Culture

What history is the precious paper truth that has been preserved for over 1000 years telling?

2023-09-06   

Scattered gold foil, turquoise paper... At the exhibition "Chinese Characters in China - Chinese Civilization between the Founders", the paper version of the true sayings unearthed from the Tang Tomb on Qunzhong Road in Chengdu and now stored at the Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, in both written and formal form, confirms the spread and changes of Buddhist culture in the Tang Dynasty. At present, there are only 13 cases of paper-based inscriptions in China that are composed of two languages and participated in the excavation of Tang tombs on Qunzhong Road. According to Wang Jin, a research librarian at the Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the paper-based true sayings are not as precious as bronze or Ming Dynasty official kiln porcelain, but because they are difficult to preserve, they are a very precious cultural relic in terms of historical value. Including this paper truth, only 13 cases have been unearthed nationwide. In the other 12 examples of paper-based truths, there are mandala images similar to this one. For example, the silk scripture mantra unearthed in Sanqiao Town, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province can provide a good reference for the restoration of paper-based texts. Wang Jin told reporters that the paper-based texts currently seen by the audience are actually the leftmost part of the entire paper-based text, accounting for about one-third of the entire paper-based text. On a complete paper notebook, there should be a symmetrical mandala image with an inner circle and an outer square. The scattered gold foil should have been stacked on top of the hand-painted boxes on paper, forming a square or slightly rectangular golden box. This pattern is a very typical and esoteric image. As for who cut the paper into this shape, it is unknown whether it was already cut into shape when the tomb owner asked for the truth from the paper. The content on this paper version of the truth consists of two types of text. Firstly, the name of the true words is written in regular script Chinese characters, followed by the content of the true words written in Shitan Sanskrit. Its content is a collection of 21 true sayings, such as the "Cross Buddha Summit True Words", the "One Character Summit Wheel King True Words", and the "Buddha Eye True Words". This practice of reciting the truth orally was also a particularly popular practice in esoteric Buddhism at that time, "Wang Jin introduced. The tomb owner, a woman in her thirties, hid the true words in a hollow copper arm bracelet. Wang Jin said that although the paper version of the true words is not as precious as bronze, due to its material, especially in the Chengdu Plain where the groundwater level is high, it is rare for them to be preserved after more than a thousand years. The reason why this example of the paper version of the truth can be preserved for so long is that the Tang tombs unearthed in the paper version are common trapezoidal brick chamber tombs in the middle and late Tang Dynasty in the Chengdu Plain, and have not been disturbed by theft; The second reason is that when it was unearthed, it was placed in a hollow copper armband, which played a certain protective role on the paper. During the excavation of this Tang tomb, the Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology conducted a bone identification of the tomb owner, and the results showed that she was a civilian woman in her thirties. Arm bracelet was a popular decoration in the Tang Dynasty. The "Shuowen Jiezi" records: "Chuan, armband." Arm Chuan, also known as "jade arm support" or armband, is an ornament worn on the arm. When the paper version of the True Tale was unearthed, it was folded from right to left and placed in the hollow groove of the copper arm bracelet. Although this method caused some damage to the gold foil on the paper, it was precisely for this reason that the paper itself did not suffer greater damage. Having obvious Chengdu characteristics

Edit:GuoGuo Responsible editor:FangZhiYou

Source:chinanews.com

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