Author: Chun Xiao
The first stop of this trip is Tianshui. The purpose is very clear, that is the Maijishan Grottoes.
Tianshui was called Qinzhou in ancient times. It was the main passage from the Silk Road to Chang'an and an important gateway to Shu. In "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Ma Di's lost street pavilion and Zhuge Liang's empty city plan are here.
The Maijishan Grottoes are one of the four major grottoes in my country. The other three are the Longmen Grottoes, Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes. Among them, the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes were visited during the National Day in 2015. Dunhuang is dominated by colored sculptures and murals, while the Maijishan Grottoes are world-famous for their exquisite clay sculpture art and are known as the "Oriental Sculpture Art Exhibition Hall". The Maijishan Grottoes were successfully included in the World Heritage List as a site in the "Silk Road: Road Network of the Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor" jointly applied for by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. We also don’t want knowledge to just stay in textbooks. Observation and listening can make the accumulation of knowledge more intuitive and less boring.
Maiji Mountain is an isolated peak in Xiaolong Mountain. It is not high, only 142 meters. It is named because the shape of the mountain resembles a stack of wheat. It takes courage to visit the Maijishan Grottoes, because the grottoes are built on the mountain, and next to them are stairs more than one meter wide. The spaces between the stairs are empty, and you can see below when you lower your head. This does require some courage for people who are afraid of heights. . I watched it as I came. Although I was afraid of heights, I mustered up the courage to climb up the plank road.
The grottoes were first built in the Later Qin Dynasty. They were built by the second emperor of the Later Qin Dynasty, Yao Xing. It was built against this background. It later flourished during the reigns of Emperor Ming Yuan and Emperor Tai Wu of the Northern Wei Dynasty. A major earthquake in the 22nd year of Kaiyuan of the Tang Dynasty divided the cave into east and west cliffs. There are 54 caves on the east cliff and 140 caves on the west cliff. Among the grottoes on Dongya, the Nirvana Grotto, the Thousand Buddha Gallery, and the Seven Buddha Pavilion on the Sanhua Tower are the most exquisite. The West Cliff is home to the most valuable caves such as the Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall, Tiantang Cave, Cave 121, Cave 123, Cave 127, and Cave 165.
This is the Giant Buddha on the East Cliff. It is a stone-carved clay sculpture on the cliff and was built in the Sui Dynasty. When the Giant Buddha was being renovated in 1982, a craftsman accidentally discovered a white glazed porcelain bowl in the white hair of the Buddha (between the eyebrows). The bottom of the bowl was inscribed: In the 27th year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty, the craftsman Gao Zhengtong of Gangu County repaired the Giant Buddha, so Gao Zhengtong became the most famous artisan. In addition, people also found the "Golden Light Sutra" on the head of the Buddha, which is called "installation", which means to give the Buddha thought and soul.
The Seven Buddha Pavilion located on the upper part of the Giant Buddha is the largest and highest grotto in Maiji Mountain, and it also has a story. During the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Li Yunxin, the governor of Qinzhou, built the Seven Buddha Pavilion for his late father, and asked Yu Xin to make an inscription, which read: "The walls are covered with scriptures, and the niches are filled with Buddha images. The carved wheel moon hall, the carved mirror flower hall. The stone wall is carved horizontally, Hidden ridges." These inscriptions also vividly describe the external features of the Maijishan Grottoes. During the Kangxi period, the great calligrapher Wang Wangang came to Maiji Mountain and wrote "Yes, Nothing, etc.", expressing his spiritual state of being as calm as water. Later generations made a plaque with these four characters and hung it in Qifu Pavilion.
In the CCTV documentary "Maijishan Grottoes", people stood on the plank road of Sanhua Building and scattered flower petals into the sky. The petals did not fall but floated upward into the air before scattering. I didn’t have petals on hand so I didn’t try them.
After passing Xiaoyoudongtian, you will reach Xiya. The scenery around Xiya is beautiful, with mountains and mountains. The grottoes are surrounded by lush greenery, and the distant scenery and near objects are intertwined to form a beautiful picture.
Du Fu once described the Maijishan Grottoes in "Mountain Temple": "There are few remaining monks in the wild temple, and the mountain garden has thin roads. Musk sleeps on bamboos, and parrots peck at golden peaches. People pass through the chaotic water, and the cliffs "Place a house in a prison. If you put a heavy pavilion at the top, you will see the slightest detail in a hundred miles."
Cave 98 on the West Cliff, with stone and clay sculptures of the Three Saints of the West, was excavated in the Northern Wei Dynasty and rebuilt by later generations. The main Buddha Amitabha is 13 meters high, the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva on the left is 9 meters high, and the Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva on the right has been destroyed. We can see the auspicious clouds stepping on the Buddha's feet.
Probably out of consideration for the protection of Buddha statues, many grottoes are sealed with fine wire mesh. People can only look inside through the fine mesh holes. This is when we point the mobile phone camera at the mesh. Photographed from the hole. Almost all of the Buddha statues in the grottoes are looking down, with amiable faces. Although they are gods in the sky, they look like secular people. This is the secular style of the Buddha statues and one of the characteristics of the Maijishan Grottoes.
The Maijishan Grottoes are built on a cliff. In ancient times, there was no scaffolding or large machinery. I don’t know how they went up the mountain and how they carved it out by hand with axes and chisels bit by bit. People can’t help but marvel at the ancients’ wisdom.
Tips:
There is a parking lot at the Maijishan Grottoes Scenic Area. After parking, you can walk to the scenic area or take the shuttle bus in the scenic area. Please inform in advance if you need to buy a ticket for the shuttle bus. There are places to rest, drink tea and drink cold drinks in the scenic area.