Gu Kaizhi was from the Eastern Jin Dynasty. At that time, he was called "genius, painter and idiot", and his paintings enjoyed a high reputation at that time. When the crock temple was built in Nanjing, the monks in the temple donated money to the society, and he pledged millions at once. No one will believe that he has so much money. He made a request to the temple and gave him a white wall. He wants to paint. In a month's time, he drew a picture of Vimalakīrti, but he didn't make it clear. It was sunny that day, and he told the monks in the temple that those who came to see it on the first day donated 100,000 yuan, and those who came to see it on the second day donated 50,000 yuan. The future figures depend on you. On a sunny day, as soon as the temple door opened, a temple was brightly lit and the audience was crowded. One million dollars was enough.
The original image of Vimalakīrti painted by Gu Kaizhi at that time no longer exists, so we can't see its original appearance. It is said that this portrait of Vimalakīrti has the ability of "clearing the body and showing the disease, relying on a few forgotten words", which depicts the appearance of Vimalakīrti's illness and the special appearance of dialogue during his illness. It is said that this is the first statue of Vimalakirti. Interestingly, he still has a wisp of beard, quite like a philosopher in China. According to legend, Xie Lingyun went to Zhihuan Temple in Guangzhou to worship his beautiful beard and decorate the statue of Mo Wei. Xie Lingyun himself is called "Beard". Lu Tanwei and Zhang Sengyou, painters of the Southern Dynasties, have imitated Gu Kaizhi's works, but they are not as good as him. Their replicas have been preserved until the Tang Dynasty. Later, Vimalakīrti's image of Vimalakīrti was undoubtedly greatly influenced by him. (30)
Like The Pure Land of the West, Vimalakīrti's classic paintings are very common in monasteries, because the Vimalakīrti Sutra is an important classic of Mahayana Buddhism, with a total of six versions. The earliest one was the translation of Yan Shi at the end of Han Dynasty, and Xuanzang also had a translation in Tang Dynasty. Besides its important position in Indian Buddhism, it is also one of the few classics that can be integrated into China's cultural standard. It had a great influence on China's philosophy, religion, literature and art, and quite a few China philosophers, writers and artists found inspiration from it. For example, the name of Wang Wei, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, came from Vimalakīrti. His lifestyle is very similar to that of Vimalakīrti. As a Buddhist disciple, he lived a luxurious life as a secular aristocrat, frequented princes and nobles, and served as an official, recluse and layman all his life. (52- 1)
Vimalakīrti was an elder who was far away from the city in the Buddhist era. Once upon a time, countless Buddhas were supported, and they were deeply rooted in rare books, so they became impatient and went deep into practice. There is no obstacle to debate, game avatar. With the six paramita, we can transform all beings in various convenient and ingenious ways. (52-2) Because he shows that he is a layman and has a wife and family, he often practices Sanskrit and enjoys staying away. Although he doesn't shy away from owning or dabbling in all worldly comforts or social places, he doesn't even reject foreign ways. But his real mentality and purpose are "to play games, to see people", "to be influenced by different ways, not to destroy the true faith", "to travel around the world and benefit all beings", and even "to show excessive desire to enter various brothels". The so-called "wine and meat pass through the intestines, and the Buddha pays attention" is a popular portrayal of this life form. He is such a strange bodhisattva at home, and what he does is such an unconventional and random teaching method. Therefore, Vimalakīrti's Classic is not an abstract, inflexible and impersonal doctrine, but almost a work of art, with ingenious drama arrangement, incisive dialogue, stories and wit. Both the image of Vimalakīrti himself and Vimalakīrti classics are deeply loved by people. (52-3)
In the Vimalakīrti Sutra, the story begins with Vimalakīrti's illness and the Buddha sends his disciples to greet him. However, most of his disciples claimed that they could not go. Finally, the Buddha sent Manjusri Bodhisattva to meet him. So, 8,000 bodhisattvas, 500 people and 100 people are happy to follow. Among the disciples sent by the Buddha are Mahayana and Hinayana disciples. In their daily activities, such as sitting in a city banquet, begging, explaining commandments, being a man, etc. Vimalakīrti challenged them and argued with them, but was defeated by Vimalakīrti. Therefore, they dare not deal with it. They may know very well in their hearts that Vimalakīrti is not really sick, but he is promoting his ideas by showing people the disease. (52-4)
Manjusri Bodhisattva is a symbol of wisdom, which is equivalent to Vimalakīrti. Manjusri came to Vimalakīrti's inner room, where there was no seat but a bed. Vimalakīrti is ill in bed, as Gu Kaizhi painted: clearing the body to show symptoms. When Manjusri asked, Vimalakīrti replied: If there is spoony love, I will get sick. All beings are sick, so my illness is also; When all beings die, I die.
It is said that there is only one abbot in the living room of Vimalakīrti, and the house where the abbot of Buddhist temple lives is called "abbot" or "abbot room", which originated in Vimalakīrti. How can such a small space accommodate 8,000 bodhisattvas, 500 voices and 100 people? Vimalakīrti borrowed 32,000 masters' thrones from the Buddha of Xu Mi in the 36th Ganges Sand World in the East, reaching 84,000 (about 60 Li every ten days). These thrones were the first to be strictly decorated. In the debate between Vimalakīrti and Manjusri, the beauty of Vimalakīrti's classics is like countless pearls and jade. (52- 10)
During their quarrel, a "cracked flower" appeared in the room. The flowers fell on the Bodhisattva and immediately fell to the ground, but they were scattered on Sharifutsu and others. Even if you use divine power, you can't succeed. Thus, in the debate with Sharif, Sharif was turned into a woman. Turn yourself into Sharifutsu. On the one hand, it is to prove that all beings are illusory and men and women are not fixed. On the other hand, it is also to break the persistence of people who have heard of "Fa". This detail is full of sense of humor, so it is original, which makes the seriousness of Indian Hinayana religion and the spiritualization of China ethics easy to make people smile.
Who is the author of the mural of the Great Buddha Hall in Dayunyuan? He didn't leave his name, so he couldn't confirm it. There are few murals in the Five Dynasties, which seem to be rare, but the existing murals in the Five Dynasties temples are unique.
It seems that the author of this mural also knows the subtlety of the scene, and the picture processing is smart and lively, neither dull nor complicated. In terms of painting techniques, it follows the characteristics of "Jiao Mo's light color", and the lines are mainly iron lines, supplemented by "earthworm painting" and "Four Wonderful Wandering in Ancient Times". In the form of characters, he inherited the style of the late Tang Dynasty. Both men and women are plump and peaceful. The shape of the goddess scattered flowers flying in the sky adds a sense of flying to the picture and looks very lively. (52-6)
There are eighteen arhats painted on the western wall. It is not known whether this mural came from the Five Dynasties. Eighteen arhats have vivid images and unique clothing patterns. Judging from the characterization, composition and line processing, his brushwork is fluent and his painting skills are skillful, which is different from ordinary folk painters. Does this have anything to do with the changes in Vimalakīrti murals? It is up to experts and scholars to draw conclusions.
Classic painting
Painting through transformation is also called transformation or disguised form. Broadly speaking, any painting with Buddhist scriptures as its theme can be called "Hua". Dunhuang Buddhist scripture painting usually refers to organizing the main contents of one or even several Buddhist scriptures into a large painting with complete beginning and end and clear priorities. According to Zhang Yanyuan's Records of Famous Paintings in the Past Dynasties, the paintings in the Southern Dynasties and the Song Dynasty were "changes", and Liang's children's paintings were "changes in the middle". There are thirty-three kinds of meridian changes in the Mogao Grottoes, among which the Western Pure Land Sect, the Eastern Pharmacist, the Maitreya, the Beijing and Vimalakīrti meridians lasted for a long time, and the largest number was the Eastern Pharmacist. Dunhuang classics are rich in content and diverse in forms. In addition to Buddhist scriptures, a large number of social life contents are also vividly reflected in classic paintings. Many classic paintings are superb in technique and can be called artistic treasures.
There are only two murals in Dunhuang, but their forms, techniques and contents are of great significance in the history of art. At the same time, the emergence and disappearance of Futian Jing also reflects the development track of Buddhism in China.