Legend of Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang

According to legend, in ancient times, there was a vast lake in the south of Luoyang, surrounded by green mountains and grass. People graze in the mountains, fish in the lakes and live a quiet life. There is a hardworking child in the village who goes to the mountains to herd sheep every day. He often hears the strange sound of "I can't open it" coming from underground. When he got home, he told his mother about it. Mom thought about it and told him that if she heard it again, she would answer, "Open!" " "Who knows, the sky were to fall, Longmenshan split from the middle, and the surging lake water gushed from the gap, roaring around Luoyang City and flowing to the East China Sea. After the water flows, countless clear springs gush out from the cliff stones, which are stored as fragrant pools and shed into waterfalls. There are countless honeycomb caves on the cliffs of the two mountains. There are stone statues everywhere in the grottoes, some with thin eyes and some with unclear outlines, which are very spectacular. Since then, Longmen Grottoes have become famous all over the world.

In fact, Longmen Grottoes have their historical reasons, but this myth and legend reflects the rich imagination of ancient working people and praises the exquisite carving art of Longmen Grottoes.

Longmen is located on the Yishui River, which is13km south of Luoyang. The two mountains are opposite here, and the Yi River flows like a doorway, so it was called "Yi Que" in ancient times. Poems left by poets, such as "If the sky is interrupted, the mountains will guide the Iraqi flow" and "Two towering mountain gates, the water is beautiful in Xiu Xiu", are excellent portraiture. Because it is located in the south of the capital of Sui and Tang Dynasties, it is also called "Longmen". Bai Juyi, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, once commented: "The scenery in the suburbs of Luodu wins, and Longmen comes first." Since ancient times, "Longmen Mountain Color" is known as the first of the eight scenic spots in Luoyang, and it is the best scenic spot in Luoyang. Since ancient times, yique has been a major traffic artery and a battleground for military strategists, and it is also the gateway and barrier for Luoyang to go south in ancient times. Longmen Grottoes Scenic Area is mainly composed of Longmen Grottoes, Xiangshan Temple and Baiyuan Garden. These scenic spots or beautiful mountains and rivers, winding paths leading to secluded places; Or strange peaks and rocks, flowing springs and waterfalls, which make many tourists linger. It is a national scenic spot.

Longmen Grottoes: Longmen Grottoes, Dunhuang Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes are also called the three major grottoes in China. 196 1 year, the State Council was declared as a national key cultural relics protection unit.

In 2000,165438+/kloc-0 was listed on the World Cultural Heritage List by UNESCO on October 30th. In 200 1 year, it was rated as 4a-level tourist area by National Tourism Administration. The east and west mountains of Longmen are "Paleozoic" limestone in geological history. Stone is hard and not easy to weather, so it is suitable for fine carving. Because it is close to the imperial capital of Wei, Sui and Tang Dynasties, it is the political, economic and cultural center of the whole country, with developed economy, convenient transportation, natural mountains and rivers, beautiful scenery and mild climate. During the Northern Wei, Sui and Tang Dynasties, Buddhism worshiped Buddhism and was keen on building grottoes. Buddhism developed rapidly. Luoyang was once the center of Buddhist activities for a long time, so the Longmen statue came into being. Founded in the Northern Wei Dynasty (about 3 AD), it experienced the Eastern Wei Dynasty, the Western Wei Dynasty, the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Sui and Tang Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty. Its excavation time has reached more than 400 years. According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 2,300 niches, more than 1 1000 statues, more than 70 pagodas and more than 2,800 inscriptions. The largest Buddha statue is as high as 17. 14 m, and the smallest is only 2 cm. These niches of different sizes, like honeycombs, are densely distributed on the cliff walls of the East and West Mountains, stretching from north to south 1000 meters. Their number and artistic level are amazing.

The art of Longmen Grottoes shows the characteristics of the integration of Indian culture and China culture. It was formed by the sinicization of the Northern Wei Dynasty when it moved its capital to Luoyang and the fusion and collision with the advanced and broad Chinese culture of Luoyang in Wei, Jin and Southern Dynasties. Therefore, from the beginning, there was a trend of secularization and China. It is different from the grotto art in the west, north and southwest. Longmen Grottoes-Two legends of Longmen are called Longmen Grottoes, one of the three largest grottoes in China, located about 12km south of Luoyang. Here Xiangshan and Longmen Mountain face each other from east to west, and the clear Yi River flows in the middle stream, which looks like a natural gate from a distance. Therefore, it was called Quesai and Yique in Qin and Han Dynasties, and Longmen and Yique after Han Dynasty.

Longmen Mountain is beautiful, pine and cypress are green, and the "Longmen Mountain Color" is known as the first of the "Eight Great Scenes of Luoyang". The world-famous masterpieces of Buddhist stone carving are distributed between the cliffs on the left and right sides of Yishui River, just like strings of pearls embedded in green brocade.

The carving of Longmen Grottoes began around the time when Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved the capital to Luoyang, and went through the Eastern Wei Dynasty, the Western Wei Dynasty, the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Sui and Tang Dynasties, especially the Northern Wei Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, with a large-scale carving 150 years. Longmen has more than 265,438+000 caves, more than 65,438+000 Buddha statues, more than 40 pagodas and about 2,870 inscriptions. "Longmen can't be opened"

In the south of Luoyang, there are two steep peaks, sandwiched between the Yi River, like a jade belt. This mountain pass is the famous tourist resort Longmen.

Legend has it that long ago, these two peaks were connected. There is no Longmen and no Yi River. There is only a rolling stone mountain with fewer trees and more grass. Shannan is a distant lake.

In the north of Longmen Mountain, there lived a rich man nicknamed "a smiling tiger". A smiling tiger is as fat as a ball. Usually, when he goes up the mountain to see his fields, he always needs two servants to help him. Otherwise, as long as he lifts his foot, he will lose his balance and roll down the hill. A smiling tiger has a smile on his face all day, but his stomach is full of bad ideas, so his family's wealth has accumulated more and more. The smiling tiger has a shepherd boy. The poor child has no name and was born on the hillside, so he is called Shanwa. Shanwa drives sheep to eat grass on the stone mountain every day. One day, the sheep scattered to eat grass, and Shanwa lay on the top of the mountain to rest. He vaguely felt a rumbling vibration on the hillside below, so he turned away and put his ear close to the stone. It seems that someone on the mountainside is asking, "Can't the Longmen be opened? Can't the Longmen be opened? " Shanwa was very surprised and told the villagers about it when she got home. A white-bearded grandfather said, "Don't you dare talk nonsense! Listen to the old people, who wants to answer' open!' The mountain will crack, and the flood on the other side of the mountain will come! "Shanwa drove the sheep back to the home of a smiling tiger. The smiling tiger smiled and said that Shanwa came back late and had a meal before. Shanwa angrily returned to the workshop and lay down, thinking, one day, I will split this mountain and let the flood drown you cruel thieves! He fell asleep slowly. Suddenly, someone was calling "Shanwa" softly. Shanwa opened her eyes and saw that it was the girl Shuixiu who secretly gave him a nest. Shanwa and Shuixiu understand each other, and over time, two children in bad karma have feelings. Seeing this, the smiling tiger smiled and said to Shanwa, "You give me a good shepherd, and when I put the sheep all over the hillside, I will marry Shuixiu to you ..." Shanwa is looking forward to marrying Shuixiu and living a good life, and from then on, she will herd sheep for the smiling tiger who has no darkness. Winter goes and spring comes, and the grass turns yellow. Finally, when the hillside was full of sheep from the old rich family, Shanwa proposed to the smiling tiger and married the girl Shuixiu. A smiling tiger smiled and said, "All right! Let you get married in three days. Shanwa told Shuixiu the good news, and they jumped for joy.

The next day, Shanwa still drove the sheep up the mountain. Unexpectedly, a smiling tiger sold Shuixiu to Luoyang City! Other long-term workers ran up the hill to tell Shanwa the news. Shanwa was so angry that she immediately went down the mountain to find the theory of a smiling tiger. A smiling tiger laughed and suddenly changed his face: "poor boy, do you want to marry Shuixiu?" You go to the lake in Shannan and take care of your poverty! You honestly go up the mountain to feed my sheep. If you lose a wool, I'll skin you! "Shanwa knew that she had been taken in by the old money, and she was dizzy with anger and fought all over. He walked to the mountain in a daze and fell to the ground with a limp. At this time, he vaguely heard the rumble in the belly of the mountain and the sound of "Longmen can't be opened". He was furious, propped himself up, glared at him, waved his fist and shouted, "Do it! Go! Drowning these bullies! "

Boom! With the cry of Shanwa, there was an earth-shattering noise, and the mountain wind split from it. The lake in Shannan surged down and rushed to Sigh's manor. In the rolling waves, the smiling tiger couldn't laugh anymore, struggled a few times and disappeared into the water.

After the flood, I saw a wide mountain pass where the mountain cracked, which looked like a gate, and a river came down in the middle of the gate. This is the Yi River in Yi Que now.

It is said that the smiling tiger has turned into a round toad, and it is still the ugly look of Gherardini. Shuixiu doesn't want to be humiliated with the traffickers. When crossing the Luohe River, she jumped into the Luohe River while the traffickers were not looking, and became a beautiful and elegant clean lotus flower. Shanwa shouted to open the Longmen, created the Yi River and became the God of the Yi River. People also saw Shui Xiu jump into the river from Luohe, so he brought Yi River to join Luohe, and helped to touch, protect and nurture the green lotus by the river with flowing breasts, loving and loving, and never separated.

Dayu split Longmen

If you have a topographic map of Luoyang in front of you, you will see that the Yi River, which passes through Longmenkou (Yique), runs down from the southwest and retreats along the river. On both sides are Xiong 'er Mountain and Waifangshan, which are far away. On the southwest border of Yichuan County, two mountains are approaching, and two peaks are uplifted respectively, namely Jiu Hao Mountain and Haifeng Mountain. They looked at each other across the river, just like

Legend has it that in ancient times, the east and west mountains of Longmen were connected. On the southwest side of the mountain, a big lake has been formed because of several mountains. The water in Iraq has been flowing, and the lake has been rising, eroding the fertile fields and villages along the coast. People had to leave their homes and take refuge in the surrounding mountains.

Later, Dayu came here to control water. He adopted the method of dredging the Sichuan River. So he climbed Gao Haifeng and carefully observed the terrain, so he came to Longmen Mountain with a big axe. An axe splits the mountain into a ditch, and two mountains are sandwiched into a ditch, just like opening a door on the wall, allowing the rolling flood to pass through this door and flow into the Yellow River. As a result, the lake receded, leaving only the Yi River in the middle, with flat and fertile fields on both sides of the river.

In order to commemorate Dayu, people built a Haidu Temple on Haifeng, where they took refuge in that year, and it was dedicated to grandpa at four o'clock, and incense kept burning. I don't know when the Buddha led the disciples such as Bodhisattva, Heavenly King and Lux to Longmen. Seeing that Yu's flood discharge project was so wonderful and reasonable, which caused such pleasant scenery, he liked it very much and didn't want to leave. He stood there for a long time to enjoy it. Countless undulating river waves scatter their divine light, leaving large and small, high and low scattered shadows on the rock walls on both sides. Of course, the Buddhism is original, and the divine light is not deformed when it is reflected. Just like the current laser, the thickness and the shooting distance are the same. So the printed shadow expressions are inseparable. When the divine power diminishes, shadows and expressions appear, some are charitable, some are heroic, some are fierce, and some are not so solemn. Artists nowadays don't delve into it. On the contrary, they say that these sculptures by Lux, Tian Fei and suppliers are "closer to human life" and highly artistic! Do you find it strange?