There is such an artifact in the National Museum, which has a human face, a bun in a bun, a four-pointed leaf-patterned flower crown on the head, and hands that are religiously closed on the chest; the lower body is the body of a bird, and a pair of wings grow on the back. What is a statue with this magical shape?
They actually have a very nice name, called "Kalinga Pinga", also known as the Myoyin Bird, which is a legendary bird that inhabits the snowy mountains or the Pure Land of Bliss, and often appears in the Buddhist scriptures as a half-human, half-bird.
It is recorded in the Buddhist scriptures that Kalinga has a good voice, and its voice is second only to the sound of the Buddha's preaching, and listening to the sound of the bird will never give birth to disgust. Therefore, in Buddhism, Kalinga became the figurative image of the Buddha's preaching of the Dharma. Therefore, Kalinga Also entered Our country along with the eastern transmission of Buddhism, and it can be seen in Buddhist murals, buildings and utensils.
Singer in Buddhist murals
Jialing Pinjia is very common in murals, such as the Dunhuang murals. The Jialing Pinjia in the Dunhuang murals, all with gorgeous crowns and holding various musical instruments, appeared as a musical and dancing role in various lecturing sessions.
△ Dance music diagram (partial) In the Tang Dynasty
Dunhuang Yulin Cave Cave 25th Cave
A hala player playing in his hand
△ Amitabha Sutra Variation (Partial)
Dunhuang Mogao Caves Cave 61
The kalinga in the murals is often used as an emissary in front of the Buddha and Bodhisattva at the meeting to express the beauty of the Buddha's voice. On such a stage, there will also be flying skies or other dancers, who will show the Fa Yin Xuanliu with specific pictures.
A good voice in Buddhist architecture
The Time of The Appearance of Jialing Pinga in the Dunhuang Murals was relatively early, and after the Tang Dynasty, the image of the Miaoyin Bird began to appear in the stupa underground palaces and tombs of royal nobles in the Central Plains with the popularization of Buddhism. For example, the Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, which was founded in the Tang Dynasty, in front of its Daxiong Treasure Hall, at the top of the load-bearing beams and pillars, there are 24 statues of Jialing Pinjia holding various musical instruments.
△ Quanzhou Kaiyuan Temple Daxiong Bao hall pillar head
In addition, the Great Compassion Pavilion of Zhengding Longxing Temple, built in the Song Dynasty, is famous for its tallest surviving bronze statue, Guanyin. This bronze statue of Guanyin in the Song Dynasty, also known as the Thousand Hands and Thousand Eyes Guanyin, is 24 meters high, and the Song Dynasty modeling style is very obvious. However, few people notice that the inconspicuous pedestal at the foot of Guanyin also surrounds the Kalinga.
△ Thousand Hands and Thousand Eyes Kannon Statue
△ The Kalinga Pina of the Thousand Hands and Thousand Eyes Kannon Base of the Great Compassion Pavilion
Not only the Tang and Song dynasties, but also the Buddhist temples of the Ming Dynasty still use this design. Built during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, the Five Pagodas Temple in Beijing also has the image of Jialing Pinjia carved on the base of the Vajra Throne Pagoda.
△ Beijing Five Pagoda Temple
△ Kalinga On the base of the Vajrayogini Pagoda
The bird of sound on the utensils
In addition to the Kalinga seen in Buddhist places, there are actually many artifacts decorated with it. The most famous should be the gilded Jialing Pinjia bird pattern silver coffin excavated in the underground palace of Famen Temple, two Jialing Pinjia on each side of the coffin, and a circle of lotus pattern decoration at the bottom, and a small coffin is used to enshrine the relic.
△ Gilded silver coffin
The underground palace of Famen Temple was excavated
The underground palace of Famen Temple also unearthed a small gold bowl with a Jialing Pinga pattern, and the small bowl has a full body of flowers inside, highlighting the style of the Tang Dynasty.
△ Jialing Pinnacle small gold bowl
It can be seen not only on the gold and silverware of Famen Temple, but also on lacquerware. In the Shosoin Temple in Japan, there is a pair of Tang Dynasty lacquered gold thin painting plates, which have the ornamentation of Jialing Pinga.
△ Shocangyuan collection Tang Dynasty lacquer gold thin painting plate (a pair)
This pair of lacquered gold thin paint plates from the Tang Dynasty were painted with black lacquer on wooden tires, painted with gold and five colors, and each plate was painted with the image of Jialing Pinjia. This lotus-shaped plate was once exhibited as a poster exhibit at the 65th Shosoin Exhibition, and these two gold-colored Jialing Pinjia show us the image of the miaoyin bird in the eyes of the Tang Dynasty.
△ Jialing Pinjia ornament part
And the favorite of Kalinga is probably the nomadic people. Artifacts with Miaoyin bird ornaments unearthed in the Khitan and Western Xia account for the vast majority of the artifacts unearthed in Jialing Pinjia. The Khitan preferred to use the Kalinga as ornamentation, decorating them on everyday utensils.
△ Khitan Kalinga-pinned gold earrings
Collection of the Bahrain Right Banner Museum in Chifeng City
△ Khitan yellow glaze Jialing pinnac skin sac pot
Collection of inner Mongolia Museum
△ Khitan Jialing frequency gale pattern copper gilt gold waist
Most of the miaoyin birds unearthed in the Western Xia are statues, and the most exquisite ones are the two Pinjia statues unearthed in the Tombs of the Western Xia Kings and now hidden in the Guobo.
△ Gray pottery four-corner leaf pattern flower crown frequency Jia Xixia
Collection of the National Museum of China
△ Glazed pottery pentagonal corolla frequency Xixia
Dharma-yin Xuanliu is the sound of the Buddha's preaching in Buddhism, and the miaoyin bird is the embodiment of this sound, which can be said to be the most famous "good voice" in Buddhism. The "singer" of Kalinga is a famous singer in Buddhism, and you can see it on various major occasions.