Cane head overhang
1. The normality of scissors, curved rulers, copper mirrors, and cloths
One of the most striking and unique elements of Zhigong's visual elements is the holding of a cane, and there are many objects hanging on the head of the cane. Judging from the above-mentioned textual materials that are basically sorted out according to the time coordinates, in the biography of Shi Baozhi in the "Biography of the High Monk" written by Nanliang Huijiao, Zhigong's tin cane head is hung with "scissors and mirrors or hanging one or two silks"; in the "Baozhi Biography" of "Under the Hide" written by Li Yanshou in the Tang Dynasty, Baozhi's cane head is hung with "bronze mirror scissors tweezers", and he once untied the left rope of the cane head and threw it, so it can be seen that the cane head is also hung with a rope. In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, Li Fang and others compiled the "Taiping Guangji and Different Monks IV" in the "Taiping Guangji: Different Monks IV" in the Shibao Zhi, Zhigong's tin cane head is still hung with scissors and mirrors, or one or two silks. In the "Jingde Chuan Lantern Record" written by Shi Daoyuan during the reign of Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty, the head of Zhigong's cane still has the elements of the cane head that have existed since the Southern Liang Dynasty: scissors, rulers, copper jian, and one or two feet of silk. It can be seen that from the Southern Liang to the Tang Dynasty to the Northern Song Dynasty, the object elements of the Zhigong cane head have basically not changed. It is scissors, copper mirrors, and cloth. This is exactly what is expressed in the general Zhigong art images.
Statue of Shiko at Zen Temple
Bao Zhiyou guided Emperor Wu of Liang to create a water and land puja, so it has always become the opening picture of the water and land painting, and in the water and land painting, it has become the corresponding monk picture who persuaded Emperor Wu of Liang to create a water and land Zhaiyi, and it has been passed down through the ages. In this kind of picture, Zhi Gong has both the Shamen with the top covered and the outfit with the three-cloth hat, the reason is very simple, there are too many high-ranking monks and great virtues in the Shamen Phase, and there are only a handful of sages in the three-cloth hat and hood, which are easy to identify.
The picture below is the Ming Dynasty's "Origin of Water and Land", collected by the Capital Museum, photographed by Huajiao Daxian, the top of the picture is Emperor Wu of Liang to the monk Zhigong asking the law, and the bottom is the golden copy of the Song Dynasty Zong Zhen "The Origin of Water and Land". In the upper left corner, there is the seal of the Empress Dowager, the mother of the Wanli Emperor.
At the same time, in similar pictures, Zhigong not only has the state of standing with the loss of the waki, but also the state of the entourage holding the tin staff, when holding the tin staff. There are also times when wearing three cloth hats, as shown in the figure below:
Qing Dynasty Yongzheng thirteenth year Kunming engraved Liang Wang confession
Sometimes, in order to strengthen the visual elements of Zhi Gong, in addition to the three cloth hats, the famous signature object of Zhi Gong is also hung on the head of the cane, the genus of scissors and cloth. See the diagram below:
Jiajing Yearbook of the Ming Dynasty Liang Wang Confession
In the water and land painting below, the Great Sage of the Four Prefectures of the Wind Hood and the Hood Bao Zhigong are together, and beside the old man in dark clothes on the right, the hood Zhigong is closely followed by an attendant holding a tin staff, and this tin staff is also hanging on the scissors ruler, the signature element of Zhigong.
The picture below is the statue of Zen Master Baozhi in the No. 91 shrine of Thousand Buddha Cliff in Jiajiang, Sichuan, holding a tin rod in his left hand, and hanging on it is also scissors, bronze mirrors, rectangular rulers and other objects.
The picture below is the line diagram of the shrine of the three high monks of the Sangha, Wanhui and Baozhi from the end of the Tang Dynasty to the five dynasties of the Sangha, Wanhui and Baozhi in the No. 091 Cave of Thousand Buddha Rock in Jiajiang County, Sichuan Province. Holding a tin cane, hanging scissors and rulers on the tin cane.
It can be seen that on the tin staff of Zhigong, hanging scissors, cloth, bronze mirrors, and rulers are undoubtedly common elements in the expression of artistic images.
For example, in the Tang Dynasty, Jiaoran once said in "Zhi Gong Praise": "In the place of great movement, I am in it." There is no atmosphere in the high scenery, and the crane is in the sky. Birth and death come to an end. The shape is appalling, and the enlightenment is borrowed. Always carry a knife and ruler, who knows who knows".
Li Zengbo of the Southern Song Dynasty also sighed in "Manjianghong, Jing Handed, There Are No Books in the Old, and Then Use the Rhyme to Jian Yunyan and Shuozhai": "The lace of the Heavenly Maiden is like a cut, and the Zhigong cane is as flat as a ruler."
What's even funnier is that because Zhigong hung scissors and cloth on his tin cane, Zhigong later became the ancestor of the bathhouse industry and pedicure industry. I can only admire the jump of folk thinking. Hehe.