In 366 A.D., a monk started to dig grottoes on the cliff at the eastern foot of Mingsha Mountain in the southeast of Dunhuang, and it was continued from generation to generation, which became the famous Mogao Grottoes.
At the beginning of the spread of Buddhism in India, the grottoes were places for monks to practice, but they were not used to sculpt and depict Buddha statues, and only symbols were used to represent them, such as Taurus, stupa and stupa. Later, in the Gandhara period, influenced by Greek sculptors brought by Alexander the Great's eastward expedition, they began to dig Buddha grottoes. Therefore, people can often find obvious traces of Greek sculpture from there.
That is to say, just the Buddha grottoes have already included Indian civilization and Greek civilization. Most of these grottoes are located between barren hills and mountains, which are very inconspicuous from a distance. I don't know what they contain, but they are wonderful of two great civilizations.
As soon as Buddhism entered China from India, it immediately understood that this is a country that needs to tell stories in a popular and vivid way, so it has integrated more and more Chinese secular civilization into the grotto sculpture art. As a result, with several major human civilizations as the background, generations of Buddha statues are deeply and popularly dignified in the grottoes, smiling, happy, acting, bitter and sacrificing. Gradually, all this is connected with Chinese history, and even becomes a history carved by hard stone.
the Mogao grottoes is a typical example.
2
When you look at the Mogao Grottoes, you don't look at the specimens that have been dead for a thousand years, but at the life that has lived for a thousand years.
Surprisingly, all kinds of political forces around the Mogao Grottoes have been fighting each other to the death, but they are willing to do something good for the Mogao Grottoes.
The royal family in the Northern Wei Dynasty and the nobles in the Northern Zhou Dynasty played a great role in the construction of the Mogao Grottoes, not to mention the cheerful scenes of the Mogao Grottoes in the Sui Dynasty, the early Tang Dynasty and the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Even the Tubo forces that occupied Dunhuang after the "An Shi Rebellion" and the Zhang Yichao army that expelled the Tubo forces were sworn enemies, but they also repaired the Mogao Grottoes.
The Cao Shi regime made great contributions to the Mogao Grottoes during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. By the Song Dynasty, it occupied the Xixia regime and the Mongolian regime in this area successively, but it did not damage the Mogao Grottoes. The decline of the Mogao Grottoes in the Yuan Dynasty was mainly due to the opening of the Eurasian trade route by the Mongolian army, the weakening of the role of the Silk Road and the cold and cheerless Dunhuang.
Why do so many valiant military commanders and powerful men bow their heads in front of the Mogao Grottoes? I think, first, because it concerns human beliefs, and second, because it has already constituted history. The power of religion and the power of time are enough to cool those hot hearts and produce some awe. They suddenly became like children, running wild all the way down, but here they opened their eyes wide, hoping to get a religious judge and a time judge.
in this process, what deserves more attention is the participation of the whole people. Buddhism got rid of the profound meaning in the Mogao Grottoes, and showed the contents of karma, seeking happiness and eliminating disasters, having ample food and clothing, and reproducing children and grandchildren in a popular way, which was very close to the people. In addition to murals and sculptures, the Mogao Grottoes are also places for local people to hold a carnival and enjoy daily entertainment. However, this trend of popularization has not reduced it to a rural temple fair, because Dunhuang area has always had many eminent monks, great virtues, family celebrities, learned and wise people, which maintained the belief subject of Mogao Grottoes.
So, in the Mogao Grottoes, I often get distracted. The dim natural light reflected faintly from the skylight above the cave, and the crowd on the mural merged with the sculpture in front of the mural, which seemed to move in a haze. Behind them, it seems that people who came here to take part in the tour in those years were surrounded by monks in cassock in groups. There are also many painters and sculptors busy around. So many people gradually left, and another batch came. A batch constitutes a generation, and one generation after another.
There are also sounds: Buddha's name, chimes and cymbals, chanting, wooden fish, flags fluttering, people laughing, mountain wind, running water, hooves and camel bells outside the grottoes.
after watching and listening for a while, I found myself caught up in it. Involuntary, stumbling, held by the crowd, melted by the sound, and melted by a belief that will last for thousands of years.
this kind of watching is a kind of dizziness, which is both intoxicating and vague. Therefore, I can't help wandering alone at the foot of the mountain where all the people have left in the evening after closing, and find my memory and myself little by little.
The evening breeze started, with fine sand in it, which made my cheeks ache. The moon in the desert is particularly cold, and there is a spring in front of the foot of the mountain, shining in the moonlight. Finally, my train of thought is a little clear.
three
I remember that every time I enter a cave, I always go to the time sign first, calculate my age quickly, and then look up respectfully.
The oldest one, over 1,6 years old, is regarded as a work of the Sixteen Kingdoms period in the history of China. The bodhisattva on the mural is still the appearance of the gods of the Western Regions, and you can even see what it looks like when you get up from India. It has a deep line and a strong three-dimensional sense, and it is still naked to the waist, leaving the heat on the banks of the Ganges. Other murals, depicting the cruelty of giving one's life in bloody suffering, look a little scary, and you can imagine the suffering atmosphere in the world at that time.
Next, I should look forward to the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties: the green and brown color is still vigorous, and the heroic brushwork is like a halberd. There are so many natural and unrestrained celebrities in the Central Plains who look down on the troubled times. At this time, the cave has begun to show the wind of freedom, and even the bodhisattva has become slender and lively from a short figure. Some images, which are beautiful in appearance and even morbid in beauty, seem to echo the interests of celebrities in the Central Plains.
There are various musical instruments in many scenes, and I can't name all of them.
Many young women's clothes are flying, especially flying. They predicted the trend of dancing in all directions, which was in the Sui Dynasty. A layman named Vimalakīrti is frequently depicted, which reminds people that some gentry tried to improve themselves in the Buddhist ideal. There is no asceticism in the murals, only gorgeous. Even the morbid beauty has disappeared, and the skin has become increasingly round. Those sculptures are slightly short legs and big heads, and the experience on horseback makes them calm.
The whole picture is filled with exhilarating joy, which can only be in the Tang Dynasty. The spring breeze is mighty, everything wakes up, even birds are dancers, and even flowers are rolled into patterns. Heaven and earth are linked together, with vivid expressions and creative pens. Women are more and more dominant, and both bodhisattvas and providers show full feminine beauty. Because of their self-confidence, their expressions are more quiet, plain and natural. The Buddhist Dojo in the painting has been dominated by Pure Land Sect, which inspires people to enter the beautiful pure land together as long as they recite Buddhism. Even this simple ideal is full of lightness and optimism that only the prosperous Tang Dynasty has.
The people in the world in the pictures of the Tang Dynasty, whether they are armored generals, Hu merchants in the western regions, or the mighty Lux and the viceroy's wife, are full of spirits and spirits. What's even more rare is that I clearly see some strength of Wu Daozi painting school in these characters, and find the brilliant brushwork of Li Sixun and Li Zhaodao in the background landscape. Joy has gone to the classics. I'm still happy when I get to the classics, and I'm not pretending at all.
in addition to murals, the statues in the Tang dynasty are infinitely graceful, no longer thin and dull, and even the eyebrows, eyes and corners of the mouth are filled with smiles, and even the clothes are thin and flowing like music.
Everything in the caves of the Tang Dynasty is neither repetitive nor rigid. I immediately understood that true happiness can't be repeated, just like real human nature can't be rigid. As a result, the joy of the Tang Dynasty induced long-term joy, and the human nature of the Tang Dynasty fitted the eternal human nature, and everything was integrated. In a trance, there seems to be nothing in the lively cave, no painting, no sculpture, no age, no thinking. Everything has to evaporate, but I don't want to go anywhere, just here, in the cave, in the Tang Dynasty and in Wu Daozi's pen.
suddenly, I was in a daze, and I saw a strange work, which showed a story of filial piety and gratitude. Different from other stories of the same kind, this Buddhist disciple is trying to help exiled parents complete the cause of rejuvenating the country. I immediately had a guess in my heart, so I bent down to look at the time sign-sure enough, it was created after the "An Shi Rebellion".
"An Shi Rebellion", like a whip, slammed the Tang Dynasty into two halves. Dunhuang was captured by Tubo because Tang Jun went to the east to beg for rebellion. Therefore, the content in the mural to help exiled parents complete the cause of rejuvenation is not empty.
The solemn and stirring will is engraved on the cave wall, but the tragic years are engraved on the earth. It is hard to come back to God in the glorious Tang Dynasty. Since then, the caves seem to have disappeared one by one. There are also scenes that look lively, but the excitement of imitation can only be monotonous.
In the monotony, I remember another dancer's gesture of bouncing the pipa with her back, which made my eyes light up.
Looking further, the contents of cave murals are becoming more and more secular, even the Buddhist theme has become a realistic sketch, even the Dojo in the Kingdom of Heaven has become a family house, and even the lecture on teachings has become a storyteller's story meeting. Of course, it's not bad, quite lively, and reminds me of the Washe and Zhugong tunes in the history of China drama.
Between the Tang and Song Dynasties, there were some dull luxuries. But in the Song Dynasty, it went to a kind of indifference and poverty. In this regard, I am very unwilling. In the Song Dynasty, it was an era when China people had Su Dongpo, Wang Anshi, Sima Guang, Zhu Xi, Lu You, Li Qingzhao and Xin Qiji. How could this be the case in Dunhuang? I think this is related to the political disputes in the Hexi Corridor. In endless turns, the cultural atmosphere is blocked, and remote places can only consume desolation.
in the yuan dynasty, Tibetan tantric murals appeared, and the theme no longer adhered to real life, and there was a mystery and horror that we were not used to. But the brushwork is exquisite and decorative, which reminds people of Thangka.
This is an era in which ethnic groups learn from each other, and Mongolian culture and Tibetan culture come and go in this area. There is a European traveler who reported to the outside after he came. It is very stable here. He is Kyle Poirot.
There are not many things to remember in the Mogao Grottoes in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Four
When I think about it in such a hurry in the night, I feel that this seemingly ordinary "hill" is really a strange place.
It is a museum in Hexi Corridor, half of China art history, and the meeting point of several major civilizations. It is silent because of its profundity. Perhaps, profundity is the reason for its silence.
But, just like other things in the world, everything is easy to say when it is prosperous, and when it is in decline, some struggles will follow.
In the 192s, the Mogao Grottoes once became a detention place for Belarusian soldiers. Those soldiers set up pots and stoves in the caves and made a fire to cook. Black smoke and oil covered a large number of murals and sculptures. They also dipped sticks in black paint and scribbled on the murals.
Soon after these soldiers left, a group of Americans came. They are scholars, who cursed the excesses of Belarusian soldiers and vowed on the spot to save the cultural relics of the Mogao Grottoes. Their "rescue" method is to glue the murals to gauze with chemical solvents, peel off the walls and take them back to the United States.
led by two American scholars, I want to write down their names here: one is Langdon Warner of Harvard University, and the other is Horace Jayne of Pennsylvania Museum.
The murals of the Mogao Grottoes brought back to the United States by Langdon Warner caused a sensation. He regretted that he had not brought enough chemical solvents, so he came again. This time, he simply brought an expert in the preparation of chemical solvents, and he was about to fiddle in the Mogao Grottoes.
However, he later wrote in his memoirs that he was in great trouble this time in the Mogao Grottoes:
The situation became very difficult. About dozens of villagers left their jobs and came from about fifteen kilometers away to monitor our actions ... so as to have a reason to attack us or expel us by force.
As a result, they just took some photos of the ruins and couldn't take anything away. A drop of chemical solvent is useless.
Later, Warner read a book in the United States, which was written by an interpreter named Chen Wanli who was hired from Beijing during his second visit to the Mogao Grottoes. Only then did I know that the information that those villagers got was revealed by this translator. On the second day of his arrival in Dunhuang, Mr. Chen Wanli left Warner on the pretext that his mother was ill. In fact, he told the villagers what the Americans were going to do.
for this, I want to pay tribute to this Mr. Chen Wanli.
A little-known ordinary intellectual, together with dozens of local villagers whom he had never known before, managed to accomplish such a great event in a very short time. In contrast, I think those irresponsible officials and those translators who help others, how can they find evasions?
Mr. Chen Wanli is not only a translator, but also a doctor and scholar. Another scholar named Chen in China once said: "Dunhuang people are also the sad history of our country's academics." This Mr. Chen is called Chen Yinque, and later he completely lost his sight in both eyes.
Mr. Chen Yinque can't see, but we still keep our eyes open. The cultural relics of the Mogao Grottoes that Mr. Chen Wanli and the villagers didn't have time to save are still drifting in the distance. Since outsiders are so jealous, it can be seen that they are indeed the essence of all mankind, so let them be put outside. However, they recorded the beliefs, joys and sorrows of our ancestors, and we always rushed to visit them whenever we had the chance, gazing at them for a long time through the thick glass of foreign museums and urging them in every way.
The Mogao Grottoes are drawn by those cultural relics for a long time, which almost surrounds the whole earth. Then, our mood has also been lengthened, with the immortal smile of the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, extending to the whole world.