Internal setting of Baoguang Temple

Where did the five hundred arhats in Luohan Hall of Baoguang Temple come from? According to legend, there was a monk named Luo in Qingshen County, Meizhou in the Tang Dynasty, whose common name was Luo, who said that the scene was in the midst of Qingshen. Later, he took 500 disciples from Sichuan to Tiantai Mountain in Zhejiang. It is said that these 500 disciples were incarnated by 500 arhats. Therefore, the couplet of Luohantang in Baoguang Temple reads: "This is the rooftop, which seems to show 500 arrows."

All kinds of interesting ones.

Luohantang statues have different shapes and are full of fun. First of all, it gives people the impression that there are various forms of expression and different postures and movements. Its forms are fat and thin, old and young, tall and short, beautiful and ugly ... its expression or smile, or sadness, or kindness, or glare, or calm and dignified, or brave and bold, or simple and funny, or cunning and worldly ... its posture includes sitting in danger and crossing hands to meditate; Those who crossed their legs, hugged their knees and were complacent; Those who talk and laugh with their mouths open; Those who close their eyes and thoughtfully hold their cheeks ... hold things differently: those who hold objects such as beads, wooden fish, pestle and mord, those who hold utensils such as alms bowls, books, crutches and dusting, those who play with gods such as bats, toads, cranes and unicorns, and those who hold Ganoderma lucidum.

Many statues were created by romantic means through bold exaggeration and rich imagination. Among them are those who ride peacocks, those who drive dragons, those who have three heads, those who have five eyes, those who open their glume shells and show their faces, and those who open their bellies and expose their fetuses ... Those striking three arhats with long arms have their own "special functions": those who respect the wonderful arms can catch birds, those who respect Luo Hou can pick the sun, and those who respect the law can catch the moon. These imaginative Buddhist myths and legends show the infinite wisdom and good wishes of ancient people to conquer nature, and also reveal the sculptor's profound artistic attainments. The statue of Luohantang is more realistic, with bright and natural lines, accurate and beautiful shapes and true and delicate images. This statue is slightly taller than a real person. Except for the artistic exaggeration of some facial images, the head, trunk and limbs (except the long-arm arhat) all conform to the proportion of the human body, and the lines, muscles and bones of the clothing also conform to the anatomical structure, which is natural and decent and gives people a sense of beauty. In the statue, because all the 50 founders are real people, especially the founders of the early Zen Buddhism and the founders after the Dharma in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the distance is not far, most of the faces are lifelike, and there is little mystery of the Buddha statue. Some of them are still modeled according to the true portraits of their ancestors before their death, and they have not hesitated to retain their physical defects. For example, Lin Ji, the thirtieth founder of Zen Buddhism, and the Ming Dynasty Miyun Dinghui Zen Master (1565~ 164 1 year), had a thin face in his later years, but his hair fell off and became bald due to boils in the past, so there were only a few short and thin hairs on his head. Another example is the founder of the thirty-seventh generation of Zen Lin Ji and the sixth abbot of Baoguang Temple in Qing Dynasty, Yue Rong (? ~ 1784), short stature, swollen face, small right eye and pulled down, this appearance is visible in real life. Because the figures are lifelike, they leave a deep impression on people and increase the artistic effect of the statue.

Five hundred arhats are very different from Buddha and Bodhisattva. Hinayana Buddhism believes that Lohan is the fruit that people can get through practice, so Lohan statue has not left human society, and its appearance and form reflect the characteristics of various races and nationalities in the vast areas where Buddhism is popular. It is easy to see that there are Indians with dark skin and curly hair, people from the western regions who are tall and broad-minded, and more people have the same or similar faces as people from China and Southeast Asian countries. 1973, when the famous British woman writer Han and her husband, Indian engineer Lu Wenxing visited here, they pointed to several arhats and said, "They really look like real Indians."

The statue of Luohantang, which is full of life and full of fragrance, is based on the vivid image of real life and reproduces the characters of ancient society. It is familiar and kind to see it. Here are a few examples: the semi-Tuojia venerable among the eighteen arhats is an Indian monk. He is playing with his beloved little lion. Suddenly, the little lion grabbed his left earring curiously and dragged it down. The merciful Buddha, holding his beloved little spirit beast in his hand, was so sore that his mouth tilted and his eyes tilted, and he buried his head and was at a loss. Seeing this situation, why not make people laugh!

Bodhi, the 98th dharma king among 500 arhats, is bald and barefoot, dissolute and lazy. His coat was half off, his shoulders, breasts and navel were exposed, his right elbow was resting on his right knee, and he was picking his ears with a pickpocket. The expression of frowning, squinting and grinning shows his inner pain and comfort.

120th national honorary winner is a bearded monk from the western regions. He is far away in the country, practicing alone, and his robe is broken. No one will do it for him, so he has to sew it himself.

The 207th person with infinite life is an old monk with a wrinkled face and living in poverty. He took off his frock to his waist, revealing thin ribs, scratching his rake with his right hand (commonly known as "dutiful son") and picking his back with his backhand. At the moment, his facial expression presents an itchy pleasure.

The 388th venerable, with bare chest and a smile, is an elder who loves children. Six naive children climbed on their shoulders, stepped on their instep, or sat on their palms, even dug his navel and pulled out his ears to play tricks on him, but the old man was not angry and let them play ... The exquisite Luohantang statue was the product of the gathering of two groups of folk sculptors in the south and the north of China, and reached the peak of sculpture art at that time.

In the last years of Daoguang in Qing Dynasty, Miao Sheng Zen Master of Baoguang Temple hired three groups of sculptors: Shaanxi School in the North, West Sichuan School in the South and East Sichuan School. The Lohan in Bonsu, Shaanxi Province is big, muscular, peculiar in shape and unique in taste. The styles of the Western Sichuan Gang and the Eastern Sichuan Gang are similar. The carved arhat has a moderate head, natural expression and different shapes from ordinary bodhisattvas, which more reflects the characters in real life. Zhou, the leader of the Western Sichuan School, has simple skills and devoted his life to shaping bodhisattvas and teaching disciples. He has no interest in middle age.

Today, the old monk in the temple still tells with relish the interesting legend that he finished shaping the son of Lohan. What is more worth mentioning here is Li Guangxiu of the East Sichuan Gang. Guangxiu, formerly known as Desheng, is said to be from Hezhou (now Hechuan County, Chongqing). According to research, Guangxiu is a native of Mianzhu County, Deyang City, Sichuan Province. He studied poetry as a child and later made statues with his parents. Being clever and eager to learn, he became a famous clay figurine in Sichuan when he was young. When he was nearly sixty years old, he led five disciples to build 500 arhats at the request of the abbot of Zhu Qian Temple in Kunming and Monk Meng Buddha in Sichuan, which took seven years. Li Guangxiu has not only accumulated rich experience in shaping arhats, but also is good at painting and calligraphy, and is proficient in poetry and Buddhism. Therefore, the statue is handy and unconventional, and it is famous for its rich flavor of life.

More than 500 statues of Luohan Hall in Baoguang Temple were made by three groups of sculptors. By observing their styles and comparing their advantages and disadvantages, we can still distinguish the works of each family. But in general, they all have their own strengths, and all roads lead to the same goal. They are worthy of being one of the exquisite statues of China in Qing Dynasty, and they have been highly praised by later generations.

There are many cultural relics in Baoguang Temple, including the "Thousand Buddha Monument" carved in Datong, Liang Wudi in the sixth year (540). Founded in the 11th year of Yongle in Ming Dynasty (14 13), it is a "life-respecting building"; In the thirty-second year of Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty (1906), the Bayeux Sutra presented by the King of Thailand and four relics hidden in stone pagodas retrieved from Sri Lanka in the same year; Here are the paintings and calligraphy treasures of Tang Bohu, Zhu Zhishan, Monks, Zhang Daqian and other famous artists. On June 25th, 20001year, Baoguang Temple, as an ancient building in Qing Dynasty, was approved by the State Council to be included in the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units. Blissful Hall is located on the east side of the temple, from south to north, behind the Blissful Hall. The hall is10m high and 9m wide. It was really printed and built by monks during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty. There is a stone tower in the main hall, about 5.5 meters high and 2 meters in diameter. It is a hexagonal palace style carved from three huge stones. Focusing on the story of Sakyamuni Buddha, the tower is carved with various figures, flowers, birds and animals, and six stones are inlaid with dragons, which are vivid in shape. The whole stone pagoda is beautifully carved and is one of the sculptures with high artistic value in the temple. According to legend, it was carved by three famous workers in Qing Dynasty for three years. The abbots of past dynasties used it as a pure land Sect Dojo.