The world's earliest picture of Xuanzang's journey to the west is indeed on the rock wall of the Fodong Grottoes in winter.
The East Thousand Buddhas Cave is one of the Dunhuang Grottoes, located on both sides of the canyon 35 kilometers south of Qiaozi Township, Anxi County, Gansu Province.
Many people don’t know about the East Thousand Buddha Caves, but when it comes to Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, they are famous.
There are a total of 735 caves in the Mogao Grottoes, of which nearly 500 are painted with huge murals, covering a total area of more than 45,000 square meters. The paintings lasted for more than a thousand years and are known as the world's largest gallery.
Because the murals in the Dunhuang Grottoes are very mysterious, many people in China have endless associations with these beautiful murals. Some people even mythologize them and speculate about their creators.
But until now, the painters of these murals have remained a mystery.
For more than a century, academic circles have been arguing endlessly about who painted the Dunhuang murals, which are regarded as world treasures.
Because painters before the Song Dynasty generally did not have the habit of writing inscriptions, and it is difficult to find records about the painter in all the inscriptions on the murals, so the real conclusion has been pending.
In the past few years, researchers have been looking forward to finding the eternal mystery of the creator of the murals in the northern area of Mogao Grottoes.
They believe that there are many relics of life in the 243 caves in the northern area of Mogao Grottoes, and they should be the residences of Dunhuang painters.
But new discoveries were soon made. The latest archaeological results show that the ruins in these caves are very regular, and many Buddhist utensils were unearthed, which are places where monks lived and practiced.
What kind of strong-willed monks are able to practice in such a remote and difficult grotto, and what are the reasons for them to stay here? These unsolved mysteries make this remote grotto even more mysterious. The murals
The author's origins also appear more confusing.
Last year, the Dunhuang Academy disclosed for the first time the six existing paintings of "Xuanzang's Studying for Buddhist Scriptures" among the Dunhuang murals. These six paintings are well-preserved and brightly colored. They symbolically represent Xuanzang's 17-year arduous journey to the West to search for Buddhist scriptures. They have been
It is confirmed to be the earliest Xuanzang scripture drawing in China.
The creation time was long before "Journey to the West" was written.
Of course, like all the murals in the Dunhuang Grottoes, the original authors of these six Buddhist scripture murals remain a mystery.
After deciding on the next itinerary, everyone started busy preparations.
Danxuan did not show any hesitation this time and was immediately ready to set off.
After this period of contact, he has now begun to trust Chen Zhi very much. This trust makes him confident in the future journey. He is no longer confused. He believes that this time, he will definitely find the result.
Tianfa Temple is currently the largest Buddhist temple in the country. If Danxuan leaves for a long time, there will be a lot of things to deal with internally.
Danxuan went back that afternoon to deal with the details and trivial follow-up work, and arranged for someone to temporarily take his place.
Chen Zhi called Lao Jiandou from here and told him about the upcoming journey, asking him to find a support person in Gansu and arrange all the accommodation, food, tour guide and other matters.
The scientific research team here was no longer of much use. Chen Zhi asked them to go back first, but asked Professor Liao's eldest apprentice to stay, and asked him to choose two capable people to set off with their team.
After a busy afternoon, everything was ready. Because we had to travel tomorrow, everyone went to bed early at night.
This night, for the first time, Chen Zhi did not have nightmares.
However, he still came to the dark desert, but this place was no longer hot. It was surrounded by large and small stones, and cool air was exuding from the stones.
This place is very unfamiliar, but very cool. There is a large millstone in the middle of the ground, and it is stained with blood, as if someone has just been killed.
Then there was a sharp scream in the darkness, and pairs of eyes appeared. Those eyes were of various colors. They looked neither animals nor humans. The vicious eyes were terrifying...
The flight was at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and at around 10 o'clock the next morning, Danxuan appeared at their door as promised.
For the convenience of traveling, Danxuan did not wear monk robes and cassocks this time, but wore a set of casual clothes. He wore a hat on his head, shrank the Buddhist beads into his sleeves, and carried a travel bag, hiding his status as a monk.
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Danxuan is originally fair, but after putting on casual clothes, he looks quite handsome, and he has an otherworldly temperament.
Fat Wei kept praising him along the way, saying that he was a fairy from the Nine Heavens who descended from the mortal world...
After driving for a while, they quickly got on a plane to Gansu.
There were a lot of people on this plane and it was a bit noisy. Chen Zhi and the others were already accustomed to long-distance travel. After getting on the plane, they closed their eyes and meditated like ordinary tourists.
However, the eldest disciple and the two scientific researchers were quite nervous.
The eldest disciple’s surname was Yang, a true southerner. It is said that his family was originally very poor and he was a doctoral candidate in a rural area. He often ate 50-cent steamed buns in the cafeteria, so he was nicknamed Yang Wumao.
After Yang Wumao chatted with the two scientific researchers for a long time, he kept pulling Fat Wei's arm from behind.
"Oh~~, fat brother, there's something I'm still worried about!"
"Oh, just tell me if you have anything to do!" Fat Wei half-closed his eyes and said nonchalantly.
At this time, I heard Yang Wumao stumbling,
"that……
The last time we went to that tower, we were quite frightened!
We people are not like you. We are all in the laboratory, and we are very timid. It is obvious that we cannot tolerate these strange things.
In fact, we have heard about your affairs and know that you are all doing great things.
But Professor Liao told me at that time that we don’t need to do dangerous things, so why don’t you take us to Gansu again to see the Buddhist caves!!
Well..., there's nothing scary in that place, right? I..., I have a heart disease!"
"Do not worry!",
Fat Wei half-closed his eyes and turned around to deal with:
"Where do you think the East Thousand Buddhas Cave is?
It has long been a famous scenic spot, but most people still have to spend money to go there!
We are actually going to have fun this time. Seeing that you have been working very hard these days, Brother Chen took care of you specially and took you on a trip at public expense.
Let me tell you, you will stay in five-star hotels along the way, and the food, drinks, and entertainment are all the best, so just go ahead and enjoy yourself, don’t be nagging!"
"Oh, that's good, that's good!
thanks, thanks!",
This Yang Wumao was a very simple person, but he was overwhelmed by Fat Wei's nonsense. He smiled, pushed up his thick-bottomed glasses, and started talking about the scenery of Dunhuang with several scientific researchers next to him!
However, they don't know yet what awaits them this time...