Lying Buddha Discovered in Anyue, Sichuan: Another Smile of Datang (I)

3 Anyue Sleeping Buddha (Wang Yi Photography)

Wang Yiwen/Map

Anyue, which belongs to Ziyang, Sichuan, is located at the crossroads of Chengdu-Chongqing ancient road. The county seat is 0/30km away from Chengdu/Kloc-0, 20km away from Chongqing/Kloc-0, 82km away from Neijiang and 67km away from Suining. Expressway runs through the whole territory and is the land transportation hub in the hinterland of Sichuan Basin. The county is 70.86 kilometers long from north to south and 77.8 kilometers wide from east to west, with a population of about 6.5438+0.6 million.

Anyue stone carving is the floorboard of the stone carving art in Anyue County, which is mainly based on cliff sculpture. It is a special "temple" built on rocks, which is essentially different from the temples with wood as the carrier in the north. Among them, nine national key cultural relics protection units are especially represented, including the Sleeping Buddha Temple, Jue Yuan Cave, Qianfo Village, Pilu Cave, Huayan Cave, Mingshan Temple, Peacock Cave, Mysterious Temple and Tapo (excluding two national key cultural relics protection units, namely, the stone building of Mumen Temple and the tomb group of Tiefo Shouya). Anyue stone carving began in the Southern Dynasties, originated in Sui Dynasty, flourished in Tang Dynasty, continued in the Five Dynasties, flourished in Song Dynasty, and extended to Ming and Qing Dynasties and the Republic of China. In particular, the cliff stone carvings, mainly in the Tang and Song Dynasties, are powerful symbols of China stone carving art, and have written a brilliant page for the art history of the world grottoes in the 8th-12nd century.

Anyue Jue Yuan Dongjingping Guanyin (Wang Yi Photography)

Anyue reclining Buddha

Suspension and chisel create miracles.

Anyue reclining Buddha is located in reclining Buddha town (formerly Bamiao Township), 32 kilometers away from the county seat. This statue of Sakyamuni's Nirvana (commonly known as the Sleeping Buddha) was carved in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, spanning the rock waist and 2 1.3 meters long. It is the largest single statue of Anyue stone carving and the first stone carving of reclining Buddha in ancient China, belonging to one of the "aircraft carriers" of stone carving in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. From 1982 to 1988, it was "discovered" and included in the list of national key cultural relics protection units. It took only six years to create a miracle of China's cultural relics.

Anyue reclining Buddha is beautifully made. Different from the reclining Buddha in other places, it is carved in the rock waist, that is, a huge space is cut out in the mountainside. This makes the whole group of statues of Nirvana magnificent, especially the main body, like a reclining Buddha, standing across the rock waist, quite like a shocking word. Comparatively speaking, there are three Buddhist arts: Dunhuang reclining Buddha, Zhangye reclining Buddha, Anyue reclining Buddha and Dazu reclining Buddha. Geographically speaking, the reclining Buddha in Dunhuang and the reclining Buddha in Zhangye belong to the nirvana images in the north, while the reclining Buddha in Anyue and the reclining Buddha in Dazu belong to the nirvana images in the south. As far as texture and distribution are concerned, the former are all wooden frame mud tires, which are molded indoors; The latter is stone carving, carved outdoors.

Judging from the length and carving time, Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes CaveNo. 158 is 15.8 meters long and was built in the middle Tang Dynasty. The reclining Buddha in Zhangye is 34.5 meters long and was built in the first year of Yong 'an in Xixia (1098). It is the largest indoor reclining Buddha statue in China. The Sleeping Buddha in Anyue is 2 1.3 meters long, carved in the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, with the oldest qualification, and can be called the "big brother" of the ancient stone carving "Nirvana change"; Dazu reclining Buddha is 3 1 m long, carved in the Southern Song Dynasty, and has been sleeping for more than 400 years.

As far as the difficulty is concerned, it is more difficult to chisel the reclining Buddha in Anyue, because inadvertently it will cause the reclining Buddha to be flat or stiff because of its height; Dunhuang, Zhangye and Dazu reclining Buddha (only carved to the knee, that is, from the overall point of view, not the whole body, and the right hand is hidden underground) are all flat and relatively difficult to chisel. Because the reclining Buddha in Anyue is carved on the rock waist without touching the ground, the difficulty of creation is far greater than that of nirvana in other places, which fully embodies the creative talent of ancient craftsmen.

Mrs. Moyoev sat in the middle of Anyue's reclining Buddha, with changes and stories, especially when Mrs. Moyoev mourned and Sakyamuni was nirvana, which constituted a double combination of sadness and joy. Lux, standing at the ankle, intercepted a part of the long horizontal line of the Buddha statue, which has both a story and a little line relationship, so that the whole body has rhythm and change, and has a sense of life, that is, it skillfully breaks the limitation that the reclining Buddha is easy to flatten and the body is tall and stiff, so that the Buddha statue is harmonious and presents a "beautiful and elegant" statue legacy in the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

Its slightly pouting mouth blooms with a smile, just like another "Smile of Datang" after the main statue of Dalushena Buddha in Fengxian Temple in Longmen. Interestingly, they belong to the same era, which not only shows the momentum of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, but also conveys the information of the cultural achievements of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, and has become a rare epoch-making sculpture masterpiece.

Anyue Jue Yuan Cave Sakyamuni Buddha (Wang Yi Photography)

Anyue Buddhist scriptures

The swan song of southern printmaking

China's stone carving Buddhist scriptures began in the Northern Wei Dynasty, with the most complete stone carving Buddhist scriptures in Fangshan, Beijing in the Sui Dynasty. From the classification point of view, there are four main forms of stone carving Buddhist scriptures: cliffs, stone pillars, classic buildings and inscriptions. The inscriptions on Yunju Temple in Fangshan, Beijing belong to the category of inscriptions on tablets, and the number of words ranks first in the country. However, as a cliff (niche) Buddhist scripture, this form of existence is rare because of the difficulty in carving. Seen from the cliff, the Tang Buddhist scriptures of Anyue reclining Buddha Temple are the best in China. These two "national firsts", one in the north, one in the south, one carved on a board and one carved in a niche, are like Gemini in the starry sky with stone carvings, which is worth looking up to.

Anyue Buddhist scriptures are carved in the reclining Buddha Temple, which is located between the front or both side walls of the 15 niche, with a word-making area of 154 square meters and 320,000 words. It is the largest place for carving scriptures in southern China so far. In order to emphasize the aesthetic feeling in the niche, some scriptures are also equipped with ornaments such as flying and classics. In particular, the No.59 Sutra Cave is engraved on three sides, and ornaments such as flying clouds, doors, tangled grass, spirit beasts, geisha music, etc. make the static Sutra Cave dynamic and make the plane static lettering space show a trend of wind and stalwart. The word is divided into two lines, square, vigorous and elegant, neat and simple, which can be called "two stops".

These classic engravings were planned and selected, and most of them were translated by Yao Qin, Kumarajiva and other eminent monks, as well as Bodhi Six Fingers in the later Wei Dynasty, Hui Yuan in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Damockwuta in the Sui Dynasty and Tang Xuanzang, covering works from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the prosperous Tang Dynasty for about 500 years. In addition to the classic names, engraving years and translators' surnames, there are also classic lists and proofreaders' names. Inscription time: 12 years, 15 years, 17 years, 21 years, 23 years, etc. It can be seen that it took more than ten years to carve it.

In particular, Tan San Zang Jing, which is engraved with the words "February, 15th year of Tang Kaiyuan (727)", is the earliest block-printed version found at present, and it is out of print among the block-printed Buddhist scriptures in China. The unique significance of the preface to Wan Jing and the out-of-print significance of Tan San Zang Jing highlight the special value of Anyue's engraving, so it has the special reputation of "this is the only moment in the world".

Incredibly, there are simplified characters such as "nothing", "righteousness", "ten thousand" and "case" in the Confucian Classics. Its objective existence is of subversive significance to the interpretation of ancient Chinese characters.

In the reclining Buddha Temple, besides the Buddhist scriptures carved on the shrines in the Tang Dynasty, there are also the Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra carved in the 18th year of Tang Kaiyuan in the mysterious temple, and the single-eaved high-rise stone tower built behind Peacock Cave in the Northern Song Dynasty (outside the Daxiong Hall of the former Guobao Temple). Tower height 15 meters, also known as runners wearing Tibetan towers. The tower is built in a strange and scientific way, with eight columns on each floor. The column is divided into 8 faces and 6 faces are engraved with Buddhist scriptures. The 24 columns of the tower are engraved with 144 Buddhist scriptures, and the lettering is in regular script, which is concise and smooth, and is a precious material for studying ancient Buddhism and calligraphy.

Jue Yuan Cave (Wang Yi Photography)

Jue Yuan yandong

Flying is comparable to Dunhuang murals.

Jue Yuan Cave is located in the east of Anyue County, about two kilometers away from the county seat. It is called "Jue Yuan Cave of Truth Temple", with 108 Buddhist niches, 1933 statues and 25 inscriptions. Truth Temple is in the sun of the mountain, and Jue Yuan Cave is in the shade of the mountain. However, locals used to call it Jue Yuan Cave. According to the inscriptions, the carving here began about 20 years ago in the Tang Kaiyuan, and lasted for hundreds of years at the latest in the Southern Song Dynasty.

Jue Yuan Cave was built by Master Yue Yue, a monk, in the Northern Song Dynasty. It is carved according to the Buddhist scripture "Dafang Guangyuan Jueyi Jing", and it is named because it is engraved with a sense of twelve circles. The hole is shaped like a vault, with a depth of10m, a width of 4.8m and a height of 4.5m.. There is a statue of Buddha III more than two meters high on the cave wall, and six disciples nearly two meters high are sitting on each side. Disciples sit with their legs crossed, or with one leg facing the other, to cover the seat and present a symmetrical aesthetic feeling.

The stone carving art of Jue Yuan Cave is wonderful, but the three sacred pictures of the West outside the cave are even more striking. The so-called Three Saints of the West, also known as Three Amitabha, are the three highest gods in the western paradise, which are composed of Amitabha, Guanyin Bodhisattva and Shi Zhi Bodhisattva. In the middle is Amitabha, which shows its spiritual consciousness and Wade's ancestral demeanor. Although Guanyin Bodhisattva and Shi Zhi Bodhisattva are under the threat of the left and right buddhas respectively, they are alone in the cave of Amitabha, enjoying the status of worshipping good men and believing women respectively.

Guanyin, a 6.7-meter-high bottle, is backed by the gorgeous Buddha's light like an axle, and a pair of beautiful feet lightly step on the lotus seed heart, showing an inverted "eight" shape; The right hand flicked the branches of poplar, as if brushing away the dust of the world; Holding the bottle clean with his left hand seems to spill the nectar in the bottle to the whole world, and the expression of caring for all beings and the world can best be reflected in his drooping eyes.

Sakyamuni Buddha, 6 meters high. His face is round, his eyebrows are white, his hair is tall and fleshy, his ears are drooping, and his mouth is smiling but he doesn't speak, just as described in the Book of Songs: "Smile skillfully and look forward to beautiful eyes." I can't help but think of a sentence that the great sculptor Rodin said when describing another outstanding sculpture, The Statue of Venus in Medici: "When I touch this statue, I almost feel warm." His left hand was placed on his chest and abdomen, and his right hand was stamped with a seal, with a Biboro flower between his thumb and forefinger. Its smiling appearance reminds people of the smiling face of the stone carving master of Fengxian Temple in Longmen Grottoes, which is even more vivid. If the Great Lushena Buddha expresses "the smile of the Tang Dynasty", then it can be said that the Sakyamuni Buddha in front of us expresses "the smile of the Great Song Dynasty".

The right niche Lotus Hand Guanyin Bodhisattva is 6.5 meters high, wearing a dense gold-plated crown and embedded with a small Buddha statue. His chest was decorated with garlands, his elbows hung over his waist, and his feet stepped on the lotus platform, reflecting a Zhang Xiuqing face and a shallow smile. A bud weighs a hundred pounds, but it will last for a thousand years. It is because the sculptor hollowed out the space between the hand and the bud and the flower branch by means of mechanical principle, and skillfully assumed the weight of the bud and the flower branch on the cassock.

In addition to flying in the sky, the side walls of the two shrines, Guanyin Bodhisattva in Jingping and Sakyamuni Buddha, are also engraved with patterns of flowers and plants. In terms of the patterns of flowers and plants, the graceful flying in the sky, or holding lotus branches, or splashing flowers and rain, is like a dancer with stunts creating beauty in sports, which makes people feel the potential vitality from the static niche. Ribbon has four colors: blue, green, orange and yellow, which are no less than the colors in Dunhuang murals, such as stone carvings. In contrast, the quiet and elegant Buddha of Sakyamuni, the avalokitesvara Bodhisattva with a sense of hardship, and the unrestrained or flying show round beauty, although their tastes are quite different.