In the study of Chinese art history, some scholars call the Dunhuang Grottoes murals and Shanxi temple murals the twin peaks of ancient Chinese mural art. Shanxi Province has the most concentrated and wonderful remains of Chinese temple murals. The magnificent works of the Song and Yuan dynasties in Shanxi temples and palaces are not only precious cultural heritage of mankind, but also rare and precious materials for studying Chinese murals.
Recently, the book "Guangsheng Temple Murals - Chinese Ancient Murals in Overseas Collections 01" edited by Meng Sihui was published by Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House. The book includes three high-definition images of Yuan Dynasty murals in Guangsheng Temple in Shanxi Province collected by American museums, namely "Bodhisattva Writing Sutras" in the Cincinnati Art Museum; "Buddha Meeting of the Buddha of Incandescent Light" in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; and "Buddha Meeting of the Medicine Buddha" in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Among them, "Buddha Meeting of the Medicine Buddha" in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and "Bodhisattva Writing Sutras" in the Cincinnati Art Museum are the first high-definition authorized printings. The book is accompanied by Meng Sihui's introductory article "Treasures from Foreign Lands: Guangsheng Temple Murals in American Museums", which analyzes the content and artistic value of the three murals in detail, and tells the story of their discovery and dispersion overseas. After a hundred years of dispersion overseas, the Yuan Dynasty murals of Guangsheng Temple were brought back through digital means, high-definition original color printing and expert guidance, and were reunited.
"Guangsheng Temple Murals - Masterpieces of Ancient Chinese Murals from Overseas Collections 01", edited by Meng Sihui, Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House
Meng Sihui is a research curator at the Palace Museum. He is also a director of the China Dunhuang and Turpan Society and a graduate tutor at Capital Normal University. He is mainly engaged in art history research. He has received many scholarships, including the Star Fund of the National Gallery of Art, the Ford Fund of the Asian Cultural Council of the United States, and the visiting researcher of the French School of the Far East. He has visited Europe and the United States to study religious artworks and Dunhuang manuscripts and paintings in museums. He has published books such as "A Study of the Mural Groups in Jinnan Temples in the Yuan Dynasty", "The Smile of Gandhara: A Tour of Pakistani Monuments and Cultural Relics" (co-authored), "The Sky of Qudi: Medieval Star Worship and Images", and published more than 70 academic papers.
Guangsheng Temple murals
Guangsheng Temple is located at the southern foot of Huoshan Mountain, 17 kilometers northeast of Hongdong County (formerly Zhaocheng County), Shanxi Province. Huoshan Mountain is the main peak of Taiyue Mountain. The Huoquan recorded by Li Daoyuan, a geographer of the Northern Wei Dynasty, originated here, and Huoshan got its name from this. Huoquan has moistened thousands of acres of fertile fields in southern Shanxi, and also created the beautiful scenery of the green mountains around Guangsheng Temple. According to the Pingyang Prefecture Chronicle, Guangsheng Temple was founded in the first year of Jianhe in the Eastern Han Dynasty (147), and was originally named "King Ashoka Pagoda Courtyard". Later, it was renamed "Kulushe Temple". In the fourth year of Dali in the Tang Dynasty (769), Emperor Daizong granted the name "Dali Guangsheng Temple" and erected a stone to commemorate it. At this point, the temple was renamed "Guangsheng Temple" and was also promoted to a royal temple. Guangsheng Temple consists of two courtyards, the Upper Temple and the Lower Temple. The Upper Temple is on the top of Huoshan Mountain, and the Lower Temple is on the north side of Huoquan at the southern foot of Huoshan Mountain. The two courtyards are about 0.5 kilometers apart in a straight line.
In the summer of 1934, Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin, John King Fairbank, and Weime Fairbank, two couples of scholars, came to Yudaohe, Fenyang, Shanxi Province for a vacation. This is a place with great scenery. For Liang and Lin, the more important purpose of this trip was to continue the investigation of ancient buildings that had already begun. A year ago, the discovery of the golden version of the Tibetan Buddhist scriptures in Guangsheng Temple in Zhaocheng (now Hongdong County) made this temple famous in the academic community. Liang Sicheng believed that if the Tibetan Buddhist scriptures were from the Jin Dynasty, then the temple was likely to be from the Song and Jin Dynasties. Before that, they had not found any buildings before the Song Dynasty. So the four rented a car to investigate. On the third day of the trip, they saw the upper and lower halls and pagodas of Guangsheng Temple on Huoshan Mountain from afar. The colored glaze inlaid all over the tower body was shining with golden light in the sunset. When the four arrived at the lower temple, it was already in the dusk, but the splendor of the lower temple proved that it was indeed a treasure of architecture that lived up to expectations.
In Liang and Lin's investigation notes, in addition to recording the magnificent architectural complex, the colored sculptures and murals in the main hall of the lower temple also attracted their attention: they saw the exquisitely sculpted Buddha, Bodhisattva and Arhat statues, the standing Bodhisattva was particularly pretty, the Buddha looked solemn and relaxed. However, the two gables were obviously newly painted, and there was still a small piece of murals above the east gable, with beautiful images and colors. After asking the monks in the temple, they learned that as early as 1927, the murals on the two gables had been sold to cultural relic merchants to repair the temple.
Liang, Lin and four others at Guangsheng Temple, from left: John King Fairbank, Lin Huiyin, and Fei Weime (Photo by Liang Sicheng)
Liang Lin and his team on their way from Xiasi to Shangsi, from left: Fei Weime, Lin Huiyin, Liang Sicheng (1934)
Another visitor to Guangsheng Temple in 1934 was American Skemon, who was employed by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Missouri, USA. Skemon learned the same news from the abbot of the temple and learned that these murals were currently hidden in the United States. So Skemon speculated that a giant mural recently acquired by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art should have come from the lower temple of Guangsheng Temple. This speculation was confirmed in 1938. Huai Liguang, who was working in the Far East of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada at the time, sent two of his Shanxi students to southern Shanxi to investigate the origin of the murals recently purchased by the Ontario Museum, and also visited Guangsheng Temple. Huai Liguang's students showed the photo of the mural in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art to the abbot of Guangsheng Temple, and the abbot confirmed that the mural in the photo came from the lower temple of Guangsheng Temple.
The lower temple of Guangsheng Temple has three groups of buildings arranged from south to north: the mountain gate and the Heavenly King Hall, the front hall, and the Great Hall (also known as the main hall and the rear hall). The two huge Yuan Dynasty murals on the east and west walls of the Great Hall: the "Buddha Assembly of the Buddha of Infinite Light" originally located on the east wall is now in the collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; the "Buddha Assembly of the Buddha of Medicine" on the west wall is collected by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The murals of these two museums are undoubtedly the treasures of the museum. The mural "Bodhisattva Writing Sutras" originally located on the eaves wall of the east end of the south wall is now in the collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum in Ohio.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art’s “Assembly of the Buddha of Incomparable Light”
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art has a collection of the "Assembly of the Buddha of Incomparable Light" (print size 926mm×1978mm). The main statue is the Buddha of Incomparable Light, who is seated on a Sumeru throne holding a golden wheel. Together with the Bodhisattvas of Sunlight and Moonlight on both sides, they form a typical "three-statue Buddha" style, surrounded by the gods and attendants of the celestial world.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art’s “Assembly of the Buddha of Incomparable Light”
According to Meng Sihui, the Yuan Dynasty mural "Buddha Assembly of the Immeasurable Light Buddha" in the Lower Temple of Guangsheng Temple was collected by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in 1932. Cultural Relic Number: 32.91.1, the mural is about 713.74 cm high and about 1483.36 cm long. In 1932, Lu Qinzhai, a keen antique dealer, went to the Kansas City Museum to discuss the sale of the mural. Because the offer was too high, the board of directors did not accept his conditions at first. Lu Qinzhai went to the museum many times to negotiate tirelessly and promised to give a Qing Dynasty lacquered wood and bronze temple lattice fan to help the museum build a "Chinese Temple Hall" in the exhibition hall. This suggestion obviously coincided with the museum's wishes, and the board of directors was finally convinced by Lu Qinzhai. In the winter of that year, Skemen also took a fancy to a large Liao Dynasty painted wood sculpture of Water Moon Guanyin in Beijing. Lu Qinzhai bought it to please him, first exhibited it in the Nelson Museum as a loan exhibition, and finally sold it to the museum. Today, the Yuan Dynasty mural "Assembly of the Buddha of Incomparable Light", the Liao Dynasty painted wood carving of the Water Moon Guanyin, and the Ming Dynasty nanmu caisson from the Zhihua Temple in Beijing are displayed together in Guangsheng Temple. They are separated into an independent space - the "Chinese Temple Hall" by a gorgeous Qing Dynasty lattice screen.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art's Chinese Temple
The Yuan Dynasty mural "The Buddha Assembly of the Buddha of Incomparable Light" in the rear hall of the lower temple of Guangsheng Temple - the six star gods of the moon, gold, wood, water, fire and earth
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection: Medicine Buddha Assembly
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a collection of the "Medicine Buddha Assembly" (print size 980mm×1978mm). The main statue is the Medicine Buddha, with the two Bodhisattvas Manjusri and Avalokitesvara on the left and right, forming a "three-statue Buddha" combination. Surrounding him are the eight great Bodhisattvas, including Sunlight Panchen Lama, Moonlight Panchen Lama, Bhaisajyaguru and Bhaisajyaguru. On both sides of the eight great Bodhisattvas are the twelve generals of the Medicine Buddha, six on each side.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection: Medicine Buddha Assembly
Meng Sihui introduced in the article that the mural was purchased by Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987), a famous New York collector, from Frank Caro (1904-1980), an assistant of Lu Qinzhai, in the New York Lu Qinzhai Company in 1954. In 1964, Sackler donated the mural to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the name of his parents. Today, "Medicine Buddha Buddha Assembly Picture" is displayed in a prominent position in the spacious and bright exhibition hall on the second floor corridor all year round. The exhibition hall was built in 1902, and was renovated and decorated with exhibits in 1965, named "Sackler Hall". This exhibition hall brings together the ancient Chinese Buddhist statues treasures collected by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a group of large-scale Chinese stone statues. Most of the collections were purchased from China by private collectors or the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the early 20th century.
The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The mural of the Yuan Dynasty in the back hall of the lower temple of Guangsheng Temple, "The Meeting of Medicine Buddha" - Six of the Twelve Divine Generals
Cincinnati Art Museum Collection: Bodhisattva Writing Sutras
This mural was donated by Lu Qinzhai in 1950, and it was noted that it came from the rear hall of the lower temple of Guangsheng Temple. The "Bodhisattva Writing Scriptures" cultural relic number is: 1950.154. The mural is 416.8 cm high and 297.3 cm long. In the "Bodhisattva Writing Scriptures", a gorgeously dressed Bodhisattva sits sideways in front of a desk, with a flame-shaped halo on his head, his body slightly leaning forward, his left elbow resting on the desk, his right hand holding a pen, his eyes fixed on the blank scroll on the desk, as if thinking about something. There are inkstones, ink and water pots on the right side of the desk. In the lower left corner of the picture stands a bookkeeper with deep eyes, high nose, ruddy skin, and his arms holding a scroll of scriptures, which contains several scrolls of scriptures. There is an inscription in the upper right corner of the picture, the handwriting is blurred, and the last line "Zhizheng... Year Jiawu Season Autumn Month" can still be vaguely discerned. Based on this, the mural should have been completed in the 14th year of Zhizheng in the Yuan Dynasty (1354).
Cincinnati Art Museum Collection: Bodhisattva Writing Sutras
Inscription on the Bodhisattva Writing Sutras in the Cincinnati Art Museum
Meng Sihui mentioned that "Guangsheng Temple suffered a major earthquake disaster between the seventh year of Dade and the first year of Zhida in the Yuan Dynasty (1303-1308). This earthquake almost destroyed all the buildings of Guangsheng Temple. According to the existing steles and historical records, a major earthquake occurred in Shanxi in the seventh year of Dade in the Yuan Dynasty (1303). The magnitude was 8 and the intensity was 11 degrees. The epicenter was in Zhaocheng. In the earthquake zone from Pingyao in the north to Quwo in the south, most of the wooden structures before Dade in the Yuan Dynasty were destroyed. After the earthquake, there were many aftershocks, and many residential buildings were destroyed after they were built. The aftershocks continued until the first year of Zhida (1308). After the earthquake, there was a three-year drought and no crops were harvested. Many temples were not rebuilt or rebuilt until ten years after the earthquake. After the reconstruction of these temples was completed, large areas of murals were repainted, which took about ten years. This explains why most of the Yuan Dynasty murals in temples in southern Shanxi were completed around the 1320s or later."
The donor image at the bottom of the Yuan Dynasty mural "The Assembly of the Buddha of Incomparable Light" in the rear hall of the lower temple of Guangsheng Temple
The offering scene at the bottom of the Yuan Dynasty mural "Medicine Buddha Assembly" in the rear hall of the lower temple of Guangsheng Temple
Meng Sihui wrote at the end of his introductory article "Treasures from a Foreign Land: Guangsheng Temple Murals in American Museums": "The Song and Yuan Dynasty murals in Guangsheng Temple and Jinnan Temples were gradually developed by local professional painters who absorbed traditional images and painting patterns under the different needs of religious beliefs, reflecting the superb level of folk painting. This is the last peak in the development of Chinese temple murals and a religious artwork with milestone significance in the history of Chinese art. The painters never thought that their paintings would travel across the ocean and settle in famous museums in Europe and the United States, leaving a brilliant and colorful mark on the history of Chinese and even world art. From Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin to Smith, Huai Liguang and others, scholars have made a lot of efforts for this. Despite this, the completeness of the information of the murals will be greatly reduced if they are removed from their original locations. The good display conditions and open attitude of European and American museums may be a comfort to the Chinese people."
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