The Sichuan Grottoes and Moya Statues are the last sections on the Chinese Grotto Temple, without which the study of the history of Chinese cave temples and Buddhism would be incomplete. Northern Sichuan is one of the most important areas of Sichuan Moya statues, and it is also one of the most important passages for Buddhism to spread from the north to Sichuan, and if you understand their origins, you can understand many problems in Sichuan Moya statues.
Day1: Guangyuan Thousand Buddha Cliffs, Huangze Temple
Day2: South Niche Grottoes (North Niche/Alternative), Quxian Han que
Day3: Diaoyu City, Stone Carvings on Shimen Mountain (optional)
Day4: North Mountain Stone Carving, Baoding Mountain Stone Carving (World Heritage Site)
Day5: Peacock Cave, Mingshan Temple, Huayan Cave, Pilu Cave, Tapo
Day6: Yuanjue Cave, Sanxingdui, Guanghan disbanded
Excerpt
Just after the National Day holiday, our line team set off to the north of Sichuan to investigate and survey the ruins of grotto temples and cliff carvings. Along the way, they inspected the Guangyuan Thousand Buddha Cliffs, Huangze Temple, Bazhong Shuining Temple, South Niches, North Niche Grottoes, Dazu Rock Carvings and Anyue Moya Rock Carvings. The above grottoes happen to be the route from the ancient Central Plains to the Bashu Corridor, that is, from Chang'an to Guangyuan, Mianyang, Chengdu (Jinniu Road) and From Hanzhong to Bazhong to the eastern Sichuan line (Micang Road).
Day 1
Thousand Buddha Cliffs, Huangze Temple
During the Tang Dynasty, in Sichuan, the Buddhist Statue of The Fa Moya carved in stone was greatly enhanced. Interestingly, most of the places where these cliff carvings appear along the river, which not only makes people reverie, but also the Zen monks took a flat leaf boat and went down the river to spread the Dharma to the counties and towns along the river...
△ Aerial view of Guangyuan Thousand Buddha Cliffs
◇ Stone carvings on cliffs
On the Golden Bull Road, the Stone Cabinet Pavilion Trail is nestled against the Wanling Cliff, and below it is the mighty Jialing River, which has been one of the most dangerous sections of the Shu Road since ancient times. However, at the top of the boardwalk, there are thousands of Buddhist statue niches stacked on top of each other and densely like honeycombs, and tens of thousands of Buddha statues in the niches.
△ Guangyuan Thousand Buddha Cliff stone carvings
Embark on the longed-for ancient Golden Bull Road, a thousand-year-old road from the Guanzhong Plain to the land of Bashu, which was the first stop for Buddhism and statue art to enter the river. Standing on the suspended boardwalk, the river under your feet is surging and you inadvertently raise your head, the scene of "a thousand niches and treasures are in a forest, and a hundred feet of gold is surrounded by a pile of walls" comes into view, what kind of surprise will you have? The Thousand Buddha Cliff Grottoes and the Moya Statue Group are such a thousand-year-old temple carved on the cliffs of Jiangbo. It started from the Northern Wei Dynasty, reached its peak in the Wuzhou and Kaiyuan periods of the Tang Dynasty, and was the earliest and largest Buddhist grotto temple and Moya statue group in Sichuan, and the statues were gradually reduced after the Tang Dynasty, but they were not broken until the Qing Dynasty. There are 14 floors of 950 large and small niches. Between the statues, countless inscriptions, travelogues, color notes...
◇ "Emperor Grace, Ze and Hometown" ~ Huangze Temple
The door plaque "Huangze Temple" and The Yang Lian "Zheng Kai Yuan Zhi Hongzhen Guan, Fangliu Sword Pavilion Light by Lizhou" was inscribed by Guo Moruo in 1962.
Huangze Temple was founded in the Tang Dynasty, located on the banks of the Jialing River in the west of Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province, at the eastern foot of Wulong Mountain. Huangze Temple is the temple of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in China.
△ In front of Huangze Temple is the Jialing River
△ Wu's family temple
△ Statue of Wu Zetian
△ Song tomb stone carvings (Southern Song Dynasty)
◇ Statue of The Imperial Cliff
The statue was first chiseled in the late Northern Wei Dynasty, and after continuous carving and chiseling by the Northern Zhou, Sui and Early Tang Dynasties, it tended to decline in the Middle Tang Dynasty, lasting more than 300 years. Caves 12 and 13 of the existing caves were opened by Wu Zetian's parents; cave 28 were opened by Yang Xiu, the fourth son of Emperor Wen of Sui. The main distribution is the Written Heart Sutra Cave Area, the Big Buddha Tower Area, the Five Buddha Pavilion Area, and there are 57 existing statues, and more than 1200 large and small statues.
The next day
Bazhong South Niche Grottoes, Quxian Hanque
Sichuan Bazhong, once won the reputation of the town of grottoes, it has the south niche, the north niche, the west niche, especially the south niche is the most victorious, the scale is grand, the carving is exquisite, the machine is connected, it is an excellent representative of ancient grotto art, it is the crystallization of the ancient culture of Bazhou.
◇ Nangong Grottoes: An artistic treasure on the Yonekura Road
The statue of the southern niche is quite distinct in terms of character characteristics. The statue of the bodhisattva is beautiful, harmonious and vivid; the statue of Lux, majestic and powerful; the flying statue, the image is beautiful, vivid and lively, the carving is exquisite, and the quality is strong.
Most of these statues use high relief carvings, clothing patterns and wisps with smooth and bright yin carved lines, and the knife method is skilled and refined. It not only expresses the Buddhist"sutra" story with different contents, but also vividly reflects the aesthetic standards and social life of different eras. The unity of form and content fully reflects the wisdom and wisdom of ancient craftsmen and masters, and provides us with very valuable materials for studying the politics, economy and culture of past dynasties.
◇ "Living fossils" scattered in the fields ~ Han Que
Han Que is known as the stony "Book of Han" and is a "living fossil" of ancient architecture in China. Han Que is composed of six parts: Que Base, Que Body, Fangzi Layer, Jieshi, Bucket Arch Layer and Roof, and is a complete stone imitation wood structure. The base of the que is hewn from a single piece of stone and the plane is rectangular. Above the base of the que stands a body made of sand and stone, and the building is made of 4 large stones stacked on top of each other, and its construction style is stable and simple, the carving is concise and exquisite, the shape is vivid and elegant, and it is unique, which fully shows the superb architectural skills of the Han Dynasty.
△ Chinese Han Que Culture Museum
△ Shenfu Junque's flowing calligraphy
△ ShenFu Junque
In ancient times, people built watchtowers on both sides of the wall gate openings, mainly for defense. Over time, as living conditions changed, after people were able to build large gatehouses, the watchtower gradually evolved into a majestic building outside the door. By the Han Dynasty, que gradually evolved into a ceremonial building symbolizing etiquette and status, and capitals, palaces, mausoleums, ancestral temples, offices, noble residences, and official and civilian cemeteries with a certain status were popular according to a certain rank.
Because there are inscriptions and paintings engraved on the que, scenes such as ancient travel, worship, song and dance, hundred plays, hunting and so on can be depicted in the que, and the life scene "jumps on the stone". Among the existing stone ques, there are 29 that are basically complete, accounting for nearly a quarter of them in QuXian County, Sichuan alone.
△ Feng Huanque
△ Pujiawan nameless que
Why is this the oldest surviving ground building in China appearing so much in Quxian County? This has a lot to do with its geographical location and local protection. "The protection work done by the local simple folk customs and the cultural and museum system is also the reason for the good preservation." In addition, it is far from the hot spots, and the inconvenient transportation at that time may be a favorable condition for its survival to this day.
Day 3
Fishing City
Diaoyu City is proud of the banks of the Jialing River, straight out of the wind and dust, majestic, tragic, full of heroism, shocking, with all the characteristics of a tough guy.
Diaoyu City was originally a Diaoyu Mountain, 5 kilometers south of the Jialing River in Hechuan District, Chongqing, covering an area of 2.5 square kilometers. Legend has it that a giant god fished for fish in the Jialing River to relieve the hunger of the people, and the mountain got its name. Diaoyu City cliffs are thousands of ways, the ancient city gate and the city wall are majestic and strong, and the Jialing River, Fu River and Qu River are surrounded on three sides, just like the Bingjia Xiongguan, which is the ancient relics of the well-known Bashu.
△ Diaoyu City
◇ Battle of Diaoyu City: Thirty-six years of solitary defense
On March 21, 1259, the western asian city of Damascus was besieged by mongol armies. Just 16 days later, the city, which was known as impregnable, was breached. King Nasser was captured by the Mongol army on his way out in a hurry. At this point, the Syrian Ayyyubid dynasty with more than 100,000 troops was completely destroyed.
What people did not expect was that history took a major turn at this moment, on August 11, 1259, the "Whip of God" in Hezhou Diaoyu City (now Hechuan District, Chongqing City), a thousand miles away, was broken, and the ancient history of the world was rewritten.
△ Schematic diagram from the network
In the spring of 1235, the second Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, Kuotai, officially launched a war against the Southern Song Dynasty. In the years of offensive and defensive warfare that followed, Lianghuai, Jinghu and Sichuan became the three major theaters of war on the frontal battlefield, which was then known as the "three sides". Among them, Sichuan was the first major battlefield to withstand the pressure of the Mongol army.
In the summer of 1258, the Mongol army attacked Sichuan in three ways, and the Great Khan Möngke personally led the main force down the Jialing River - there was no suspense, the passes in the upper reaches of diaoyu city all fell, and the Mongol soldiers pointed directly at diaoyu city, and if there was no accident, this place would soon be flattened.
On the first day of the first lunar month in 1259, Möngke, who had broken several cities, was in a happy mood. Since the rise of the empire, whether in Central Asia, West Asia, Eastern Europe, or Goryeo and Dali, it has been invincible and invincible. Wherever the Mongol army went, it either fell in the wind or collapsed in one blow, and it was expected that the same was true of this diaoyu city. At this time, Möngke thought more about conquering Chongqing as soon as possible, and then going down the river, meeting with his brother Kublai Khan in Xiangyang, and attacking the Southern Song Dynasty and swimming in the West Lake.
In early February of that year, Möngke Khan issued a general offensive order. The Mongol army surrounded the city and attacked at 7 gates at the same time. Under the leadership of Wang Jian and Zhang Jue, the soldiers and civilians of Diaoyu City relied on the mountainous terrain to launch a heroic counterattack in the city, under the city, in Jiangxin, and on the beach. Because the Mongolian army was not good at water warfare, and the siege of the city was mostly upwards, the Mongolian army's repeated assaults were unsuccessful. After dozens of consecutive attacks, by the end of February, the various siege forces were still repeatedly defeated. In March, the Mongolian army launched more than ten battles here, but they were all repelled by the defenders of Diaoyu City.
On August 11, the Mongolian army gathered its forces again and prepared to launch a final decisive battle. On this day, Möngke Khan personally came to a high place outside the city, and he wanted to ascend to command and command the overall situation. Möngke Khan was concentrating on the battle when he was caught off guard and was hit by a sudden flying pill. Months of fierce fighting have come to an end. The mongol army that besieged the city retreated, and "Crown Prince Asokai returned to Mongolia with his military command of the hun hai capital."
A generation of proud sons died under the Diaoyu City in such an unexpected way, which was probably something that the Song Army did not expect. As a result, the turning point of this campaign, the turning point of the Song-Mongolian War, the turning point of the ancient history of the world, and even the political pattern of Eurasia were completely changed on this day.
Day 4
North Mountain, Baoding Mountain Grottoes
There are more than 50,000 statues of Dazu stone carvings. It is known for its wide range of subjects, rich content and exquisite skills. Dazu Grottoes, with the largest scale, the most concentrated carvings and the most exquisite shapes of Baoding Mountain and Beishan Mountain, is a representative work of stone carving art in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and at the same time, it is also an excellent representative work of late Chinese grotto art. It was built between 1179 and 1249 AD.
◇ Statue of Dazu Kitayama Cliff
The beishan stone carvings are more than 500 meters long. The rock is about 7 meters high and is built along the cliff. From south to north, it is shaped like a crescent moon, and the niches are like beehives. More than 5,000 statues were created. The statues are delicate and exquisite, and the technique is skillful and ingenious.
△ Statue of Wei Junjing
△ Mr. Liang Sicheng in 1940 in the Beishan Grottoes
△ Mr. Liang Sicheng's perspective
△ North Mountain Cliff stone carving
There are nearly 10,000 statues on the North Mountain Cliff, which are mainly carved for secular prayers. There are 51 kinds of statues, mainly Buddhist tantra, accounting for more than one-half of the total. This is followed by the Third Order Sect, the Pure Land Sect, and so on. These statues were extremely popular in the folk at that time, and were the product of the secularization of Buddhism, which was different from the early Chinese grottoes.
◇ Dazu Stone Carving, Baoding Mountain Cliff Carving
On Baoding Mountain, the famous monk Zhao Zhifeng built the grotto temple here, which took more than 70 years to build. Baoding Mountain is one of the sacred places of Buddhism, and it is said that "the upper dynasty is Emei, the lower is the baoding".
Going to Baoding Mountain is after admiring the statue of beishan cliff, unlike the quiet north mountain, the baoding mountain stone carving scenic spot is magnificent, and the eighteen-story hell theme stone carving is not only secular, but also brightly colored, cattle herding and other life theme stone carvings, narrowing the distance with ordinary people. Buddhist theme stone carvings such as Sleeping Buddha, Yuanjue Cave, Peacock MingWang Sutra in Disguise, Pilu Cave, Huayan Three Saints, and Thousand Hands Guanyin make people marvel at the artistic achievements of Dazu stone carvings.
△ Ten Refinements of YanagiMotozumi
△ Baoding Mountain stone carvings
△ Portrait of Zhao Zhifeng
△ Senju Kannon statue
△ Reclining Buddha (Nirvana)
In the Song Dynasty, Buddhist statues were firmly labeled secularized. There are many secular interpretations, of which life or popularization is also one of its main characteristics.
The statue of Baoding Mountain is very representative in this regard, it uses the form of large-scale group sculptures that are both independent chapters and panoramic combinations, with a comic book layout that is easy to understand similar to looking at pictures and speaking, borrowing the scenery to understand the reason, and the Buddhist teachings are vividly and imperceptibly infiltrated into the believers through the scenes of life in the city, and interpret the teachings of Buddhism with their own thoughts. In this sense, the Baoding Mountain statue should be a contribution with innovative significance.
Day 5
Anyue Moya stone carving
Anyue Moya stone carvings - Anyue stone carvings throughout the county, starting from the second year of the Southern Liang Wu Emperor (521 AD), flourished in the Tang, Five Dynasties and Song, known for "ancient, many, fine, beautiful", the county has a total of 105 Mo rock carvings, a total of more than 100,000 statues.
This time, we inspected the representative Thousand Buddha Rock, Yuanjue Cave, Huayan Cave, Peacock Cave, Mingshan Temple, Tapo Moya Stone Carvings, etc., and the exquisite degree of statues is impressive, and the content is extremely rich.
◇ Peacock cave
△ Peacock Ming King statue
The main figure of the Peacock Cave Grottoes, the Mother Of the Peacock Ming, wears a Buddha crown on her head and sits on the back of the peacock. Four arms, the first on the left holds the lotus flower, the second holds the auspicious fruit; the first hand on the right is raised on the chest, and the fingers are crippled. Left and right serve the two kings. The back wall is carved with scenes of offering offerings to the Celestials and the Emperor's Heavenly War asura. Its exquisite degree is even higher than the grotto statue of the same theme of Dazu stone carving, which is undoubtedly a strange flower in the Anyue Grottoes in western China!
△ Peacock cave statue
◇ Statue of Mingshan Temple
Mingshan Temple is built on a boulder, around the boulder engraved a circle of statues, not only tall, but also beautiful posture, details depicted extremely vividly, the perfect use of mechanics, so that it will not be destroyed for a thousand years. On one side is a leisurely and beautiful statue on the cliff, and on the other side is an empty valley, calming down, concentrating for a long time, looking back at the millennium!
△ Exquisite, vivid statues
△ Exquisite hollow carving
The stone carvings of Mingshan Temple are a relatively complete preservation of the Northern Song Dynasty Moya statue, the statue area along the cliff length of about 300 meters, the existing Moya statues 63, Ming and Qing inscriptions 27. Most of the statues here are based on the mountain, and the cliffs are caves, the caves are rectangular, the flat roof is not decorated, and it is very pragmatic. For example, the shapes of Vilu Buddha, Guanyin Bodhisattva, Dashizhi Bodhisattva and Manjushri Bodhisattva are 6 to 8 meters high and majestic.
◇ Statue of Tappo Cliff
△ Statue of Tappo Mo cliff
△ Staring and smiling
The Tapo Cliff statue is wonderful, and it is definitely one of the representatives of the highest level of grotto statue art in Sichuan, Chongqing and even in the same period of the country. The skin texture is human-like, and the lips are naturally lined. The craftsmanship of the Craftsmen of the Song Dynasty is impressive.
◇ Round Cave
△ Yuanjue Cave , Stupa
△ Statue of Yuanjue Cave
△ Exquisite ornamentation
The Cave of Circle Consciousness is named after the Twelve Circles of Enlightenment. The so-called "enlightenment" of the Buddhists, that is, "the one who realizes you, who realizes me, who realizes him, and who is full of enlightenment", means that no matter whether you or I are, everyone can awaken to become a Buddha. In the Scenic Area of Yuanjue Cave, there are three 7-meter-high stone statues of the "Three Saints of the West" (the "Three Saints of the West" are the three highest gods in the Western Elysium, namely the combination of Buddha, Bodhisattva and Guanyin) in other places, the Three Saints of the West are one, and here are carved in niches, which is the unique feature of the Anyue Grottoes.
Day 6
The mysterious Sanxingdui civilization
China's civilization has a long history, leaving behind many cultural relics and sites. Most of the cultural relics are more and more clear the more they are dug, but Sanxingdui is particularly different.
Sanxingdui civilization is known as the "ninth wonder of the world" in world archaeology, and since its discovery, it has been affecting the nerves of the world, and thousands of rare treasures have been excavated several times. However, after 86 years of excavation and research, the Sanxingdui civilization has become more and more mysterious!
Judging from the cultural relics excavated from Sanxingdui, this civilization is probably between 5,000 and 3,000 years ago, which roughly corresponds to the three dynasties of Yu, Xia and Shang. But archaeologists searched for all relevant information and could not find the existence of Sanxingdui, not even traces.
After more than 80 years of excavation and research, many of the problems of the Sanxingdui site and its excavated cultural relics are still difficult to decipher through the ages. Initially people dug up a lot of bronze, gold and jade objects. They are old, but none of them are written down.
Archaeologists searched for all relevant information and could not find the existence of Sanxingdui, not even traces. That is to say, if the ruins of Sanxingdui had not been found, no one would even have known about the existence of the ancient Shu civilization. It was mysteriously born in the western part of China, appeared, flourished, and then disappeared from the surface of the earth, leaving behind countless puzzles.
△ Treasure of the town hall: Bronze tree
The bronze tree is 3.84 meters high and is divided into three layers, each of which has three sun god birds. Its shape is very similar to the ancient legend of the Fuso sacred tree, and the complex craftsmanship and shape made it take the staff ten years to restore it.
△ Bronze artifacts excavated from Sanxingdui
△ Pottery excavated from Sanxingdui
Yu Qiuyu said: "Great civilization should be a bit mysterious, Chinese cultural records are too clear, fortunately there is a Sanxingdui." "Sanxingdui culture is undoubtedly a treasure given to us by history, but when this gift can really be "demolished" to understand, it seems that it is still far away.
Food recommendations
Bashu cuisine is taken to taste
The walker arrives ®
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