Overview:
Longmen Grottoes, located at the south of Luoyang 12km, is one of the three largest grottoes in China, which are as famous as Yungang Grottoes in Datong and Thousand Buddha Cave in Dunhuang.
Longmen is a place with beautiful scenery. The two green hills face each other, and Yishui slowly flows northward. Seen from a distance, it looks like a natural gate, so it was called "A Que" in ancient times. Now "One Que" has become the first landscape of Youlong Gate since ancient times. Bai Juyi, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, once said: "The scenery in the suburbs of Luoyang wins, and Longmen is the first."
Longmen Grottoes began to be excavated around Luoyang (AD 494), the capital of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, with a history of 1500 years. Later, after the Eastern and Western Wei Dynasties, the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Sui and Tang Dynasties and the Song Dynasty, it was continuously built on a large scale for more than 400 years. Densely distributed on the cliffs of the east and west mountains of Yishui, with a length of 1000 meters from north to south. There are more than 0/300 grottoes/kloc-,2,345 Buddhist caves and niches, more than 50 pagodas and more than 65,438+10,000 Buddha statues. The largest Buddha statue is as high as 17. 14 meter, and the smallest is only 2 cm. In addition, there are more than 3,600 statues and inscriptions in the past dynasties, reflecting the high artistic attainments of the working people in ancient China. Binyang Cave, Fengxian Temple and Guyang Cave are the most representative.
Wei Dong-In 495 AD, Qiu Huicheng, the imperial clan of Wei State, began to dig Guyang Cave in Longmen Mountain. From 500 to 523, Emperor Wu and Emperor Di successively dug three large grottoes in the north, south and south of Binyang Cave. The construction of Shiyang Cave and Binyang Cave cost more than 800,000 people, and caves such as Fangzi Cave and Lianhua Cave were also dug during the Eastern Wei Dynasty. Grottoes in the Northern Dynasties were all located in Longmen Mountain, and Guyang Cave was built for more than 50 years from the Hui Dynasty to the end of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, showing many China art forms, and the posture of the giant Buddha changed from the majestic Yungang Grottoes to the gentle and amiable Longmen Grottoes. The Buddha statue represented by the main Buddha in Binyang Middle Cave is smiling. Longmen Grottoes show more China art Buddha statues than Yungang Grottoes.
Tang grottoes-the most prosperous period is the Tang Dynasty, accounting for more than 60% of the total number of grottoes. During the reign of Wu Zetian, most of the grottoes in the Tang Dynasty were excavated, which was related to her long-term presence in Luoyang. Fengxian Temple is the most representative Tang grottoes, with two bodhisattvas 70 feet high, and Ye Jia, Ananda, King Kong and God King each 50 feet high (the length of Tang Dynasty). The scale is the first in Longmen Grottoes. It took four years, and Wu Zetian paid 20,000 yuan herself.
Longmen 20 series products are precious calligraphy works of Wei Bei. Representing the stele style of Wei Dynasty, it is tall and straight, generous and powerful, and it is the font in the transition from official script to regular script, Guyangdong 19.
There are three caves in Binyang Cave, and the middle cave in Binyang is the masterpiece of Northern Wei Dynasty (386 ~ 5 12). It took 24 years before and after the cave was built, which was the longest excavation. There is 1 1 Buddha in the cave. The main statue of Sakyamuni is carved on the main wall of the cave, with disciples and bodhisattvas standing on the left and right sides. The faces of Buddha and Bodhisattva are thin, with large eyes and flat necks, and the brocade texture is exquisitely carved, which has obvious artistic traces of the western regions. The ceiling is carved with flying sky, which is quite healthy and elegant. It is said that there is also a relief on the two walls of the cave, "The Picture of the Empress Dowager", which is unique in shape and beautiful in composition. It was stolen and chiseled, and now it's in the new york Museum. The inscription of Chu Suiliang, the prime minister calligrapher of Tang Dynasty in Dongkou is worth reading.
Wanfo Cave is located in the south of Binyang Cave, and there are many statues in the cave. The north and south stone walls are covered with small Buddha statues, many of which are only one inch or a few centimeters high, and there are more than 1500 statues. The Buddha statue on the main wall sits on the octagonal lotus seat, waist. Four lux at the waist and lotus on the shoulder. There are 54 lotus flowers carved on the back wall, with a bodhisattva or benefactor sitting on each lotus, and musicians embossed on the top of the wall, all of which are elegant and lifelike. There is also a statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva on the south wall along the mouth, with a clean bottle and a dusty tail, which is round and plump, graceful and vivid.
Fengxian Temple is the largest grotto in Longmen in Tang Dynasty. According to the inscription, this grotto was dug in the period of Wu Zetian in Tang Dynasty, which lasted for three years. The Buddha statue in the cave clearly embodies the artistic characteristics of the Buddha statue in the Tang Dynasty, with a plump face and drooping ears, and a perfect, peaceful, warm and kind shape, which is extremely moving. The statue of Rushenafo in the middle of the grottoes is the largest Buddha statue in Longmen Grottoes, with a height of 17. 14m, a head height of 4m and an ear length of1.9m. It is full in shape, magnificent in momentum, smooth in dress lines and extremely artistic in appeal. There are two disciples Ye Jia and Ananda on both sides of the Buddha statue in Lushena. They are docile and pious, and the two bodhisattvas are kind and cheerful. The heavenly king looks strong with a pagoda in his hand.
The statue of King Kong Luxe is more moving than the statue of Luxe next to the Buddha statue in Lushena. It is a treasure in Longmen Grottoes. 1953 it was found near the south cave when cleaning up the accumulated soil in the cave. It was stolen and left behind. I saw that King Kong Lux's eyes suddenly exploded and glared at the front, making a second-hand fist, and the muscles in his chest, hands and legs bulged high. The whole statue is bold and unconstrained, powerful and magnificent.
Guyang Cave is the earliest and richest cave in Longmen Grottoes and another representative cave in the Northern Wei Dynasty. There are many statues of the Buddha's niche in Guyangdong, most of which have inscriptions, which record the names of the sculptors at that time, the age and reasons of the statues. These are precious materials for studying calligraphy and sculpture in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Most of the landmark works in the history of China's calligraphy, Longmen Twenty, are concentrated here. "Longmen Twenty Products" stands for Wei Bei, with correct and generous fonts and vigorous momentum. It is the essence of calligraphy art in Longmen Grottoes, and has always been respected by the world.
There is also a prescription cave with 140 prescriptions engraved in it, which reflects the achievements of ancient medicine in China. Carving some prescriptions on stone tablets or caves, which are also found in other places, is an important way to spread ancient medical achievements to future generations.
Longmen Grottoes also retain a large number of religious, artistic, calligraphy, music, clothing, medicine, architecture, Chinese and foreign transportation and other physical historical materials. Therefore, it is also a large stone carving art museum.
Cultural heritage value:
"Milestone" of China Grottoes Art
Longmen Grottoes are large in scale, magnificent in momentum, exquisitely carved and rich in content and subject matter, and are regarded as one of the greatest treasures of world classical art.. With its own systematic and unique language of sculpture art, it reveals various laws and rules of sculpture art creation. Before it, the grotto art mostly retained the elements of Gandhara and Tuodala art, while Longmen Grottoes inherited the remote Indian grotto art, followed the style of Yungang Grottoes, and integrated the advanced and profound history and culture of Han nationality in Wei, Jin, Luoyang and Southern Dynasties. Therefore, from the very beginning, the sculpture art of Longmen Grottoes has been integrated with the understanding and strong pursuit of national aesthetic consciousness and form, which makes the grotto art show the trend of China and secularization, which can be called a "milestone" to show the transformation of China grotto art.
Longmen Grottoes, with royal style, was the most concentrated place where royal nobles made wishes and statues in the Northern Wei and Tang Dynasties. Royal aristocrats have abundant manpower and material resources, and the grottoes they presided over must be huge and magnificent, bringing together the essence of grotto art at that time, so Longmen Grottoes are very representative. The excavation of these caves is the embodiment of the will and behavior of the royal family, which has a strong ethnic and religious color. Therefore, the rise and fall of Longmen Grottoes not only reflects the rise and fall of China royal family's worship of Buddhism from the 5th century to the10th century, but also reflects some political trends and the development of social and economic situation in the history of China. Its significance is unmatched by other grottoes.
The title of "Longmen Twenty Products" began in Qing Dynasty. The so-called "20 products of Longmen" refers to the inscriptions of 20 statues selected from Longmen Grottoes in Central and Northern Wei Dynasty, of which 19 are in Guyang Cave and one is in Cixiang Cave. "Longmen Twenty Products" is the quintessence of calligraphy art in the Northern Wei Dynasty. The calligraphy art it represents evolved on the basis of the official script of Han and Jin Dynasties. The font is dignified and generous, rich and simple, with official script style and regular script factors. It is the representative of "Weibei" style and occupies a very high position in the history of calligraphy art development in China.