Dragon-shaped lampholder. During the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon, many citizens and tourists plan to arrange a "Dragon Gate Tour" for themselves. In addition to the dragon in the name of the scenic spot, there are also many dragons hidden in the stone carvings of the Longmen Grottoes.
According to experts from the Longmen Grottoes Research Institute, the dragon in Buddhism originated in India, formerly known as "Naga", which is similar to a python, which can be used as wind and rain and is in charge of wealth. After the Buddhist statue art was introduced to China from the Eastern Han Dynasty, the image of the dragon has undergone great changes. After the Northern Wei Dynasty moved the capital to Luoyang, the Longmen Grottoes were excavated, the image of the dragon was more abundant, and it appeared in the backlight of the Buddha, the head of the stele, the head of the pillar and so on, and the form of the dragon appeared as a flying dragon, a heavenly and human dragon, and two dragons were entangled. The evolution of the dragon image in the Longmen Grottoes is not only the result of the integration of foreign Buddhism and the sinicization, but also reflects the mutual learning and integration of different civilizations, which is a microcosm of the sinicization of Buddhist art.
The dragon of reflexion. The dragon of the back-looking (meaning "looking back") is commonly found in the pointed frieze round arch niche of the Northern Wei Dynasty in the Longmen Grottoes, with the dragon body as a round arch, and the dragon's head is located on the column heads on both sides of the round arch, showing a back-looking shape.
In the many Buddhist shrines on the north wall of the Guyang Cave of the Longmen Grottoes, you can see the dragon of the back. In the case of the Wei Lingzang shrine, the two dragon heads in the middle of the round arch face both sides, and the dragon body is covered with scales. The dragon's long mouth and large mouth, exposed fangs, upper lip curl, nose bulging, eyes protruding, dragon eyebrows back, dragon horns curled back, and dragon whiskers behind the cheeks are typical of the image of a traditional Chinese dragon. The rope of the dragon's head is made of flowers, treasures, etc., and is mainly used to pay homage to sages and heroes, and is often used in Buddhism to praise the Buddha.
In addition, the south wall and north wall of the Lotus Cave, the lintel of the Huangfu Gong Cave, and the north wall of the Yaofang Cave can also be seen as the dragon, if you are interested, you may wish to look carefully.
The celestial dragon that burned the lintel of the cave (remade by the reporter).
Celestial Dragon. According to experts, the heavenly dragon is a popular image in the traditional culture of our country since the pre-Qin period, which contains the implication of guiding mortals. The presence of images of celestial beings and dragons in the Longmen Grottoes is an example of the integration of Buddhist art with the local culture of the Central Plains.
In the frieze of the burning cave and the south wall of the Guyang Cave, you can find the image of the heavenly man and the dragon. The carving of the celestial dragon on the lintel of the burning cave is located above the cave door on the outer wall of the burning cave, and a male celestial sitting on the dragon body is carved on the left side, flying towards the cave door. The celestial man wears a high crown and robes, holding the dragon's neck in one hand and holding a banner in the other. The female fairy on the right has a bun on her head, holding a whisk, riding a tiger under her body, and the tiger's mouth is covered with honeysuckle patterns. Experts said that there are murals of the same theme in the caves of the Northern Zhou Dynasty in the Dunhuang Grottoes, in which the figures are the Eastern Princes and the Western Queen Mother. Therefore, some people believe that these two immortals in the fire cave are likely to be the East Princes and the West Queen Mother, which is the embodiment of Taoist gods carved in Buddhist grottoes.
Dragons in construction and household utensils.
During the Tang and Song dynasties, the image of the dragon almost completely disappeared from the statues of the Longmen Grottoes, and was more used as a decoration for building components or daily necessities. Archaeologists found a large number of building components and daily necessities in the pre-cave ruins of the three caves of Longmen Grottoes. Among them, the huge dragon-shaped spine beast shows that there was a large-scale wooden building built by the government in front of the drum platform cave, and it is a cave temple that combines grotto and wooden building.
There is also a dragon-shaped lampholder unearthed in front of the ruins of the drum platform cave, which is beautifully carved. The lamp base is limestone, the four dragons are separated by four horns, the back is against the middle column, the dragon's head is outward, the two horns are attached to the back, the mouth is a round orb, the beard behind the cheeks is clear, the body is carved with scales, and the right front paw is held upwards to hold a circular rosette. Buddhist scriptures record that there are four kinds of dragons, one of which is to guard the heavenly palace. It is a common phenomenon in secular palace buildings and daily life to use the image of a dragon to guard and avoid fire and water. (Luoyang Daily Financial Media Luoyang Net Reporter Wisdom Intern Zhou Yanzhi Text).