The Late Northern Dynasties Buddhist Statues at Qingzhou and the Qingzhou Style

The Late Northern Dynasties Buddhist Statues at Qingzhou and the Qingzhou Style Liu Fengjun Keywords: late Northern Dynasties Qingzhou area Buddhist statues Qingzhou style In recent years fragmentary Buddhist statues have been Northern Qi period. (3) In the winter of 1979, 40 small frequently unearthed in large numbers in Qingzhou 青州 and large fragmentary statues and some lotus socles were and the surrounding area, including Boxing 博兴, discovered at the Xingguo Temple 兴国寺 site in Gaoqing 高青, Wudi 无棣, Linqu 临朐, Zhucheng 诸 Qingzhou, mainly produced between the end of North- 城, and Qingdao 青岛. Especially notable are the large ern Wei and Northern Qi period. There were also two quantities of statues at the site of the Longxing Temple Buddha head sculptures of the Sui and Tang periods. (4) 龙兴寺 at Qingzhou. The discovery of these statues drew In the 1970s, seven stone statues were discovered at great attention from academic circles. The significance He’an 何庵 Village, Wudi County. Four of them bear of these statues is manifold. I merely intend to under take Northern Qi dates. (5) In November 1987, one single a tentative study of the causes and date of the destruction round Bodhisattva stone sculpture of the Eastern Wei of the Buddhist statues and of the artistic features of the period and one round Buddhist stone sculpture of the Qingzhou style statues. Northern Qi period were discovered on the South Road of Qingzhou. Both works were painted colorfully and I. Fragmentary Buddhist Statues of the Late partly gilt. They were preserved intact and remained Northern Dynasties Unearthed in the Qingzhou Area colorful. (6) From 1988 to 1990, over 300 fragmentary The following discoveries of the Late Northern Dynas- stone Buddhist images were discovered at Northern ties Buddhist statues unearthed in the Qingzhou area, Dynasties temple sites in the southern suburb of Zhucheng have been formally published : (1) In the autumn of 1976, County. Four of them bear dates from the Eastern Wei to seven stone Buddhist statues and one bronze Buddhist Northern Qi periods. (7) In spring 1990, 53 pieces of statue were excavated at Xujiacun 胥家村, Gaoqing. On Buddhist statues and statue socles were discovered at the the bronze statue was an inscription identifying its date Xiangyi Temple 乡义寺 site, Boxing County, of which as the 19th year of the Taihe 太和 reign period of the 5 bear dates of the Northern Qi period. (8) In October Northern Wei period. Of the seven stone ones, only three 1996, the Qingzhou Museum cleared a cache of Buddhist bear inscriptions indicating their dates, all of which fall statues at the Longxing Temple site. Most of the statues within the Northern Wei and Qi periods. (2) In March are made of limestone, white marble, or granite, but a few 1976, one statue stele, 42 stone images, 5 molded terracotta are of pottery, iron, clay or wood. According to a rough clay statues, 12 stone statue socles, and 2 molded terracotta statistics, there are 144 Buddha heads, 46 Bodhisattva clay statue socles were unearthed from the Longhua heads, 36 fragmentary statue bodies with heads, 10 other Temple 龙华寺 site in Boxing County. Among them, head sculptures, over 200 fragmentary statue bodies, and nine pieces bear dates, indicating that they had been a lot of damaged statue fragments. Ninety percent of made during the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi periods. these Buddhist statues were made during the period from From 1981 to 1984, many investigations were made at the late Northern Wei to Northern Qi, and statues of the this site, and 22 additional fragmentary stone statues Northern Qi period are in the majority. In addition, there were discovered. Most of them were produced during the are also near 20 Sui and Tang Buddhist and Bodhisattva 170 Chinese Archaeology images and Northern Song arhat images. (9) Other places wrought Buddhist statues were made, all the fertile land where Buddhist statues were also discovered include: was owned by temples; the governments exhausted their the neighborhood of Fahai Temple法海寺, Laoshan崂 revenues to buy land for temples.” Villainous monks and 山 County, Qingdao; the Qiji Temple 七级寺 site in nuns robbed wealth from common people and lived a Qingzhou; temple sites south of Guangrao 广饶 County, debauched life. Such was the situation in the political and and temple sites in Linqu County. cultural center of Luoyang 洛阳 during that period (Note that Luoyang was not the capital during Northern Qi and II. The Date and Causes of the Destruction Northern Zhou), and the situation in Qingzhou, far away of the Northern Dynasties Buddhist Statues from the capital, was even worse. Although the many in Qingzhou Buddhist statues found so far only constitute a small The reports cited above reflect the following common portion of the total number of Buddhist statues, their features of the many fragmentary Buddhist statues un- large quantity and fine craftsmanship are greatly ad- earthed in Qingzhou: (1) Their dates mostly fall within mired by today’s viewers. The funds and human labor the late Northern Dynasties period. (2) All the fragmen- expended in their production were well beyond people’s tary statues were discovered at or near temple sites. (3) endurance, if the feelings of the population of that period All the fragmentary Buddhist statues had been destroyed are taken into account. As a result, common people deliberately by removing their heads, breaking their turned their worship of the Buddha to rage and hatred. arms and hands, clipping the waist, and smashing the Their desire for revenge would find a vent when an socles. This kind of radical destruction seems to have opportunity presented itself. The radical destruction of been especially prevalent in the Qingzhou area. (4) All Buddhist statues of Qingzhou can be mainly attributed to the fragmentary Buddhist statues were buried in pits and this. arrayed in order. The worst damage done to Buddha statues in Qing- As to when and why these statues had been destroyed, zhou during the suppression of Buddhism during the most scholars hold that they were destroyed after Em- Jiande reign period had another special cause. In the peror Wudi 武帝 of the Northern Zhou annihilated the spring of the sixth year of the Jiande reign period, armies Northern Qi in the sixth year of the Jiande 建德 reign of the Northern Zhou attacked Yecheng 邺城“. The Qi period (AD 577), an event that was followed by the emperor first sent his mother, wives, and children to suppression of Buddhism. I agree with this explanation. Qingzhou. After the fall of Yecheng, he fled to Qingzhou In order to allay the political and economical crisis under the escort of several dozen mounted warriors. The and unify the North, Emperor Wudi of the Northern ruler of the Zhou ordered General Yuchi Qin尉迟勤to Zhou (AD 561–578) took measures to suppress Bud- chase him with 2000 soldiers. In this battle the emperor dhism in the third year of the Jiande reign period. In the of Qi was captured.”“Yuchi Qin captured the emperor sixth year“after seizing the land of Qi, the army was of Qi and his Crown Prince Heng 恒 in Qingzhou.” permitted to destroy it.”As a result, the suppression of Yuchi Qin then became Governor of Qingzhou. The war Buddhism was very severe. The stele of the Longhua in Qingzhou between the Northern Zhou and Qi surely Temple in Boxing County, which has inscriptions writ- aggravated the annihilation of Buddhism. The Northern ten in the third year of the Renshou 仁寿 reign period of Zhou emperor even ordered the military force to take part the Sui Dynasty, describes the gravity of the situation: in the suppression of Buddhism for the purpose of “Disaster abounded under the reign of Zhou.”“The destroying the Northern Qi thoroughly. The description Heaven and earth trembled, columns and houses on the Longhua Temple stele –“[the Buddhist followers] collapsed. [Buddhist followers] left the temples and all left the temples and were at the mercy of the military were at the mercy of military people. The temple and the people”illustrates this. Buddhist halls underwent radical upheaval.”The fragmentary Buddhist statues unearthed in Qingzhou still III. The Artistic Characteristics of Qingzhou-style Buddhist Statues evoke the radical suppression of Buddhism at that time, it could result in the destruction of Buddhist temples and During the Sixteen Kingdoms and Northern Wei periods, their statues, and in the persecution of Buddhist followers. Buddhist images in north China are preserved mainly in In the late Northern Dynasties period, the power of cave temples. The Buddhist statues may be divided into Buddhism reached an astonishing degree. “A lot of well- Xinjiang 新疆 style, Liangzhou 凉州 style, Yungang 云 Volume 4 171 Fig. 1 Stone statue in the Yongning Temple, Guangrao County Fig. 2 Stone statue in Zhucheng City 冈 style, and Longmen 龙门 style according to the date relief; in the upper register of the halo are Apsarases, and structure of the cave temples, the theme and the deva-dancers, stupas, and dragons in relief or line combination of the statues, the shape and decoration of engraving. The ripples of the Apsarases and deva-danc- the statues, as well as differences in sculpture and paint- ers are uniformly flowing upward and compose beautiful ing technique. This classification approximately cap- flame-like pattern. In the lower register of the halo, the tures the phases and regional characteristics in the gradual Buddha is standing barefoot on the lotus socle. Between spread of Buddhist cave temple art from the western the feet of the Buddha and those of the Bodhisattva is a frontiers to central China.

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