Yungang Grottoes Sculpture
Chinese Buddhist statues, most common clay sculptures, stone carvings and gold and bronze casting, stone carvings are the most simple, and the most vulgar is the colored clay sculptures.
However, the representative works of the clay sculptures have usurped the world's great names, and many of them are also regarded as art classics, such as the painted sculptures of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, especially the Statues of Bodhisattvas in the Tang Dynasty there. This judgment is probably based on its skillful technique. However, art should perhaps pay more attention to the concept of technology than to technology itself. If technology is used to please the senses, and if it is vertigo, then even the value of technology itself is denied.
Titian, the master of the Venetian School, had this suspicion – if the Florentine School was known for its drawings, the Venetian School was known for its colors. Titian is certainly one of the leaders; However, his colors may have a worldly sense of good-looking and beautiful. But the overall tone is warm, the purity and brightness of some color blocks are too high, and the contrast between some color blocks is too strong, coupled with the sloppiness of the background brushstrokes, it is inevitable that there is a sense of vulgarity. Titian created seven mythological paintings for King Philip II of Spain, two of which "Diana and Calist" and "Diana and Arcotion" represent this characteristic of color use. In this regard, Titian is inferior to his teacher, Giorgione, whose colors are far more subtle and understated. Paul Klee once wrote in his diary: "Although Titian is a recognized master of color, I think that Titian's color is more sensual than spiritual. "Can't help but admit that Klee has a sharp eye.
Mogao Cave Sheng Tang sculpture
Similarly, if it comes to the concept of driving technology, Dunhuang painted sculptures have to let the stone carvings fall to the ground. Those painted clay Buddhas, although the thousand years of time have faded a little fire from the colored clothes, the color is still flashy. What's more, some of the statues have a beautiful posture, and there are more dazzling arms and skirts on them, and layers of shawls are wrapped around. The rich color and the complex shape are mixed together, forming a leaning door makeup atmosphere, which is overwhelming. The Song Dynasty monk Rencheng's "Outline of the Shi Clan" records the words of the Tang Dynasty Daoxuan lawyer, saying that between the Song and Qi, the bodhisattva was still a male body. After entering the Tang Dynasty, in order to please the common eye, the old system of the Six Dynasties was greatly changed, and the husband changed into a girl. Not only that, but the bodhisattva was also very flattering, stemming from the low-level craftsmen at that time who copied them from the prostitutes around them. No wonder I see that the Tang Dynasty painted bodhisattvas in Dunhuang have a lot of wind and dust. In this way, even if the skill is skilled, it can fully use the clothing pattern to express the sense of dry body volume and the dynamics of the human body, but it is only the skill of the craftsman. In contrast, the Mogao Caves Northern Wei clay sculptures, but have dignity, no lowly appearance.
In fact, if we talk about technology, the Northern Dynasty clay sculpture is coarse and simple, and the limbs are stiff, far less than the Tang Dynasty. Of course, some people also praise the humble clay sculptures of the Northern Dynasty here, but in my opinion, its "Simplicity" is actually "simple" instead of "concise", its "clumsiness" is actually "clumsy" instead of "simple", and the technical level is not only difficult to compare with the Tang Dynasty painted sculptures in the same cave, but also much inferior to the Northern Wei clay sculptures of the Maijishan Grottoes in the same period. However, this kind of simplicity caused by the lack of technology is often confused with the kind of clumsiness formed by skillfully using technology and then sweeping away the traces of technology, although the gods are separated, after all, they are often confused. However, sometimes illusion can also produce a sense of beauty, and it is precisely because of this simplicity that the Clay Sculpture of the Northern Dynasty has not been contaminated with the worldly glitz. Therefore, even if the skills are not as good as tang, it is better to give up the Tang Dynasty and go to the Northern Dynasty. After all, as long as the technology is learned and learned from time to time, it is not difficult to move up; Once the light habit of treating technology is contaminated, it is very easy to enter the bone leaching marrow, and it must not be removed, and it will inevitably fall! Zhang Daqian is an example. He seemed to lack a correct concept of treating technology, but he lamented that when he went to Dunhuang to learn the scriptures, all he got was a frivolous, demonic green and red, which ruined the feeling of good brushstrokes in vain, and Wu Rongting in Jiangnan laughed at him for paying homage to the wrong teacher.
Mogao Caves Northern Wei sculpture
And stone carving, compared to the color clay sculpture, color and quality, all occupy the spring light. Stone, whether sandstone, red sandstone or granite, or bluestone, white stone, are natural gray tones, no blue and white flower fat powder, not to mention the doucai multicolored pastel enamel color charm of the senses. In addition, it has gone through vicissitudes and mottled textures, which is full of ancient meaning. If the stone is too smooth, it is inevitably sweet. More importantly, the delicacy of the texture implies a kind of subservience to technology and laws, somewhat bound, and I am afraid that it is not close to the Buddha's principle of detachment. This is like the ancient Qin and Han pottery, the texture is simple, but it is more atmospheric than the porcelain of recent times, although the latter's technology is far more exquisite, the texture is more refined, but at the same time it also has a little more of the small family jasper. The color and quality of the stone carvings are so great, even if some statues outline all kinds of carvings, even if the beads and brocade embroidered robes want to make waves, they can only make a dark wave, but they have become a joy in the quiet purity. This is like the singing voice of Qipai Zhou Xinfang, although fluent and slang, but his voice is dull, close to Gu Humble, far from flattery. With a hoarse voice out of the flow of beauty, the two sides played, the clumsiness of the voice slightly won, but the popular melody had to back down three points. The two compartments are uneven, qipai has its own flavor, and the style is not completely vulgar. Those coarse gray stone Buddhas, even if they are hardcover carved, can probably be viewed in this way.
Compared with the color clay sculpture, the golden Buddha or gilded bronze Buddha is because of the material, although the light is dazzling, after all, the whole, no more than the former, the five colors are dazzling. Moreover, it must be mentioned that some of the golden and bronze Buddhas cast by the Northern Wei and Northern Qi are clumsy, even if they are metal-colored Buddhas. But a few branches alone, to become spring? It seems that Chinese Buddhist statues are divided into three parts: clay sculptures, stone sculptures and gold and bronze castings, two points of dust, and only one part of spring color is left, that is, stone carving.
However, there are also caves in the stone statues. I've seen some good remnants of Buddha, and some of the skits may be better.
As far as the former is concerned, if it is a round sculpture, only the remains of the body, or only the head image, it is even better, and the complicated ornaments are more and more unable to come out of the ground. Here, the brokenness is manifested as the incompleteness of the laws of art, and the absence of this law itself also implies a sense of detachment and freedom from the shackles of the laws of art. Although this is separated from art (technology), it is also close to the Buddha's principle of detachment, and even if the carving makeup and painting clothes are a little bound to the regular skills, they cannot hold on to it.
Luoyang Longmen folk statue
However, the essence of the entire Chinese Buddhist sculpture may be some small works, especially the small Buddha shrine, or the high reliefs and bas-reliefs on the statue stele and the statue tower, which are far better than some large stone Buddhas, such as the Big Buddha of the Five Caves of Yungang Tanyao and the Big Buddha of Longmen Fengxian Temple. Various causes and circumstances will achieve the aesthetic character of these sketches: even if they are sketches, it is difficult to carry the knife within easy reach, let alone cumbersome carvings, and the form has to be simplified. If the stone is hard, the more difficult it is to play the knife, and the shape has to be clumsy; Perhaps more importantly, when engraving sketches, the mentality of the craftsmen may be more relaxed, carving the big Buddha may be a hard battle, and the small pieces, using a cattle knife? Big can be carved at will; Coupled with the ordinary statue, it is not a royal expense, even if you use a knife and a grass, can I help! And so add to that a little more comfort. Therefore, due to the dual reasons of objective subjectivity, they appear to treat technology with a comfortable mentality: neither lack of technology, such as the Clay Sculpture of the Northern Dynasty; Nor is it too much reliance on technology, such as Sui and Tang Dynasty painted sculptures. This is the most appropriate concept for technology, so it creates a simple sense of beauty.
Luoyang Longmen Lushena Buddha
The benefits of these skits are also like the "History". Later generations read the text of the "History of History", always feel too stupid, there are redundant words here, there are redundant sentences there, and there are sentences that do not make sense. Until I have carefully changed and carefully polished it, I always find that it is not as good as Sima Qian's original text, such a kind of thick branches and leaves, messy and coarse clothes, it is really good. Bangu's Book of Han is a little too delicate—no matter what historical knowledge is here, it is only about words. This is what he lost to Sima Qian. In fact, really good art or technology is always not too much like art, it seems not very technical, and some sense of distance is good. For example, good poetry is always not very like poetry, so Han Le Fu is better than Tang poetry.
If in the plastic arts, there is the so-called "technology into the Tao", this realm is called "technology into the Tao". "Tao" is this concept of technology: not only does technology not please the senses, but even the traces of technology are swept away, so that a sense of freedom and detachment can be more expressed. In contrast, the Buddhas such as Longmen Fengxian Temple Lushena are inevitably too delicate and too technical. Perfect things are more likely to be imperfect, too much like the art of art, but not enough art. In the "History of Chinese Sculpture", Mr. Liang Sicheng enshrined the Great Buddha of Fengxian Temple as a divine product of Chinese sculpture, perhaps he attached too much importance to "skill"! No wonder he favors Dazu stone carvings, and the traces of this batch of Song Dynasty sculpture techniques are equally thick. Mr. Liang Sicheng may not have realized that above technology, there is a level of realm that can sweep away all traces of technology. Mr. Liang is immersed in European wind and rain, and perhaps he looks at Chinese art with the soul of Western art. In fact, Western oil painting sculptures are too difficult, and the traces of technology are too heavy - although there is a sense of orderly beauty, from another point of view, they are still subject to a certain law, and there is still a gap between them and the "Tao".
Author: Li Xin
Editor: Wu Dongkun