Chapter 148: Shocking Work

Seeing that Shen Qingcheng was distracted again, Chen Xiner beside him, "Qingcheng, grandpa is talking to you!"

Shen Qingcheng came to his senses and looked at Chen Xiner beside him, and then looked at Chen Yizhi. He blushed, "Grandpa, Qingcheng was just now playing a big knife in front of you, and the Buddhist carving culture of Daliang. Qingcheng knows first, but not the second, and we have to learn more from Grandpa in this regard."

Speaking of Daliang’s Buddhist carving culture, Dr. Stephen became interested.

"Old Shen, the Daliang mentioned just now, I think the Buddha carving culture is his treasure. Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, Datong Yungang Grottoes, Luoyang Longmen Grottoes, and Tianshui Maijishan Grottoes, seem to be almost the same age. I always think they are from the same period..."

Dr. Stephen talked about his research over the years and found that these four major caves have many similarities, and it seems to have similar skills in terms of carving techniques, craftsmanship and stone selection.

"Dr. Shi is right. In terms of carving skills, these four caves inherited and developed the excellent tradition of carving art in the Qin and Han Dynasties, absorbed and integrated the beneficial components of Jiandra art, created artworks with unique styles, leaving an important page in the history of Chinese sculpture.

The four major caves of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, and the Maijishan Grottoes in Tianshui are important image materials for understanding and studying the ancient history, carving, architecture, music, and religious beliefs of China." Chen Yizhi spoke his views to Dr. Stephen with deep feelings.

Shen Qingcheng added next to him that he had more say in the carving of Buddha statues in the grottoes. Whether it was Mo Ding in the past or Shen Qingcheng in the present, he knew the past and present of Buddhist sculpture culture.

"In fact, among the four major grottoes, Maijishan Grottoes are famous both at home and abroad for their exquisite clay sculpture art. If Dunhuang is a large mural museum, then Maijishan is a large sculpture hall. The Buddha statues in Maijishan are as large as more than 15 meters high and the small ones are only more than 20 centimeters. They reflect the characteristics of statues in various eras over the past thousand years and systematically reflect the development and evolution process of Chinese clay sculpture art.

The clay sculptures of Maijishan Grottoes can be roughly divided into high floating sculptures that highlight the wall, round sculptures that completely leave the wall, molded and wall sculptures that are pasted on the wall. Among them, thousands of round sculptures that are similar to life size are very interesting and are regarded as treasures."

Speaking of Maijishan Grottoes, Shen Qingcheng is well-known. The reason why he is so familiar is that in addition to participating in the Mogao Grottoes, he also participated in the Wei Caves of Maijishan Grottoes.

Everyone listened with relish and listened carefully to Shen Qingcheng's introduction, "Starting from the Northern Wei statues, almost all Buddha statues in Maijishan Grottoes have a look down and have a kind face. Judging from the body shape and clothing of the statues, they are gradually getting rid of the influence of foreign art and reflecting the characteristics of the Chinese nation."

After listening to Shen Qingcheng's additional explanation, Dr. Stephen deeply felt that he had a deep understanding because he, Ouyang Jie and Zhou Qingyang had just evaluated the application for World Heritage in Maijishan Grottoes.

"We have conducted research on the Maijishan Grottoes and found that its earliest construction time can be calculated to 384 AD. After checking the historical materials, we found that the Maijishan Grottoes have been continuously excavated and rebuilt by more than ten dynasties and have become one of the famous large grottoes in China. It is an undisputed art treasure house.

The latest statistics are that there are 194 existing caves in Maijishan Grottoes, including clay sculptures from all dynasties from the 4th to the 19th century, more than 7,200 stone sculptures and more than 1,300 square meters of murals. The Maijishan Grottoes were excavated in the 5th to 13th century. It is a large grotto temple second only to the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang in the Hexi Corridor and its surrounding areas."

As soon as Dr. Stephen finished speaking, Shen Qingcheng couldn't help but feel excited, and then told everyone the reason why the Maijishan Grottoes became the top priority.

"Maijishan Grottoes are located at the key traffic on the Silk Road at that time. They were influenced by mainstream grottoes such as Yungang and Longmen in the northern Central Plains, and were also impacted by southern and western cultures. They adopted the grotto form of the image of the Buddhist temple in China, and the earliest relics such as Sutra Change Paintings. Its influence was widely and became an important relic in the turning stage of the Silk Road Buddhist art from east to west.

Shen Qingcheng's talk about Maijishan Grottoes made Chen Yizhi very pleased.

After all, the Shen family has been a Buddhist carving family since the Wei and Jin Dynasties. The craftsmanship of thousands of years has allowed the Shen family to devote themselves to studying Buddhist carving techniques. Not only can they be able to carve, but they also have to be familiar with the past and present, so that the Buddhist carving techniques are close to the times and create more Buddhist carving relics.

"Wentao, I have always had a long-cherished wish to rebuild Buddhist temples in the border town and rebuild the Western Regions Station Buddha, and restore them one by one. Do you still remember this?" Chen Yizhi looked at Bi Wentao beside him and mentioned the past.

When Bi Wentao found Chen Yizhi, he wanted to tell Chen Yizhi his thoughts, but there was always someone talking to Chen Yizhi, and he never had the chance to speak out.

"Dad, I have not forgotten your long-cherished wish. Not long ago, I arranged for someone to go to the border town to conduct on-site survey of the site, and evaluate the environment and surrounding humanities. The assessment report has been prepared, and there will be news in the near future." Bi Wentao happily told Chen Yizhi's progress.

Chen Yizhi did not expect that Bi Wentao would remember his words back then, "Restoring Buddha stationed in the Western Regions in the border town is of great significance. It is not only the inheritance of Buddha sculpture culture, but also a historical witness to the Silk Road from south to north to spread scriptures and preaching Buddha. When Buddhism was introduced from the Western Regions to the heartland of the Central Plains of China, this is a tracing of the origin, tracing the origin and inheritance of culture. What we did is a very meaningful thing."

Shen Qingcheng expressed his confidence to Chen Yizhi, "Grandpa, our three generations of grandparents and grandchildren work together to create a Western Regions Buddha that amazed the world and pay tribute to the Buddhist sculptures of all generations."

When Dr. Stephen heard that Bi Wentao was going to build a Western Regions Station Buddha in the border town, he asked Bi Wentao with interest.

"Mr. Bi, I wonder how much construction period do you plan to take and when will the construction be completed?"

Bi Wentao looked at Dr. Stephen with a frank look on his face, "In order to create fine products, this time I will not only restore the Buddha standing in the Western Regions, but also build temples and temples, create Buddhist sculpture culture in the border town, complete the spirit of craftsmanship, and create a future world heritage."

Dr. Stephen thought Bi Wentao was just building a Buddha, but he didn't expect to build a temple. This doesn't sound like a small project.

"I wonder how much money are you going to invest?" Dr. Stephen regretted it after saying that, after all, it seemed inappropriate to ask about the cost of his identity like him.
Chapter completed!