The ruins of the base of the tower
On the 16th, the fourth live broadcast of the “Longmen on the Cloud” series of live broadcast activities of the Longmen Grottoes Research Institute was held at the site of Tangxiangshan Temple in Longmen Grottoes, which was jointly sponsored by the Longmen Grottoes Research Institute and the Luoyang Daily Newspaper Group’s “Pocket Luoyang” client. During the live broadcast, Lu Wei, director of the History and Humanities Research Center of the Longmen Grottoes Research Institute, showed the public for the first time a number of important achievements in the archaeological excavation of the Tangxiangshan Temple site, giving us the opportunity to have a glimpse of the “Longmen Secret Land”.
The scale is large, and it was created on the site of the tomb of the ancient Indian monks
Xiangshan Temple is one of the famous “Ten Temples of Longmen” around Longmen Grottoes in the Tang and Song dynasties, and the geographical location of Xiangshan Temple rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty that we are familiar with today is different, the ruins of Xiangshan Temple are located at the southern foot of Longmen Dongshan, sitting in the north and facing south, because the mountain is in place, it is distributed in the form of a ladder on the multi-level platform. Its geographical location is superior, the environment is quiet, and it is inaccessible, and it is a little-known “Longmen Secret Land”.
Lovells said that the construction of Xiangshan Temple is related to an ancient Indian monk. This ancient Indian monk named Di Bhaluo, according to the (Tang) Fazang “Huayan Sutra Biography” volume 1 record, its practice is profound, in the late Tang Gaozong and Wu Zetian period, in Chang’an, Luoyang translated more than 10 Buddhist scriptures, won Wu Zetian’s respect and courtesy, Wu Zetian had translated the scriptures for its “imperial preface, deep praise”. Wu Zetian heard that the earth Po Haluo passed away “deeply mourned”, and ordered him to be buried in “the sun of Longmen Mountain, the left of Yishui” (that is, the southern foot of Longmen East Mountain).
After that, Wu Zetian’s nephew Liang Wang Wu Sansi proposed to expand the temple on the basis of the Tata Courtyard of the Tomb of Di Po Haluo, and Wu Zetian was named Xiangshan Temple. Because Longmen Dongshan is rich in fragrant arrowroot, the fragrance is full of mountains and wilderness and is also called Xiangshan, so the name of the temple is closely related to Xiangshan. “During our excavations, we found the remains of a tower base, which is most likely the tomb tower of the Devhara.” Lu Wei said that archaeologists determined its age based on the topography, the structure of the underground palace, the unearthed bricks and stone carvings, and combined with the documents, and judged that it may be the tomb tower of the Dibhara.
Gathering Tang and Song Dynasty Wenyun “Dragon Gate Secret Land” in the eyes of literati and ink writers
Xiangshan Temple gave birth to many literary stories, and “Xiangshan Fu Poetry Wins the Brocade Robe” is one of them. Lu Wei said that in the spring of the first year of the Wu Zhou Shengli (698 AD), Wu Zetian had been fortunate to Xiangshan Temple, and the banquet was full of poems, so that the ministers Wu Sansi, Shen Yanqi, Song Zhiwen, Dongfang Qiu and other poems should be systematized, and gave the brocade robe, leaving a good story of the poetry altar of “Xiangshan Fu poem to win the brocade robe”, and also made the Xiangshan Temple have the color of the official temple because of the cause of the royal family and nobles, and it was prominent at that time.
“The victory of the four wild mountains and rivers of Luodu, the first of the dragon gate. The victory of the ten temples of Longmen, the first of Xiangshan. In his “Records of Xiuxiangshan Temple”, Bai Juyi once praised the pleasant scenery of Xiangshan Temple and crowned the “Ten Temples of Longmen”. Bai Juyi lived in Luoyang for a long time in his later years, devoted himself to Buddhism, admired Longmen Xiangshan, and Xiangshan monks such as the “Incense Society”, and Hu Gao, Lu Zhen and other nine people formed the “Nine Elders’ Association”, and sang and sang. Due to the long-term disrepair of Xiangshan Temple, gradually dilapidated, Bai Juyi Yamato funded the Xiangshan Temple to renovate and expand, so that Xiangshan Temple has a new look. Since then, Bai Juyi has newly repaired the scripture collection hall here, sorted out and continued to supplement the scripture collection, and carefully supported the Xiangshan Temple, so that the Xiangshan Temple has become a famous Buddhist temple and scenic spot in the suburbs of Luoyang in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. “
There are more than 80 existing poems about Xiangshan Temple, accounting for about a quarter of the total number of existing Longmen-related poems. Lu Wei said that during the Tang and Song dynasties, many famous literati and bureaucrats such as Shen Yanqi, Song Zhiwen, Li Bai, Wei Yingwu, Wu Yuanheng, Bai Juyi in the Tang Dynasty, Shao Yong, Sima Guang, Wen Yanbo, Mei Yaochen, Lu Gongshu, Zhang Lei, Ouyang Xiu, Cai Xiang, etc., went to Xiangshan Temple to watch and stay, and sang in the forest in front of the hall, leaving a large number of poems singing Xiangshan Temple or Longmen Mountain, and Xiangshan Temple thus carried heavy historical and cultural information.
Lu Wei said that the literature records that Bai Juyi was buried next to the Ruman Monk Pagoda in Xiangshan Temple after his death, and in this archaeological excavation work, another tower base remains found are speculated to be the tomb tower of the Ruman monk, which means that Bai Juyi’s tomb may also be found in subsequent excavations.
In addition, in the “stone building” mentioned in Bai Juyi’s poem “Xiangshan Stone Tower Leans on the Sky, Cuiping Wall Libo Loops”, archaeologists combined the topography and the records of the Tang and Song dynasties, and found a place that is similar to the location of the stone basin spring under the stone building described in Bai Juyi’s poems, so as to infer the location of the remains that are more consistent with the stone building, which needs to be determined by subsequent archaeological excavations.
Handprint bricks
Fruitful archaeological work Planning and construction of archaeological site parks
According to Lu Wei, the archaeological excavation of the Tangxiangshan Temple site began in 2016, and the archaeological team of the Xiangshan Temple site was jointly formed by the Longmen Grottoes Research Institute, the School of Archaeology and Museums of Peking University, and the Luoyang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology to carry out archaeological excavations. The existing area of the site is more than 40,000 square meters, and the first phase of the approved excavation area is 3,000 square meters, which has been completed.
In this excavation, two ruins of square buildings were found, both of which were tower bases. Also found in the north cliff wall of the north Wanfogou of Xiangshan Temple, there are remnants of scab caves and unfinished shallow niches. On the highest platform in the ruins area of Xiangshan Temple, there are bricks, stone walls, edging and a circle of well-preserved scattered water around the outside of the platform. In addition, there are handprint bricks, relics stone letters, stone slabs, Buddhist statues, porcelain fragments, stone building components, Song people’s travel monuments, etc., and the unearthed relics are rich. These relics and relics are not only of great significance for the discussion of the layout of Xiangshan Temple, its historical evolution and its relationship with the drum platform area, and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, but also provide important basic information for the in-depth study of the relationship between Longmen Grottoes and the surrounding temples and the layout of Buddhist temples in the Middle Ages in China, and accumulate experience for the architectural archaeology of Chinese Buddhist monasteries.
“Di Bhahara is the earliest Tianzhu (ancient Indian) monk buried in the eastern capital of Luoyang in the Tang Dynasty, and this excavation is also the first excavation of the tomb tower of Indian monks in the Tang Dynasty. During the excavation work, we have deliberately reserved some of the relics for the public to see. Lu Wei said that in order to better inherit and carry forward the profound cultural connotation of Longmen Grottoes and tell wonderful stories, they plan to protect and display the original site of Tang Xiangshan Temple in the future, plan to build archaeological site parks, museums, etc., and hold public archaeological activities such as research and summer camps, so that the public can intuitively experience the beautiful scenery of Xiangshan and feel the prosperous Tang Dynasty. (Luoyang Daily Financial Media Luoyang Net reporter Liang Xiaoyu)
