Analysis of fahai temple Mural Characters

Speaking of fahai temple murals, as we all know, the first thing I saw was that this mural is really powerful, very beautiful, completely like the real thing, and extremely novel, so someone has to ask, where is this painting really powerful? There are many magical places, let's have a quick look, so I will analyze the mural figures in fahai temple for you!

Zhao Puchu said, "A flower is a world, and a leaf is like a Buddha. The world of Buddha can be said to be the world of Buddha painting, and the world of Buddha painting can also be said to be the world of Buddha. " Under the impetus of art, Buddhism has spread in China for more than two thousand years. Buddhism and art are interlinked in essence, and they are both external and internal. "Seeing something, you can see your heart, everything, and your heart is not obvious." . For more than 2,000 years, the construction and dissemination of Buddhist mural art and Buddhist cultural spirit in China have reflected each other and blended with wisdom. Through the infiltration of Buddhist treasure light, the unique and beautiful brilliance of Buddhist mural art has been achieved, making the Buddhist world magnificent and unique, just like the harmonious and unimpeded world of China and Tibet entered by wisdom. She is an artistic interpretation of what is in reality but not in reality, and also an artistic prajnaparamita that facilitates the prajnaparamita to enter reality.

I. fahai temple Mural fahai temple Mural was painted by 15 court painting officers appointed by thomas lee, the eunuch of the royal imperial court, in the Daxiong Hall of the Ming Dynasty during the fourth to eighth years of Ming Yingzong orthodoxy (A.D. 1439- 1443). The whole mural consists of Shuiyue Guanyin, Manjusri Bodhisattva, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, the emperor's interpretation of Brahma to protect Buddha, the Buddhist court, Xiangyun and so on. Among them, "Shui Yue Guan Yin Tu" and "Emperor's Interpretation of Brahma Ritual and Buddha Protection Tu" are the most classic. Murals are ingenious in plot setting, role arrangement, image design, composition and layout. The legal principle is clear, the style is solemn and the meaning is profound. They retain the tantric system, have a close relationship with the Tang, Five Dynasties and Song Dynasties, inherit and condense the excellent tradition of Buddhist painting, and at the same time have a typical Ming Dynasty style. The statues of Buddha and Bodhisattva show the mystery of spiritual understanding, and have both the form and spirit of blending inside and outside. "Form is the Buddha's meaning, and God is the Buddha's way", which has profound connotation, prajnaparamita, forcing people to introspect, or praising the Buddha's grace, and has a strong image teaching function. Numerous symbols and elaborate decorative patterns, natural landscapes, flowers, trees and stones show the mysterious characteristics of Buddhist teachings. Characters and stories are integrated into one, showing the mysterious power of supernatural forces, hiding extremely profound religious implications and rich artistic essence. The murals are redrawn with meticulous brushwork, with gorgeous colors, exquisite brushwork and precious materials. They strictly follow the principles and rituals of Buddhism and fully embody the royal style of the palace, which is elegant, magnificent and perfect. It is the most mature, exquisite and noble aesthetic model of China temple murals and the pinnacle of China temple murals. The court painters in the Ming Dynasty were superb in skills, fantastic in imagination and exquisite in painting style, which can be described as the pinnacle and created outstanding religious and artistic achievements in the history of art.

During the period of 1993, experts from Beijing cultural relics, fine arts and religious circles demonstrated the historical, religious and artistic values and painting techniques of fahai temple murals, which were considered as the pinnacle of existing murals in China since the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. The classics and treasures of ancient murals were listed as national first-class cultural relics, comparable to the best western murals in the European Renaissance and the highest in the world.

Mr. Wang Zhunling (1925-2009), an expert on traditional murals in China, led the rescue work of the Yongle Palace murals, and found many failures and immaturities. However, after careful study and textual research on fahai temple murals, no failure was found. Master China (19 15-2002) commented on murals: I have seen many ancient murals in my life, and I often say that they are fine, taking murals as the first, and wrote a poem, "Dunhuang is magnificent and diverse, Yongle is exquisite and elegant, and the most important thing is fine and elegant." Qin Lingyun, Jin Weinuo and other contemporary artists in China all spoke highly of fahai temple murals. Fahai temple's exquisite, solemn, magnificent and beautiful murals, as well as its unique position as a palace mural, have made it the pinnacle of Buddhist mural art in China since the Kucha mural in Qizil and the Western Regions in the 3rd-4th century BC.

Fahai temple's mural "Shui Yue Guan Yin" is praised as the best statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva by religious and artistic circles. Murals use many Buddhist classic elements to beautify statues, such as crowns, garlands, celestial clothes, veils and precious lights. And skillfully arrange the auspicious boy, Wei Tuotian, Jin Maohou and parrot in Buddhist stories into a symmetrical and balanced layout; In the vast sea of clouds background, it is dotted with Xiangyun, Phyllostachys pubescens, red peony, red coral, Manglietia, osmanthus, bluegrass, Aquarius, Shoushan Fuhai, clear spring and living water. , vividly depicts and renders the ideal holy land of purity, light and harmony, and sets off the Buddhism of "the sky is empty and the moon is empty"; On the basis of inheriting the connotations of various statues of Guanyin Bodhisattva in Tang and Song Dynasties, the image of Guanyin Bodhisattva is endowed with personality and emotional charm, which makes the statues have gentle manners, compassionate feelings and profound charm, fully embodying the Buddhist purpose of spiritual transcendence and life liberation. Quietly gazing at the "Shui Yue Guan Yin Tu", the viewer thinks deeply and feels the profound ethereal spirit and ultimate compassion of Buddhism, as if entering the realm of nothingness, surpassing himself, fascinating and inspiring. Incredibly, in the same historical period, the Italian classicism master Raphael. Notre Dame painted by Sang Xi in the Sistine Chapel has the same conception and artistic conception as fahai temple's Shui Yue Guan Yin. "Shui Yue Guan Yin Tu" is also known as "The Madonna of the East".

Traditional Buddhist portraits in China include Buddha, Bodhisattva, Hades, Lohan, Tianlong Babu and Monk. The picture of the Buddha's Protection by the Emperor's Interpretation of Brahma shows the scene of the heavenly king and the heavenly people going to the Land and Water Law Society. Besides the Twenty Gods, there are ghosts, goddesses, demon people, green lions, white elephants, leopards, wild boars, foxes, golden frogs and Zi Long. * * * Create thirty-six personalized images and seven animal models, which are painted on the east and west sides of the back wall of Daxiong Hall, and are composed of two murals. The two murals, led by Brahma and Indra, stand in opposite directions. Ghosts, goddesses and mantras, in groups of three or five, show their magical powers, respond harmoniously, and come in droves, magnificent and dazzling. In the procession of worshipping Buddha and protecting the law, all the gods have the same appearance and form, showing different identities, demeanor, personality and temperament, but at the same time they have internal relations; In the same activity, vivid coordination, not only perform their duties, but also echo each other, forming a shocking and moving scene. A closer look at each person or group of people, different role expressions, postures, gestures, objects, utensils, costumes, ornaments and colors, as well as the associations and combinations of auspicious clouds, beasts and flowers, reveals that Buddhist scriptures contain a large number of classic Buddhist stories, which enriches the content of murals for enlightenment and blessing. The depiction of different characters in the screen of "The Emperor Releases Brahma to Protect Buddha" is not only distinguished by different objects or different trends, but also depends on the facial expressions associated with them to express the internal temperament characteristics of different characters and the different reactions of different characters in the same event. Both the Heavenly King and King Kong are Buddhist "protectors and good gods", and they are equally dignified and dignified, but the majesty of the Heavenly King is serious, kind and steady, while the majesty of King Kong is reckless, sharp, quiet, dignified, mighty and not angry according to Buddhist rituals. Murals express imaginary fantasy gods and do their best to create, especially feminize gentle gods, endow them with deep feelings in personality, be close to life, be deeply rooted in people's hearts and be touching. In fahai temple's mural art creation, the story and drama of plot setting, the characteristics of image expression, solemnity, peace and compassion have all been properly set and interpreted, which shows the philosophical concept of China's ancient dialectical thinking and is also the most outstanding contribution to the history of China mural.

Appreciating the beauty of fahai temple murals from the perspective of painting techniques and techniques is not only gorgeous in form, but also ingenious in conception. The painting techniques of court painters, whether Gu Kaizhi's Silk Spinning in Spring, Cao Zhongyu's Cao Clothes Out of the Water, Wu Daozi's The Wind in the Five Dynasties, or Ge Jing's, are all representative works of China's meticulous painting. A large number of murals are covered with gold, gilded and halo, and the rendering is very delicate. Especially in the application of line, the meticulous techniques such as orchid leaf painting, iron line painting, reed folding painting, dip painting, ancient wandering painting and nail tail painting are absolutely unique in details. In the overall grasp, the charm is magnificent, ups and downs, elegant and bold, full of smart walls, levels, texture, density, atmosphere, all touching, perfect and unparalleled; In addition, it has exquisite materials, diverse crafts and superb skills, and is unique among the murals of past dynasties.

The value of fahai temple murals in religion, Buddhism, aesthetics, arts and crafts, etc., has surpassed the significance of worshipping Buddha in the palaces and temples of the Ming Dynasty at that time, and it is a rare historical treasure for future generations to continue to understand and study Buddhist culture, which needs to be continuously explored, inherited and carried forward from various angles, out of temples, into the public and into the world.

Second, fahai temple murals copied fahai temple murals since 1993, the government organized relevant departments to conduct demonstration and evaluation, rescue and protection, and took photos for storage, which has been strictly protected. In order to avoid light and carbon dioxide pollution, the Ursa Major Hall is completely unlit and closed. Even scholars can watch, teach or study, but they can only browse in a limited time with the help of the weak light of a flashlight.

In order to reproduce the style of murals nearly 600 years ago, Mr. Sheng Huayong, a master of meticulous painting, with the support and cooperation of the cultural relics protection and management department, has overcome various difficulties for more than ten years and tried his best to learn and accumulate Mr. Wang Theorem's experience and techniques in the rescue and restoration of ancient murals in China, the study of mineral pigments and the copying of ancient paintings. He will copy fahai temple murals for a long time with a rigorous, earnest, rigorous and standardized attitude and professional spirit.

In the history of painting, Chinese painting has attached importance to copying since ancient times, and copying and painting imitation are very popular. It is not only a method of painting practice, but also an artistic inheritance. Many original works of ancient paintings have been lost, and they have been passed down to this day by copying and imitation. For example, Born of Gautama Buddha, Han Xizai's Night Banquet, Yuan Chaoxian's Exhibition, Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, Origins of Legalism, Fuchun Shan Jutu, etc. After Yuan Dynasty, the connotation of copying changed. Many famous artists began to copy and pursue noble inheritance in the context in order to express their feelings of worshipping the ancient times.

Fahai temple murals are composed of five paintings, namely, Shui Yue Guan Yin Tu, Manjusri Bodhisattva Tu, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva Tu, Buddhapālita Tu (blocked on the north wall) and Buddhapālita Tu (blocked on the north wall).

Fahai temple's Ming Dynasty murals represent the face of China's murals in the historical period of15th century, and represent the standards of famous painters and folk painters for religious paintings, figure paintings and landscape paintings at that time, which embodies the artistic talent of working people. Fahai temple frescoes have distinctive features in depicting figures, flowers, birds and animals, as well as pattern modeling.

Characteristic description

The so-called Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Heaven and Medicine Forks in religious paintings are actually imitations of real people. The spiritual world of the characters in fahai temple's murals is permeated with unified beliefs and pious feelings. However, due to the different status and historical conditions of the characters, their facial expressions, temperament, hairstyles, beards, costumes, hands and feet skin are also different. The painter's brushwork is meticulous and detailed.

Among the 36 figures in Buddha's Heaven Map, there are 4 emperors, 5 queens, 7 generals, 3 imaginary strange gods, 1 maid-in-waiting, 1 maid-in-waiting, 4 ghosts, 1 child,1spell master.

Emperors such as Brahma, Sun Tian, King Luolong and King Yanmoro. They were crowned with dignity. Empresses and concubines are like Indra Heaven, Meritorious Heaven, Bodhi Tree God, Earth God and Moon Heaven, and their costumes are gorgeous and noble. These costumes are basically based on the costumes of the Tang, Song and early Ming Dynasties, which are fine and realistic. Their costumes, including crowns, Tian Tong crowns and various rock-jumping penguins, are not exactly the same.

The four heavenly kings are the protectors of Buddhism, but the murals not only show the "anger" in Buddhist scriptures, but also highlight the characters' personalities. Different characters are distinguished not only by their legal objects or different dynamics, but mainly by facial expressions, and the portrayal of characters is strengthened through exaggerated faces such as gold, green and blue. Tianwang is famous in the north, with a golden face, a straight face, a sidelong glance and a short and even beard, showing the demeanor of a sophisticated ancient general. The king of the East, with a blue face, dumbfounded and prominent beard, showed a loyal and enthusiastic military commander. The growth king of the south, his face is blue and he looks askance, showing the characteristics of a strong and upright brave general. The king of the west, with wide eyes and red face, stared at the front with a beard, showing a veteran style with both wisdom and courage.

Wei Tuotian on the east side of the North Wall has a cordial and steady expression, compared with the west side of the North Wall. As military commanders, their appearance and behavior show obvious differences in identity and personality.

Maids are like 65,438+00 people, with different manners and costumes, curtains, mirrors, flowerpots and vases and bonsai. In murals, the physiological characteristics and anatomical proportions of characters are very prominent and accurate. Most of the characters' faces are long oval, with long eyebrows, small lips and beautiful and handsome eyes inclined to the temples. Some faces are full moon, with curved eyebrows and full cheeks. These ladies-in-waiting have both the elegance of the Tang Dynasty and the characteristics of the Ming Dynasty. In the description of finger gestures, there is a deep foundation and there is no similarity. With extremely simple lines, a beautiful image was drawn.

The imaginary strange gods include the days of freedom, Morita and eloquence (see the picture below). There are three eyes and eight arms in heaven, but many hands and eyes do not make people feel unnatural, but show the power of the gods. It seems to be the dance of the god of sunshine to express sunshine with the image of multi-arms, which is a very profound thought. In order to further beautify Morita, make goodness more feminine, put power in beauty, emphasize the warmth and amiability of sunshine, and popularize the world. To describe these gods, in addition to beautifying the images with bodhisattva costumes, it is important to endow the images with human character and feelings to arouse the association of the audience.

Description of flowers, plants and animals

There are many kinds of flowers and animals in fahai temple murals. The flowers and plants in the mural are lotus, peony, ganoderma lucidum, sunflower and many kinds of wild flowers and weeds. Judging from the position of all murals, flowers and plants only play a decorative role, but the author still understates and nuances. In particular, there are four clusters of lotus peony in the Buddha's meeting, one cluster of peony in the Shuiyue Guanyin diagram and one cluster of peony in Indra's maid diagram. From each cluster of flowers, we can see the author's ingenious composition design and mature outline method. Now, those flowers and plants still exude fragrance, although it has gone through 560 years.

There are lions, white elephants, leopards, wild boar, foxes, dogs, frogs and parrots in the murals. The beauty of these murals lies not only in the wonderful conception, but also in the use of lines, which is one of the best murals in fahai temple. Take the mounts of three masters, such as Golden Hairy Roar, Green Lion and Six-Toothed White Elephant, as an example. The lines are drawn with orchid leaves, iron wires, dip pens, nails, rat tails, etc. The six-toothed white elephant painted the quality of the six-toothed white elephant vividly with a dip pen. The outline and back of Jin Maohou have been squeezed out. Several descriptions were used, which were rare at that time. Describing animals and birds, the use of lines also shows the artist's superb level.

Pattern modeling

Painters like or don't paint murals without decorative patterns, which are colorful and reflect painting skills. There are the most patterns in fahai temple murals, such as bodhisattvas, emperors, queens, maids, military commanders, believers and children. All the clothes are painted with various patterns, including dragons and phoenixes, animals, flowers, birds, fish and insects. Dragons have ups and downs, walks and lies, inclines and bends, and has groups and pieces. Animals have different facial expressions and shapes.

For the description of flower patterns, both colors and gold are useful, and some colors and gold are available. The methods of using a pen are also varied and varied. Some painters think that the patterns in fahai temple murals are also unique. If all kinds of patterns and means are collected and sorted out, a collection of patterns can be produced without adding other portraits.

Dip powder and pile up gold, pile up halo, dry dye

After 560 years, fahai temple murals are still "resplendent and magnificent", which is still rare among the existing ancient mural sites in China. The murals in fahai temple are well preserved. Mainly because the wall is not only good in texture and scientific in construction technology, but also exquisite in the use of pigments. In terms of techniques, the painting method of "leaching powder and stacking gold, stacking halo and drying" is adopted.

Fahai temple murals are painted with traditional natural mineral pigments and natural plant pigments. Mineral pigments are mainly cinnabar, azurite and kyanite. Plant colors are mainly cyan, gamboge and rouge. Clam powder is white. There are two main ways to use gold in the murals of Famei Temple, one is "dripping gold" and the other is hooking gold. "Stacked halo-drying" refers to layers of stacked halo-dyeing or halo-dyeing, or light turns, or thick turns, and some mural parts are stacked halo-drying and dyeing up to seven layers. Fahai temple's murals are exquisite in materials, which can be said to be unique among the murals in China.

Wang Bomin, a famous scholar, once pointed out in his book "The History of China Painting": "Although fahai temple frescoes are works in the middle of15th century, they can be compared with the Song and Yuan frescoes in Dunhuang".