Chapter 1524 The Three Saints of Huayan
During the reign of Gao Yang, the Northern Qi soldiers arrived south of the Yangtze River and twice approached Jiankang City. Although they were repelled by Chen Baxian, his army had completely controlled Huainan and finally fought with The Chen Dynasty took the Yangtze River as its boundary.
However, in the later period, Gaoyang's life began to become debauched. He was careless about human life, ignored the government, and indulged in wine and sex. He mobilized 100,000 people in the capital Yecheng to build Santai Palace, which was extremely luxurious and extravagant.
Although he was cruel, Gao Yang was still able to use the Han people, and Yang Min was the best among them.
Yang Min began to follow Gao Huan because his clan was destroyed during the Erzhu Rebellion. Later, he served successively as the official history of Taiyuan Gongfu, Youcheng of Daxingtai, Shilang of Huangmen, and Changshi of Sanqi. He was granted the title of Marquis of Huayin County.
He married Gao Huan's two daughters successively, and later assisted Gao Yang in establishing the Northern Qi Dynasty. He successively served as minister, left servant, minister, and minister, and was promoted to king of Kaifeng.
In his later years, Gao Yang had a violent temper and chaotic administration. However, as the prime minister, Yang Min was still trusted, good at managing politics, and bridging the gaps. It was all because of his presiding over the government that the country would not be destroyed.
The commentators said that "the master is faint at the top, and the government is clear at the bottom" and "it really depends on Yan to maintain relief."
It can be roughly seen from this statue that compared to the Buddhist sculptures of the Northern Wei Dynasty, which advocated thinness as beauty and pursued elegant bones and clear statues, the artistic style of the Northern Qi Dynasty began to trend towards It became complicated and began to add colors, carvings, and jewelry.
The Buddha statue in front of me began to become round and soft, deep and kind. Although it was in the absurd and extravagant era of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and although it was used as a tribute to the most powerful official under the high ocean, the statue was Only a set of Yingluo carvings were added to the chest, without redundant colors and inlays, which also showed Yang Min's sagacity.
By the time the statues arrived in the Northern Qi Dynasty, they had perfectly combined foreign styles with local charm. Based on the foreign models of Sanskrit statues, they were integrated with the understanding of the culture of their own dynasty by ancient Chinese artists, and then evolved and sublimated. It thoroughly clarifies the value and significance embodied in the localization process of foreign culture, and demonstrates the diversity, unity, long history, openness, inclusiveness, and profoundness of Chinese culture.
The high degree of integration of ancient Chinese sculpture skills and spiritual beliefs was finally realized in the Northern Qi Dynasty, ultimately creating an artistic treasure of five thousand years of Chinese civilization.
This statue has no gold or jade, and its true colors are revealed. It only pays great attention to the ramie craftsmanship and carving. In terms of spirit and character expression, it can be said to be a return to nature, reaching the pinnacle, and fully worthy of the "Northern Qi Dynasty" Once the Buddha statue appears, there will be no other in the world."
Thinking that there were two more statues in the water tank outside, Zhou Zhi quickly picked up the bucket and moved them in too.
There are many Buddhist themes in the juxtaposition of the three statues. The most famous ones are the horizontal Buddha III and the vertical Buddha III.
The third generation Buddha refers to the three Buddhas in the middle, east and west worlds. They are shaped like Sakyamuni Buddha, Amitabha Buddha and Medicine Buddha.
The three-episode Buddha represents the Buddhas representing the three worlds of the past, present and future. They are shaped like Sakyamuni Buddha, the Ancient Buddha of Burning Lights, and the Maitreya Buddha.
Although it can be seen from the words on the offering plate that the statue should be roughly one Buddha and two Bodhisattva, but even if it is one Buddha and two Bodhisattva, there are many types.
For example, the Three Saints of the West, the Three Saints of Whispering, and the Three Saints of Huayan.
The shapes of the three Western saints come from the "Avalokitesvara Sutra". They are Amitabha, Guanyin Bodhisattva and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva.
Because Amitabha means infinite life and infinite light, this sutra, the Sutra of Infinite Life, states that the three sages are all in the Western Paradise, so they are called the Three Western Sages.
Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is characterized by having a transformed Buddha on its head, which means that after Amitabha Buddha passes away, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva will take over as the leader of the Western Paradise and become the "Mountain King Buddha of Universal Light and Merit".
The one with a treasure vase on his head is Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva. He will take over the throne after Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva passes away and becomes the "King of Treasure Mountain King Tathagata who abides well". The origin of the three saints is the explanation of the "whirlpool world".
Buddhism believes that the space where one sun and one moon shines is a small world. A thousand small worlds are called small thousand worlds, a thousand small thousand worlds are called middle thousand worlds, and a thousand small thousand worlds are called middle thousand worlds. The middle thousand world is called the three thousand world, also called the great thousand world, and also called the whirling world.
The whirling world is the world we live in. The leader is Sakyamuni Buddha, the Great Compassionate Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is on the left, and the Great Wish Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is on the right.
Because the Three Saints often save all living beings in the whirling world, they are closely related to this land, so they are called the "Three Saints of Whirlpool".
The Three Sages of Huayan come from the "Miaofa Lotus Sutra" and refer to the three saints of the Hua Zang world. The main one is Sakyamuni Buddha's Dharmakaya Vairocana Buddha, which is also known as Tantric Buddhism. The Great Sun Tathagata.
The Bodhisattva Manjushri teaches the Lotus Sutra with his wisdom and the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra teaches the Lotus Sutra with his actions, so they are called the "Three Saints of Huayan".
Clean out the two Bodhisattva statues. One is holding a lotus, which is Samantabhadra; the other is holding Ruyi, which is Manjushri.
Both Bodhisattvas have a boat-shaped headlight behind them, which is different from the boat-shaped backlight behind Vairocana Buddha, the dharma body of Sakyamuni Buddha. The round headlight is lightly carved behind the head, and the complex shape of the lotus inside the circle is different.
The statue has a beautiful face, extended eyebrows, and stands on a lotus platform. It is slightly shorter than the main statue, so it can also be distinguished from the primary and secondary.
Move the three statues to the study room and place them on the desk. Use soft cotton cloth to absorb the water.
Now Zhou Zhi is also a collector of Ming and Qing furniture. He is no stranger to lacquer furniture and knows how to maintain it.
Pour some walnut oil on a soft wool fabric and push the three statues carefully, and the patina of the statues will be completely revealed.
It is obvious that the three statues have been worshiped by people for a long time and have been carefully maintained for a long time. A thick protective thin oxide layer has been formed on them, which is the coating of lacquerware.
Although the three statues were later sealed with clay, the oxide layer was not completely eroded away. Now it is rejuvenated under the nourishment of walnut oil.
Walnut oil also has an effect, that is, after the statue has been soaked for a week, some water may have been absorbed between the paint layers. Using walnut oil can seal some pores and slow down the evaporation of water. , this can reduce the damage caused by environmental changes and allow the statue to slowly adapt.
No matter what, after maintenance, the state of the statue has changed from being slightly dull after absorbing the water, to becoming gleaming with treasure again, and it is suddenly different.
At this time, the sky was getting brighter, and the morning sun shone in from the window. The Three Saints of Huayan seemed to be enveloped in a red light, which slowly turned into a bright yellow light, as if telling Zhou Zhi what they had experienced. This reincarnation is like a vicissitude of life.
Zhou Zhi pulled out his camera like crazy and started taking pictures of the three statues.
After taking the photos, I started calling Mr. Wang again: "Old man... our foundation seems to have discovered something amazing again..."
(End of this chapter)
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