Inherit For Three Thousand Years

Although gold has a strong visual impact, Xiao Yao prefers these antique artworks in the treasure.

After the spiritual investigation, Xiao Yao already had a general understanding of the collections in these wooden boxes. Those ordinary antiques did not attract Xiao Yao much, and only those rare national treasure antiques could interest him.

Next, he no longer opened all the wooden boxes. He just wanted to appreciate those rare antiques for himself. For those more common antique works of art, he did not plan to organize them one by one. Space is the best storage place. It's time, it's never too late to tidy up slowly.

He then opened three wooden boxes in a row, each of which contained an item.

These three items are all carved jade Buddha statues, one is a black jade Buddha statue, one is a white jade Buddha statue, and the third is a topaz Buddha statue.

In his quick detection, the three Buddha statues should be one of the most valuable single items in this batch of treasures.

The first black jade Buddha statue is about one meter high and is carved from black jade.

This is a lamp-burning Buddha statue. The Buddha statue is tall and tall, with spiral hair on the head, neatly arranged, round and convex meat bun, mani orbs on the top, flat forehead, plump cheeks, short nose and triangular cone-shaped front view.

This jade Buddha statue has simple and clear lines, clear depiction of facial features, hands in chest seal, legs crossed and sitting cross-legged, soft and delicate depiction of limbs, dignified and generous shape, and precise proportion structure.

This lamp-burning Buddha shows a strong style of Western statues. Its temperament has changed the sense of harmony and elegance in Han statues, and injected a strong and heroic spirit into the image of Buddha. This is a typical example of the Qianlong court.

Judging from the style, this should be the jade Buddha statue of Qianlong court.

Among the jade Buddha statues in the Qianlong court, statues of Buddha in the past are very rare.

The "Past Buddha" is the Buddha of the Lamp, the Buddha before Sakyamuni. There are many legends about the Buddha of the Lamp. It is recorded in the Buddhist scriptures that when the Lantern Buddha was born, everything around him was as bright as a lamp, so it is called the Lantern Buddha.

In the Buddhist scriptures, a universe is called a "big kalpa" from birth to extinction, the present world where Sakyamuni is located is called the "virtuous kalpa", and the lamp-burning Buddha is the Buddha of the "solemn kalpa" before the sage kalpa.

The Lantern Buddha once predicted that the predecessor of Sakyamuni would become a Buddha in the sage kalpa, and gave him a prophecy, so the Lantern Buddha is also called "the Buddha of the past".

The craftsmanship of this Buddha statue is extremely exquisite, and it is definitely the painstaking work of top masters. This Buddha statue has a high artistic achievement, but for this jade Buddha, such top-level carving skills are just icing on the cake.

The reason for saying this is because the value of the material of this Buddha statue itself is already priceless, even if it is not carved, it is a rare treasure.

Even a fist-sized piece of top-quality Hetian black jade like this is a rare treasure. The value of a one-meter-high top-quality Hetian black jade is simply incalculable.

Even with a conservative estimate, the value of this Moyu Buddha statue will not be less than 1 billion yuan.

The second white jade Buddha statue is about the same size as the previous black jade lamp-burning Buddha statue, and the whole body is carved from top-quality Hetian white jade.

This statue of Vajara Vodoro is dressed in a broad-collared monk's robe, with his legs crossed and seated on a lotus. state.

Venerable Vajara Vodoro, the eighteenth Arhat ranks in the fifth, which is the transliteration of Vajraputra in Sanskrit. He guards the Dharma with his 1,100 Arhats, and he is the fruit of the Immortal and Immortal Vajra Son.

Venerable Vajara Vodoro sits quietly all day long, standing still, erudite, memorizing, familiar with scriptures, listening and thinking to the end, and his great power is highly praised by believers.

The representation of the cassock and wreath is just right, showing the softness of the fabric and the beauty of the bead strings; the depiction of the face and hands has a realistic effect, reflecting the superb jade carving skills of the craftsman.

Analyzing its artistic style, Xiao Yao can conclude that this graceful and magnificent jade Buddha statue is a typical work of the "Vatican Statue Lifting Division" of the Yuan Dynasty court.

In the twelfth year of the Yuan Dynasty, the Ministry of Industry of the Yuan Dynasty began to set up the "Management Office of Craftsmen of All Colors", under which 18 bureaus including the "Vatican Statue Bureau" were under the control, and the Nepalese artist Anigo was in charge of it, which was in charge of the court's special production of statues. do things.

Therefore, this jade carving combines the elements of Ni, Tibetan and Han styles, which is unique and has a profound influence on the court statues of the Ming Dynasty.

Combined with this work, its facial shape and clothing embody a distinct Han Chinese Central Plains style, while the shape of the rosette, especially the prominent beaded pattern on the edge of the seat, is obviously an artistic feature from the Himalayan region.

To prove this point, a jade statue of Manjusri Bodhisattva in the Qing Palace can be used as evidence. The back cover is engraved with an inscription: "Gao Quanxin worships the Buddha and builds a statue of Manjushri without wealth to repay the kindness of parents' upbringing. All sentient beings will achieve Buddhahood together. The 15th day of the fifth month in the ninth year of Dade's ear".

This work is widely considered to be the standard piece of jade statues in the Yuan Dynasty. Its overall style, casting process and materials are very consistent with this statue of the Venerable.

Comparing with another jade statue of Sakyamuni collected in the Capital Museum, which is also considered to be the work of the Yuan court, it can be found that the facial shaping of it and this statue of the venerable both show obvious "Sinicization" characteristics, while the style of the lotus seat It originated from the sculpture art of the Himalayas.

In addition, the vajra pestle placed horizontally in front of the Sakyamuni statue also proves its esoteric attributes. This mixed artistic style is also the biggest charm of the "Vatican Statue Lifting Division" statue.

The jade quality of this white jade statue is slightly better than that of the previous black jade statue, and it is an extremely rare inherited jade carving in the Yuan Dynasty. The overall value is much higher than the previous black jade statue.

Xiao Yao's valuation of this white jade statue is at least 1.3 billion yuan. This white jade statue is definitely a treasure.

The third green Tara jade carving is entirely carved from Hetian topaz. It is slightly smaller than the previous two statues, but its jade quality is the best among the three Buddha statues.

Green Tara is one of the twenty-one saving Buddha mothers, named after her body color, revered as a savior who can miraculously save suffering beings, and is also the most common and active among the manifesting Tara.

The scriptures say that the twenty-one mothers are all transformed from the tears of Guanyin Bodhisattva to help Bodhisattva save all kinds of sufferings of all living beings. In "The Origin of Tara", it is said that Green Tara can save eight kinds of suffering, such as lion, elephant, snake, water, fire, prison and non-human beings, so it is also called saving eight kinds of suffering.

This Qing Yongzheng Hetian topaz green Tara seated statue is a typical Duolunuoer statue style. Green Tara has precise proportions and a round face, which is a characteristic of typical Mongolian figures, and combines the aesthetic tastes of Tibet and the Central Plains to create this green Tara, which is as beautiful as a young woman. .

Its lotus seat is wide and heavy, with three layers of lotus petals, slender, tall and straight, full and powerful. The edge of the lotus stand is also decorated with three layers of even beaded patterns. The carving technology is extremely exquisite. You can refer to a similar statue now in Ontario, Canada A 17th-century green Tara jade statue from Tibet at the museum.

Ordinary people may not have heard of the name Green Tara, but the belief in Green Tara is very popular in Tibetan Buddhism, and the statues of this theme are the most beautiful in shape among Tibetan Buddhist statues.

Green Tara, because of her flexible posture of sitting or standing, is the easiest to embody the gracefulness of the female image to the fullest. This jade carving is vividly displayed on this point, which can be described as a typical example.

Jade carvings of the same kind are rare in the world, and such a large Tara jade carving is the only one.

Taking all factors into consideration, Xiao Yao estimated the value of this jade sculpture at 1.2 billion yuan, which is slightly lower than the previous white jade statue.

These three jade carvings alone are already rare treasures, because they are similar in size and are carved from Hetian white jade, Hetian topaz and Hetian black jade respectively. The three jade carvings appearing in sight at the same time are even more shocking. .

After appreciating it repeatedly for a while, Xiao Yao opened the next wooden box again.

In the next wooden box was still a Buddha statue, but it was a statue of Shakyamuni Buddha made of pure gold.

This Buddha statue is huge, one meter high, and looks like a real person.

Shakyamuni Buddha is the most frequent theme in Buddhist art, and Shakyamuni Buddha sitting in full lotus posture and touching the ground is the most popular Buddha image in East India, Nepal and central Tibet.

Regardless of how history has changed, no matter how many times it has been rebuilt and reinstalled, this image is one of the most sacred images of Buddha.

This is because Bodh Gaya in Bihar, East India, is the place where Sakyamuni Buddha became enlightened. The stone pedestal, the Bodhi tree and the Great Bodhi Pagoda built during the Gupta period are all Buddhists all over the world. The object of worship, the same image of Sakyamuni Buddha is enshrined in the pagoda.

This pure gold Buddha statue is wearing cassock, with the right shoulder exposed, and the hem of the clothes is stacked and wrinkled in two layers. The skirt of the cassock is decorated with two rows of inlaid silver beads, with engraved patterns in between.

The Buddha sits in full lotus, with his right hand drooping in a floor-touching pose, and his left hand in meditation posture.

His eyes are downcast, turquoise stones are inlaid between his eyebrows, his lips are slightly smiling, and his expression is solemn and kind. There is a gilt copper orb top on the bun. The storage plate has not been opened intact, and the lotus pattern is engraved on the upper part.

This is one of the most sacred images of Buddha, and it is also the best choice for believers to ask for sacred objects.

As a long-standing tradition, pilgrimage began to take shape after the Nirvana of Sakyamuni. The content of pilgrimage mainly includes prostrating and worshiping and inviting holy objects.

Since Bihar is close to the central part of Nepal and Tibet, Sakyamuni Buddha has become the best choice for the subject of Buddha statues in this area.

Gold-plated Buddha statues are relatively common in Ni*er's statues, and pure gold Buddha statues are rare, and it is even more rare to see a pure gold Buddha statue like this life-sized Buddha statue.

This pure gold statue of Shakyamuni Buddha is very different from the thin and bright gilt effect of the Ni*er statue.

The Buddha's broad forehead is in the shape of a circular arc, and the pekoe is represented by inlaid turquoise.

The eyebrows are raised slightly, the eyes are drooping, in a state of meditation, the bridge of the nose is straight, the lips are slightly pursed and smiling, the center of the chin is obviously raised, the earlobes are obviously elongated and drooping, and there are three auspicious lines on the neck. Both are one of the characteristics of Buddha.

The Buddha's bun is high-snail hair, densely arranged, painted blue, and mostly made of lapis lazuli mixed with animal glue, in order to conform to the characteristics of the Buddha with cyanotic snail hair described in Buddhist scriptures.

There are gilt bun treasures on the meat bun, embellished on the bun, which is very eye-catching.

The Nepalese features of this statue are most prominent in the face: for example, a wide forehead and narrow chin, pod-shaped eyes, lightly raised eyebrows, soft expression, natural and elegant demeanor, like the image of a young nobleman.

However, the pekoe is made of turquoise, and the protruding part in the middle of the chin is more abrupt, which shows the aesthetic characteristics of Western style.

The Buddha has wide shoulders, thick back and protruding pectoral muscles, which are new features of Nepalese art after it was influenced by the West.

This feature is quite similar in the Thangkas of the Basiba statue preserved in the Xi'an Museum and the five-party Buddha statues in the murals of the Rhinoceros Leather Hall in Shalu Temple.

Both are dated to the first half of the 14th century, which is also the main basis for judging the age of this statue.

As we all know, the Buddha wears Futian clothes, also known as patchwork clothes, which is a Buddhist tradition in the Han area. *Tibetan does not have them. *Tibetan follows the Indian tradition, wearing a single cloth, so there is no such thing as Futian clothes.

Buddha wears the shoulder-length Futian cassock. The sutures between the skirt of the cassock and the pieces of cloth are expressed with beaded patterns, which clearly highlight the surface of the Buddha statue. Both the front and the back of the body are fully crafted, which is a characteristic of Tibetan statues, which is obviously different from that of Ni*er's statues, which do not pay much attention to the back processing.

After the invention of this cassock in the Han Dynasty, it was spread westward along with the culture of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and it affected Tibet. Although Tibetan monks also do not wear Futian clothes, they often appear in Buddhist statues in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties. This image is one of the important examples.

Originally, Buddha statues were cast separately from their bases, also in order to reduce the difficulty of casting, and they were easily separated during the transmission process, as is the case with this statue.

In short, this is a pure gold statue with a strong Nepalese-Tibetan style, with complete appearance, mature casting level and exquisite workmanship.

From this, Xiao Yao can conclude that this golden statue is an important representative work in the early 14th century in the Tibetan collection.

Compared with the three jade Buddha statues in front, this huge pure gold Buddha statue is obviously more valuable.

Xiao Yao's valuation of this pure gold Sakyamuni Buddha statue is at least 1.5 billion yuan.

Such a pure gold Buddha statue with deep divinity is definitely the sacred object that the majority of believers desire most. As long as funds allow, true believers will definitely invite this Buddha statue home at no cost.

In addition to these four Buddha statues, there is another item that Xiao Yao is most concerned about.

The next wooden box was opened, and what appeared in front of him was a guqin.

Xiao Yao's spiritual sense has already roughly seen this guqin, and this guqin is Xiao Yao's favorite item in the whole treasure.

Now that he finally had time to appreciate it, Xiao Yao leaned in front of the guqin and played with it carefully.