Ming Dynasty grottoes at the White Buddha Hall of Wuxian Mountain, Dingxiang County
Ren Qingtian
Journal of Xinzhou Normal University, 2003
Xinzhou Museum, Xinzhou 034000, China)
Abstract: It is accurate and completely preserved since the excavation of the Fotang Grottoes, reflecting the folk carving style in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. The White Buddha Hall Grottoes, whether it is carving techniques or the religious content they contain, are excellent materials for the study of cave temple archaeology, religious belief and sculpture art, and have important academic value.
Keywords: Ming Dynasty: Grottoes; White Buddha Hall
Classification number: K879.2
Document identification code: A
Article number: 1671-14912003) 06-0041-02
Baifotang Grottoes is located in Wuxian Mountain, southeast of Jicheng Village, Hebian Town, Dingxiang County, bordering Wutai County to the east, about 20 kilometers away from the county seat, and is a county-level key cultural relic protection unit. Wuxian Mountain, also known as Lei Hongjian Mountain, belongs to the Zhoushan system at the eastern edge of the Xinding Basin. The mountains and vegetation here are fragrant, and the scenery is very beautiful. The White Buddha Hall is nestled among the green mountains and greenery, quiet and elegant, like a fairyland.
1. Historical evolution
The date of the entire temple is unknown. According to the existing Ming Jiajing 22nd year 1543 AD) Qianchishi Stone Hall Stele "... Ancient Futian Temple. □ Song Xuanhe, there was a jasper statue maker, because of the name from the Buddha Hall. and Jintai and Jiazi 1204 AD), there are monks Wuzhen re-congregated, complete the three teachings of the sages... For hundreds of years in the Ming Dynasty, the temple Yurong Xianyi destroyed the ruins. And after the war, there is no room for simmering, only the ancient code and the foundation remain..." It can be seen that the White Buddha Hall should have been built before Song Xuanhe, and before that, it was not called the White Buddha Hall, but Futian Temple. In the year of Jintai and Jiazi, another monk enlightened Allah built part of the temple and completed the three religions. The three teachings referred to here should refer to the three teachings of Shi, Tao, and Confucianism. It shows that at this time, the self-Buddhist hall already had a certain scale. However, after hundreds of years of war, by the time of Ming Jiajing, the White Buddha Hall was in ruins.
In the fourteenth year of Jiajing's reign, 1535 AD), a monk Ruxiu of the White Buddha Hall suggested: "The strongest person in my world is Shi Ye." If you don't hew a wide hall above the svet stone, won't you be with Qiankun for a long time!" Then Ruxiu was wise and kind in the bluestone..."Pu Shi Qiaohui replied: If you really add strength, you can't do it..." So Ruxiu became more and more determined, recruited skilled craftsmen, and began to chisel. The project was huge, lasted nine years, and was completed, and at this time it was already "the spring of the twentieth year of Jiajing" (Records of the Stone Hall Stele).
According to the 30th year of the Kangxi reign of the Great Qing Dynasty, 1691 AD), the Dragon King Hall Stele of the Hundred Buddha Hall of External Cultivation, contains: ... In 1649, the sixth year of Shunzhi A.D.), a major mutiny, a group of collaborators gathered here, the Buddha statue in the stone hall remained as before, and the gate □ was destroyed. As for the former, every feeling of □ fall is overwhelmed! Fortunately, the benevolent Cui Keyuan, in the 25th year of the Kangxi Dynasty, 1686 AD) made a vow to repair, painstakingly fundraise, first repair the three corner fans of the main hall, paint and paint, and rebuild the east hall with carving. "In the fifth year of the Yongzheng Dynasty in 1727 AD), the edition of the Dingxiang County Chronicle contains: Thirty-five miles northeast of the county rule, a stone cave was opened in the mountain. Stone Buddha is a hall, and the heavens are not artificial. It shows that the stone hall of the White Buddha Hall has not suffered major shocks and changes at this time.
Since then, the White Buddha Hall has also gone through many vicissitudes and has been rebuilt several times, but the stone hall has only been repaired and repainted, and has not been greatly altered. The last renovation of the entire monastery was completed in 1994 by the villagers of Jicheng Village and funded by various parties.
II. General Overview
The White Buddha Hall is located halfway up the south side of the main peak of Wuxian Mountain, with an irregular rectangular shape in the east-west direction according to the general plan, covering an area of about 3,715 square meters. The main hall is located in the middle of the temple from the Buddha Stone Hall, carved into the cliff of Qiancheng, sitting north to south: on the east side there are Garan Hall, Dragon King Hall, Mountain Gate and Monk's Room, and on the west side there are Guanyin Hall and Medicine King Hall. The overall layout is not regular, but adapted to local conditions and built according to the mountain. With the exception of the stone temple, the rest of the temples are late timber buildings. In addition, there is a natural cave on the east side of the stone hall, known as Jianshui Cave." ...... The cave chamber, the □ spring trickle; Take a spoonful of water and save the morning..." (The Stone Temple Stele): ... There is a cold spring on the left side of the hall, which does not overflow or drain, and this is the great view of the Hundred Buddha Hall..."The Great Qing Kangxi Thirty Years of the Hundred Buddha Hall Dragon King Temple Stele"). According to legend, this water can cure wind and fire eye diseases, and it can be cured once washed, which is quite effective.
Third, the carving characteristics of the stone hall The inside and outside of the white Buddha stone hall are all imitation wood structure building style, three rooms wide, 9.6 meters: two rooms deep, 6.6 meters Figure 1). The plan is rectangular, divided by eaves columns into the front porch and the back room, and the stone sills between the corridors are equipped with wooden partition fans. The pedestal rises 2.4 meters above the temple ground, and the stone steps are laid in Akama. There are four colonnades and four eaves pillars on the plan, and the two mountain colonnades and eaves columns are half carved, and the column height is 2.8 meters. The two pillars of the Ming Ma are round, each carved with a dragon, and the shape is vivid and vivid: the remaining six pillars are octagonal columns. The pillars are equipped with cloud-shaped finches, and the columns are connected to each other by frontal fangs. The stigma is covered with a flat fang, and the flat fang is equipped with a stigma head and a flat body, all of which are made of five-step double-cocked without a plan, and the outer dragged box is made into a cloud shape, and the cloud pattern is connected to each other's fighting arches, and the two mountain stigma bucket arches are carved in half. The arch is topped by grasshopper heads and pointed beams, and six small sitting Buddhas with a waist and a rosette are carved on the arch eye wall. The eaves of the cave are equipped with cat heads, dripping water, eaves rafters, and flying children, fig. 2). All the components are meticulously carved and standardized, and also have certain local characteristics, such as horizontal arches and flat lengths.
The front porch of the stone hall and the back room have a straight roof and walls. There is a square Buddha altar in the center of the back room, on which is engraved a seated statue of Chiba Baolian Buddha (Fig. 3), and two clay statues of the Bodhisattva on the left and right are separated). There are also Buddhist altars hewn on both sides of the two mountains and the back wall, and there is a pot door on the front of the altar, and various ornaments are carved into the inner shade, the content is blurry and difficult to distinguish: the upper part of the Buddha altar is carved into a statue of imitation wood structure, and there are fourteen statues built into the niche, according to its shape and clothing and other characteristics: a man and a woman statue on the side of the door of the two mountains may be the benefactor of the cave, and the rest may be twelve yuanjue. There is a door frame and a half-mask door in the center of the back wall, and a small monk leaning out on one side of the embossed carving, his face is full, his earlobes and shoulders, his eyes are squinted, and he is smiling; Dressed in a collared cassock, with a tie knot at the waist, the right hand pot is placed on the lower part of the abdomen, and the right leg steps out of the threshold, the image is realistic and lifelike, which is the most eloquent scene carved in the temple 4). This "form of monk half-cover door" is based on the popular theme of women's half-cover door in the Song and Jin Dynasty, giving people the feeling of extending the backyard.
The ceiling of the stone hall is 2.8 meters above the ground, and the upper part of the main Buddha statue is an octagonal algae well, surrounded by plain flat. The top of the Mojing is carved with a lotus flower, and the lotus petals are shallowly carved with the Bagua symbol and the Buddha stupa, Dharma wheel, treasure bottle and other Buddhist mascots, which is the most popular practice at that time, reflecting the characteristics of the integration of Buddha and Tao: around the two-story well wall below the top, and the arched eye wall between the Mojing Dougong and the Dougong, there are small Buddha statues with pointed arches and flame niches. The whole Moi shape is unique and magnificent.
The entire stone hall, except for the partitions, doors and the two bodhisattvas who were remodeled in the later period, are all carved from stone, which is seamlessly integrated and ingenious. There are more than 100 statues of various Buddhas carved in the hall, so historically the White Buddha Hall was also called the Hundred Buddha Hall. As for the painting inside and outside the stone hall, it was all done in the later period, and it is not explained in detail here.
Summary: The White Buddha Hall Grottoes were excavated in an exact and well-preserved era, reflecting the folk carving style of the middle and late Ming Dynasty. According to the zoning and staging method of Chinese cave temple archaeology, it belongs to the fourth phase of the Buddha Altar Grotto in the northern region of the Central Plains. Although it is late in age and not large-scale; However, regardless of its carving technique or the religious content it contains, the study of cave temple archaeology, religious belief and sculpture art is an excellent material and has important academic value.
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