[Mural] Ancient murals missed in these years!

Entering the largest exhibition hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the United States, the first thing you see is China's huge mural "The Changes of Pharmacists" in the Yuan Dynasty. Its "hometown" is Guangsheng Temple in Hongdong, Shanxi, China. In the painting, the pharmacist Buddha sits with twelve gods, showing the grand occasion of the pure land of Oriental Buddhism where the pharmacist Buddha and his entourage are located.

China ancient murals are decorative paintings painted on the walls or ceilings of buildings. It is the oldest painting form in ancient and modern Chinese and foreign history. China murals have a unique style and style since ancient times. They occupy an important position in the art history of China and are an important part of painting art.

Seeing Shanxi from the ground cultural relics. Among the numerous cultural relics in Shangdang area of Shanxi Province, the ancient wooden buildings in Song, Jin and Yuan Dynasties occupy a decisive position in the whole country. The murals have made Shangdang's cultural relics brilliant.

Feng Jicai, a famous cultural scholar and writer, contributed to the regional cultural atlas Dust? Edited by Ge Shuiping and Mu Bing. The Mural of Shangdang Temple was officially published by Beiyue Literature and Art Publishing House.

This book contains photos 12 1 Zhang of temple murals in Changzhi and Jincheng, covering the Five Dynasties, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is the highest level and masterpiece of painting temple murals in various historical stages in Shangdang area in ancient times. Among them, the murals in the Five Dynasties, Song and Yuan Dynasties can be regarded as orphans and fine works of ancient temple murals in China. These precious murals, with a wide range of themes and exquisite painting skills, are breathtaking, and they are praised by Feng Jicai as "the golden cliff of Shangdang".

"Dust? The mural painting of Shangdang Temple is a "four batches" talent training funded project of Shanxi Province's propaganda and cultural system. The mural photos in the gallery were taken by Jincheng photographer Yan Hecheng Huamei, and they were selected from more than 1.600 photos taken during their field visits to 56 temples in Shangdang area in recent years.

These precious murals truly record the social features, folk customs, local customs and customs of Shangdang area in ancient times, and show the various artistic styles of painters in different periods, which is of inestimable value to the research of Shangdang and even China's art history, social and religious culture.

Ge Shuiping, a writer, wrote Reflections on Shangdang Murals, and discussed the origin and artistic value of Shangdang Murals from a cultural perspective. At the same time, he is deeply worried about the current situation of insufficient protection of Shangdang murals, and hopes that the relevant departments will effectively strengthen protection and make the exquisite Shangdang murals glow with dazzling brilliance. Some words and pictures in the book are selected for readers.

▲ The picture shows the mural of Baofeng Temple (Yuan Dynasty) in Jicun Village, Tunliu County, with the statues of Jade Qing yuanshi county Tianzun and Qing Qing Lingbao Tianzun.

Shangdang's golden wall and jade wall

/Feng Jicai/

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The mural remains in Shangdang area of Shaanxi Province were made by famous local photographers Cheng Huamei, Yan and some cultural volunteers after years of arduous trekking, searching, shooting and recording.

▲ Shangdang Temple mural

The temple murals in Shanxi are world-famous, and many famous works are enshrined here. However, it is the first time to see Shangdang murals, but the richness and beauty of their painting art are amazing. As a result, I was awed by a culture.

Shangdang is located in the depths of Taihang Mountain and Taiyue Mountain with magnificent scenery, ancient history and mellow culture. When the big bird of history flies away, it will inadvertently leave beautiful feathers between Shan Ye, depending on whether people today recognize and cherish it. I remember when the national cultural heritage rescue work was carried out more than ten years ago, in view of the large number of temples in Shanxi and Hebei provinces and the wide spread of murals, especially the murals of small temples in rural areas were not included in the cultural protection units, so the field murals in these two provinces were included in the rescue protection. However, this matter did not go as expected. Some people do it in Zhangbei area of Hebei province, but no one has done it in Shanxi province.

But China is an ancient country with an ancient culture, and there are always people with cultural conscience. Some photographers and writers stood up and silently undertook this matter, and finally collected and sorted out these masterpieces of murals hidden in the depths of Shangdang's land folds.

▲ Mural of Sancha Temple in Dazhong han cun, Zhangzi County (Qing)

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China's paintings are first painted on the powder wall of the building, and then on the silk on the desk. Therefore, murals are older and more original, so we should pay special attention to them.

China's murals formed three styles in the process of Buddhism spreading to the east. First, the distinctive western style of Central Asia and the western regions, and then the Dunhuang style influenced by the northwest ethnic minorities; After entering the Central Plains, it finally formed a Chinese-style middle-earth style. Shanxi murals are a model of Chinese style. The painting shapes and styles that are exactly the same as those of The Eighty-seven Immortals and Yuan Chao Immortals can be seen not only in Yongle Palace, but also in the murals of Wanshou Palace, Shang Ping Village, Qinshui Jade Emperor Temple in Dongfeng Village and Cannongji Village in Gaoping South of Shangdang District, where you can also appreciate the unique brushwork, shape and spirit of this China style.

Valuably, the murals preserved in Shangdang area show the evolution of the painting style of the Millennium murals from the Five Dynasties to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. For example, the simplicity of the Five Dynasties (Dayunyuan in Pingshun Shi Hui Village), the wealth and elegance of the Song Dynasty (Kaihua Temple in Gaoping Relic Mountain), Shen Jian and Jin Xiong in the Yuan Dynasty (Longevity View in Gaoping Dongpeng Village), and the graceful and graceful in the Ming Dynasty (Dayunyuan in Guo Village, Qin County); The secularization and localization of painting style in Qing Dynasty, as well as the intervention of literati painting method, are also clearly reflected in the temple murals around Shangdang during this period.

The frescoes preserved in a small area can have such a complete and orderly style of painting in various times, which should be a kind of historical luck and undoubtedly an extremely precious cultural wealth.

▲ Mural of the Universiade in Guocun, Qin County (Ming Dynasty)

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In the history of painting in China, murals are often excluded because of the prejudice brought by mainstream literati painting. It is difficult to see the names of mural authors in the painting history after the Tang Dynasty. China's mural history is basically a history without a painter's name. Although murals are instrumental and serve religion, the painting skills of folk painters are not lower than those of elite painters. Painters must stand on the wall and hang their wrists and elbows when painting; Bend your knees every time you draw a long line. In the end, the lines you draw are smooth, free and accurate. Can those elites who are painting at their desks have the ability to draw such huge murals of tens of square meters?

▲ Emperor Wei Zi and the Western Empress Dowager

What is exciting is that the characteristics of these murals and the extraordinary talents of folk painters are wonderfully reflected in these murals of Shangdang. In particular, the Song and Yuan murals here are masterpieces of China murals "national treasures"; Some pictures should be the classics of China murals and even Chinese paintings.

However, with the passage of time and social changes, murals have lost their functions, left our lives and become history. But often at this time, because people can't regard it as a valuable historical wealth that can't be regenerated, a large number of heritages disappear.

I believe that the disappearance of rural murals in the past twenty years is a lot, which is regrettable! To this end, this era needs someone who has "foresight" to save history and be brave enough to undertake for the future, just like the efforts made by Shangdang cultural volunteers to rescue murals.

The next thing to do is to compile information lists and files and conduct in-depth academic research.

If we can protect these painted walls today, tomorrow will be the golden wall of Shangdang.

Reflections on the murals of Shangdang Temple

(excerpt)

/Ge Shuiping/

Outside the door of Mituo Temple, the trees are old, the leaves are yellow, the creeping weeds on the ground are growing wildly, a few sparrows are foraging under the eaves, and the intoxicating silence permeates the cracks in the bones. The approach of a ray of sunshine makes me feel gentle, perishable and short-lived. The temple awakens the sleep in my body, because the temple hides the happiness that the season brings me to sleep.

Yes, the only species that can cope with time ships.

The Buddha's face is illuminated by the sunset at dusk and surrounded by aggressive mystery. The Buddha looked down with concern, and the air was silent, and everything seemed so vivid and simple. Outside the temple, cattle and sheep are always in a leisurely posture, and crops are awake in the solar terms and the material world. Inside the temple, craftsmen fixed the eternal happiness of the Buddha country on the wall. The motivation of life has changed and changed, and life has come and gone without any surprises, smiling.

▲ Mural of Universiade in Shi Hui Village, Pingshun County (Five Dynasties)

Shockingly, there are few of the most famous murals of the Five Dynasties in Dayun Academy in Pingyuan. Does the traditional craft inevitably face the fate of conflict, impact and fission in the process of social development? Five generations of painters inherited the style of painting in Tang Dynasty. Although they can't get rid of the proposition of religious benefactor, their feelings and epiphany about social life are reflected in their works. Under the gloomy sky, time is full of movement and * * *, and time shows the world the light of the future. At this point, the spiritual trajectory of human beings in time is framed by a wall.

▲ Taoist immortal map

This is a world without sound, but these Millennium murals seem to tell something. It is a bridge between the present sacred world and the future secular world. Looking for that bridge, we will all return to the folk world with the world of mortals.

Painting is a process of artistic creation, but art has always been a very individualized labor. The time on the temple wall is stable, the light is always there, and the taste of time is stagnant. As the fourth dimension, time allows you to tell you that everything is alive in that closed space, because the world is alive, and all living things, such as wind and fog, rain and snow, are alive.

Folk craftsmen are not "literati" or "painters" in the traditional sense. They are just local "painters" who make a living by painting. Sometimes the funds for building temples are different, because they are not in China, so it is difficult to attract high-level painters. Painting in the temple is just their livelihood. Literati painting is the yardstick of fashion, which affects the painter's painting style invisibly. Painting is a process of artistic creation, but art has always been a very individualized labor.

▲ Murals of Erxian Temple in the suburbs of Shi Qiaocun (Qing Dynasty)

What kind of times there is, what kind of art there is.

In the past, people not only believed in many gods, but also acknowledged the existence of supernatural forces, which made people always live in an interdependent and pluralistic social relationship.

In today's society, the development of culture lags far behind the rapid development of economy. What do people who become rich lack?

Life is full of life and death, love and hate, perception and the unknown. On the barren land with profound spiritual background, we can find the melody of sound, the rhythm and rhythm of day and night, save, release and stabilize, and then enter the magical realm.