▌The Buddha's head of Cave 8 of Tianlongshan Grottoes, which was recovered from Japan, was taken by Shuxiang in the Luxun Memorial Hall
On the evening of February 11, the Buddha's head of Cave 8 of Tianlongshan Grottoes, which had been lost overseas for nearly a century, appeared in an unexpected way and appeared at the Spring Festival Gala of China Central Radio and Television. This is the first Buddhist sculpture lost in the Tianlong Mountain Grottoes that returned to their motherland from Japan in nearly a hundred years. From February 12 to March 14, this Buddha's head, which returned to the motherland, met with the audience at the Luxun Museum in Beijing. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage said that it will implement the international consensus that the lost cultural relics will return to their original places, and send the Buddha's head back to the Tianlong Mountain Grottoes under safety conditions. The excellent cultural heritage Tianlongshan Grottoes entered the public's sight for a while.
China is an ancient civilization with a long history. Over the long years, the Chinese nation has created rich and colorful and precious cultural heritage. Cultural heritage includes material cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage. Material and cultural heritage is a cultural relic with historical, artistic and scientific value, including: ancient ruins, ancient tombs, ancient buildings, grottoes and temples, stone carvings, murals, important historical sites and representative buildings in modern times; movable cultural relics from various eras in history; historical and cultural cities (blocks, villages and towns). Grotto temples are a major category of material and cultural heritage.
Buddhist caves originated in India. The excavation of grottoes in my country began around the 3rd century and flourished in the 5th to 8th centuries. The latest one could be in the 16th century, with both Buddhist and Taoist grottoes. The cave temples are widely distributed, large in scale and complete in system. They integrate arts such as architecture, sculpture, murals, calligraphy, etc., and integrate cultural elements such as Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, fully reflect the aesthetic pursuit, value concepts and cultural spirit of the Chinese nation. Buddhist grottoes are an image of the sinicization of Buddhist culture.
▌Tianlongshan Grottoes scale
The grotto resources in Shanxi are spread all over the province, from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty , and then to the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, they have been excavated in all dynasties. They are not only widely distributed, but also have a complete system and profound connotation. According to the third national census of immovable cultural relics, there are 244 grottoes and temples in Shanxi and 254 cliff statues. In recent years, the cultural relics department has discovered many new places through field investigations. Among the grotto temples in Shanxi, the most influential ones are "star" grottoes such as Yungang Grottoes and Tianlongshan Grottoes.
People call the mountains in the western area of Taiyuan Xishan, Xuanweng Mountain, Longshan, Tianlong Mountain, Fangshan, Mengshan, Taishan and Miaoqian Mountain are all within the range of Xishan. The cultural heritage of the grottoes in Xishan include Tianlongshan Grottoes, Mengshan Kaihua Temple Big Buddha and Grottoes, Longshan Tongzi Temple Big Buddha and Grottoes, as well as small and lesser-known grottoes such as Longshan Gugu Cave Grottoes, Shimen Temple Grottoes, Xuanwenshan Wayao Village Grottoes, and Xuanwen Temple Grottoes.
Tianlongshan Grottoes are located in Tianlongshan, 40 kilometers southwest of Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province. Tianlong Mountain is mainly composed of East Peak, West Peak, Xianglu Peak and Liuzhigou. The rocks in Tianlongshan Grottoes are coarsely gravel-medium-grained quartz sandstone, which are hard rocks and are easy to carve, but have poor frost resistance, medium weathering resistance, and easy to weather. Hydrama 4 period of the Eastern Wei Dynasty (534-550), Prime Minister Gao Huan built a summer palace here and dug a grotto, opening the prelude to the humanities and history of Tianlong Mountain. Since then, after digging in different periods such as the Northern Qi, Sui, Tang and Ming dynasties, the Tianlongshan Grottoes have formed their existing scale. The Tianlong Mountain Grottoes are arranged in an orderly manner, with different sizes and structures. There are 30 grottoes in total, which are mainly divided into two areas, namely the main cave area on the hillside of the south slope and the Qianfo Cave area next to the valley at the foot of the south slope. The grottoes in the main area of the Nanpo Cave are excavated on the hillside of the East and West Peaks. They stretch for more than 500 meters from east to west. There are 25 caves, more than 500 statues, and 1,144 flying skyscrapers, caissons, and murals (painted). There are five caves in Qianfo Cave Area in Liuzhigou Beach, Nanpo, and are excavated on top of cliffs.
The caves in the main area of the cave on the hillside and the west peaks are arranged from east to west along the cliff surface. The east peak is divided into two upper and lower levels, with 4 caves on the upper level (single numbered upper level l-4 caves), and 8 caves on the lower level (numbered 1-8 caves); and 13 caves on the west peak (numbered 9-21).Japanese scholar Toshii Tanaka made detailed records, photos and numbers of the Tenlongshan Grottoes in 1921, and the numbers have been used to this day.
▌Tianlongshan Grottoes
Historical records of the excavation date of Tianlongshan Grottoes are missing. Except for the front porch of Cave 8, there are inscriptions for the statues of the cave opened in the fourth year of Kaihuang in the Sui Dynasty (584), the other cave inscriptions are destroyed by humans and eroded by wind and rain, and the text is already unclear, which brings many difficulties to researchers. Today's people use archaeological methods to analyze archaeological typology based on the archaeological typology of cave shape, subject matter and statue characteristics, and can infer that the cave was first carved from the late Northern Wei Dynasty to the Eastern Wei Dynasty, and went through the Northern Qi, Sui Dynasty and Tang dynasties. The excavation activities in the main area of the cave in the middle of the mountain lasted about 200 years, and were generally divided into four periods: Eastern Wei, Northern Qi, Sui and Tang dynasties.
The earliest grottoes in Tianlong Mountain were the 2nd and 3rd caves of Dongfeng, which were excavated in the late Northern Wei Dynasty and Eastern Wei Dynasty. This is a group of double caves, adjacent to the east and west, closely connected, with the same size and the same shape. The merit inscriptions of carved statues between the two caves (lost), following the double cave shapes of Yungang Grottoes and Longmen Grottoes . The cave is square and the top is covered with bucket-shaped top. The red pigments all over the cave have a very visual impact. The combination of statues is three walls and three Buddhas, one Buddha and two sides serve Bodhisattvas. The statues have a beautiful and elegant style. The Buddha statue has a thin face and a slender figure. He wears a romance and belt-style coat. There is a big lotus on the top of the cave, and there is a flying sky around the lotus.
Following the Eastern Wei Grottoes is the Northern Qi (550-577) Grottoes, with Cave 1 of the East Peak and Cave 10 and Cave 16 of the West Peak, with a total of 3 caves. The cave is in front and back rooms. The statues are composed of three walls and three Buddhas, the first cave is the Buddha sitting in the seat, the 10th cave is the main honor of Sakyamuni, the 16th cave is the three sitting Buddha, one Buddha and two standing Bodhisattva and one Buddha and two standing Bodhisattvas. The Buddha statue has a low and flat bun, a round face, and is wearing a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe with a robe. The Bodhisattva wears a flower crown on his head. The Heavenly King and the Powerful Master are both wearing Bodhisattva costumes.
The cave of Cave 8 of Dongfeng is a column cave in the center of the front and back rooms. This is the only Sui Dynasty grotto in the Tianlongshan Grottoes and the only central pillar grotto in the Tianlongshan Grottoes. It was excavated in the fourth year of Kaihuang in the Sui Dynasty (584). Liang Sicheng commented in the book "History of Chinese Architecture": "The most interesting thing about the caves in the Sui Dynasty was the Tianlongshan Grottoes in Taiyuan, Shanxi." The combination of statues is: there are three walls and three Buddhas on the outside, four walls and four Buddhas in the middle, and one Buddha in a single paving, two disciples and two hostages. The statues are square and round, inheriting the Northern Qi style.
The largest number of caves was excavated in the Tang Dynasty, with a total of 19: Caves 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the East Peak and 4 Caves numbered separately on the upper floor, and Caves 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21 of the West Peak. Except for Cave 9, which is a large cliff niche, the rest are divided into three types: planar square front and back rooms, planar circular front and back rooms, and planar circular single rooms. The statues are composed of three walls and three Buddhas, which are generally leaning on the Buddhas, and the single shop mainly consists of three and five Buddhas. The Buddha's head has many water waves or vortex patterns, the face is round and plump, with wide shoulders and thin waist, wearing a monk's back (a type of monk's robes, belonging to a shirt), wearing a side shirt with a hatch or a double-collar drooping robes, and individually wearing a shoulder-shoulder robes.
Cave 9 excavated in the Tang Dynasty is the largest cliff stone carving statue in Tianlong Mountain. There is a magnificent wooden attic built outside to protect the stone carving statues, which is called "Manshan Pavilion". The Buddhist niche in the pavilion is divided into two levels. The large statue of Maitreya Buddha sitting in the middle of the upper floor is 7.55 meters high. There are three statues of Bodhisattvas carved on the lower floor, with the eleven-sided statues standing on Guanyin in the middle, which are 5.5 meters high. On the left is Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, which is 3.95 meters high. On the right is Manjushri Bodhisattva, the lion is 4.3 meters high.
▌Xiantong Sfu - The Return of the National Treasures of Tianlongshan Grottoes and Digital Restoration Special Exhibition Shuxiang took at Lu Xun Museum
▌Tianlongshan Grottoes: Reflects the process of the transformation of foreign grottoes art into Chinese grotto art
Tianlongshan Grottoes are representative works of the period when foreign trench art to Chinese grotto art, including works from the Eastern Wei, Northern Qi, Sui and Tang dynasties.The thin figures of the Eastern Wei statues, as well as the robes, pleats, and lotus-covered pedestals, can still show the artistic style characteristics of the late Northern Wei Dynasty, but the human body structure tends to be more moderate and rounder than the previous generations. The shapes and clothing of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are separated from the characteristics of Northern Wei statues high nose and deep eyes, and praise clothes and broad belts, and are developing towards the strong and plump shape of Northern Qi. The statues in the Northern Qi changed the elegant style of the Eastern Wei Dynasty's "showing bones and clear statues", focusing on and pursuing realistic techniques to show the strong body of the characters. The style of the Buddha statue is beginning to adopt the snail hair style, and the cassock robes are replaced by the right-hand style instead of the singular robes; the Bodhisattva wears a flower crown on his head and is gorgeous in his clothes. The statues in the Sui Dynasty were in a period of transformation, inheriting the dignified and kind style of the Northern Dynasty statues, and starting the predecessor of the full and free statues in the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of the excavation of grottoes in Tianlong Mountain, and the excavation period was roughly between , Wu Zetian, and Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty. The statues of Tianlongshan Grottoes in the Tang Dynasty were very high in the carving level, with delicate expression techniques, and had extremely high artistic appreciation value. The cliff Buddha in Cave 9 of the West Peak is the most representative. The image of the Bodhisattva in the Tianlong Mountain Grottoes is full of vitality, fully demonstrating the luxurious style of the Tang Dynasty, and becoming the basic model of Chinese Buddhist statues later.
From the 200 years from the Eastern Wei Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, although the Tianlongshan Grottoes statues have greatly changed in style, they have a consistent relationship. The statues of the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi carved a stable and static image, but in terms of carving techniques, they could make the static image dynamic. The statues in the Sui Dynasty mostly inherited the calm and simple style of the Northern Wei statues in terms of carving techniques. The statues of the Tang Dynasty and the Bodhisattva statues were of different postures, graceful and dynamic. The carving techniques were characterized by the statues of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. They enhanced the luxurious temperament with , garlands, and Tianyi. The superb artistic level was rare for the carvings of the Central Plains in the same period.
Tianlongshan Grottoes are precious examples of studying ancient architecture in my country and have an important position in the history of Chinese architecture. The column ridges on both sides of the eaves of the Northern Qi and Sui and Tang Grottoes are made of a herringbone and a three-liter arch, reflecting the shape of wooden structures in the Northern Qi and Sui dynasties, showing the aesthetic tendency of Chinese architectural art during the Northern Dynasties, and is an important supplementary case of wooden structures before the Tang Dynasty. There are relic pagodas on the two walls of the eaves of the Tang Dynasty grottoes in Tianlong Mountain. A niche is chiseled out of the middle of the tower, and a Buddha statue is paved inside, reflecting the diversity of the structure of the front porch of the cave in the Tang Dynasty. These are precious physical materials for studying early Chinese architectural forms.
Tianlongshan Grottoes reflect the process of the transformation of foreign grotto art into Chinese grotto art, showing superb carving skills and rich cultural connotations, and occupying an important position in the history of Chinese grotto art and even world sculpture art. In 2001, the Tianlongshan Grottoes were announced by the State Council as the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.
Since modern times, the national strength has weakened and the Tianlongshan Grottoes have also suffered. In 1908, German architect E. Berchmann investigated the Tianlong Mountain Grottoes for the first time. Since then, people from the United States, Japan, Sweden and other countries have come to inspect it one after another. In the 1920s, under the instigation of the Japanese antique Shang Yamaaka Tachijiro, the Tianlongshan Grottoes were stolen on a large scale, and almost all the heads and parts of the statues were stolen from abroad, and the degree of damage was the most tragic among the grotto temples in my country. At present, more than 137 Tianlongshan Grottoes cultural relics are known to be lost to museums and private hands in many countries in Japan and Europe and the United States.
In recent years, my country has increased its efforts to pursue lost overseas cultural relics. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage recently released the key points of work for 2021. In terms of steadily improving the basic and management efficiency of cultural relics and key work, it is proposed to increase the efforts to recover and return lost cultural relics. Strengthen the monitoring of the international cultural relics market, promote overseas Chinese cultural relics surveys and data resource sorting, focus on the digital return of lost cultural relics in Dunhuang , scientifically lay out research bases for the recovery and return of lost cultural relics, and strive to recover more lost cultural relics and return to the motherland. We are looking forward to the return of more cave temple cultural relics.
▌The author of this article visited Xiantong Sfu - Tianlongshan Grottoes National Treasure Return and Digital Restoration Special Exhibition
Shuxiang 3. Born in 1976, native of , Funing County, Jiangsu Province, , with a master's degree.He graduated from the undergraduate degree in of China Buddhist College and the master's degree in China Buddhist College. He has been working as an assistant teacher (primary title) in the China Buddhist Books and Cultural Relics Museum since 2010.
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