Riding the wind of rebirth

Chapter 1524: The Three Holy Ones of Huayan

During the reign of Gao Yang, the Northern Qi army reached south to the Yangtze River and twice approached Jiankang City. Although they were repelled by Chen Baxian, his army had completely controlled Huainan, and finally the Yangtze River was used as the boundary with the Chen Dynasty.

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 spent 100,000 people in his 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 one of the best.

Yang Min began to follow Gao Huan because his family was destroyed during the Erzhu Rebellion. Later, he served successively as Chief Shi of Taiyuan Gongfu, Youcheng of Daxingtai, Shilang of Huangmen, Changshi of Sanqi, and 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, Yang Min was still trusted as the prime minister, and he was 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 debaters 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 the rescue."

It can be roughly seen from this statue that compared to the artistic style of Northern Wei Buddhist sculptures, which advocated thinness as beauty and pursued graceful bones and clear statues, the style of Northern Qi sculptures began to become more complicated and began to add more colors. Carvings, jewelry.

The Buddha statue in front of him began to become round, soft, and 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 only had a tattoo on the chest. A group of Yingluo carvings were made without redundant colors and inlays, which also showed Yang Min's wisdom.

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 and reach the pinnacle. It is fully worthy of being called "the most beautiful Buddha statue in the world once the Northern Qi Buddha statue is released". Nothing else.”

Thinking that there were two more statues in the water tank outside, Zhou Zhi quickly took the bucket and moved them in.

There are many Buddhist themes in which the three statues are juxtaposed. The most famous ones are the horizontal Buddha III and the vertical Buddha III.

The third generation Buddha refers to the Buddhas in the three different worlds of the middle, east and west. They are shaped like Sakyamuni Buddha, Amitabha Buddha and Medicine Buddha.

The three-episode Buddha represents the Buddhas representing the past, present and future worlds, and is 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", and 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.

The characteristic of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is that there is 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 Guanyin Bodhisattva passes away and become 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 illuminated by one sun and one moon 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 middle thousand worlds are called three thousand realms, also called big thousand worlds. The world is 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 world of Whirlpool, 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", which refers to the three sages of the Hua Zang world. The main venerable one is the Dharmakaya Vairocana Buddha of Sakyamuni Buddha, which is also known as the Great Sun Tathagata in Tantric Buddhism.

Manjushri Bodhisattva teaches the Lotus Sutra with wisdom and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva with actions, so they are called the "Three Sages 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 brows, and stands on a lotus platform. Its height is slightly shorter than the main statue, and 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 lacquered 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, and now it is rejuvenated under the nourishment of walnut oil.

Another function of walnut oil is that 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 of the pores and slow down the evaporation of water, which can reduce the risk of environmental damage. The damage caused by the change can allow the statue to slowly adapt.

No matter what, after maintenance, the statue's condition has changed from being slightly dull after absorbing the water, to becoming gleaming 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 about the vicissitudes of reincarnation they had experienced.

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)