Cangzhou iron lion

Cangzhou Iron Lion is located 16.5 kilometers north southeast of Cangxian county government. It is located 0.5 km west of Dongguan village. Iron lion is 5.78 meters tall, 5.34 meters long, 3.17 meters wide and weighs about 50 tons. Carrying a huge basin, it is said that Manjusri Bodhisattva lotus sitting, lion body south, head southwest, two left feet in front, two right feet and then back, in a forward shape, majestic posture, swagger, slowly like the birth of iron lion, is China's large amazing cast iron technology. It is also a famous historic site in China. It has a history of more than 1000 years, which fully shows the wisdom and artistic talent of the working people in ancient China. After liberation, the iron lion was valued and protected by the party and the government. The State Council first listed it as the first batch of key cultural relics protection units in China, and carried out various repairs to it. In 1957, the Department in charge made up the items and toes, built a pool and built a pavilion. There were also iron railings around the pavilion. After the pavilion was built, because the iron lion could not see the sunlight, the oxidation was fast, so the pavilion was removed in 1972.

Cangzhou iron lion

Cangzhou Iron Lion, also known as "zhenhaihou", is located in the southeast suburb of Cangzhou City, Hebei Province, 16 kilometers away from Cangzhou City. It was cast in 953, the third year of Guangshun in the Later Zhou Dynasty

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Cangzhou Iron Lion is 6.264 meters long, 2.981 meters wide, 5.47 meters high and weighs about 32 tons.

On March 4, 1961, Cangzhou Iron Lion was announced as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council of the people's Republic of China

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In 2011, "Cangzhou Iron Lion" was newly cast in Cangzhou. It is located in Shicheng Park in Cangzhou City. The volume is about 120 tons, which is 1.32 times of the original Cangzhou Iron Lion. The design "life" is 2000 years

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geographical environment

Location context

Cangzhou Iron Lion is located in the southeast suburb of Cangzhou City, Hebei Province. It is located at N38 ° 12 ′ 21.40 ″ N and E117 ° 0 ′ 57.76 ″ e, 21.7 km away from Cangzhou downtown, 18.9 km away from Cangzhou station and 35.1 km away from Cangzhou west station. It covers an area of 3 square kilometers.

climate

Cangzhou Iron Lion is located in the warm temperate continental monsoon climate zone. Four distinct seasons, moderate temperature, sufficient light, hot and rainy season, concentrated precipitation. The best tourism season is summer and autumn

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Historical evolution

Cangzhou Iron Lion, also known as "Zhenhai roar", was cast in the third year of Guangshun in the Later Zhou Dynasty (953). There are many opinions about its origin: one is that Chai Rong of the Later Zhou Shizong made it for the town of Cangzhou during his northern expedition to Khitan; the other is that the iron lion is located in front of the Kaiyuan Temple in Cangzhou, with scriptures in its belly and lotus throne on its back, so it should be the mount of Manjusri Bodhisattva; according to the other name of the iron lion "zhenhaihou", it is speculated that it is a strange beast built by local residents for the town of tsunami

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Cangzhou Iron Lion, Dingzhou Kaiyuan Temple Pagoda and Zhengding Longxing Temple bronze Bodhisattva are also known as "three treasures of Hebei". There is also the saying of four treasures in North China, which refers to "Cangzhou lion Dingzhou tower, Zhengding Bodhisattva Zhaozhou Bridge". Cangzhou's nickname "lion city" also comes from it.

According to Cangxian annals, iron lion is in front of Kaiyuan Temple in Jiuzhou city. It is seven feet high and six feet long. On the top of the head and the neck, there are three characters of "Lion King". On the right neck and the teeth, there are seven characters of "Da Zhou Guang Shun San Nian Zhu". On the left rib, there are five characters of "Shandong Li Yun Zao". There are a lot of handwriting inside and outside the abdomen and teeth, but it is not completely obliterated. Later, those with knowledge said that it was the text of Vajra Sutra. There are Dou Tian and Guo Baoyu characters in his head. He once saw a rubbings, which means the name of the smelter. The font is ancient Li. It is said that Zhou Shizong's northern expedition to Khitan punished the culprits to build this city

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Lion was first seen in pre Qin literature. It was called "lion dragon" at that time. The word "lion dragon" came from Sai language and was the mount of Manjusri Bodhisattva. "The legend of Mu Tianzi" records: "the famous beast makes the foot walk thousands of miles, the lion dragon and the wild horse walk 500 miles." Guo Pu noted: "lion dragon, master, also eat tiger and leopard." In the Han Dynasty, the lion entered the Central Plains as a tribute from the western regions, and was renamed Shizi, or lion. The word "Lion" comes from tuhuoluo. It reached its peak in Yuan and Ming Dynasties. At the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, the tribute lion activities stopped.

Later, some researchers argued that Zhou Shizong did not believe in Buddhism, so the theory of punishment was not credible. It is the folk legend of Cangzhou that is widely spread and reasonable. In ancient times, Cangzhou was close to the sea. The sea water was often flooded, and the people suffered from tsunami. The local people raised money to eliminate the flood. They asked Shandong foundry Li Yun to cast an iron lion to curb the tsunami, and named it "zhenhaihou". It is generally believed that the name of the donor is engraved on the outside of the Sphinx

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The head and neck of Cangzhou Iron Lion are respectively cast with "shiziwang", the body with "Futian clothes", and the back with lotus seat. Shiziwang is the mount of Manjusri Bodhisattva. "Cangxian Zhi" records: "the iron lion is in front of Kaiyuan Temple in Jiuzhou city.". "Manjusri Bodhisattva" in Kaiyuan Temple

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Casting data

Cangzhou Iron Lion casting age and foundry, are cast in the Sphinx. According to the third year of Guangshun (953) in the late Zhou Dynasty, it has a history of more than 1000 years. Cangzhou Iron Lion is covered with barrier mud (a dust-proof mat) and shoulders a huge lotus basin. The lotus basin has a diameter of 1m at the bottom, 2m at the top and a height of 0.7m. It can be disassembled. It is said that this is the rosette of Manjusri Buddha. The lion's body hair is wavy or curly, and it is draped to the neck. There are bands on the chest and buttocks, and the ends of the bands fall on the shoulders and crotch. In addition, there are many inscriptions inside and outside the body of the lion. In addition to the above-mentioned casting age and the names of the casters and donors, there are also three characters "Lion King" on the top and under the neck, and the Vajra scriptures in the abdomen, which are of calligraphy and archaeological value. It was said that the total weight of Cangzhou Iron Lion was about 40 tons. In 1984, in order to protect the body of the lion, the total weight of the iron lion was 29.30 tons after accurate weighing. According to the measurement of Beijing University of science and technology in April 2001, Cangzhou Iron Lion is 6.264 meters long, 2.981 meters wide, 5.47 meters high, and weighs about 32 tons

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Foundry Technology

Cangzhou Iron Lion is made by the ancients using a special "clay fan Ming casting" method. The inside of the iron lion is smooth, and the outside is made of mould blocks of different length and width of 30cm and 40cm, which are built layer by layer and casted layer by layer, sharing more than 600 mould blocks. Cangzhou Iron Lion provides valuable material for the study of ancient Chinese metallurgy, sculpture and Buddhist history

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Cultural relics protection

History

Before the 19th century, Cangzhou Iron Lion was standing on the earth. In 1803, Cangzhou Iron Lion was blown down by strong wind. In 1893, Cangzhou Iron Lion was rebuilt, and its jaw, abdomen and tail were seriously damaged. According to Cangxian annals, there is a strange wind coming from the northeast and passing the lion servant.

In the 1950s, the lion's belly was flooded in the summer, and the lion's legs were soaked in the rain for several months.

In 1956, on the advice of Soviet experts, Cangzhou cultural protection bureau built an octagonal pavilion on Cangzhou Iron Lion. The octagonal pavilion covers the lion tightly below. Cangzhou Iron Lion is located in a low-lying area, where the water can not evaporate and spread quickly. As a result, the octagonal pavilion formed a humid and high temperature microclimate, which aggravated the corrosion of Cangzhou Iron Lion. In 1975, the octagonal pavilion was demolished.

In 1984, because the foot of Cangzhou Iron Lion was trapped in the soil for a long time, a 2-meter-high water isolation platform was built 8 meters north of Cangzhou Iron Lion. On November 22, two 30 ton cranes lifted Cangzhou Iron Lion to the new pedestal simultaneously. The remaining problems of hoisting: the chin, tail, left hind foot and right forefoot were completely damaged, and the whole body was damaged in 42 places. The biggest hole is the bottom of the abdomen. As early as the 1950s, there was a hole in the bottom of the abdominal cavity. At first, the area of the hole was not recorded. It was 5.8 square meters in 1977 and 7 square meters in 1984. In addition, during lifting, the sulfur anchoring agent injected by leg extrusion is not removed in time, the sulfur agent is cooled and solidified, the volume expands, and the leg fracture is accelerated.

In 1994, after the discussion of experts, it was proposed to use iron pipe as a bracket to fix Cangzhou Iron Lion. In 1995, 16 ochre red iron pipes with a diameter of 15 cm were used to support the body between Taiji and Cangzhou Iron Lion. In order to reinforce the four lion legs, the maintenance personnel poured slag, sand, lime and other mixed materials with expansion coefficient less than sulfur mixture. The mixed material swells in case of rain, the cracks worsen again, and dozens of cracks and residual holes appear.

In 2000, the mixture of slag and sand was removed.

In the 50 years from 1950s to 2000, Cangzhou Iron Lion has undergone four times of maintenance. Under the immature historical conditions, the damage of iron lion was aggravated

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Controversies

In 2000, Cangzhou cultural relics management department extensively solicited rescue plans for Cangzhou Iron Lion across the country. In October 2003, Hebei Provincial Bureau of cultural relics submitted the collection plan to the State Bureau of cultural relics for approval. Several maintenance lessons were learned first, and the scheme failed to pass the expert review. The proposed scheme and technology are not mature enough, and Cangzhou Iron Lion is in danger of disintegration.

In 2006, the Chinese Academy of cultural heritage listed the protection of Cangzhou Iron Lion as a scientific research project. After the three-dimensional spectral analysis of Cangzhou Iron Lion, a proposal was put forward

Chinese PinYin : Cang Zhou Tie Shi Zi