From the perspective of modeling style, it is slightly smaller than the tall and sturdy stone horses in the early Tang Dynasty, such as Zhaoling and Qianling, with accurate proportions and exquisite carvings.
This is similar to the stone horse in the Tang Jian Mausoleum. It should be from the mid-Tang Dynasty and is a masterpiece among the stone carvings of Tang Dynasty mausoleums.
If there are a lot of ligers, stone statues, horses, etc., then the most numerous ones here are definitely Buddha statues.
Of course, there are also many Buddha statues on stele, such as the Buddhist and Taoist statues on all four sides of the stele in the Western Wei Dynasty.
Buddhism was introduced to China at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. In addition to classic texts, its mode of dissemination was "teaching based on images" which was more easily accepted and worshiped by believers.
Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the trend of statues has become popular. In addition to the large-scale construction of cave temples, individual temples and folk statues have also become popular all over the country.
There are roughly three categories of these statues: first, statue stele, which combines statues with traditional Chinese stele inscriptions, using the shape of the stele to create niches, statues, and carvings of donors and vows;
The second is the back-screen statue, which relies on the back screen to carve out single or multiple statues and guardian lions, dragons and other images in relief;
The third is the single round sculpture statues, which carve individual Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, kings of heaven, strong men, etc., all of which have distinctive styles of the times and strong local characteristics.
Among them, the classics must be the statues of Sakyamuni and Duobao Buddha. The imitations Chen Wenzhe saw here are imitations of the classic shapes from the Northern Zhou Dynasty.
There are a large number of Buddhist stone carvings like this in the Western Shaanxi, Han and Tang Stone Carving Museum.
The museum collects dozens of statues from the Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui and Tang dynasties.
The early Buddhist statues of the Northern Wei Dynasty were influenced by the artistic styles of Gandhara and Mosuluo, and had obvious external factors.
In the middle and late period of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Sinicization policy was implemented, and Buddhist statues were integrated with traditional Chinese artistic styles, forming the characteristics of elegant clothes and elegant figures.
For example, the statues of the two Bodhisattvas from the Northern Wei Dynasty in the collection of the museum are in a high bun. Although the face is mutilated, it still looks delicate. It wears a belt-style Buddhist robe with smooth patterns and hangs in front of the seat in a fan shape. It has a clear sense of layering and is graceful and dignified.
The statues of the Western Wei Dynasty follow the style of the late Northern Wei Dynasty.
The style of statues in the Northern Zhou Dynasty changed from the slender and elegant style to the majestic style, and the number of large-scale Buddha statues increased.
The standing Buddha from the Northern Zhou Dynasty in the collection has a plump face, a low bun, a large head, a strong body, and a slightly bulging abdomen. It is a typical Northern Zhou sculpture style.
The standing Bodhisattva statues of the Northern Zhou Dynasty are also strong in shape, with broad shoulders and plump forehead, narrowed chest and bulging abdomen, and are decorated with long strings of necklaces all over the body, which are complicated and gorgeous.
There is a standing statue of a Bodhisattva in the collection. The whole body is painted with gold, mainly red, yellow and black. The exposed body part is painted with yellow, and the necklace is painted with gold. The colors are bright, which is really rare and precious.
The Buddhist statues of the Tang Dynasty are the most glorious chapter in the history of Chinese Buddhist art. They got rid of the external influence of early Buddhist statues, moved toward nationalization and secularization, and formed a Buddhist statue art system with a Chinese style.
The Tang Dynasty standing Buddha statues in the collection are tall and tall, more than 2 meters high, with towering buns, dignified faces, slightly closed eyes, straight nose bridges, and clear-cut corners of the mouth.
The chest is plump and smooth, the abdomen is slightly contracted, and the thigh muscles are bulging.
Wearing a shoulder-length cassock, the clothing pattern is distributed in a "U" shape. The cassock is light and thin and fits the body, showing a strong and healthy body.
This style comes from the "wet clothing method" of the Buddha statues of Mosuluo and Yin Sangupta, and is combined with the "Cao Yi Chushui" style of the figure painter Cao Zhongda during the Three Kingdoms period in my country.
This reflects the tolerant, high-spirited and healthy spiritual characteristics of the Tang Dynasty.
For example, there is a Buddha-topped Dharani sutra pillar made by Chu Xianfa, which was created in the fifth year of Kaicheng's reign in the Tang Dynasty.
Jingzhu is a form of scripture engraving that became popular in the Tang Dynasty.
With the promotion of Tantric Buddhism in the early Tang Dynasty, its important classic "Foding Zunsheng Dharani Sutra" quickly became popular throughout the country.
Reciting this sutra can eliminate sins and avoid the pain of the evil paths of reincarnation, so it was engraved on the stone pillar.
Sutra pillars are generally eight-sided, but also have six or four edges. The lower part is the base of the pillar, the middle part is the body of the pillar with scriptures engraved on it, and there are phase wheel orbs on the upper part.
Since there is a way of making offerings by "mounting a high pillar" in the scriptures, whenever the dusty people on the prayer pillar fall on the body, or the light and shadow of the prayer pillar are reflected on the body, that is, "the dust is stained and the shadow is covered", and the magical power is wonderful.
Therefore, they were widely carved and placed in thoroughfares, palaces, temples, tombs, etc., all over the Tang Dynasty. Other Buddhist scriptures such as the Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra were also engraved on the sutra pillars.
The Tang Dynasty sutra pedestal collected in the museum is square in shape with each side more than 1 meter and 0.42 meters high.
The main text in the middle left corner of the front reads, "Provided by the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty."
The emperor was kneeling and sitting on the couch, wearing a royal robe and wearing a hat on his head.
He has a handsome face and a solemn expression, holding a wat board with both hands on his chest. There is a male dwarf in front of the couch, and behind him are courtiers holding fans.
The main text in the middle on the right side reads "The Empress of the Tang Dynasty provides support".
The queen is kneeling on a pomegranate, wearing the highest-grade "coat" among the queen's dresses in the Tang Dynasty. She has a plump face and a graceful expression. She wears a flower hairpin on her head, hangs three strings of steps in front of her, holds lotus buds in her hands in front of her chest, and holds a canopy behind her.
The maid holding a fan.
On the far left side are engraved the words "Yansi Kao Huan Yuanhui made offerings" and "Dabao Building Master Qing believer Huan Nayan made offerings";
On the far right side is engraved "Yan's mother, the Jin family, provides support, and the owner of the building, Qingxinnu, Yan's wife, the Zhao family, provides support."
On the right side are engraved the images of eight donors, each wearing a futou, round-neck robe, and boots. Above them are their respective official titles and names.
On the left side is engraved: "Supported by my old friend Zhao Yuanzhe".
His wife is kneeling on the couch, and the other donors are either kneeling on the couch or standing with their names beside them.
In the middle of the back is the animal head, with two dragons intersecting in soaring clouds, and a crouching lion on each side, surrounded by auspicious clouds, with the dragon and the lion perched on it, creating a magnificent momentum.
Images of emperors and empresses worshiping Buddha can be seen in the Longmen Grottoes and Gongxian Grottoes of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
In particular, the image and clothing of the emperor in the "Emperor Worshiping the Buddha" at the beginning of Cave 220 of the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes murals, and the crown are very similar to the image on the sutra pillar.
The male and female dwarfs in front of the emperor and the empress are also the same as the male and female dwarfs in the murals of Prince Zhanghuai's tomb.
This tile is rich in content, with numerous characters and accurate and vivid shapes.
The characters' costumes, canopies, fans, magpie-tail incense burners, dragons, lions, etc. all have the typical Tang Dynasty style.
The images of emperors and queens on the sutra pillars are found for the first time in stone carvings of the Tang Dynasty.
It is exquisitely carved and extremely precious, and can be called the "treasure of the museum".
There is no conclusion yet as to which emperor or empress it was who built the building.
On the front of the tower is engraved the words "The owner of the Dabao Tower, the Qing believer Huan Nayan, made an offering".
But some people think that this person is Huan Yanfan.
In the first year of the reign of Emperor Huan Yan and Fan Shenlong, he became Prime Minister and was appointed as Nayan, and later he was appointed as the Minister of Attendant.
In the early Tang Dynasty, "Nayan" and "Shizhong" both referred to high-ranking officials and "prime ministers" under the sect. The two terms were used interchangeably, so it is speculated that Huan Yanfan was Huan Nayan.
It further extends to Yan's self-proclaimed name as Huan Yanfan, and there is an inscription on the stone saying "Yan died and was supported by Huan Yuanhui".
In recent years, the "Epitaph of Huan Chen Fan" by the Huan Chen Fan brothers, newly unearthed in Yangluo and collected by the Yangluo Normal University Library, records: "The great father is the heir, Kao Siliang."
It can be seen that Huan Yanfan and Huan Nayan are not the same person.
There is also "Yandi Nayan" in the carved stone to make offerings, which can be regarded as the ranking of brothers.
There was also "an old friend Zhao Yuanzhe who supported him", and later "Zhe's wife Li Chengshi supported him".
These are all replaced by the last character of the name, and there are no examples of mixed use of official positions and names in the Tang Dynasty.