"Brother Zhuang, do you want me to teach him a lesson?"
Peng Fei felt that this trip was relatively dull. After seeing Zhongchuan, he couldn't help but feel itchy in his hands and feet. Especially when he saw a translator next to Zhongchuan who was nodding and bowing, Comrade Peng Fei was extremely unhappy. He couldn't bear to see these people holding
Money runs away from Chinese foreigners pretending to be uncles.
"Forget it, you kid, don't cause trouble. You can play for a day today, but you will start working tomorrow..."
Zhuang Rui waved his hand to stop Peng Fei. Others admire Chinese culture and it is their freedom to travel wherever they want. However, Zhongchuan is really close to him. He has met him three times in succession from Xi'an to Dunhuang.
"That guy doesn't look like a good guy. Maybe he came to China to steal cultural relics..." Peng Fei muttered, parked the car, opened the door and walked out.
Although Dunhuang is located in a remote place, as a world-famous tourist attraction, the Mogao Grottoes were crowded with people, and there were tourist groups holding small flags and wearing sun hats everywhere. If it weren't for Peng Fei's sharp eyesight, Zhongchuan would not have been seen.
, but as soon as he got out of the car, Nakagawa was lost in the crowd.
There are four giant grottoes in China featuring Buddhist culture, namely Dunhuang-Mogao Grottoes, Datong-Yungang Grottoes, Luoyang-Longmen Grottoes, and Tianshui-Maijishan Grottoes. Among them, Longmen Grottoes and Mogao Grottoes are the most important.
The Mogao Grottoes are the largest and best preserved among the four major grottoes.
Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes were first built in 366 AD. During the 1,500 years until the Qing Dynasty, more than 480 caves were built densely on the wall of Mingsha Mountain, which is three miles long, with five floors arranged up and down.
, the heights are staggered and row upon row, shaped like a beehive and dovecote. Standing hundreds of meters away from the Mogao Grottoes, it looks extremely spectacular.
All the grottoes are filled with colorful Buddha statues and murals with Buddhist stories as the theme. There are more than 2,000 colorful Buddha statues, the largest one is 33 meters high. The murals are highly skilled and the number is astonishing. If one square is connected
, can be arranged into a gallery more than fifty miles long.
…
"Zhuang Rui, put your cameras in the car. You are not allowed to bring cameras inside the Mogao Grottoes. If you are interested in those portraits of Buddha, I can find someone to get you a complete copy of the Mogao Grottoes later.
Image album…”
Seeing a camera hanging around Zhuang Rui's neck, Dr. Ren, who got off another car, reminded him that since the flashes of various cameras can cause great damage to cultural relics, it is forbidden to bring cameras into this attraction.
.
In the name of the Institute of Archaeology of Peking University, Professor Meng, in conjunction with the Dunhuang Institute of Cultural Relics, conducted research on the potential damage to murals caused by carbon dioxide produced by breathing. As an early student of Professor Meng, Ren
This is not the first time that the doctor has come here, and he has conducted quite in-depth research on the Mogao Grottoes.
Following the tourist crowd, Zhuang Rui and others also entered the interior of the Mogao Grottoes. They entered the southern area of the Mogao Grottoes. There are a total of 487 caves here, all of which have murals or statues. After entering the first
After entering the cave, Zhuang Rui was attracted by the exquisite stone carvings on the rock wall and above his head.
Looking around the cave and on the top of the cave, there are paintings of Buddhas, musicians, and fairies everywhere. There are paintings in almost every space in the cave. After entering the cave, Zhuang Rui felt as if he had entered an ancient gallery. Everywhere
They are all filled with a rich artistic atmosphere.
Different from visiting those scenic spots and historic sites, all the paintings and stone Buddha statues here exude an artistic beauty. The colorful and exquisite decorative patterns seem to lead people into a grand and spectacular art gallery.
Every detail shows the exquisite craftsmanship and artistic accomplishment of our ancestors.
"Zhuang Rui, this is Feitian. The Feitian advertisement we saw on CCTV is based on this..." In a grotto more than 30 meters high, Dr. Ren saw Zhuang Rui looking up at the dome.
I introduced him verbally.
Feitian is a god who serves Buddha and Emperor Shakti. He is good at singing and dancing. On the walls of this grotto, there are patterns of Feitian carved everywhere. Some are dancing in the boundless universe, and some are holding lotus buds in their hands.
Some of the clouds swoop down from the sky like meteors, some pass through the tall buildings and pavilions like swimming dragons, and some are swept by the wind, leisurely and contented.
Ancient painters used their unique long and winding lines to stretch and harmoniously present people with a beautiful and ethereal imaginary world. The bright colors and flying lines presented people with a kind of arrogant power, which made people feel comfortable and relaxed.
Zhuang Rui had a passion for riding wildly on the desert wasteland reverberating in his heart.
"The information in movies and TV shows is not as good as seeing it with your own eyes..."
Zhuang Rui withdrew his eyes from staring at the dome. Just now he used his spiritual energy to feel the grotto where he was. The exquisite strokes and the beautiful fairies were shining brightly and their clothes and belts were dancing. They seemed to be alive in the spiritual energy.
Turning around, Zhuang Rui was intoxicated and shocked in his heart, as if his soul was dancing and trembling along with it.
Even Peng Fei, who had no artistic talent in his body, was attracted by these exquisite portraits and said blankly: "Brother Zhuang, when I look at these murals, why do they seem to be alive?"
"Well, Peng Fei, this shows that you are destined to be a Buddhist. You might as well become a monk and become a monk. As the saying goes, you can lay down your butcher's knife and become a Buddha immediately..."
Feeling the unique aura of the grotto, Zhuang Rui was in a good mood, and joked with Peng Fei with a smile, but this was also half true and half false. In modern society, people like Peng Fei can already be regarded as the god of death.
Being in this important place of Buddhism may be able to alleviate some of the violent aura in him.
"Hey, are they going to accept the meat-and-wine monks?" Peng Fei laughed when he heard this. He himself is a master who is not afraid of heaven and earth. Even in this solemn place with the Buddha statue, it can only make him slightly distracted.
"You, stop talking nonsense here..."
Zhuang Rui shook his head, walked out of the grotto, and continued to tour. This time he focused on the various Buddhist sculptures in the grotto.
Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties were the heyday of the development of the Mogao Grottoes, the Buddhist sculptures in the Mogao Grottoes were also deeply influenced by the Buddhist culture of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Most of the statues were round sculptures, with rich and plump shapes, strong figures, dignified and tranquil expressions, and style
Simple and heavy.
Colored sculptures are the main body of Buddhist sculpture art in Mogao Grottoes. There are Buddha statues, Bodhisattva statues, disciple statues, and various colored sculptures of kings, kings, and strong men. The forms are rich and colorful, and round sculptures, relief sculptures, shadow sculptures, and good deed sculptures can all be found here.
I saw that the tallest one is 34.5 meters high and the smallest is only about 2 centimeters. The rich themes and superb craftsmanship can be called a museum of Buddhist painted sculptures.
When he reached Grotto No. 16, Dr. Ren stopped, pointed inside and said, "Zhuang Rui, this is the Buddhist Scripture Cave..."
"Are those precious scriptures hidden inside?"
Zhuang Rui used the flashlight he carried to shine inside. The inner wall of the square cave, which was only 2.6 meters long and 3 meters high, was painted with Bodhi trees, bhikkhunis and other images. There was a low altar in the style of a Zen bed with sculptures on it.
The sitting posture of Hong Bian, a distinguished monk, and as for the scriptures, there is not a single volume left.
More than a century ago, when Taoist Wang accidentally opened this scripture cave, it contained documents, paper paintings, silk paintings, embroidery, etc. from the 4th century to the 11th century (i.e., the Sixteenth Kingdom to the Northern Song Dynasty).
There are more than 50,000 cultural relics, but now in China, almost every ten of them exist.
Later archaeologists inferred that the Sutra Cave should have been closed by the monks in the Mogao Grottoes in the 11th century AD when they were preparing to escape from the Xixia army. Most of the documents unearthed are manuscripts and a few are engravings, especially
It appears to be precious, and there are also ancient Tibetan, Sanskrit, Qilu, Sogdian, Khotanese, Uighur, Qiucian and other texts, which have been handed down to this day, and many of them are already unique and extinct copies.
As for Taoist Wang, the discoverer of the Sutra Cave, although later generations have mixed praise and criticism for him, Zhuang Rui always believed that he was the sinner of the loss of civilization during this period. He allegedly used the silver he sold to repair the Mogao Grottoes.
His actions cannot at all atone for his behavior of losing these precious cultural relics.
Perhaps many friends will say that Taoist Wang is dedicated to the public good, and the silver he sold to foreigners was not used for private enjoyment, but spent his life in poverty. Some people will also say that if Taoist Wang had not sold those things, perhaps these items would have been lost.
Destroyed by the war that followed.
But do these friends know that the Mogao Grottoes have been little known since the Yuan Dynasty. They have basically preserved their original appearance for hundreds of years, and no one knows that precious and rare Buddhist scriptures are preserved there.
Based on the actions of the Qing Dynasty and the National Government at that time, it was impossible to take care of the Mogao Grottoes. In other words, if Taoist Wang had not opened the Sutra Cave, these precious cultural relics would most likely not have been discovered by people today.
Discovered, these precious cultural relics belonging to China will be well preserved.
Moreover, after the government at that time paid attention to it, Wang Taoist still secretly kept most of the precious scriptures and cultural relics of the final value. He sold 24 boxes of manuscripts, 5 boxes of artworks and 24 boxes of manuscripts and works of art to the British archaeologist Stein for only 700 silver dollars.
570 Dunhuang documents.
Later, the French archaeologist Pelliot acquired more than 10,000 exquisite Dunhuang documents for 600 taels of silver, and some of the last remaining precious cultural relics were sold by Taoist Wang to the Japanese explorer Koichiro Yoshikawa.
and Tachibana Ruichao.
Therefore, of the more than 50,000 pieces of scripture cave documents discovered in 1900, only 8,757 pieces were finally collected in the current National Library of China, which is less than half of the number in the British Museum. Therefore, in Zhuang Rui's heart, Taoist Wang is
The main culprit for the loss of Dunhuang culture.
