The carving of lions began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. From then on, the image of the lion began to appear in the traditional carving art in China, and it shone brilliantly. ( 1)
The images of early lions are similar to tigers, evil spirits, Tianlu and Kirin. The stone lions in the Han Dynasty are shaped like tigers, with rough shapes. Most of them are in the form of scurrying, and the spine is S-shaped when viewed from the side, and the stone lion looks vigorous and full of jumping potential; Decorative techniques are diverse, including round carving, relief and line, surface and body.
The combination method is used to carve hair, beard and cirrus lines and flame lines on the body. The stone lion of the Eastern Han Dynasty in front of Wushi Temple in Jiaxiang, Shandong Province is the earliest existing stone lion in China.
Lions. The stone lions of the Eastern Han Dynasty in front of Gaoyi Tomb in Ya 'an, Sichuan Province are the representative works of this period, with a lion's head and a lion's body, swaggering and majestic.
Strong, honest, solid and infectious.
2。 During the Three Kingdoms, the Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, due to the prevalence of Buddhism, the image of the lion was widely publicized. Legend has it that the lion can "eat tigers and leopards" and is the "king of beasts". Buddhist stories also say that the Buddha sits as a Leo, the Buddha sits as a lion bed, the Buddha is a lion among people, and the lion becomes a protector.
Beast. The masterpiece of stone lion carving in this period is the stone lion of the Southern Dynasties Mausoleum in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. Most of them are upturned heads, which is a step forward. shape
Huge, majestic and magnificent. The style is round and handsome, the shape is unrestrained and the decoration is gorgeous.
At the same time, in the Northern Dynasty, the image of a stone lion appeared in the relief decoration of the Buddha grottoes, and the "God King Tread" on the statue tablet of the Western Wei Dynasty in Maijishan Grottoes 133 caves.
The lion relief is a typical example. The stone lions carved in the Northern Dynasties are small in size, realistic in shape and strong in western style. It can be seen that the lion, as a Swiss beast,
Divided into images, vertical modeling gradually transformed into squat modeling.
3。 In the Tang Dynasty, the Shinto pattern of the mausoleum was determined, and the lion squat gradually took shape. There are many excellent works in Shinto sculpture, the most representative of which is Ganling Stone Lion. Ganling is located in Liangshan, Ganxian County, Shaanxi Province. Stone lions are placed on all sides of the mountain, all of which are more than 3 meters high, and most of them are squatting in the shape of
Triangular composition. The stone lions in Ganling are vivid, strong, magnificent and imposing. The decoration is realistic, with a strong sense of architecture and heaviness.
. As the pinnacle of stone lion carving, Ganling Stone Lion has a far-reaching influence on later stone lion carving.
4。 The most striking feature of stone chambers in Song Dynasty is the development from tomb stone chambers to life and decoration. During this period, in addition to the emperor's mausoleum, many stone lion sculptures also appeared in grottoes, temples, temples, houses and gardens. Compared with the stone lions in Tang Dynasty, the stone lions in Song and Yuan Dynasties tend to be realistic in shape and finely carved.
The lines are smooth, the skills are skillful, and the decorative interest is more intense. For example, the stone lions are carved with ornaments such as collars, bells and ribbons, and the decoration of Mount Sumi is also very complicated.
Get up.
5。 During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, tombs and Buddhist grottoes gradually declined, and Han folk sculptures gradually became the main body of traditional sculptures. The characteristics of its stone lion carving are: the stone lion carving in Ming and Qing Dynasties is closely combined with Han folk architecture, and it is widely used in ancestral halls, halls, houses, bridges, archways, theaters and other Han folk architecture.
The overall characteristics of stone lion carving in Ming and Qing dynasties are: exquisite conception, delicate description, strong sense of movement, changeable shape and gorgeous decoration. Among some small stone lions carved by Han people, there is also a simple folk style of Han people, which is generally used in building parts. For example, the Zhangjia memorial archway in Dan County, Shandong Province is also called "Hundred Lions Square" because there are hundreds of large and small stone lions. Also used as utensils, indoor furnishings, decorations, etc. ; as
Toys or items for specific folk activities. For example, Shuanwa Shishi and Shuamazhuang Shishi, which are popular in Shanxi, Shaanxi and Guanzhong Yellow River basins, are
Represented by the little stone lion, it presents the naive folk customs unique to the Han nationality in the Loess Plateau.
In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, another notable feature of lion culture was that the traditional lion image rose to a national cultural symbol, while in the Han folk culture, the lion almost became synonymous with auspicious birds and animals. Lion art has entered the lives of ordinary people from Buddhist shrines and shrines and is loved by people of all ethnic groups.
Symbolic themes, such as more lions and fewer lions, rolling hydrangeas, lions entering the door and lions kicking back and forth, are widely used in almost all Han folk art categories.
Medium; In the decoration of Han residential buildings, the image of lions can be seen everywhere on the door lions, door pillows, columns, bridges, railings, roofs and screen walls. There is still traffic.
Lion dance in the north and south of the river, children's lion head hats, lion head shoes and so on.
6。 The carving style of Han folk stone lions in the Republic of China is basically a continuation of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Western styles are sometimes reflected.