Cover news reporter Li Maojia Yuyan
In the marblestone street on the south bank of Chongqing, there is a stone carved Maitreya Buddha, which carries a steep cliff on its back, faces the rolling Yangtze River, and faces the Wenfeng Pagoda in the north of the river, which has been an important symbol of the Yangtze River and entering the main city of Chongqing since ancient times.
On this big Buddha, there are many "unique" symbols - the only "national treasure" level large-scale cliff statue in the main urban area of Chongqing, the only Yuan Dynasty cliff statue in the Three Gorges Reservoir area of the Yangtze River, the largest statue of the Cliff in the Three Gorges Reservoir area of the Yangtze River, and the only stone statue in the country that can be confirmed to be carved by the peasant rebel military regime.
In mid-September, Cover News and West China Metropolis Daily launched a series of reports on "The Secret Land of Sichuan and Chongqing That You Don't Know", searching for grotto carvings and other monuments in Sichuan and Chongqing, and excavating the "secret place" stories behind these famous places. At this station to explore, we came to the marblestone street on the south bank of Chongqing to unveil the mystery of the "marble stone cliff statue".
The Big Buddha takes the principle of facing the river and lays out according to the mountain.
The Principle of the Great Buddha is to face the river
Layout according to the mountain
Driving into No. 1 Jicui Village, Marblestone Street, I saw a statue of a large Buddha with its back to the east and west, carved by the mountain. According to measurements, the entire shrine is 10.6 meters high, 10.14 meters wide and 2.8 meters deep.
Looking more closely, the statue inside the niche is a Buddha and two disciples, and the first Buddha is Maitreya Buddha, which is 7.5 meters high and is in a reclining style. Maitreya's face is square, his expression is thick, his high flesh bun is carved with snail hair, high eyebrow bone, large eyes, his eyes are level, and his lips are slightly closed, as if he is staring into the distance.
Maitreya Buddha is carved on the left and right sides of a disciple with ten hands together, 2.3 meters high, and the two disciples are all collared with robes, one old and one young, the elderly on the left, the young on the right, and the devout manner. About 10 meters to the left of the shrine, there is a Qing Dynasty cliff carved stone, which reads: "Great mercy, great compassion, great wish; Buddha bones, Buddha eyes, Buddha heart." ”
The relevant person in charge of the restoration of the marble stone cliff statue introduced: "The marble stone Buddha statue was not excavated in the traditional sense of the north and south direction, but was laid out according to the principle of facing the river and according to the mountain. Exquisite carving, skilled, the use of circular carving, relief, hollow carving and other techniques, the carved lines are smooth and feminine, the characters look delicate and expressive, personality characteristics are distinct and prominent, with a high art of craftsmanship. ”
The statue of the Great Buddha under renovation
Historical photograph of the Statue of the Great Buddha
"Big Buddha washed his face and the river was full of water"
It has become a cultural memory in the hearts of Chongqing people
To understand this legendary statue, we have to talk about it from the Bactrian Kingdom more than 600 years ago.
In the 17th year of the Yuan Dynasty (1357 AD), the red turban army general Ming Yuzhen led his troops into Sichuan, and in the 23rd year of the Yuan Zhizheng (1363 AD), the whole sichuan was unified, and the capital was set at Chongqing. After Ming Yuzhen established his political power, he immediately ordered the construction of the Great Buddha.
As for why Ming Yuzhen built statues in the marbles stone area? Academics are currently inconclusive.
However, there is a saying that is still circulating in folklore. At that time, the Chongqing section of the Yangtze River was frequently flooded, and the river flowed through the "Big Buddha" section of the river, and the beach was dangerous, and the boats often hit the reef and sank here. The "Chronicle of Ba County" records that Ming Yuzhen was "the water demon of Zhen to drive away ghosts", and zou Xing, the head of the capital Chayuan, carved the Maitreya Buddha on the high cliff opposite Rentou Mountain in the 22nd year of the Yuan Dynasty (1362 AD), so as to ensure the safety of the people with the water demon in the Zhenjiang River.
Over the centuries, the Buddha also had a "side job" – hydrological signs. When the river rises in spring and summer, the feet of the "Big Buddha" are immersed in the water, and the folk use "Big Buddha washing feet", "Big Buddha washing hands" and "Big Buddha washing face" to describe the change in the water level of the Yangtze River. In the long run, the "Big Buddha" has become a unique cultural imprint in the hearts of generations of Chongqing people.
The side of the statue of the Great Buddha before the restoration
Our country is the only one that can be confirmed
A Buddhist statue carved by the peasant rebel regime
The marble stone cliff statue has witnessed a hundred years of ups and downs, and has also been engraved by time. Due to its age, the statue is facing serious problems of various weathering diseases and needs to be repaired urgently. In 2017, its protection work was officially launched.
"During the implementation of the project, the team always adhered to the principle of parallel research and protection, and gradually carried out basic work such as disease investigation, engineering geological survey and hydrogeological survey of marble stone cliff statues, and carried out research on the analysis of image weathering characteristics and disease mechanisms, screening of protection and restoration materials, and research and development of reinforcement technology." According to the person in charge of the first phase of the body restoration project of the marblestone stone cliff statue, after the preliminary research is relatively mature, in June 2020, the first phase of the marblestone cliff statue restoration project was fully launched. At present, the first phase of protection and repair work has been completed, and the second phase of protection and repair will be carried out in the future.
The staff of the cultural protection department of Chongqing Nan'an District said that after the completion of the repair of the marble stone cliff statue, the South Bank District will fully display and utilize it, with the cultural relics body as the core, create a public activity space with leisure and entertainment and historical and cultural display functions, and make this first stone Giant Buddha hidden in the central urban area of the river bank an open cultural heritage park shared by the whole people.
In 2013, the marble stone cliff statue was listed as a national key cultural relics protection unit; in 2016, it was included in the "Special Pilot Project for the Protection of Grottoes and Stone Carvings in Sichuan and Chongqing" by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
It is understood that the marblehead stone cliff statue is the largest statue in Chongqing, is a representative work of the Yuan Dynasty stone carving statue in Chongqing, and is also the only Buddhist statue carved by the peasant rebel military regime in China, which has important historical value for the study of ancient religion, art and the specific social history of Sichuan in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties.
"A thousand rivers have water, a thousand rivers and a thousand moons, and no clouds in the sky", for nearly seven centuries, Maitreya has been kind and gentle to gaze at the passers-by who are hurrying up the river, watching countless devout believers pay homage to themselves, gaze at the vicissitudes of the world, and the endless Yangtze River, bringing people hope and comfort to their hearts.
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