Luzhi Baosheng Temple

When Oriole started fighting, his dream broke through western Liaoning. Village chickens sing repeatedly, wild birds leave their nests, others open windows and overlook them, and people's homes are lined up in rows, hidden in the new green of willow trees, as if ashamed to see guests; Ping Ye in the south of the Yangtze River, all over the cage facing the fog, is almost as light as it is; Wheat waves shake the wind, cauliflower spreads brocade, and Chinese milk vetch is about twenty years earlier than Fusang season, so Japan has a splendid view, and this place has been in a state of decline.

Ninety-six years ago, when I first arrived in Luzhi by boat, I recorded the spring scene of the water town with poetic brushwork. This 6-year-old foreign scholar traveled long distances from Tokyo and set foot in Wan Li to this small town in the south of the Yangtze River, not for pleasure, but for Baosheng Temple.

Baosheng Temple is not far from the entrance of the town. From Yiduan Square to the left, it crosses the small Xianghua Bridge on Xihui River, and the end of a narrow lane is the mountain gate with black tiles and yellow walls.

At this time, it is still in the first month, which should be a lively season, but under the epidemic, there are few doors before the Millennium Temple. This scene is somewhat similar to the description in Gao Qi's "Passing the Baosheng Temple" in the early Ming Dynasty: "After the chaos, I don't know that the monk has gone, and several piles of Huangye Temple doors are open."

Millennium Rise and Fall: 48 Temple in Southern Dynasties

When was Baosheng Temple founded? There are no temple records, and there are many differences in local records and inscriptions.

Ming Zhengde's Gu Su Zhi records: "The Baosheng Temple was built in Shilidu Fuli, Changzhou County, in the Tang Dynasty, and was rebuilt by the monks in Song Xiangfu." This statement is supported by Tang Toroni Sutra Stela in the temple.

When he arrived in Kangxi of Qing Dynasty, Chen Weizhong compiled the Annals of Wu Jun Fu Li, which was renamed as "The Second Year of Liang Tian's Supervision (53)". It is said that when the main hall was rebuilt in Chongzhen of Ming Dynasty, an inscription of this chronicle was found in the height of Liang Shu. Temple jungle, the most happy to date back to ancient times. Since then, all the local chronicles have been followed. Baosheng Temple was transformed into one of the 48 temples in the Southern Dynasties.

after the reconstruction of xiangfu in the sixth year of the northern song dynasty (113), baosheng temple flourished for a time. it is said that there are more than 5, temples with thousands of Buddhist monks, and the scope is almost half straight, making it a famous temple in the south of the Yangtze river. Later, after the storm, it gradually declined, and it was revitalized in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. According to Gui Youguang's "The Hidden Hall of Baosheng Temple", the famous monk Xuan Dazhang raised funds to rebuild it, which lasted nearly a year and was completed in the second year of Hongzhi (1489). "Where there are seven halls and sixty corridors", the scale is not as good as that in the Song Dynasty, but it can also be called a giant temple.

after entering the Qing dynasty, baosheng temple was mostly repaired, but it was destroyed by war in Xianfeng, and only yushanmen, tianwang hall and main hall remained, and the meditation room was destroyed and all of them were rubble. Although it has been rebuilt since then, it is difficult to restore the old days. Wang Tao, a straightforward man, wrote "Wandering with Records" in his later years, recalling the past with an article "Protecting the Saint and Listening to the Pine", and publishing a pictorial in Shizhai, giving a glimpse of the scale of the temple.

listening to pines in the sacred place: therefore, the grass has turned to dust

The gate of Baosheng Temple is opposite to Xianghua Lane, and there is a well pavilion with cornices at four corners on the east side of the gate, and there is an ancient well in the pavilion in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The 87th edition of "Dream of Red Mansions" TV series was shot here. Baosheng Temple is a gourd temple, and the stone lion in front of the well pavilion and the mountain gate can be seen in the stills.

in the 26th year of Qing Qianlong in Baosheng Temple (1761), the mountain gate donated by Peng Qifeng, the champion of Suzhou, was destroyed during the war of Taiping Army in Xianfeng. In the third year of Tongzhi (1864), the descendants of Peng's family were rebuilt. There was a vertical plaque in the upper square, and in the lower square, it was an old book by Peng Qifeng, and the gatehouse was beautifully engraved.

The West Cliff of Dacun recorded: "It is made of brick with the shape of archway, and carved with stone. Although it is interlaced, it is extremely inadequate in archaeology and scholarship." The age was not carefully examined. Later, people who introduced this map mostly followed the theory that the mountain gate was built with the shape of archway, which was actually wrong.

The mountain gate was destroyed in the Qing Dynasty. Now what we see is designed and rebuilt by Chen Congzhou, and the temple forehead was written by Fei Xinwo. An arched portal was built at the back of the gatehouse, with the inscription of Li Hua "Promoting Secrets" and the inscription "Forever Protecting Fayun" on the back.

Entering the courtyard through the arched gate, there were dozens of Gu Song plants in the courtyard, which was originally a place where Wang Tao described "If leaves fall in Qian Shan, thousands of rivers will flow", but now most of them are planted recently, which is hard to see in Gu Song.

in the middle of the courtyard is a rockery with a lake stone, and the old Lycium barbarum hangs on the peak of the lake stone. In the wet and rainy water town in the south of the Yangtze River, it is not easy for Lycium barbarum to survive for a hundred years and flourish in Ye Sheng.

Behind the rockery is the Temple of the King, which is three rooms wide and seven purlins deep, and rests on the top of the mountain with a single eaves. The foundation of the column is covered with pots, and the pattern of "Metaplasia among Branches-bound Peony" is hidden on the ground, which is an old thing in the Northern Song Dynasty.

according to Mr. Chen Congzhou's textual research, this temple was rebuilt on the foundation of the Temple in the Song Dynasty during the reign of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty, and then rebuilt during the reign of Chongzhen, and the rafters were erected at the corners of the temple, which was the practice during the three-year overhaul of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty.

In the old film taken in 1926 at the West Cliff of Dacun, the Temple of the King of Heaven was in disrepair for a long time, and its walls collapsed, with no doors or windows. After liberation, it was renovated several times, which is what we see today.

in the southeast of Tianwang Temple, there is a stone with a banner, which is a relic of the Northern Song Dynasty. The top is engraved with lotus patterns, and there are holes under it for fixing flagpoles. In the old days, banners were erected between stones, temple flags were hoisted during the day, and lanterns were hung for lighting at night, which could be used as a sign of the jungle and attract believers from all directions.

The remnants of the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty: the great historical sites in the old days have become empty

Crossing the Heavenly King Hall to the north, there is another building with the inscription "Baosheng Temple Antiquities Museum" written by Tan Yankai, a great official of the Republic of China.

in the courtyard, there are one left and one right, and two antiques.

on the left side, a Buddhist scripture building of Zunsheng Torani is set up. The building is made of bluestone, which is five meters high.

The building is a two-story waist-girding sumeru pedestal, the bottom of which is a basin-shaped stone foundation with cloud and water patterns. The first floor girds the waist and embosses Shuanglong, and the second floor girds the waist and opens the door. There are heavenly kings sitting in it and wearing hats, all in different shapes. The waist is covered with lotus petals.

The railing is carved on the upper plate cover of Yanglian, and the octagonal building is supported on it, and the Buddha's top is honored over Darani Sutra is engraved.

There is a tassel carved on the top of the building, with an octagonal head and a wreathed mouth.

on the top of the treasure cover are lianzhu, carved like a cloud. Then double-layer lotus, short column carved Buddha. Up in turn, there are baogai, bodhisattva statue and octagonal baogai.

The topmost short column is embossed with Lux, and Lux has a bird's wing on its head, which seems to be the pinnacle of Jialing. The top is flat peach-shaped, engraved with Datura flower, and topped with flying and cloud-twisted round cover.

according to the records of Wu county in the Republic of China, this building was built in the eighth year of Tang Dazhong (854) and rebuilt in the fifteenth year of Song Shaoxing (1154). It was originally at the left head of the mountain gate and later moved to the front of the main hall. This classic building is a clear proof of the creation of a temple in the middle age of the Tang Dynasty.

This classic building is well-proportioned and beautifully carved. Although it is incomplete, it is still dazzling. Compared with other Tang Toroni Sutra Stela in the same period, it is not inferior.

The treasure on the right is a cast iron clock made in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and the top of the clock is fastened as a button. The bell body is cast with auspicious words such as "national prosperity and people's security, good weather, abundant crops and no disasters in all directions".

In the middle of the courtyard, it was originally the Hall of the Great Hero of Baosheng Temple. In 1926, when the West Cliff of Omura visited, the main hall was in jeopardy, but the statue of the Lord still existed.

"There are dozens of martial arts, and it is the main hall. Its front compartment was built by later generations, and the building of the hall is quite ancient. By examining the decay of its column feet, we can know that it is a relic of five or six hundred years ago; The room has been ruined, and from the dust gap, the white clouds can be turbulent, and the back wall of the altar has collapsed. The altar is made of stone, four feet and five inches high, twenty-two feet left and right, and eight feet front and back. There are statues of Sakyamuni, Jia Ye on the left and Ananda on the right, all of which are about eight feet high. Ananda is like a broken heart column, leaning on this deity; Your throne has also been destroyed. The three styles of work, although not in the Tang Dynasty, are still ancient. "

When the main hall collapsed, the statue of Sakyamuni was only partially damaged, and then it was moved out for other preservation, but it finally disappeared.

The West Cliff of Omura once studied the French style, and analyzed the structure of the main hall, saying: "Although the rafters are not seen in the Ming and Zhong Dynasties, the old structure of Baosheng Temple is like the rafters of the corner, just like the Song Dynasty ... From this, it can be seen that Baosheng Temple was built in the Song Dynasty."

The people of that time did not pay enough attention to this Song Dynasty. In the second year after leaving the West Cliff of Omura, Baosheng Temple was caught in a fire and half of the main hall collapsed. In 1928, when Ye Gongchuo visited, "many temples fell, but only one wall remained intact", which was a rare relic of the Northern Song Dynasty in the south of the Yangtze River.

From the photos of the West Cliff of Dacun at that time, we can see that the beam frame of the main hall is "eight rafters with four pillars in front and back", and all the beams are made of moon beams.

there are two patches between the front eaves, and one patch between the tips.

The patchwork can be seen to be uplifting and swimming. In "Discussion on the Restoration of the Basilica of Baosheng Temple in Luzhi", Zhang Shiqing concluded that the basilica was built when the monk Weiji and others rebuilt the temple in the sixth year of Xiangfu in the Northern Song Dynasty (113), and it was "the earliest known wooden structure".

The column foundation of the main hall is the same as that of the Heavenly King Hall, and the lotus flower in the pot-covered style is used together with the peony painting. Fortunately, these pillars of the Northern Song Dynasty were preserved and displayed in the portico of the courtyard.

There is an octagonal column foundation in the column foundation, which is marked as Tang Dynasty. I wonder if it is the remains of a temple built in the middle of Tang Dynasty.

Today, standing on the former site of the main hall is the Antiquities Museum of Baosheng Temple, which was designed and built by Fan Wenzhao, a famous modern architect, in 193.

According to the old drawings and photos, it was designed as a flat-topped red brick Roman building, but the roof began to leak in the 195s, and after many reconstructions, it became the traditional roof style of China with one eaves resting on the top of the mountain and four feet rising. In the end, the Antiquities Museum became a product of a mix of Chinese and Western.

The facade of the building protrudes like the eaves gallery of Baoxia, and several scarlet columns are quite eye-catching. The inscription on the "Baosheng Temple Antiquities Museum" in Baoxia was written by Yu Youren, but its name has long been removed. The "Nine Lohan Monuments" in the inner forehead was later inscribed by Zhang Ding.

Half-hall arhat: The Buddha statue in the south of the Yangtze River is called unparalleled

When you walk into the Antiquities Museum, there is no one in the deep hall, with a lofty plastic wall at the end, which is indomitable and imposing.

The rocks are rugged, the clouds are rolling, the waves are soaring, and the huge waves are lapping on the shore. It seems like a fairy island on the sea, a cliff with clouds and water, but it seems to be instantly fixed by divine power, so as not to disturb the practice of Lohan among the rocks and trees.

Only by careful identification can we see that the grottoes are staggered, and nine arhats are sitting in them with different expressions, not sitting stiffly but guarding their values, moving quietly and blending with the mountains and rivers.

As time goes by, the original bright clothes on the arhats have been eroded away, but the attitude of the arhats has not diminished. Whether it's bending down to salute, sitting in meditation, or staring up, it's lifelike. You can see anger and bravery from the avatar who catches ghosts and lurks tigers, and you can also feel comfortable and calm from the low head and closed eyes of the yogi.

The lines of clay sculpture naturally give birth to a kind of "stubble" meaning, and the plastic wall is like a huge landscape, spreading out before our eyes.

"There are two and a half Luohan halls in the world". This half hall in Baosheng Temple is different from the ordinary statues arranged in sequence elsewhere. The fusion of wall sculpture and statue is not only a rehearsal of skilled craftsmanship, but also a release of the courage and imagination of first-class craftsmen.

In addition to artistic value, behind this half-hall arhat in front of our eyes is a difficult history of cultural relics protection in the past hundred years.

The protection of Luohan statue in Baosheng Temple in Luzhi became a "great event" in the cultural circle of the Republic of China, which originated from a trip of Gu Jiegang, a historian who was famous for "Doubting the Ancient".

In 1918, Gu Jiegang was widowed in Suzhou, and visited Baosheng Temple at the invitation of a friend. At that time, the statues in Daxiong Hall were basically intact, and he was amazed at the first sight of the arhats:

The arhats in this temple are different from those in other temples. In another temple, Lohan always sits in rows on two walls, his face covered with gold. The arhats in this temple are colored, especially the undistorted ones are particularly thick. The two walls are plastic mountains, and some of the eighteen arhats are on the top of the mountain, some are on the hillside, some are together, and some are far apart, which is extremely uneven. Best of all, each has his own spirit, and each has his own object of attention: talking, talking, meditating, descending dragons and crouching tigers. They really do these things on the mountain, not arranging guards for the III Buddha. A few statues that have not been repaired are light and soft, which can show the bones and muscles in the clothes; The muscles on the surface can express their expression more clearly.

According to Gu Jiegang's "Poems and Poems", there is a column-holding couplet written by Zhao Mengfu in the main hall: the Vatican Palace built the Liang Dynasty, pushing the Buddhist forest in Fuli to be the first; Lohan traced back to the source and benefited from it, which is unparalleled in the south of the Yangtze River. "Fu Lizhi" in the Ming Dynasty said: "There is Sakyamuni in the Hall of the Great Hero of Baosheng Temple, and the eighteen statues of Arhats beside it are copied by Yang Huizhi, a holy hand. The divine light shines, and the appearance is like life, which is so sincere that it is impossible for the temples in the north and south of the Yangtze River." During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Xu Zichang said, "Eighteen statues of Luohan in Baosheng Temple were made by Yang Huizhi in the Tang Dynasty, with scattered positions and vivid shapes. The whitewashing of the dynasties gradually changed the original, but the ancient ones survived, which was nowhere else. "

Yang Huizhi was a famous sculptor in the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty. He "studied Zhang Sengyou's handwriting with Wu Daozi, and he was a painter with skillful skills". Later, when he saw Wu Daozi's unique sound and light, he "burned pen and inkstone resolutely and devoted himself to sculpture". At that time, people thought that Yang Su "struggled to capture the monk's painting, but competed with Daozi", and at that time, there was "Daozi painting, which benefited him. Therefore, Yang Huizhi was praised as a "plastic saint" by the world, and kept pace with Wu Daozi, a "painting saint".

Based on this, Gu Jiegang decided that Luohan in Baosheng Temple was the masterpiece of shaping sage Yang Huizhi in Tang Dynasty. The following year, Gu married Yin Lu 'an, a straight woman, as his second wife, and he enjoyed Lohan many times by visiting his relatives in the province. In the early summer of 1922, Gu Zaiyou visited Baosheng Temple, only to find that "the main beam of the main hall has been broken, and every time it is subjected to heavy rain, the leaking part will be immersed in the northwest corner", resulting in serious damage to the plastic wall.