Fengxian Temple

Fengxian Temple, located in the south of the west mountain of Longmen, is the largest and most representative open-air Buddhist niche in the Longmen Grottoes. The main Buddha, Lushena, is 17.14 meters high and is the largest Buddha statue in the Longmen Grottoes. The Buddha is covered with cassock, with a full face, a slightly upturned mouth, a slight smile, a drooping eye, and a tranquil eye, which contains infinite wisdom and shows concern for the world. The dignified and generous, honest and peaceful manners make people have to respect.

Fengxian Temple

Fengxian Temple, formerly known as Dalu Shina statue niche, is located in the south of the west mountain of Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang City. According to the Huayan Sutra, it was carved at different times. It was completed in the second year of Shangyuan (675) of the Tang Dynasty. It is a group of cliff type group sculptures with the largest scale and the most exquisite art in Longmen Grottoes.

Fengxian Temple's large-scale art group sculpture not only shows the highest achievement of Tang Dynasty's sculpture art, but also stands at the peak of Chinese stone carving art. It is a model work of Chinese stone carving art and a symbol of this great era of Tang Dynasty.

It is 17.14 meters high, 4 meters high and 1.9 meters long. It is the largest statue in all the niches of Longmen Grottoes

Famous for its mysterious smile, it is praised by foreign tourists as "the Oriental Mona Lisa" and "the most beautiful statue in the world".

The stone statues of Fengxian Temple were originally painted stone carvings, but the color gradually fell off due to water immersion, weathering and other reasons. In order to protect the statue of Fengxian Temple in the Song Dynasty, nine wooden eaves buildings, commonly known as "nine rooms", were built.

Fengxian Temple is 34 meters wide from north to South and 36 meters deep from east to west. It is placed on three steps 9 meters wide. Eleven statues of one Buddha, two disciples, two bodyguards, two heavenly kings and powerful men are carved in the niche. Fengxian Temple is the largest and most representative open-air Buddhist niche in Longmen Grottoes. The statues with different shapes and vivid depictions show the high achievements of sculpture art in the prosperous Tang Dynasty and become a wonder in the history of stone carving art.

The emperor of Japan highly praised the culture of the Tang Dynasty, and empress Guangming highly admired Empress Wu Zetian. The Dayun Temple founded by Empress Wu Zetian is regarded as a model. The news that Empress Wu Zetian carved a stone statue of Lushena Buddha in Fengxian Temple of Longmen was spread to Japan by Buddhist monks who entered the Tang Dynasty, which affected the construction of Dongda temple.

building structure

Fengxian Temple, formerly known as dalushena statue niche,

Located in the south of the west mountain of Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang City, it is the largest, most artistic and most representative large niche in Longmen Grottoes. The excavation time is unknown, but the completion time is recorded in the inscriptions that Wu Zetian's "zhuzhifenqian 20000 Guan" was used to accelerate the excavation time in the second year of the Shang Yuan Dynasty (675 AD) and the third year of Xianheng (672 AD). ——It comes from the sitting stone tablet, the record of the statue niche of Dalu she in the city of Longmen Mountain on Heluo.

The Buddha statues in the cave clearly reflect the artistic characteristics of the Buddha statues in the Tang Dynasty, with plump face, drooping ears, perfect shape, serenity, tenderness and kindness.

Main landscape

grotto

Fengxian Temple is the largest and most exquisite group of cliff type niches in Longmen Grottoes. The inscription on the north side of the main Buddha lotus seat is called "dalushena statue niche", because it belongs to Fengxian Temple, the royal temple at that time, and is commonly known as "Fengxian Temple".

The stone statues of Fengxian Temple were originally painted stone carvings, but with the flooding, weathering and other reasons, the color fell off.

The statues with different shapes and vivid depictions show the high achievements of the sculpture art in the prosperous Tang Dynasty and become a wonder in the history of stone carving art.

There are nine statues in Fengxian Temple. The main Buddha in the middle is Lushena. It is Sakyamuni's Bodhisattva, with a height of 17.14 meters, a head height of 4 meters and an ear length of 1.9 meters. The Buddha's face is plump and round, with wavy hair lines on its head. Eyebrows curved like crescent, attached to a pair of eyes, slightly staring at the front.

Straight nose, small mouth, showing a peaceful smile. The ears are long and slightly drooping, and the chin is round and slightly protruding forward.

She is harmonious, peaceful and comfortable. She is dressed in a through shoulder cassock with simple and unsophisticated patterns. The concentric circles of patterns set off the head portrait with extraordinary brightness and holiness.

JIAYE, the experienced and mature elder disciple, Ananda, the gentle and intelligent younger disciple, the reserved and elegant Bodhisattva, the valiant and vigorous king of heaven, the aggressive strongman and the main Buddha, together constitute a group of art group images full of modality and texture.

Buddha statue

The seated statue of Lushena Buddha in the middle of the Grottoes is the largest one in Longmen Grottoes. It is 17.14 meters tall, 4 meters high in head, and 1.9 meters long in ears. It is full-bodied, grand in appearance, smooth in clothing lines, and highly artistic. It is really a masterpiece of art.

According to the Buddhist Scripture, Lushena means light everywhere. This statue of Buddha has beautiful eyes, slightly tilted mouth, a smile, a slightly lower head and a slight look down. It looks like a wise and kind-hearted middle-aged woman. It is respectful and fearless. Some people say that Lu she is the image of Wu Zetian, which is well founded. According to the records of the Buddha's niche in daluchena, "it's really up to me, the emperor, to be beautiful." There has been a precedent in the history of using the image of the Emperor himself to make Buddha statues.

It has been commented that in shaping this Buddha, she perfectly combines noble sentiment, rich feelings, open mind and elegant appearance. Therefore, she has great artistic charm.

On both sides of the statue, there are two disciples, JIAYE and Ananda, who are docile and devout. The two Bodhisattvas are kind and cheerful. The king of heaven held the pagoda in his hand, and it was very strong.

And the image of Hercules is even more moving. His right hand is akimbo and his left hand is ten. He is powerful and majestic. The disciples on both sides are strict and mature, Ananda is devout and obedient, the Bodhisattva is dignified and reserved, the heavenly king frowns and glares, and the strongman is powerful and vigorous. It is said that in order to build this niche, Empress Wu once "helped to make money for twenty thousand Guan" and personally led her ministers to participate in the "Kaiguang" ceremony of Lushena Buddha.

There are many small rectangular niches behind the nine body statue of Fengxian Temple. In order to protect the statue niches, people built wooden structure eaves buildings according to the niches in the song and Jin Dynasties. These buildings affected the ventilation of the Buddha statue and accelerated the weathering of the Buddha statue, so they were later demolished.

statue

The statue of King Kong's strongman is more moving than the one beside the statue of Lushena Buddha. It is a treasure in Longmen Grottoes. When clearing up the accumulated soil in the Grottoes in 1953, it was found near Jinan cave. It was stolen and chiseled, but could not be transported away.

I saw King Kong's eyes suddenly protruding, glaring in front of him, clenching his fist, and the muscles on his chest, hands and legs bulging. The whole statue is bold and unconstrained, vigorous and powerful, imposing.

traffic

Because of the convenient transportation in these scenic spots, if the time is tight, you can start early from Luoyang and go to Longmen Grottoes first. After sightseeing, you can take No.81 ticket car at the gate, 1.5 yuan / person. After 30 minutes, you can get off at Laoji and have some local snacks. Then you can take No.56 ticket car, 1 yuan / person, about 45 minutes to Baima temple, the terminal of No.56. You can also visit Baima temple on the same day.

Out of the Longmen Grottoes, you can also take the bus back to Guanlin. Guanlin is a place to commemorate Guan Yu and Luoyang folk culture museum.

Value impact

Empress Guangming admires Empress Wu Zetian very much, and the Dayun Temple founded by Empress Wu Zetian is regarded as a model. The news that Empress Wu Zetian carved a stone statue of the Great Buddha in Fengxian Temple of Longmen was spread to Japan by the Buddhist monks who came into the Tang Dynasty. In the 12th year of Tianping (740), after paying homage to the Great Buddha of the knowledge temple in kuota Prefecture, Hanoi (today's Boyuan City, Osaka Prefecture), Emperor Shengwu made a vow that "I will also make it.".

Protection for later generations

In order to protect the statue of Fengxian Temple in Song Dynasty, nine wooden eaves buildings were built, commonly known as "nine rooms", but the eaves were destroyed early, and now there are square holes with beams.

Address: South of Xishan, Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang

Longitude: 112.4679479599

Latitude: 34.559443765427

Tour time: 1 hour

Traffic information: located in Longmen Grottoes, you can walk there

Ticket information: included in Longmen Grottoes

Opening hours: February 1 - March 31: 8:00-17:00, closing time: 18:00;

April 1 - October 7: ticket selling 7:30-17:30, closing 18:30;

October 8 - October 31: ticket selling 7:30-17:00, closing 18:00;

November 1 - January 31: 8:00-16:00, closed at 17:30;

Ticket selling time: 19:00-20:40 (stop at 21:00);

Light on time: 19:30;

Clearing time: stop entering at 21:00, Xishan Grottoes closed at 21:00, Xiangshan Temple closed at 22:00

Chinese PinYin : Feng Xian Si