History can be interesting, knowledge is all around you, and a daily treasure takes you from the clues of cultural relics to see through the dusty secrets. The treasures to be interpreted for you today are the three altars of the Northern Wei Bronze Gilded Maitreya.
The three altars of the Northern Wei bronze gilded Maitreya are 76.8 cm high, 40.6 cm wide and 24.8 cm deep. The center is the main statue of Maitreya Buddha, and the two bodhisattvas are served on the two sides of the Dharma seat, forming the classic Buddha statue of "Maitreya Three Figures". Maitreya Buddha's hair is high and high, the wind god is flowing, his demeanor is serene, his Dharma is compassionate and solemn, his right hand is the seal of fearlessness on his chest, and his left hand is given the seal of wishes, and he stands on the lotus platform. Behind the Buddha statue there is also a carved flame pattern boat-shaped light back, and on the outer edge of the light back there are eleven flowing and flying qile flying sky (the next flying sky on the left side is missing), and the belt stands on the lotus platform, and the two ends of the skirt under the robe stretch out, as if dancing, quite dynamic.
Next to the Dharma Throne there are also two halves of contemplative bodhisattvas, two disciples, four offering bodhisattvas, and two standing protectors. In the center below the throne is a statue of Hercules struggling to hold up a Boshan incense burner. The lion below the main platform symbolizes the protector of the Dharma or the universal truth of Buddhism. The cut text on the base records his name and date, so huge in size, exquisite in shape, ingenious in combination, gilded and thick, and intact in appearance, it is recognized as a first-class masterpiece in the history of Chinese Buddhist statues in the Northern Wei Dynasty and even the whole, and is an outstanding representative of Dingzhou statues. Of course, it is inseparable from the flourishing development of Buddhism during the Northern Wei Dynasty.
During the Northern Wei Dynasty, with the establishment and improvement of the monastic system, Buddhism was also given the task of educating and counseling the people and developed rapidly. According to the Book of Wei and Shi Laozhi, during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, there were more than 6,000 monasteries and more than 70,000 monks and nuns in the country; by the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty, there were more than 30,000 monasteries and 2 million monks and nuns in the country.
Maitreya Buddha in Buddhism is a future Buddha and Bodhisattva who succeeded Shakyamuni Buddha. According to the Buddhist scriptures, he was originally born as a Brahmin, and later a disciple of Shakya Buddha, who was born into the human world after being 4,000 years old (5,670 million years on earth) and became a Buddha under the Longhua Tree in Hualin Garden. Maitreya statues were very popular in the Northern Dynasty, and the folk also raised the flag to gather righteousness through "Maitreya's next life" and "get rid of the old demons", the most famous of which was the "Mahayana Rebellion" of the Shamen Fa of Jizhou. During the great cause of the Sui Dynasty, there were several cases of people who called themselves Maitreya and raised deeds, indicating that Maitreya's belief and statues were popular before the Sui Dynasty. At the end of the seventh century, Wu Zetian proclaimed himself the next life of Maitreya and ascended the throne as emperor to replace the Li Tang Dynasty, thus allowing Maitreya to spread the faith throughout China. By the third year of the new century (715), Tang Xuanzong Li Long had a folk "false birth of Maitreya" and ordered a "ban". Since then, the statue of Maitreya in the Central Plains has been in a slump.
The reason why the Maitreya faith has become one of the most popular beliefs of the broad masses of the people is because it involves the most practical needs of people - food and clothing, marriage and funeral, old age, return to death, the dangers of no world, social treachery, and so on. It is in line with the traditional Chinese ethical and moral concepts with filial piety as the core and people's yearning for the prosperity of the Taiping Dynasty, so it is extremely secular.
According to legend, the three statues of Maitreya were excavated in 1924 in a village near the Great Buddha Temple in Zhengding Province, and then transferred to the Yamanaka Chamber of Commerce in Japan through the hands of Wang Shizhen, a senior official of the Beiyang government, who transported it to a branch in New York, USA, for sale. In 1925, the statue was purchased by Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. of the United States for a sky-high price of $225,000, and in 1938, the statue was collected in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and was known as the "mysterious glory" of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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