In fact, Berce base visited Baffo tile twice in the summer and autumn of 19 12. During the two "visits", Bayes still deliberately sent people to yi county for information many times, seeking to obtain these treasures of arhat statues. According to Bayes' records, the local government also bluffed after learning about this incident, and took measures to arrest and punish a group of cultural thieves who stole and hid the Luohan statue. Before Berlusconi's second visit to Baffo, local officials had ordered martial law. The antique dealer sent by Berlusconi had been arrested and tortured, but was released soon after. Yongfu temple in Xiling, where Bayes' second visit was stationed, was also searched, and local officials strictly ordered local residents not to sell any cultural relics to Bayes. However, the insider stealing of local officials afterwards proved that the above measures were just posturing for fear of profit outflow! In the end, greedy government officials could not resist the temptation. According to Bayesian records, the county government once raised two arhats. Local officials pretend that they want to put Luohan in the temple, but on the other hand, they subtly suggest that Bainite can fetch a good price. One of the complete statues was later transferred to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, USA, and the fragments of another Lohan were later lost (see Jin Shen's translation, About Peach Lohan in Harada, Shu Ren, originally from Yixian, Zhili, No.2 of Spring and Autumn Cultural Relics in 2003).
During the trip to Bafowa in Bay191211,six Luohan statues were witnessed or their whereabouts were confirmed, and as many as nine to 10 were involved in the information provided by local aborigines! Soon, the Lohan of Baffo tile was sold out. It is a great pity that at least three priceless arhats were broken in the process of villagers stealing statues from the mountains at night. According to Bayes, a statue of Lohan whose hiding place was first known has been broken into at least six pieces! Another mountain man once told Berce that he tried to carry a arhat down the mountain and the statue was smashed to pieces!
During his stay in the United States in the early 20th century, Mr. Liang Sicheng saw a tricolor arhat statue of Bafowa in Yixian County at his alma mater, the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology of the University of Pennsylvania. In his later masterpiece "History of Sculpture in China", he commented: "Its appearance is similar to the real thing, and its folds are also very realistic. ..... or elegant, ... or frowning seriously, wanting to have your own personality, not just an empty idol. Its beauty is comparable to that of Roman statues. All human figures are caused by careful observation of their usual expressions. Not only the appearance, but also its body structure and the drape of clothes are mainly realistic; The observation of the third quantity is subtle, so it has become a faithful performance, no less than the best works of the Italian Renaissance. "
This group of three-color Luohan statues of Mishan Liao Dynasty was recognized as works of Tang Dynasty in the early years, with a total of 16 statues. At least three statues were destroyed in the process of being smuggled out of the country in the early 20th century, and only 1 1 statue remains in the world:
Boston Museum of Art 1 Statue (filled with plastic head)
Cleveland Museum of Art 1 Statue (remnant)
There are two statues at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, USA.
There is 1 statue in Nelson-Jenkins Art Museum in Kansas City, USA.
The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology of the University of Pennsylvania has a statue of 1.
The Royal Ontario Museum in Canada has a statue of 1.
There is a statue of 1 in the British Museum in London, England.
There is 1 Asian art collection in Paris, France.
Japanese private collector Jiro Matsufang's collection 1 Zun (Ming Dynasty)
Hermitage museum (Winter Palace) in St. Petersburg has a statue of 1 in Berlin (only a bust is left now). The official said it was destroyed by the war, which is obviously a lie. But it's not allowed to watch and take photos at close range now.
Unfortunately, these sculptures, which represent the highest achievement of realism since the Tang Dynasty, can be called religious works of art that later generations can't reach. All of them are scattered abroad and have long since disappeared at home.
The superb realistic achievements of the Luohan statue in Bafo Waliao are first manifested in the proper proportion and accurate structure of the human body. Comparing the old Lohan of Bafowa in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the two Ye Jia in the Northern Wei Dynasty in the Binyang Middle Cave in Longmen, and the Sui Dynasty in Cave 4 19 of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, it is not difficult to find the accurate and realistic charm of Liao plastic structure (even the ears shaped according to the Buddhist sculpture tradition are far larger than ordinary people, and the highly realistic face does not cause visual and psychological discomfort to the viewer).
The Luohan statue in the Eight Buddha Tiles in the British Museum has a particularly good shape and a pair of hands fixed by meditation. As far as artistic achievements are concerned, it is not inferior to the double-handed hand of Mona Lisa written by Leonardo da Vinci, and it can be called a double-edged sword sculpture. The craftsmen in Liao Dynasty not only painstakingly described and improved the human body, but also painstakingly handled the details of the sculpture. China craftsmen have made many outstanding creations in image dressing, such as the highly decorative hanging skirt seat developed in the late Northern Wei Dynasty and the ups and downs of the cassock hem of the Buddha statue in the Tang Dynasty. For Baffo Wa, these arhats have broken through the old tradition of Indian mathura's fitting wet clothes and Gandhara-styled pleating. The texture of the material and the structure of the body have been almost perfectly expressed, and even the lines on the cassock have changed accordingly with the ups and downs of the pleats.
The Liao sculpture of the Eight Buddhas is not only the treasure of China's ancient realistic art, but also a vivid portrayal of the eminent monk and great virtue. Arhat is the highest fruit of Hinayana Buddhism. If this fruit is confirmed, he can leave the six divisions in the wheel of karma and enter the bliss world, where he enjoys all kinds of happiness without suffering. It is his responsibility to educate and educate all sentient beings, but these three-color arhats of the Eight Buddhas often frown and meditate-both a reflection on the suffering of the world and a pity for all sentient beings. In the view of Liao artists, Lohan should not only enjoy the happiness of Buddhism brought by wisdom, but also be a "quasi-"bodhisattva who inherits Buddhism, crosses people by himself and makes unremitting efforts. The lofty religious aesthetic feeling of "Christ in Suffering" contained in the Eight Buddha Arhats collected by Nelson Ajanes Art Museum in the United States is breathtaking, as if pointing to the deepest part of the soul: "Harmony between man and the world" or "Love your neighbor and your enemy more"? In his eyes, money, power, status, enjoyment, grievances, war and even everlasting love, all the values and concepts in the world are falling apart. Very good! What a great work! A statue of Luohan, which can capture force of nature's Eight Buddha Valley, is worth thousands of volumes of Buddhist scriptures bearing religious wisdom to devout monks and secular believers!