The standing Buddha was unearthed from the Buddhist statue pit in Xinfu, Xinzhou, Shanxi. Provided by Archaeological Institute

China News Network, Taiyuan, February 20 (Hu Jian and Yang Jieying) The reporter learned from the Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology on the 20th that, after nearly six years of archaeological excavation, the excavation of Buddhist statue pits in Xinfu, Xinzhou, Shanxi has made important progress. A total of 34 Buddhist stone statues were unearthed in the cellar, from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty.

In September 2013, the Xijie Village Committee of Xiurong Sub district Office in Xinfu District, Xinzhou City, Shanxi Province found a stone Buddhist statue in the process of capital construction. Shanxi Provincial Archaeological Research Institute, together with Xinzhou Municipal Cultural Relics Management Office, inspected the site and initially identified it as a relic of the Buddhist statue pit, and then carried out a rescue excavation of the pit.

Buddhist statues pit in Xinfu, Xinzhou, Shanxi. Photographed by the Archaeological Institute

The excavated pit of Buddha statues is located near the north city wall in the northwest of Xinzhou Ancient City. The shape of the pit is regular, and it is specially excavated for burying Buddha statues. The head and body of the buried Buddha statue are broken, the body of the Buddha statue is placed at the bottom and the head is placed at the top, and the integrity of the face of the Buddha head is consciously protected, which is obviously the destruction and burial of the Buddha statue that the temple is forced to take.

After indoor repair, a total of 34 Buddhist stone statues were unearthed in the cellar, including 6 standing Buddhas, 6 sitting Buddhas, 4 standing Bodhisattvas, 1 riding Buddha, 3 back screen Buddhas, 1 kneeling statue of worshippers, 1 monument fragment, 6 Buddha heads, 3 Bodhisattvas, 1 disciple head, 1 waist lotus seat, and 1 scripture block fragment. Another pottery bowl shaped lamp was unearthed. Buddha statues are mainly single round sculptures, and there are also back screen combined statues; The themes of the statues include one Buddha, two Bodhisattvas, seven Buddhas, and a thousand Buddhas; The texture of the statue is mainly limestone, and there are also a few sandstone and white marble.

Buddha statues unearthed from the Buddhist statue cellar in Xinfu, Xinzhou, Shanxi. Provided by Archaeological Institute

The earliest Buddhist statues excavated in this time were in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the latest was in the middle of the Tang Dynasty, with the Northern Qi Dynasty as the largest number. Among them, the number H1 ∶ X004 is an inscription on the back screen of the standing Buddha. The Buddha statue was made by the Monk Shamen of Jianyi Temple to pray for the blessing of the Prime Minister Gao Huan of the Eastern Wei Dynasty. It can be seen that the temple was originally called Jianyi Temple. Serial number H1: X009 Bodhisattva's head is 45cm high, and it is estimated that the Bodhisattva's height is nearly 2m, indicating that the temple was not small at that time, and its duration was also long.

The Buddha of the Eastern Wei Dynasty was unearthed from the cellar. Provided by Archaeological Institute

According to the accumulation of the exploration strata and the lower limit of the buried relics in the cellar pit is the middle and late Tang Dynasty, and in combination with the large-scale extermination of Buddhism in the reign of Wuzong Huichang in the Tang Dynasty, it can be inferred that the burial time of Buddhist statues in the cellar pit should be from the fourth year (844 years) to the fifth year (845 years) of Huichang.

According to the Record of Traveling to Wutai Mountain written by Dunhuang monks in the late Tang and Five Dynasties, "You have been to Yanmen Pass and Xinzhou in the south. There are Renze Temple, Kaiyuan Temple and Tiefo Temple." Jianyi Temple is not mentioned. It can be seen that Jianyi Temple has not been restored after Huichang destroyed the Buddha.

The excavation of Buddhist statues in the cellar is of great value to the study of Buddhist culture and art from the Northern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty in Xinzhou area and the spread of Buddhism in Wutai Mountain area. (End)