The years are speechless, but the stone can speak.
Yungang Grottoes is a history book of the Northern Wei Dynasty engraved on stone, a road to the Tang Dynasty. More than 1,500 years ago, the Northern Wei Dynasty royal family presided over the construction of this large Buddhist cave temple, not only represents the highest level of art sculpture in the world in the fifth century AD, but also shows the spirit of swallowing Wanhui and accepting both near and far. Openness, inclusiveness, integration, self-confidence, innovation...... At a glance, the world is here "Datong".
Fusion: The transformation of the image
An open-air Buddha with a height of about 13.7 meters sits on a stone pedestal, with broad shoulders and tall and strong. The big Buddha has a round face, a straight nose, big ears and shoulders, and a smile at the corner of his mouth but a little majesty, which shows the national spirit of Tuoba Xianhumil's fierceness and strength, roughness and boldness, magnanimity and wisdom to the fullest. The heavy right-shouldered robe on the Buddha's body seems to be made of a well-textured wool material, which has a pronounced drape and enhances the three-dimensional effect.
This masterpiece is the open-air Buddha of the 20th cave of Yungang Grottoes, which not only has a strong Gandhara artistic atmosphere, but also is a representative work of multi-ethnic culture and art integration.
If you look closely, the way of wearing the right shoulder of the Buddha statue robe that prevailed in the Western Regions has changed in Yungang. The right shoulder of the Buddha is not fully exposed, but is covered by a diagonal robe, which experts believe should be part of China's "improved" way of wearing.
The caves numbered 16th to 20th are the first five royal caves excavated in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and according to legend, they were built by the high monk Tan Yao, so they are called the five caves of Tan Yao. During this period, under the influence of the historical background of "Lingru Emperor's Body", the statue was tall, showing the self-confident beauty and imperial demeanor of the Tuoba Xianbei tribe; In addition, influenced by Central Asian Buddhist art, the statue is painted with a robe of the right shoulder or through the shoulder. In addition to the open-air Buddha of Cave 20, the main Buddha of Cave 19 is the tallest Buddha sitting on the right shoulder in Yungang, and the main statue of Cave 18 is also wearing a robe of the right shoulder, and the robe is surrounded by thousands of Buddhas, gorgeous and complex.
The staff collects image data in Wuhua-dong. Photo by reporter Zhan Yan
"It is conceivable that more than 1,500 years ago, a big Buddha in the Yungang Grottoes stood up to the sky, and thousands of Buddha statues on the outer wall were densely packed, how brilliant and magnificent." Wang Heng, a cultural and museum research librarian at the Yungang Research Institute, said.
Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, some ethnic minorities in the western and northern borders of the mainland have continued to migrate to the interior. By the time of the Western Jin Dynasty, the ethnic groups that migrated inward mainly included the Xiongnu, Qian, Di, Qiang and Xianbei. In the 5th century, the Northern Wei regime established by the Xianbei people unified the north, ended the situation of division and division since the Sixteen Kingdoms, built the capital Pingcheng (now Datong, Shanxi), and implemented a series of sinicization policies to promote ethnic integration. Especially after Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty ascended the throne, he was determined to use culture to change customs.
So craftsmen from all over the world gathered in Datong, Shanxi, to carve that warm and turbulent era into the grotto. Experts believe that more than 59,000 statues in Yungang Grottoes are divided into three phases: early, middle and late, and the changes in the style of stone carvings show the evolution process of gradual sinicization and secularization of Western portraits.
The middle period was the peak era of Yungang statue activities, and the most splendid collision of multi-ethnic cultures took place at this time. During this period, Hu Feng and Hu Yun were still strong, but the Han style architecture, clothing, carving skills and aesthetic taste were gradually revealed, and the Buddha statue began to show the characteristics of gorgeous clothes and smiling grace.
Rippled bun, plump face, erect forehead and nose, smiling corners of the mouth...... The benevolent appearance of the Buddha in Cave 6 breaks through the reserve of the early Gandhara Buddha statues and is more intimate. The most obvious thing is that the Buddha statues of this period began to wear a praising and ribbon-style clothing, with a wide placket, a sunken neckline, multiple layers inside and outside, a knot on the chest, an outstretched hem, and multiple pleats and lines. This Han Dynasty Confucian costume is a manifestation of the sinicization of Buddha costumes.
In the eighteenth year of Taihe (494 AD), the Northern Wei Dynasty moved its capital to Luoyang, and moved more than one million people of all ethnic groups in the north, including the Xianbei people, to the Central Plains. Emperor Xiaowen further implemented Sinicization measures, stipulating that officials must use Chinese in the imperial court, wear Han clothing, change Han surnames, and encourage marriage with Han nobles, which further promoted ethnic integration.
After Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital to Luoyang, Pingcheng is still the northern capital, Yungang as an important place of Buddhism, the carved niches of the caves have not stopped, although the large caves are reduced, the small and medium-sized cave niches are all over the Yungang cliff face from east to west. The late cave statues in Yungang and the late supplementary carved niches in the early and middle grottoes are the true records of the rise of Buddhist beliefs in the Northern Wei Dynasty and the upsurge of folk cave statues in the era of Emperor Xiaowen.
The face is delicate, the body is slender, the edges and corners are distinct, and the late statue of Yungang Grottoes presents the characteristics of "showing the bones and clear images", especially the standing image is the most obvious. Such an image is obviously in line with the aesthetic taste of the literati and doctors who were popular in the society of the late Northern Wei Dynasty. At this time, the shape is getting thinner and thinner, and the lines of the lower part of the clothes are more and more overlapping, showing the carving characteristics of "sagging clothes", the clothes have a strong sense of draping, and the lower part expands to both sides.
"The late cave statues embody the folk nature and randomness, and there are vivid stories of women praying for their husbands and fathers praying for their sons, which are full of human feelings." Wang Heng said.
Openness: Joy of the Flower
Walking into the 12th cave of Yungang Grottoes, it is like walking into the paradise of music, and a warm and unrestrained atmosphere is coming.
Looking up, the heavenly palace musicians, offering the heavenly musicians, the flying musicians or the top of the cave, or around the lotus, or the Buddha shrine, some are sitting in danger, and some are playing while flying. Colourful colours and brilliant art are intertwined to form a grand musical celebration that is dynamic and engaging.
On the top floor of the north wall of the front room, 14 Heavenly Palace musicians form a "band", playing the flute, the thin waist drum, the qin, the vertical gonghou, the basket, the horizontal flute, the pan flute, the unison drum, the finger blowing, etc.; Around the three sides of the open windows on the north wall of the front room, 17 musicians play musical instruments such as five strings, drums, conch, pipa, transverse flute, pan flute, basket, and vertical gonghou.
What's even more interesting is that the seven large high-relief musicians in the front room have a realistic and unforgettable expression. In particular, the musician in the middle has a plump face, a high nose and a straight beam, a diagonal twist, standing with his feet crossed, holding his hands high, and performing a finger flick with his index finger together, which has obvious characteristics of turtle music and dance. The bright red trousers painted in the Qing Dynasty highlight his extraordinary "commanding" status.
"The carving of the musicians in the middle of Yungang vividly records the grand occasion of the court music of the Northern Wei Dynasty 'Ronghua and Hu music', as well as the scene of the great integration of various ethnic music." Wu Qiaoyun, dean of the School of Music of Shanxi Datong University, said.
Performers display recreated and new costumes of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Xinhua News Agency
During the Northern Wei Dynasty, the exchanges, exchanges, and blending of various ethnic groups further enriched the material and spiritual culture of the Chinese nation. The rulers of the Northern Wei Dynasty advocated the Han culture, and the inscriptions handed down were vigorous and heavy, rough and majestic. The Yungang Grottoes left the early imprint of the Wei stele, and also showed the musical style of the time.
According to relevant statistics, there are more than 20 caves in Yungang Grottoes carved with more than 500 pieces of musical instrument images, including the Han nationality's qin, zheng, xiao, Ruan Xian, as well as the five strings of Qiuzi, the Persian vertical gonghou, as well as the Qi drum and Yiqi flute with the characteristics of Xiliang at that time.
Careful observation, Yungang Grottoes in the musical instrument statue does not appear bell, chime and other gold and stone musical instruments, although the appearance of the qin makes the Yungang musical instrument image reveal a trace of the atmosphere of Qingshang music, but can not dilute the Yungang musical instrument combination in the rich Hu Feng Hu rhyme. As a representative of Hu music, Guizile has been widely disseminated in the court, monasteries and even the people of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
Wu Qiaoyun told reporters that among the more than 500 musical instrument statues that can be identified in Yungang Grottoes, the Hu musical instrument appears very frequently, accounting for about 80% of the total number of musical instrument statues in Yungang. Hu music was favored in the Northern Wei Dynasty along with war, immigration, politics and diplomacy, commerce and trade, and the eastward spread of Buddhism, which played a pioneering role in the deep integration of Hu and Han music in the later Sui and Tang dynasties.
The Silk Road is long, and the sound of Hu music. Today, people can no longer imagine what kind of rhythm can be played by such a combination of mixed instruments in the rough and bold Northern Wei Dynasty.
"I was in the Yungang Grottoes and saw the axe marks of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries thousands of years ago. The beauty of the common beauty touched my creative inspiration. Yu Bing, a famous pipa player of the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra, said during a visit to the Yungang Grottoes.
Yungang waist encouragement, Yungang Lux dance, Yungang dance Lotte dance...... Li Li, director of the Dance Department of the School of Music of Shanxi Datong University, increased her research on the image of the Yungang Grottoes Lotte Dance, compiled the "Yungang Dance Basic Course", and continued to create dance works, leading the students to put the "Yungang Dance" on the stage.
"The dynamism and charm of the Yungang Grottoes dance and music constitute its unique traces of the times and aesthetic characteristics, and are the true records and epitomes of folk dance and Buddhist music and dance in the Northern Wei Dynasty." Li Li said that only by digging deep into the cultural connotation contained in cultural heritage and strengthening the activation and utilization of cultural relics can people draw nourishment from it and give new vitality to the excellent traditional Chinese culture.
More than 1,500 years ago, the eastward spread and rise of music in the Western Regions during the Pingcheng period of the Northern Wei Dynasty laid the foundation for Hu music to take root in the Central Plains, and achieved a high degree of prosperity of court Yan music in the Sui and Tang dynasties.
Confidence: The rhyme of laughter
Smiles are everywhere in Yungang.
Great Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Offerings, Disciples, Bhikshus, Flying Heavens...... The statues gathered together and laughed for 1,500 years. or solemn and wise, or kind and joyful, or abundant and free, or warm and cheerful, or cute and cute, or enlightened, full of infectiousness. Laughter is vividly presented in the Yungang Grottoes, which warms the cold grottoes and warms the silent history.
The most subtle and introverted is the laughter of the Big Buddha. The open-air Buddha in Cave 20 is upright, his eyes are long and firm, and the corners of his mouth are slightly raised, which is both majestic and domineering, and narrows the distance with the viewer with a smile as a bridge, which shocks people's hearts.
Fan Li, deputy director of the Cultural Relics Restoration Office of the Institute of Archaeology of the Yungang Research Institute, said that the shaping of the face can best reflect people's mental state and emotional attachment, and can also best reflect the spiritual outlook and temperament characteristics of the nation. The smile of the early cave Buddha in Yungang is partial to divinity, and it also integrates the national characteristics and the idea of the emperor's statue, so the smile is full of the confidence and pride of the Tuoba Xianbei national hero, and carves a heroic nation and an indomitable spirit into the mountain rock and turns it into eternity.
In one of the attached caves of Cave 5 (numbered Caves 5-12, located at the east end of the second floor of the Qing Dynasty attic in Cave 5), "the most beautiful Buddha statue in Yungang" is carved. This sitting Buddha has a towering bun, long eyebrows and fine eyes, a straight nose, a slight smile, delicate and elegant, like a quiet lotus flower, containing great wisdom and tolerance. Some say that it is comparable to the smile of the Mona Lisa. Look at the smooth lines, soft texture, calm, introverted and abundant, the skills of the craftsman have reached the realm of perfection.
Compared to the smile of the Buddha, the smile of the Bodhisattva statue is stronger. The rarest thing is the toothy smile of the Bodhisattva with dimples on the west side of the bright window on the south wall of the back room of Cave 8. This Bodhisattva statue is 2.22 meters tall, the body is slightly turned, the silk is hanging on the wrist, a thin belt is crossed at the waist, the right knee is slightly bent, the right foot is slightly tiptoed, the hands are together, and the feet are standing on the silk seat in the shape of "one", which is quite dynamic. The Bodhisattva has a plump face, fine eyes and long eyebrows, a smile and a pair of dimples embedded in his cheeks, looking lively and lovely, vivid and affectionate, and is affectionately called "Meng Bodhisattva".
"Such an artistic image is rare in ancient Chinese Buddhist Bodhisattva statues, it is a bold innovation of the Northern Wei Dynasty sculptors in order to pursue the beauty of art and bravely challenge the conventions of statues, and the artistic value is very high." Fan Li said.
The cave statues in the middle of Yungang are rich and colorful. Whether it is the shape of the cave or the content of the statue, it shows the characteristics of diversified development, and the form of smile is also free and romantic, full of life and very infectious. Behind the smile is the joy of understanding, the manifestation of skill, and the strong spirit of the country.
The Kumara Heaven on the west wall of the Gate of Cave 8 is derived from the god of power in ancient Indian mythology. He has five heads and six arms, all of them have round cheeks, his face is like a child, his smile is open, and he is innocent; Similarly, the little monk on the east side of the south wall of the back room of Cave 8 has a square face, bent eyebrows, smiling and squinting, and his small mouth is open, revealing a neat row of teeth, and his face is overflowing with joy. Looking at it, not only the viewer smiled. People can't help but sigh that happiness is really contagious.
In recent years, with the help of digital scanning and 3D printing technology, the Yungang Grottoes have achieved accurate replication at equal scale, becoming mobile, touchable and more intimate. At the end of 2017, the original scale 3D printing replication project of the west back room of Cave 3, the largest cave in Yungang Grottoes, settled in Qingdao, and the 10-meter-high seated Buddha "walked" out of the grotto; In November 2018, part of Cave 18 was copied, and the 15.5-meter-high Standing Buddha "walked" into Beijing; The replica cave of Cave 12 is made of lightweight materials and can be assembled and disassembled like building blocks, and has begun to "walk" the world. With the help of digitalization, Yungang's smile is seen by more and more people.
"The laughter of these statues in Yungang Grottoes is rich and not pretentious, which is a highlight of the artistic expression of the grotto statue history. Yungang smile not only conveys an idealized and eternal beauty, but also contains the meaning of ethnic integration, reflecting the openness and self-confidence of the Northern Wei Dynasty when it built the capital Pingcheng more than 1,500 years ago. Fan Li said. (Reporter Wang Xuetao)
Source: Economic Information Daily