Visiting Longmen Grottoes is one of the main purposes of coming to Luoyang, Henan Province.
Longmen Grottoes is one of the four largest grottoes in China. The other three grottoes are Mogao Grottoes (Dunhuang, Gansu), Yungang Grottoes (Datong, Shanxi) and Maijishan Grottoes (Tianshui, Gansu).
They are giant grotto art landscapes with Buddhist cultural characteristics in China and historical treasures of ancient traditional culture and art in China.
On a sunny day in Tomb-Sweeping Day, the rain stopped completely in the afternoon, but the sky didn't clear up, and the temperature was still a little lower, which was much more comfortable than the morning when it rained in Mao Mao.
When you get to the scenic spot, you have to take a battery car to enter the gate. Now all major scenic spots in China have the trend of expanding the entrance of scenic spots.
After getting off the battery car and taking a few steps, I came to the real gate of the scenic spot: "Longmen".
The tour guide took the initiative to help us take a group photo, which is also an advantage of traveling with a group. Although there are selfie sticks and tripods now, it is quite convenient and warm to have someone to take a photo for us at any time.
After passing the "Dragon Gate", as the crowd slowly moved in, the tour guide distributed headphones to every member here. Because it is a Qingming holiday, more people come to visit Longmen Grottoes, so that they can not only hear the explanations of tour guides, but also reduce the mutual influence between teams, reduce noise and protect cultural relics.
Another advantage is that people in a group are easy to take with them and are not easy to get separated. Members can also listen to the tour guide's explanation with headphones while visiting carefully, or they can watch it by themselves and listen to the sound in the headphones and easily return to their team.
Sometimes when the tour guide is explaining the story in the cave, I will be attracted by the surging river on the left and take photos frequently.
Later, the tour guide told me that this river was called Yi River and Luanshui in ancient times. According to historical documents, Yi Yin, the prime minister of Shang Dynasty, was born in Songxian County in the upper reaches of Yi River. In memory of Yi Yin, this river is called Yi River. Now there is a Yi Yin Temple in Songxian County to commemorate him.
Yi River is one of the elements of "Longmen Mountain Color", which creates a beautiful landscape for Longmen Grottoes. It is also beautiful to take a boat on the Yi River and see the Longmen Grottoes from a new perspective on the Yi River, but we didn't arrange a water tour this trip.
The temple on the other side of the river is called Xiangshan Temple, which was built in the first year of Xiping in Northern Wei Dynasty. When Wu Zetian proclaimed himself emperor, she rebuilt the temple and often traveled with her relatives. Sitting in the stone building of Yuxiangshan Temple, there was a story that "Xiangshan wrote poetry and got a robe". Bai Juyi once donated 600,000 yuan to rebuild Xiangshan Temple, and wrote Xiu Xiangshan Temple, from which the name of the temple came.
I'm completely fascinated by the beautiful scenery of Yishui, so I'd better go back to Longmen Grottoes. Longmen Grottoes were dug around the time when Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved to Luoyang (AD 494), with a history of 1500 years. Later, after the Eastern and Western Wei Dynasties, the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Sui and Tang Dynasties and the Song Dynasty, it was continuously built on a large scale for more than 400 years.
Densely distributed on the cliffs of the east and west mountains of Yishui, with a length of 1000 meters from north to south. There are more than 0/300 grottoes/kloc-,2,345 Buddhist caves and niches, more than 50 pagodas and more than 65,438+10,000 Buddha statues.
The largest Buddha statue is as high as 17. 14 meter, and the smallest is only 2 cm. In addition, more than 3,600 statues and inscriptions in the past dynasties all reflect the high artistic attainments of the working people in ancient China.
Longmen Grottoes is the most concentrated place where the royal nobles made wishes and statues in the Northern Wei Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty.
Royal aristocrats have abundant manpower and material resources, and the grottoes they presided over must be huge and magnificent, bringing together the essence of grotto art at that time, so Longmen Grottoes are very representative.
The excavation of these caves is the embodiment of the will and behavior of the royal family, which has a strong ethnic and religious color. Therefore, the rise and fall of Longmen Grottoes not only reflects the rise and fall of China royal family's worship of Buddhism from the 5th century to the10th century, but also reflects some political trends and the development of social and economic situation in the history of China. Its significance is unmatched by other grottoes.
Longmen Grottoes were continuously built during the Wei, Jin and Tang Dynasties, and different historical environments also made the grotto statues have different styles.
Among them, there is Wei Cave-in 495 AD, Qiu Huicheng, the imperial clan of Wei State, began to dig Guyang Cave in Longmen Mountain. From 500 to 523, Emperor Wu and Emperor Di successively dug three large caves in the north, south and south of Binyang Cave. The construction of Shiyang Cave and Binyang Cave cost more than 800,000 people, and the Fangzi Cave and Lianhua Cave dug during the Eastern Wei Dynasty were also dug.
Grottoes in the Northern Dynasties were all located in Longmen Mountain, and Guyang Cave was built for more than 50 years from the Hui Dynasty to the end of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, showing many China art forms, and the posture of the giant Buddha changed from the majestic Yungang Grottoes to the gentle and amiable Longmen Grottoes.
The Buddha statue represented by the main Buddha in Binyang Middle Cave is smiling. Longmen Grottoes show more China art Buddha statues than Yungang Grottoes.
Grottoes in the Tang Dynasty-the most prosperous period is the Tang Dynasty, accounting for more than 60% of the total number of grottoes. During the reign of Wu Zetian, most of the grottoes in the Tang Dynasty were excavated, which was related to her long-term presence in Luoyang.
Fengxian Temple is the most representative Tang grottoes, with two bodhisattvas 70 feet high, and Ye Jia, Ananda, King Kong and God King each 50 feet high (the length of the Tang Dynasty).
Its scale is the first in Longmen Grottoes. It took four years for Wu Zetian to earn twenty thousand yuan herself.
The people who visit Fengxian Temple are the most, so it takes several minutes to queue up for a close visit. The so-called first sacrifice is the first sacrifice to the ancestors.
The Buddha statue in the cave clearly embodies the artistic characteristics of the Buddha statue in the Tang Dynasty, with a plump face and drooping ears, and a perfect, peaceful, warm and kind shape, which is extremely moving.
The statue of Rushenafo in the middle of the grottoes is the largest Buddha statue in Longmen Grottoes, with a height of 17. 14m, a head height of 4m and an ear length of1.9m. It is full in shape, magnificent in momentum, smooth in dress lines and extremely artistic in appeal.
The recent photo of Lu She, if you look closely, is really full of charm and profound Zen.
There is an inscription on a book written by Chu Suiliang, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, at the entrance of Guyang Cave, which is worth reading.
Longmen Grottoes also retain a large number of religious, artistic, calligraphy, music, clothing, medicine, architecture, Chinese and foreign transportation and other physical historical materials. Therefore, it is also a large stone carving art museum.
We also met an interesting giant Buddha, the cutest one!
Is it cute? After listening to the introduction of the tour guide, I realized that the thumb of the Buddha statue was destroyed, so this form was formed. The local scenic spot also gave a name to the act of taking photos with the Buddha here-as cute as the Buddha. ...
After the baptism of time, many buddhas have stood between mountains and rivers, and suffered from natural and man-made disasters throughout the dynasties. Although they are obviously ruined, their essence is undiminished, and their Zen will last forever.
Starting from Fengxian Temple, we crossed the Yi River along the bridge and reached the other side.
I didn't go to Xiangshan Temple again. Time is a little short, and everyone is a little tired. However, when we passed by the White Garden, we went up to have a look.
The so-called White Garden is actually Bai Juyi's grave. I didn't know Bai Juyi was buried here before I came!
I didn't expect Tomb-Sweeping Day to visit the tomb of Mr. Bai in Luoyang on this day. ...
When it comes to afternoon visits, the most serious thing is the daughter. She has been following the tour guide closely and listening carefully, unlike me, who is half-hearted and half-hearted.
There are *** 14 people in this group. We are the first family. Because my daughter always walks in front and follows the guide's flag, she is nicknamed the No.1 member of the No.1 family.
Maybe she has some Buddhist karma. I still remember that when she went to Yungang Grottoes on 20 12, she was very interested in Buddha statues, murals and grottoes. When she sees the cave, she will go in and observe it carefully. At that time, she had just turned 6 and had not been to school. ...
At that time, when we visited Yungang Grottoes in Datong, we always wanted to find an opportunity to see Longmen Grottoes. This time, we finally realized this wish. In the face of the baptism of the buddhas, the face of the supreme leader seems to be more peaceful. Do you look at the buddhas and tell each other your wishes?