Lushena Buddha

Lushena Buddha

Lushena Buddha is a Buddha statue carved by Wu Zetian according to her own appearance. It is the highest artistic level, the most closely designed and the largest statue in Longmen Grottoes. It is famous for its mysterious smile and is praised by foreign tourists as "Oriental Mona Lisa" and "the most beautiful statue in the world".

Lushena Buddha was created in the third year of Xianheng (672 AD) of Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty. It is located in the statue niche of Lushena in the south of Longmen West Mountain in Luoyang

It is 17.14 meters in height, 4 meters in head height and 1.9 meters in ear length.

Empress Guangming of Japan admired Empress Wu Zetian very much. After the news of the carving of Lushena Buddha was introduced to Japan, Emperor Shengwu vowed in 740 to build a bronze statue of Lushena Buddha at Dongda temple in Nara (pingchengjing).

Brief introduction of cultural relics

Among the Tang Dynasty Grottoes in Longmen, the statue niche of Da Lushena is the most representative work. Anyone who has been to Longmen will be shocked by the magnificence of Da Lushena Buddha. The statue niche of daluchena is located at the waist of the southern half of the west mountain, which is called jiujianfang by descendants. When the statue niche of dalushe was opened, it had unique ingenuity. Contrary to the Convention, it did not adopt the method of digging all the caves. Instead, it carved Buddha statues on the open-air cliff according to the situation of the mountain, which set off a kind of natural atmosphere. The cliff statue niche is 36 meters wide from north to South and 40.70 meters deep from east to west. It is a huge open-air cave niche.

The stone statue of daluchena is 17.14 meters in height, 4 meters in head height and 1.9 meters in ear length.

Luciana Buddha, the Sanskrit locanabuddha, is the Buddha who proves the absolute truth, obtains the fruit of the Buddha and shows the wisdom of the Buddha. "Lushena" means wisdom and light.

In the past 1500 years, only the hands and legs of the Buddha have collapsed due to the fracture structure of the early geological layer and the change of temperature, and the rest are still in good condition. Although people can't really see the scene of the original Buddha being whitewashed and worshiped, they can still deduce the scene of the royal nobles holding a grand ceremony here. Undoubtedly, everything here shows the greatness and prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.

It's amazing to stand close and gaze at the Buddha. The Buddha is dressed in a shoulder coat, from the right shoulder to the left shoulder, covering the whole body with soothing pleats, elegant and magnificent. It looks like flowing water, but under the thin folds, it shows the body-building texture of a strong body. We can see the vigorous vitality and fresh artistic atmosphere through the strong and thick Buddhist body, rhythmic Taoist curves, large and Curved Eyebrow lines and slightly floating lip lines on the forehead.

The light behind the Buddha is dazzling. It is the horseshoe shaped God light and the pearl shaped head light, which highlights the magnificent momentum of the Buddha. The flame pattern on the body light and the flying sky give the Buddha a comfortable and leisurely feeling. In particular, the three layers of glittering head light make the original small head texture, coupled with the texture of the long and sagging earlobe, make it more beautiful, quiet, heavy and solemn. When you look at it with its eternal, quiet, kind and wise eyes, you will suddenly feel that your state of mind is ethereal and sublimated, calm and calm, and you will immediately become fully aware and transcendent.

There are nine statues of one Buddha, two disciples, two Bodhisattvas, two heavenly kings and two powerful men in the statue niche. According to the Buddhist rituals, the artist carved large group statues with different personalities and temperament, and also showed the internal relationship between these groups vividly and vividly. Ananda is quiet and gentle, with simple appearance; Bodhisattvas are gorgeous, dignified, quiet and reserved; the heavenly king is solemn, strong and ferocious, with the power to suppress evil; the strongman is strong and irascible in nature; even the earth God, who bears the heavy body of the heavenly king, is carved with a spirit of struggle. Although these statues are common types of Buddhist sculptures in the Tang Dynasty, they still show the unique ingenuity of ancient Chinese artists.

The statue niche of daluchena, located in the West and facing the East, was excavated in the period of Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty. It is the second magnificent statue peak in China. According to the stele of Da Lushena statue niche in Longmen Mountain, the capital of Heluo City, which is on the north side of Lushena Buddha seat and was carved in 722, Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty vowed to build the statue niche for his father Li Shimin. Empress Wu Zetian sponsored the construction project with 20000 yuan of money, which was completed in December of 675 It took three years and nine months. According to the research of scholars, this time should be the excavation time of the statue of daluchena, not the excavation time of the whole niche. It is speculated that the construction of the whole niche will take at least 15 years.

Practical information

Opening Hours

Lushena Buddha is located in the statue niche of the Xishan Grottoes in Longmen Grottoes scenic area, so the opening hours are the same as the whole scenic area.

Opening hours during the day

From February 1 to March 31: 8:00-17:00, closed at 18:00.

From April 1 to October 7: 8:00-17:30, closed at 18:30.

October 8-october 31: 8:00-17:00, closed at 18:00.

From November 1 to January 31: 8:00-16:00, closed at 17:00.

Opening hours of night tour (Xishan grottoes, Xiangshan Temple)

It is open daily from April 8 to May 10.

From May 11 to October 11, it will be open from 17:30 to 21:00 on Friday and Saturday every week (it will be closed at 21:30). During the golden week, it will be open every day. In case of rain, it will be closed.

Light on time: 18:30-19:30.

Night clearance time: 22:40, night light off time: 23:00.

Best travel time

April to May and September to October are the best. It is dry in spring, hot and rainy in summer, mild in autumn and cold in winter. Although the weather is a little dry in spring, you can enjoy the colorful peonies. Every April 15-25 is a peony festival in Luoyang. There are many tourists and prices will rise. Hotels and guesthouses need to be reserved in advance. For those who don't join in the peony activities, the best season for Longmen Grottoes is autumn. It's really a pleasure to climb mountains in autumn.

Construction background

The prosperous Tang Dynasty is a dynasty full of light. It is not beautiful for being slim. It is the symbol of the Tang Dynasty to be open-minded, rich and strong. All these are reflected in Lushena Buddha. According to historical records, Lushena Buddha is Wu Zetian's "Baoshen statue". Wu Zetian was named "Cho". Surname, no need to distinguish. Then: in the sea of words, there is Nai, that is, only, and if, then; heaven: in the sea of words, there is the meaning of Dian, Tiandi, sky, reliance, and spiritual origin. It goes without saying that light shines on heaven and earth. The meaning of Lushena's translation is "light all over".

Lushena Buddha was excavated in the third year of Xianheng (672 A.D.) of Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty. Maybe it was specially excavated by Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty to present a gift to Wu Zetian. At that time, it was Zhaoyi who donated 20000 yuan for the excavation of Lushena Buddha. It can't be said that there was no tacit understanding between Emperor Gaozong and Wu Zetian. It took three years and nine months for the statue to be chiseled, and it was not completed until the second year of Shangyuan (675 A.D.) of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty.

The high Lushena Buddha is the image, appearance and appearance of empress Zetian. The head of the Buddha is the representation of empress Zetian's appearance when she was 48 years old, which has the dignity and demeanor of her mother. However, it was nearly ten years after the statue of empress Zetian was built (684 A.D.) that empress Zetian came to be called the ruling state. During this period, empress Zetian abolished Zhongzong (Li Xian) and established Ruizong (Li Dan) in the first year of Hongdao (A.D. 684) and abandoned Ruizong. She took charge of the government and changed to guangzhai. By 690 A.D., empress Zetian directly called herself emperor of the Holy Spirit, and her name was Zhou. It's a gift from heaven. At that time, Wu Zetian had experienced the four emperors of the Tang Dynasty, and became the only female emperor in feudal society and Chinese history. Wu Zetian, with the courage, wisdom, talent and perseverance of an eternal female emperor, took advice and used talents to assist Gaozong, Zhongzong, Ruizong and personally run the country for 50 years. It was the emperor of Wu Zhou who initiated the palace examination and personally examined the Gongshi; it was the emperor of Wu Zhou who allowed the nine grade officials and the common people to recommend them; it was the emperor of Wu Zhou who changed the official system and stipulated that the five grade officials could be promoted to the ranks of scholars; it was the emperor of Wu Zhou who reduced taxes and reduced corvee; it was the emperor of Wu Zhou who supervised the revision of the surname record. These are the continuation and embodiment of the openness, fairness, justice, social stability and prosperity of the Tang Dynasty. It was not until the late Tang Xuanzong (Li Longji) nearly 50 years after the death of Emperor Wu Zhou that the rebellion of an and Shi appeared, and the aura of the prosperous Tang Dynasty was slightly dim.

Construction techniques

This Great Buddha was produced by the good director of the Tang Dynasty. Some of the names of "Zhiliao generals" are preserved in Xiangtan Ji. They are Li junzan, Cheng Renwei and Yao Shiji. Their names are so unfamiliar to the world, and the craftsmen who have devoted their whole life to carving this Great Buddha are even more unknown. Why didn't they leave such brilliant names as Michelangelo and Rodin? This is mainly due to the low social status of ancient Chinese craftsmen. However, the miracle and brilliance they created left the essence of Tang culture for mankind.

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