Fu Sheng
Recently, in a monastery in the northernmost part of Anyue County, Sichuan Province, a statue of the Third Buddha of the Liu Benzun Sect of the Tang Dynasty was found in the Southern Song Dynasty, which is the first time that the ruins of the Liu School have been found in the Northern Yue region. Between the top of the crown and the top of the rock, the main Vishnu Buddha, is carved with a flapping golden-winged bird, and the complete image of this golden-winged bird standing on the top of the crown is first seen in the grotto. In the Mingshan Temple Grottoes in the southernmost part of Anyue, the only pilu Buddha in the country that stands in a standing posture also seems to have a golden-winged bird standing on the crown, and through the comparison with this niche, it can be confirmed that it is also a rare statue of the king of the golden-winged bird of Vilujana.
An Yue's newly discovered three-body Buddha statue of Chuanmi
The mysterious protector golden-winged bird stands with a Buddha crown
Recently, in a monastery in the northernmost part of Anyue County, Sichuan Province, a statue of the Third Buddha of the Liu Benzun Sect of the Tang Dynasty was found in the Southern Song Dynasty, which is the first time that the ruins of the Liu School have been found in the Northern Yue region. The main figure, Vilujana Buddha, wears a crown of Buddha on his head, and the sect leader Liu Benzun, who sits in the middle and twists the Buddha beads, has carved a winged golden-winged bird between the top of the crown and the top of the rock, and the complete image of this golden-winged bird standing on the top of the crown is first seen in the grotto. Mr. Lü Jianfu, a well-known scholar of esoteric studies, believes that the statue of the lord of this niche is the king of the golden-winged bird of Pilujana, which means to highlight the practice of bodhichitta by Liu Benzun as the king of the golden-winged bird pecking at the disturbing dragons and snakes, and the courage is incomparable.
An Yue's newly discovered exquisite crown of the Song Dynasty Vilujana Buddha
In the Mingshan Temple Grottoes in the southernmost part of Anyue, the only pilu Buddha in the country that stands in a standing posture also seems to have a golden-winged bird standing on the crown, but it has been mutilated and weathered during the cultural relics census in 1983, and only its wings and abdomen can be identified. A comparison with this niche confirms that it is also a rare statue of the king of the golden-winged bird of Vilujana.
The golden-winged bird of the first protector of tantra appears at the crown of the Willow Sect Tantric Pilu Buddha on the southernmost and northernmost border of Anyue, and the distance between north and south is hundreds of kilometers but echoes each other. Why is this bird not seen on other statues in Sichuan and Chongqing? Numerous mysteries need to be further solved.
The most unique statue of The Buddha, Yanagimoto
Secret Buddhism has many secret teachings that are not allowed to be openly taught in the way of practice, and is full of mysterious content, so it corresponds to the Xianjiao, which is called occultism, which was created in India in the 2nd century and has flowed into China in the 3rd century. During the Tang Kaiyuan period, Indian monks were fearless, vajrayogini, and not empty to the Tang Dynasty, translating tantric classics such as the Great Nikkei and the Vajradhara Sutra, and the most prosperous when the sect was founded, known as Tang Mi in history. It was then transmitted from China to Japan, known as Dongmi and Taimi. Tantra first spread in western Sichuan in the late Tang Dynasty, and was inherited by Liu Juzhi in the five dynasties at the end of the Tang Dynasty, called "Chuanmi", and gradually moved to eastern Sichuan in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty and the early Southern Song Dynasty, first in the Anyue area there was a large-scale statue of liupai chuan mi grottoes, and then in the adjacent dazu formation center, there was the construction of the Dazu treasure roof.
The willow buddha beads with the crown of the Buddha's head in the north of Anyue and the standing golden-winged bird
The Chuanmi statue has a strong local color. The main theme is the "Ten Purification Charts" of Liu Juzhi's cultivation into the body of Pilu Dharma, as well as the statues with significant tantric overtones such as the Three Saints of Huayan and the Three Buddhas, and the most distinctive symbol is that the crown of Pilu Buddha has ten statues of Liuju Zhi on his head.
Liupaichuan secret statues are first seen in Anyue Pilu Cave, and then excavated in the line from Anyue Linfeng to Shiyang, forming a group of Chuanmi statues in the Yuenan region, and during the Southern Song Dynasty, the monk Zhao Zhifeng presented himself as the sixth generation of tantric ancestors, and built a new tantric dojo based on the ten refinements of Pilu Cave at the top of Dazu Baoding. More than 20 statues of the sect have survived within a range of more than 30 kilometers from present-day Anyue to Dazu, and previous researchers believed that the Chuanmi statues only existed in this area.
Anyue Pilu Cave Liu Ben Zun refining heart shrine twisted Buddha bead image
The statue was carved from a red sand cliff 3.2 meters above the ground and sits east to west. The cave is a flat-roofed rectangle with a height of 4.6 meters, a width of 6.8 meters, and a depth of 2.4 meters, with a total of 15 statues. In the middle of the niche, a three-body Buddha with a height of 3.5 meters is carved near the circle. In the 1970s, the hands and jaws were repaired after being damaged, and the low level of protection far from the county seat and the deep lock in the temple have not been taken seriously by the outside world.
The three statues all sit on the Vajrapani platform, with a monk's branch inside, a coat with an exposed chest and shoulders, a full face, a peaceful demeanor, and a slight forward leaning. On the left, Lushena Buddha's head is decorated with a screw bun, and the left shoulder has a hook button and a fixed seal; on the right side, Shakya Buddha's head is decorated with a screw bun, with the left hand on the knee and the right hand to apply the French seal. The Venerable Vilu buddha wears a high crown and folds his hands together on his chest. Pilu Buddha is the first of the five directions of the Tantric Vajrayogini, and is also the Dharma-body Buddha of the three Buddhas, the master of the occult religion, that is, the "Great Sun Rulai Buddha" known to the public.
The back wall of the niche and the left and right sides of the open circular niche, with 8 Buddhas carved inside, are engraved with names. The buddha side wall has a standing haircut and eyebrow-smiling waiter (should be the second daughter of Liu Benzun's attendant Qiu Shao), and the left and right sides of the niche wall are carved with two mighty protectors dressed in heartfelt armor, surrounded by high-relief mountains and Manichaean beads, and the top of the right niche is carved with a day wheel. The style and layout are similar to the Three-body Buddha statue of the Southern Song Dynasty Pilugou in Longtai in southern Anyue, but the carving and scale of this niche are more elaborate and grand.
The Two Song Pilu Buddhas of Anyue are famous for their exquisitely hollowed-out carved crowns, and this niche of the Pilu Buddha Crown is the most complete, unique and largest known example of Anyue. The crown is in the shape of a pin font, composed of 12 symmetrically enclosed curly grass patterns composed of a crown, the largest curly grass pattern on the left and right is nearly a circle carved with two blooming lotus flowers, the crown is in the middle of the wearing of the Dongpo scarf, the right eye, the lack of left ear, no left arm, the right hand twists a string of Buddha beads, the knot sits on the lotus platform, behind which there is a circular backlit willow figure, and there is an auspicious cloud underneath. This image of the twisted Buddha bead was previously only found in the sixth refining heart in the Ten Purification Diagrams of Pilu Cave. Underneath the crown hoop are two eight-petaled flowers. Tie a bow at the back of the head and drape over your shoulders. The entire crown uses techniques such as high relief, bas-relief, semi-hollow carving and line carving, making the crown rich and full, graceful and luxurious.
At the top of the crown stands a golden-winged bird that spreads its wings and wants to fly, with a pointed beak, regular wing feathers and sharp claws, which is the first time to be found in the Han Dynasty grottoes.
The tantric statue in southern Anyue is not a Dazu Boundary Buddha
As a newly discovered new tributary of tantra, in the past ten years, the Chuanyu Liu sect tantric statue has received widespread attention from academic circles at home and abroad, and due to the wide range of Anyue grottoes, there is an average of one grotto temple remains in the county every 6 kilometers. In the case of not being able to grasp the comprehensive information, in the 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the two Song Tantric statues of Liu Benzun have been identified by some experts as existing only within the 30-kilometer range from the south of Anyue to Dazu, and Chinese and American scholars have proposed in recent years that the tantric statues in southern Anyue are the branch dojos of the Dazu Baoding stone carvings, and it is also the boundary statues of believers entering the Baoding stone carved incense circle, and then deduce that Huayan Cave, Pilu Cave, And Tapo, etc. were all excavated by the Southern Song Dynasty Dazu monk Zhao Zhifeng or his disciples, and even the anyue statue was later than Dazu.
Mingshan Temple is the only Pilu Buddha statue in the country with a height of 6.3 meters
First of all, from the location point of view, this grotto is located in the northernmost part of Anyue, bordering Suining City, and the nearest Liupai statue in Yuenan is also 80 kilometers away, but the style and content are consistent with the Yuenan statue. Within 2 kilometers of the neighborhood, there are also typical tantric statues inscribed with Sanskrit inscriptions, such as the Peacock Ming King, the Horse Head Guanyin and the Wrathful Ming King.
This shows that the Anyue Chuan Tantric beliefs are spread throughout the territory, and the statues are self-contained, and there are large dojos in the area bordering the north and south. It can no longer be said that the Liu sect's tantric statues distributed in the north and south of Anyue are all borderIng Buddhas who have created momentum for entering the Dazu Treasure Peak, right? This place is also "in the opposite direction" of Zhao Zhifeng's transmission route.
This also confirms the assertion of the famous scholar Lü Jianfu in the History of Chinese Esoteric Teachings: "Before Zhao Zhifeng, Liu Benzun's teaching deeds also appeared in the Anyue Grottoes, and there were also ten alchemy diagrams in the statues of Pilu Cave. In An yue, the possibility of having a disciple of Liu Benzun's legacy spreading the esoteric teachings" was not ruled out."
In the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court specifically banned the teaching of occultism. Here is the maintenance inscription "Repairing shakya buddha" donated by the villagers' association on May 16, 1807, in the twelfth year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty, which proves that at this time the believers did not know that this was a statue of the Liu sect tantric sect.
The mystery of the statue of the Golden-winged Bird King in the north and south of Anyue remains to be solved
The dapeng golden-winged bird, also known as The Garoula, is derived from ancient Indian mythology and is one of the protectors of the eight Buddhist heavenly dragons, the king of birds, feeding on dragons and snakes. Because its wings are made up of many treasures, it is also known as the goldfinch.
The power of the golden-winged bird, as can be seen through "Journey to the West", is the strongest opponent that Sun Wukong encountered on the way to the West Heaven. In the seventy-fourth time, it is written that the golden-winged Dapeng wants to eat the meat of the Tang monks, and allied with the Lion King and the Elephant King to deal with the four masters and apprentices. As the leader of the three monsters, the martial arts are unfathomable, Sun Wukong ambushed the other two monsters, but there was nothing he could do about the Roc monster, the Roc bird flew faster than Sun Wukong's rib fighting cloud, the wings had ninety thousand miles, and could not escape, Sun Wukong also lost his hand and was captured, and finally invited Rulai to subdue it.
Since Buddhism entered China, the golden-winged bird has been combined with local folk beliefs and has different meanings in various sects. In the Tang Dynasty "Shakya DharmaTu" statue, the golden-winged bird as one of the "eight parts" often appears behind the Buddha in human form, which is also one of the six images of the "Buddha Saying Statue Measurement Sutra", in the middle statues such as Yungang and Longmen, it can be seen that the golden-winged bird is decorated under the Buddha seat or on the lintel, eaves and other positions. The golden-winged bird has the power to subdue ninety-six outer path edges, so the occult sect regards it as the first protector.
This golden-winged bird, inscribed on the crown of Pilu Buddha, has not been seen in anandake and other tantric statues of Dazu. However, it appears more in the backlight of Tibetan sculptures and paintings from the Yuan to Qing Dynasties, and the totem of the Yunnan Yunnan Secret Dali Kingdom is also a golden-winged bird. Sichuan is adjacent to Tibetan areas and Yunnan, does this indicate that this niche statue has the tendency to integrate the esoteric religions of the three places?
Remnants of The Willow Buddha and the Golden-winged Bird Standing on the Crown of Pilu Cave in Niche No. 5 of Mongsan Temple
In this regard, Mr. Lü Jianfu, a well-known Chinese scholar of occult studies, said after studying: The golden-winged bird erected on the crown of the Buddha is indeed the first sight of this cave, and the statue of the main statue of this niche is the King of the Golden-winged Bird of Pilujana, and the name of the King of the Golden-winged Bird of Pilujana is found in the "Great Nikkei Shu", saying that the King of the Golden-winged Bird of Vilujana "looks down on the sea of the Dharma Realm, such as looking at the mirror, stopping the wings, fighting the heavens and the dragon, but the courageous bodhichitta also." Pilujana wears a gold-winged bird crown, which is called the King of the Golden-winged Bird of Pilujana. The King of the Golden-winged Bird of Vishnu, the "king" denotes authority, is not a god belonging to the category of god kings. The practice of Liu Ben Zun just shows the teachings of Bodhichitta of the Golden-winged Bird King Of Vilujana.
Mr. Lü then studied the damaged image of the 6.3-meter-high Pilu Buddha's Liuben Buddha's crown in Cave No. 5 of Mingshan Temple, and believed that it was also the image of the Golden-winged Bird King, as to why the golden-winged bird king statue was not found in the crown of the other 20 Liupai Tantric statues in the Pilu Cave, but the golden-winged bird king statue appeared in the border area of one south and one north, and it is necessary to wait for more systematic and complete research on the secret statues of Anyue and Dazugawa in the future.
Regarding the sequence of the anyue Dazu Liu Sect occult statue, Mr. Lu Jianfu said: The Anyue Liu Sect Occult Statue predates Dazu, and the Anyue Grotto Statue provides a basis for the retrospection of Liu Benzun's deeds.
The newly discovered statue of the golden-winged bird king in the northern part of Anyue expands the distribution range of the known Chuan tantric statues, providing new physical evidence for the long-debated Anyue Chuan tantric statues not to be dazu treasure top boundary statues, but to build the Baoding occult dojo under the influence of the Anyue statues. Through the layout relationship between Mingshan Temple and the north-south echo of the statue here, it provides a new perspective and idea for the study of the anyue Liupaichuan secret statue.
Editor-in-Charge: Li Mei
Proofreader: Liu Wei