottoes that have been discovered so far are small in size, such as the Langzhong Stone Chamber Temple and the Sui Shrine during the opening of the Tongnan Great Buddha Temple, which are no more than 1 meter high and wide. Ding Shibao's large niche is more than 2 meters high, and Tianzun has a beautiful face, slightly open eyes, and a hidden wind of beautiful bones and clear images, exquisite carving, and smooth clothing. Although the Chinese Taoist grottoes of the Sui Dynasty were still in their infancy, they still produced high-level works.
The inscriptions such as the sixth year of Daye and the tenth year of Daye are engraved on the Ding stone package, which may be the earliest stone bag excavated by Xishanguan. (Photo courtesy of Xiao Yi/Photo)
Another Sui Dynasty grotto, which disappeared from the niche, is also revealed in the photo. This shrine was built by Vento's mother on the eighth day of the first lunar month of the tenth year of Daye (614), hoping that aizi's life would be extended. The Qing Dynasty's "Golden Stone Garden" once included this inscription, which reads with affection:
On the eighth day of the first month of the tenth year of Daye, the birth mother of the female disciple Wento built a shrine of heavenly statues for her children. May the Son of Long Life be born, blessed to survive and die, and blessed to be provided by the Five Paths.
The Daye Ten Year Shrine is located in the lower right of the niche, which is still intact at that time. The Lord's head wears a hibiscus temple, wears a Robe, sits on the three-story Lotus Lotus Platform, and bears the Lotus Seat on the lower side, giving birth to curly grass and lotus stems on the left and right, on which the Lotus Platform is attached, and the Erzhen people stand on it, holding a wat board with both hands on their chests, and inscribed under the grotto. Unfortunately, the statue of this niche with a chronological age has also disappeared without a trace.
There are several niches adjacent to the Daye Ten Year Niche, and the main figures in the niches are all one day and two real people, with similar layouts and similar styles, and the age may not be too long. Although the Sui Dynasty was short, grotto art was quite prosperous, and in the Longmen Grottoes of Luoyang and the Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang, the royal family and nobles, the powerful and rich people still donated funds to excavate the grottoes. Now it seems that in the southwest of the empire, the Taoist grottoes are also in the ascendant, Mianyang Yanting County Longmen Ya once found the Sui Dynasty Tianzun, Laojun Niche, the provider may be from the eastern capital Luoyang; Langzhong Stone Room Guan Sui Kai Emperor fifteen years (595) of the Taoist grottoes, for Hou Wenzhi, Hou Kuang and others, completed in the Lower Yuan Festival.
Ding Shi wrapped up the Yuan Niche, a day of zun er zhenren, located on the right side of the "Daye Ten Years Niche", and on the outside of the niche there is an inscription: Fengdao girl Guo Shimiao Family Boy Guo Ke Tianzun Yi Gong Shangyuan", this inscription has not been disclosed before. (Photo courtesy of Xiao Yi/Photo)
Kai Huang is the Sui Wen Emperor Yang Jian nian number, although he grew up in the Buddhist temple, the Fu Zhen Tu is not rejected, the founding year name "Kai Huang" is taken from Taoism, "Kai Huang" was originally the beginning of the Taoist disaster, Emperor Wen took this as the era name, suggesting that the Sui Dynasty he created entered a new era of history, and he was also as putual as the Yuan Shi Tianzun. In the early years of the emperor's reign, taiyuan was circulating a nursery rhyme that "the white-clothed heavenly son came out of the East Sea", and after Yang Jian heard about it, he personally went to the East China Sea wearing a white robe and instructed the historian to record this matter.
The Sui Dynasty Emperor Yang Guang was also quite good at Taoism, and he sent his men to excavate the Grand Canal to tour The South of the Jiangnan, and there were one hundred and twenty ships in the huge fleet, accompanied by monks, nuns, Taoist priests, and female crowns, called the four dojos, and was named the Four Pin Officials. The Sui Emperor also fantasized about immortality, and the Zizhi Tongjian recorded such a ridiculous story. There was a Taoist monk named Pan Shi in Songshan who claimed to be three hundred years old, and the Sui Emperor made him a Sanpin official, and ordered the construction of the Songyang Temple, with 120 virgins and girls each, so that he could refine Jindan. Pan Said that alchemy needed stone gall and chalcedony, so thousands of migrant workers dug dozens of large holes in song mountain that were hundreds of feet deep. After six years of jindan still not being refined, the Sui Emperor angrily asked why, pan shi actually said in a frenzy: "Without stone gall and chalcedony, if you get three and six dou each of the bile of the virgin and the female, you can replace it." "The Sui Emperor realized that he had been deceived and beheaded him. Although this matter is absurd, it shows that the Sui Emperor did indeed have the act of worshipping the Tao.
Riding Lieutenant Chen Renzhi
During the early Tang Dynasty, there were open niches in the Western Mountain Temple, and at this time there were few left on the cliff face of Ding Shibao, and Guo chose a square inch in the corner and carved a statue of heaven for his son Guo Ke. This niche had not been disclosed before, and in the right niche, I read out an inscription: "Serve the girl Guo Shimiao... The man Guo Ke... Heavenly Shrine... Shangyuan..." Shangyuan was originally the birthday of a Taoist tianguan, and Emperor Gaozong of Tang borrowed it as an era name, just like the Sui Wen Emperor Yang Jian's old affair.
If the Sui Dynasty and Taoism are still only disconnected, the Tang Dynasty and Taoism have entered a honeymoon period. The Tang Dynasty was the domain of the Li clan, and after Li Yuan ascended the throne, he was anxious to deify the regime, and taishang Laojun, who also had the surname Li, was chosen to become the patron saint of the Li regime. Successive Tang Dynasty monarchs have continuously added honorific titles, Tang Gaozong Li Zhi named Laojun "Taishang Xuanyuan Emperor", Tang Xuanzong Li Longji was first crowned "Shengzu Avenue Xuanyuan Emperor", and then posthumously titled "Great Saint Zu Gaoshang Avenue Golden Que Xuanyuan Emperor Emperor". The name became longer and longer, and more and more affectionate, and finally they all called "Great Saint Ancestor".
Xishan Guan Bingshi Bao may have been produced in such an atmosphere, and Mr. Liang Sicheng was praised as the "Great Shrine of the Early Tang Dynasty". There is only one niche on the stone bag, 2.5 meters wide and 1.8 meters deep, Taishang Laojun is like a kind old man, with a thick beard under his chin, his left hand is crippled, his right hand holds a fan handle, and he is wearing a "V" collar robe, sitting upright in a few places. There are many characters in the niches, such as real people, jurchens, fairy children, etc.
Another vanished stone bag in xishanguan, that is, the "Great Shrine of the Early Tang Dynasty" recorded by Mr. Liang Sicheng, shows the right side of the donor. (Photo courtesy of Xiao Yi/Photo)
The "Great Shrine of the Early Tang Dynasty" has always been known as an exquisite provider, and Mr. Segaran has the praise of "the beauty and solemnity of its preservation, but the brush paintings of the old times can imitate it". Mr. Liang Sicheng recorded, "The left and right walls, the relief of the handmaiden three layers, simple and elegant, still exists in the norms of the six dynasties." "The information of the provider has not been disclosed before, compared with the photo of Segaran and Mr. Liang Sicheng, I found that the left side of the provider is actually four floors, for Taoists and men; the right three layers, for Taoists and women, and try to identify their identities.
In the statue on the left, the first person on the first floor wears a Taoist crown, wears a cardigan robe, holds a long-handled incense burner, wears cloud-topped shoes on his feet, and is inscribed with the title of "Proofreading benguan main three-hole Daoist Chen..."; the second is also a Taoist monk, with the title list "Three Cave Daoists in the Purple Pole Palace Pu Zhongxuan"; the third person wears a head, wears a round-necked robe, and has two hands and sleeves, and the title list is "Chen Renzhi, the Lord's Riding Lieutenant". The two-three-four layers of the list of questions are vague, and it can be vaguely distinguished from "Yun Riding Lieutenant Wang Renxing", "Riding Du Lieutenant Yan Zhi □", "Deng Xingju", "Bingbu Pinzi Wang Chengjia" and so on.
Judging from the inscription, there was a Taoist temple in the Tang Dynasty Xishan Temple, named Ziji Palace, and in the early Tang Dynasty, the Taoist priests Pu Zhongxu and Wang Taiji presided over the excavation of this niche, and there were many officials and eunuchs in the participants, so it can be seen that this niche is a grand event in the state. The Tang Dynasty's system of honorary officials set up the Shangzhu Guo, the Pillar State, the Shangbao Army, the Escort Army, the Shangliang Vehicle Lieutenant, the Light Vehicle Lieutenant, the Shangqi Duwei, the Riding Duwei, the Xiao Riding Lieutenant, the Flying Rider Lieutenant, the Cloud Rider Lieutenant, and the Wu Rider Lieutenant, all twelve turns. In the inscription, the riding lieutenants of Chen Renzhi, Yan Zhi□ and others are the fifth turn of the twelve turns of the Xunguan, which is better than the five pins; Wang Renxing's Yun riding lieutenant is the second turn, which is more than the seven pins.
In the Tang Dynasty door shadow system, the emperor, state relatives, meritorious officials, and officials could give priority to their descendants, including three categories of weiguan, zailang, and pinzi, of which pinzi, "three or more products of civil and military ministry are given to relatives and accounts." Six pins and seven pins are relatives, and eight pins and nine pins are in the account. "After 10 years of personal affairs and internal examinations, after passing the examination, enter the official department or the military department." From this point of view, the Wang Chengjia in the inscription, that is, for the sake of his family lineage, served as a soldier.
The first person in the statue on the right is also a Taoist monk, with the title "□□ Gao Xuan Daoist Wang Taiji". The others are all women, their heads are combed in high buns, their faces are plump, they wear long skirts, their feet are cloud-headed shoes, their posture is graceful, their posture is modest, and the title list can be seen in "Theravada Yang Da Niang", "Recorder Zhang Da Niang", "Pingzheng Zhang Shakya", "Wen Miaofa", "Yongfa Xiang", "Ni Xian tight", "Wang Silu" and so on. Wen Miaofa turned his head and seemed to be whispering with Yongfa, full of human interest. The theravada, recorder, pingzheng and other titles imply that women once gathered to create statues, and in the Tang Dynasty, they were popular and engaged in Buddhist activities such as camps, statues, scripture carvings, and fasting meetings under the leadership of monks. It now seems that Taoism may have borrowed from this form as well.
In the Tang Dynasty, another stone bag also began to open the niche, this is the jia stone bag, the niche is carved in the day Zun Er Zhenren Er Zhen Er Lushi, Tianzun face is full, full of smiles, real people eyebrows clear eye show, slender posture; flying sky on the niches dancing in the air, long streamers flying, floating on the lotus flower. Unfortunately, this exquisite statue was eventually hewn into a stone, and those celestial beings and real people were in a different place, and there was no day in the dark underground.
Mianyang Jade Female Spring statue, the location is unknown, the bottom of the niche has been mutilated, the statue in the niche is a day zun two true people two female true, the main dignity of the chest below the remnant, the right side of the real person does not exist, the real person, the real body is half submerged in the dirt. (Photo courtesy of Xiao Yi/Photo)
It is generally believed that the number of Taoist grottoes in China is about one percent of that of Buddhist grottoes, and the volume of existing Taoist grottoes is not large: for example, the Langzhong Stone Chamber View excavated during the Sui and Tang dynasties, there are 13 existing niches; for example, the Song Dynasty Dazu Nanshan, the existing Sanqing Ancient Cave, the Three Holy Mothers of Houtu, the Dragon Cave 3 niches, Shu Chengyan exists 12 niches, of which 5 Are clearly visible Taoist Niches, such as the Yuan Dynasty's Shanxi Longshan, there are 9 existing niches.
Mianyang Xishan Temple once had five stone bags and more than 80 niches. In addition to the two existing stone bags, Ding Shi Bao may be the earliest stone bag opened in Xishan Temple, some of which were excavated in the six to ten years of Daye; Jia Shi Bao and Cheng Shi Bao Camp were built in the early Tang Dynasty. With the help of the photos of the Construction Society, we finally stitched together the original appearance of this grotto , which is the largest group of grottoes known to China , beginning in the Sui Dynasty and continuing to the Tang Dynasty , stretching for nearly three hundred years.
References: Book of Sui, Archaeology of Western China, History of Taoism in China, Volume II, Illustrations of Southwest Architecture of Liang Sicheng, Complete Works of Liu Dunzhen, Mianyang Niche Grottoes, Zhi Dao - Chinese Taoism in grottoes
Xiao Yi