Wenbo Time and Space Author: Zhai Defang The Xiangtangshan Grottoes are places I must visit. The reason for this, on the one hand, is that it has been admired for a long time, and on the other hand, it is located at the east entrance of the Taihang Mountain, which is on the only way to enter and exit Shanxi. There are only dozens of kilometers from Handan to the Fengfeng mining area where Xiangtang Mountain is located, and I set off from Handan and came to Fengfeng City in less than an hour. For Fengfeng, it is also known for a long time, and when I came here, I found that although the city is not big, it is very clean and tidy. However, I can also vaguely see that with the depletion of mineral resources, the development of the city seems to be insufficient.
Overlooking the North Xiangtang Mountain Grottoes
Not far from the peak peak city, it is the Xiangtang Mountain Grottoes. The Xiangtangshan Grottoes are divided into two places, north and south, which are about 15 kilometers apart. The reason why it is called "Xiangtang Mountain" is said to be because the North Xiangtang Mountain Grottoes are located on the mountainside, and people can make sonorous echoes when they talk and laugh, brush their sleeves, and walk around. There are 16 existing grottoes in the north and south Xiangtang Mountain Grottoes, more than 450 niches of cliff statues, more than 5,000 statues of large and small sizes, and a large number of carved scriptures, inscriptions, etc., which is the largest grotto found in Hebei Province now. Xiangtangshan Grottoes is an important symbol of the transition stage from Datong Yungang to Luoyang Longmen in the history of Chinese grotto art, and is also an important treasure house for the study of Chinese Buddhism, architecture, sculpture, painting and calligraphy art. On March 4, 1961, the Xiangtangshan Grottoes were announced by the State Council as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units.
01
History of excavation and research
The two Xiangtangshan grottoes were excavated in the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577), and were excavated in the Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties. After the Northern Qi Dynasty replaced the Eastern Wei Dynasty, there were two political centers, one was the national capital Yecheng (in Linzhang County, Hebei) and the other was Jinyang (Taiyuan, Shanxi). The Drum Mountain, which is the key point of east-west traffic in the Taihang Mountain, is a place where the two must pass through. The mountains and rivers here are beautiful, the scenery is beautiful, the stone quality is excellent, the emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty Gao Yang firmly believes in Buddhism, and enshrines Buddhism as the state religion, so he chooses here to dig a cave to build a temple, build a palace, as a place for him to rest, escape the summer and worship Buddha between the two capitals. You must know that the Northern Qi Dynasty only existed for 28 years, and the country's economy was not developed, so they dug such a grand grotto, which can be said to be the strength of the whole country, and the result was that the grotto was hewn and the country collapsed. Today, the emperor's palace has long been gone, the temple is dilapidated, but the statues of Buddhist shrines carved into the rock wall have been preserved, becoming treasures for future generations to study and appreciate.
The statue rubbing of the Nanxiangtangshan Grotto Museum
After the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Sui, Tang and Ming dynasties dug 6 caves in Beixiangtang Mountain, but the scale was not large, and the carving and decoration were relatively simple. In addition, the descendants also used the rock walls inside and outside the caves of the Northern Qi Dynasty to dig many statue niches, including nearly 50 Sui niches, the earliest of which was the fourth year of the emperor (584 AD); There are about 300 Tang niches, mostly in the Wu and Zhou periods.
The Tang Dynasty statue in the Folong Cave of Beixiangtang Mountain
After the excavation of the Xiangtangshan Grottoes, it has experienced several major movements in history to abolish the Buddha, coupled with the wars and theft of the past dynasties, the damage is very serious, and many Buddha heads have been stolen and chiseled. The earliest research work on the Xiangtangshan Grottoes was carried out by the Japanese Nagagashi Dading in 1922. In 1935, Chinese scholars Xu Bingxu and Gu Jiegang led students to investigate the Xiangtangshan Grottoes in the south and north, and later published the "Catalogue of Stone Carvings in the North and South Xiangtang and its vicinity", confirming that the Xiangtangshan Grottoes were mainly grottoes in the Northern Qi Dynasty, which was the founding of Chinese scholars' research on the art of cave temples. In 1936, Japanese scholars Kiyoichi Mizuno and Toshio Nagahiro investigated Xiangtang Mountain and published the book "Xiangtang Mountain Grottoes in Wu'an, Henan Province, Cixian County, Hebei". After 1949, scholars such as Su Bai and Ma Shichang had in-depth research on the Xiangtangshan Grottoes. Today, the surrounding environment and basic facilities of the Xiangtangshan Grottoes have been fundamentally improved, and a museum and digital exhibition hall have been built, which can allow visitors to better understand the past and present life of the grottoes.
02
Nanhaodang Mountain Grottoes
Because I came from Fengfeng by car, I first looked at the Nanxiangtangshan Grottoes on the outskirts of Fengfeng. According to the Sui Dynasty's "Tablet of Fushan Grottoes", the cave was built in the first year of the Northern Qi Dynasty (565), but this grotto was not built with royal funding, but the flattery of the Northern Qi Dynasty minister Gao Anaqiu to the emperor. There are 9 large and small grottoes in the scenic area, among which there are 7 with names, which are divided into two layers, 5 on the upper floor, 2 on the lower floor, from bottom to top are Huayan Cave, Prajna Cave, Hollow Cave, Amitabha Cave, Shakya Cave, Lux Cave and Thousand Buddha Cave. There are more than 3,700 statues of all sizes here, and there are 38 chronological inscriptions.
A thousand Buddhas on the side wall of the cave
Sculpture of the niche on the front of Hwayan Cave
Among the grottoes of Nanxiangtang Mountain, Huayan Cave is the largest, and Thousand Buddha Caves are the most exciting. Huayan Cave is about 4.9 meters high, about 6.3 meters wide and deep, and is engraved with "Dafang Guangfo Huayan Sutra", so it is called Huayan Cave. In the niche on the front of the cave, one Buddha, two disciples, four Bodhisattvas and seven statues are carved, but only the main sitting Buddha is more complete; There is a large relief of the story of the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha in the middle and upper part of the south wall, and there is a relief of the Buddha Bunsen story in the upper part of the central pillar of the south side.
The main wall of the Thousand Buddha Cave is carved
The flying carving of the patio of the Thousand Buddha Cave
Thousand Buddha Cave front pillar and wrestler
The Thousand Buddha Caves located on the upper floor are small and exquisite, and they are well preserved. Above the outer wall of the cave top is carved the bowl tower, the end of the tower is carved with cloud-like mountain flower banana leaves, the golden-winged bird that spreads its wings and wants to fly in the middle carving, the bowl top carves the jewel, and the octagonal bead top pillar is carved on both sides. Carved statues of wrestlers on both sides of the front porch. On the altar on three sides of the cave are carved a Buddha, two disciples and two Bodhisattvas, the main shrine on the front is the Buddha Shakya, the main shrine on the left is Amitabha, and the main shrine on the right is lost. The cave wall is widely made of thousands of Buddhas, there are 1028 statues of large and small statues, so it is called the Thousand Buddha Cave. The top of the cave is slightly uplifted, the central carved lotus, the eight bodies of the Zhou carving fly into the sky, two by two, form the fairy Elysium of each group of symmetrical light song and dance. The structure of this cave is rigorous, and the carving is exquisite, especially the large-scale carving on the outer wall and the flying carving on the top of the cave, which are all unparalleled artistic treasures.
Song Pagoda in front of the South Xiangtang Mountain Grottoes
In front of the Nanxiangtangshan Grottoes, there is a brick tower of the Song Dynasty. After entering the gate, there is a grotto museum, in addition to displaying the Buddha's head, Buddha's hand, and Buddha statue from the Xiangtangshan Grottoes, the exhibition hall also has a special place to tell the dark history of the theft of the Xiangtangshan Grottoes.
03
Beihoutang Mountain Grottoes
The North Xiangtang Grottoes are located in the middle of the Gushan Mountain in the Fengfeng mining area, and there are 9 existing grottoes on the mountain, among which the North Cave (Big Buddha Cave), the Middle Cave (Shakya Cave) and the South Cave (Carved Scripture Cave) excavated by the Northern Qi royal family are the most outstanding. These grottoes are exquisitely carved, exquisite and magnificent, representing the pinnacle of grotto carving art in the late Northern Dynasties.
The main Buddha statue of the Big Buddha Cave
The niche and treasure pattern on the side wall of the Big Buddha Cave
The Big Buddha Cave at the northern end of the cave group is the largest, the highest artistic value and the most ornately decorated. Because there is the largest Buddha statue of Sakyamuni in the whole Xiangtang Mountain Grottoes in the cave, it is named the Big Buddha Cave. The statue is about 4 meters high, with a graceful and dignified spirit, full muscles, soft lines, and an unadorned face, which is still as clean as new despite thousands of years of wind and rain. Unfortunately, the head of the Buddha was stolen in the early years, and the current one is installed later.
The inside of the grotto is the tower temple cave of the central pillar type, and the four walls each open sixteen small niches, and each carved a sitting Buddha statue in the niche. The central pillar is made up of three parts of the pedestal, the body of the tower, the tower stop, the south, the north and the west sides respectively open a niche, and each niche is a Buddha and two Bodhisattvas. At both ends of the abutment altar are carved and carved to support the pillars, which are derived from the influence of Persian culture. The tower pillar is carved with honeysuckle patterns, and the top of the tower is a flame orb held up by mountain flowers and banana leaves. The ornamentation uses deep and shallow reliefs to make the pattern extremely varied, and its exquisiteness is stunning.
The statue of the Lord of Shakya Cave
During the Northern Wei Dynasty, the monk commander Fa Guo put forward the proposition that "the emperor is today's Rulai", worshipping the Son of Heaven is worshipping the Buddha, so that the Buddha and the emperor appeared on the Buddhist statue, which is not only reflected in the Longmen Grottoes, Yungang Grottoes, but also reflected in the Xiangtangshan Grottoes. It is said that the big Buddha cave was built by Gao Yang, the founding emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty, for his father, Gao Huan, the powerful minister of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, not only the Buddha statue is a combination of Gao Huan, but also the so-called "Gao Huan Mausoleum" at the top of the central column. However, according to the field investigation, there are no burial tools in the cave at the top, and no human bones have been found.
Engraving the scriptures on the wall of the cave
Engrave the image of the flying sky on the upper part of the lintel of the cave
The Shakya Cave that is also excavated in the Northern Qi Dynasty is the central square pillar tower temple cave, divided into front and back rooms, the square pillar is carved in the middle of the back room, the square pillar is opened in the middle of the large niche, and the statue of one Buddha and two disciples and two Bodhisattvas is carved; The large niches on both sides of the outer room are carved with the statue of Bodhisattva Lux. The carved scripture hole in the south is the three-wall three-reading Buddha hall cave, also divided into the front and back rooms, the front wall of the back room and the left and right walls open a large niche, carve a Buddha and two disciples and four wedge service statues; The west side of the Yongmen of the front room is engraved with the "Infinite Righteousness Sutra", and the cave corridors on both sides are engraved with the whole copy of the "Vimala Sutra" translated by Kumarosh, which was written by Tang Yong. This move created the history of large-scale engraving of Buddhist scriptures on stone walls in China, and Tang Yong is also known as the first person to carve scriptures in China. Tang Yong's book is written in regular style, with seal meaning, known as "the first inscription of China", and its artistic value is comparable to Wang Xizhi's "Orchid Pavilion Preface".
The remains of the three Buddhas on the ruins of Togarkuji Temple
Aerial view of the ruins of Togarkuji Temple and the tower of Togarkuji Temple
Below the North Xiangtang Grottoes, there are the ruins of Togarkuji Temple. Changle Temple was built in the Northern Qi Tianbao period, the original name of the Zhizhi Temple, the Song Dynasty changed to Changle Temple. The temple was destroyed many times in the law and soldiers, and was rebuilt in the Song, Jin, Ming and Qing dynasties, but it was destroyed by fire in 1947, and now the whole temple only has a Song pagoda outside the mountain gate and some stone carvings in the temple remain. The central axis of the temple is clearly recognizable, from south to north is the mountain gate (Tianwang Palace), the stone tower, the third Buddha hall, the Jin Dynasty stone stele, two Song Dynasty scripture buildings, the Daxiong Treasure Hall and the Dizang Palace. Among them, the mountain gate was rebuilt after the founding of New China, and the others are all ruins. The Song Pagoda outside the temple gate is called Putong Pagoda, which is the tallest building in the whole scenic area, standing at the foot of Gushan Mountain where the grotto is located, attracting the attention of visitors.
04
Innovation in Xiangtangshan Grottoes
Xiangtang Mountain, as a large cave dug by the royal family of the Northern Qi Dynasty, reflects the changes in the style of Buddhist statues at that time. The earliest big Buddha cave excavated in Xiangtang Mountain was carved before the fifth year of Wuding in the Eastern Wei Dynasty (547), but it was different from many statues of the same period (or a little earlier).
The Buddha statues of this period show the strength and heroism of the Northern Qi nation, with a thick and strong body, a slightly plump face, and a high nose and long eyes. Sitting on a round rosette or half-knotted seat, the clothes are sparse, and the irregular step-like cloth is spread throughout the body, and the hem is spread on the seat surface. The bodhisattva's body is also round and stocky, and its shape gives people a sense of heaviness. The characteristics of the Bodhisattva twisting the body, oblique hips and bulging abdomen, and the center of gravity falling on one foot in the left niche of the Big Buddha Cave in the North Xiangtang should be the precedent of the Sui and Tang Dynasty statues of "rich and plump" and "three bends of the thin waist and oblique body". The face shape of the Buddha disciple is the same as that of the Bodhisattva, the body is round, the clothing style is simple and bright, and the lower body is also similar to the Bodhisattva, and there is the wind of "Cao Yi out of the water".
The image of the Bodhisattva in Shakya Cave
The image of the god king on the altar of the Great Buddha Cave
The carving technique of the statue of the Northern Qi Dynasty in Xiangtang Mountain inherits the style of the Northern Wei Dynasty at the same time, and there is a new creation, which not only absorbs the straight flat knife method of the Northern Wei Dynasty, but also uses the round knife method for mixed processing, especially in the turning point of the clothing pattern, so that the costume of the statue tends to be rounded and more real; The use of the round knife method on the body of the statue increases the infinite vitality of the statue and shows a distinct personality. The combination of grotto carving and mural painting is also the originality of Xiangtang Mountain.
Xiangtangshan Grottoes not only retains the characteristics of early Buddhist statues, but also creates a new style that is not found in the three major grottoes, which is the unique charm of Xiangtangshan Grottoes, and Mr. Su Bai, a famous grotto research expert, believes that "the epitome of Chinese grotto art is in Xiangtang." ”
Picture | Zhai Defang
Typography | Xiao Xie
Design | Yin Lisa