The main types of ornamentation

The classic plant patterns in Buddhist art are mainly these: lotus, honeysuckle, linden leaf, ranunculus yam, roll grass, peony. Among them, "lotus" is undoubtedly the most important pattern, and not only as a pattern, it can almost be called the throughline of Buddhist art, is a very important element, whether it is murals or sculptures, are indispensable.

Lotus has a long history and is known as a living fossil. According to textual research, it is one of the earliest plants of origin. In the Book of Zhou in China, it is recorded that "Yousze is exhausted and lotus digs lotus root". The ancient Greek historian Herodotus, when he visited Egypt, said: "Egypt is the gift of the Nile." At the same time, he called the lotus flower on the Nile River "Lutus" meaning the flower of Egypt. This aquatic plant has a special sacred meaning in the hearts of the Egyptians, and even connects the lotus with the sun, implying rebirth and reincarnation. Therefore, there are almost a large number of lotus patterns on the living utensils, buildings and mausoleums of the ancient Egyptians, either as a single expression or as a decorative continuous pattern. This pattern was later introduced into ancient Greece. It even influenced the pattern of palm grain. Ancient Roman temple buildings also have some lotus decorations, such as the remnants of the temple of Jupiter in ancient Rome around the 6th century BC, there are lotus decorations on the edge, which has many similarities with the lotus pedestal in Buddha statues.

In ancient India, before the emergence of Buddhism, the worship of lotus has existed. This fragrant and clean flower is especially loved by people, and there are many myths related to lotus. The story of the birth of the Hindu god Brahma from the lotus, as recorded in the Taishangsutra: "... Human umbilicus out of the Chiba golden lotus flower, its bright bright as ten thousand days all according to..." The text describes the reciprocal relationship between sunlight and the lotus flower, which is similar to the ancient Egyptian idea that the sun was born from the lotus flower. After the birth of Buddhism, lotus elements began to enter the Buddhist sculpture themes, which continued from the early era without statues to the appearance of Buddha statues. After being introduced into China, lotus elements were carried out in the Han Dynasty, and their morphological evolution and inner spiritual expansion were carried out. We can see that in the statues of Gandhara and Gupta times, lotus elements were far less diverse than those in Middle Earth. This reflects the unique understanding of lotus in the Han Dynasty, as well as the deconstruction and adaptation of symbols.

"Honeysuckle" is a kind of twining shrub with vines, commonly known as honeysuckle in Chinese, which is hardy and does not die in winter. It is named "honeysuckle flower" in the Tang Dynasty's "Tang Materia Medica", which is also the source of the word "honeysuckle" earlier.

But honeysuckle decoration and we often say "honeysuckle flower" and "honeysuckle flower" is not equal, although many people have far-fetched statements to explain the inevitable relationship between the two, but unfortunately, it is difficult to explain the consistency of the two, whether it is from the form or from the geographical location of plant distribution. However, from the point of view of the decoration itself, tracing the source, we can find that it is a foreign decoration, similar decoration can be seen in the architectural art of ancient Greece and Rome, so we can speculate that it is the opening of the Silk Road, honeysuckle pattern began to enter the Middle Earth, and its prototype can be seen on the pottery jars of the 8th century BC in ancient Greece. Together with the palm grain to form two continuous patterns, and later into the Buddhist art after continuous integration and change to form the "honeysuckle grain", but at this time the form and China's "honeysuckle flower" is not a concept, it is more a form of roll grass, from the ancient Greek architecture on a large number of buttercup potato grain, its flipped shape and buttercup potato grain similar, In addition, some scholars believe that it is related to the worship of the tree of life in early West Asia. After entering the Han Dynasty, some of the honeysuckle patterns were modified by merging with cloud and air patterns, and their morphological details were also diverse. Therefore, honeysuckle patterns do not refer to a specific plant pattern, but are the result of continuous transformation through various regional cultures. Because of its cold and not fading quality, which is in line with the Buddhist view of the cycle of life and death, it is much loved by Chinese people, so it is widely used in Buddhist art. The honeysuckle pattern is only a primary pattern, more like a cloud pattern, and the honeysuckle pattern suddenly appeared in large numbers in the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

"Bodhi" is a transliteration of the word, the original Sanskrit "Bodhi" means enlightenment, enlightenment, wisdom, because Shakyamuni under the Bodhi tree (formerly known as the Bodhi tree) enlightenment, enlightenment, enlightenment, so the Bodhi tree in the Buddhist art has a very sacred meaning. In the statues of Gandhara and Gupta dynasties, there are many subjects that reflect Shakya Prince's meditation and enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, as well as his surrender to demons and enlightenment. However, as two continuous decorative patterns, they are rarely seen in both ancient Indian statues and Chinese statues, and exist more as symbols associated with Buddha. In addition, it is worth mentioning that there are many differences between the shapes of bodhi leaves in Chinese statues and those in ancient India. By comparison, it can be seen that the leaves of bodhi in China are mostly fan-shaped, and some of them show their veins in the form of painted or carved Yin lines in the middle, which is not consistent with the shape of bodhi leaves themselves, but more like the appearance of gingko leaves. Especially during the period from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty in the Central Plains, a large number of bodhi leaves were very similar to ginkgo leaves, but they were rare after the Song Dynasty. Whether this was related to the worship of ginkgo trees in the Han Dynasty is worth researching.

Acanthus is the transliteration of "Acanthus", this plant is mainly distributed in the Mediterranean coast, with light red, white flowers, wide leaves, the shape of the flip undulation, the edge of the thorn, its vitality is very strong, can grow from the rubble mound reproduction, it is because it has rebirth, upward, continuous reproduction and growth characteristics, loved by the ancient Greeks, Therefore, as a decoration, it was widely used in ancient Greece's living utensils, architectural decoration, such as the familiar Corinthian column, the overturned large leaf on the capital is buttercup sweet leaf, and many two square continuous decoration are using the beautiful form of buttercup sweet leaf, this plant decoration with vigorous vitality in later Roman architecture continues to develop and become a classic.

Ranunseal Yam leaf in Buddhist statues appeared as early as in Gandhara statues, mostly as capital decoration, and a small amount as decorative decoration, which is rarely seen in Chinese statues. The mountain flower banana leaf on the capital of Yunganggrottoes is a variant of ranunseal yam leaf. In the Gandhara statues, the small Hua Buddha sitting on the Ranuncula leaf is similar to the theme of metatarism in Yungang Grottoes, and the source of this theme can be traced back to ancient Greece. It is worth noting that a large number of stigma decorative leaves in Yungang Grottoes are not completely similar to ranuncula leaf in Gandhara, but variations of banana leaf and ranuncula leaf.

Twig intertwining is a general term, which is not the name of a certain plant, but takes the branches of plants as the main skeleton and winds the flowers, leaves and other decorations of some plants to make them streamlined and have a sense of fluctuation. If decorated with flowers, it is called twig intertwining flowers, such as twig peonies, which refers to the winding of peony as the main flower, and some honeysuckle as the leaves. In ancient Greece and Rome, there were twig patterns on the architectural decoration. In the Buddhist statues of China, the early twig patterns were relatively simple, basically based on lotus and honeysuckle. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there were many changes, especially from the Song and Yuan Dynasties to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and they evolved into extremely complex forms.

Peony as a flower decoration into the era of Buddhist art is relatively late, it should be accurate in the Tang Dynasty of China officially began to appear, there is no peony pattern in Indian statues. There is a note in the Dictionary: "In ancient times there is no name of peony, collectively called peony". Peonies began to be cultivated in the Southern and Northern Dynasties of China, and it is recorded in the "Taiping Imperial Survey" that there are many peonies among bamboos in Yongjia Shuiji. Tang Dynasty poet Liu Yuxi poem said: "Before the court peony demon no lattice, before the court peony demon no lattice, Daphne on the pool net less love, only the peony true national color, flower season move the capital." The Tang Dynasty is the peak of peony cultivation, this flower is gorgeous, elegant, highly sought after by the people, in the Tang Dynasty Buddhist art, living utensils, silk fabrics, mausoleum carvings have a large number of peony patterns, in the Buddhist art, it often appears in the form of twinned branches, after the Song Dynasty more diversified forms.

There are many plant patterns in Buddhist sculpture, and other naming methods, such as curly grass pattern, which describes a variety of patterns with plant leaf characteristics, leaves turn and rotate, there is a sense of fluctuation, because it is an image after art processing, some plant names are not available, so it is called curly grass pattern. The vine pattern describes the vine pattern on the branches and the leaf shape of the leaves, as well as the banana leaf pattern of mountain flower, the flower vine pattern, the sea stone pomegranate pattern and the treasure pattern, etc. From the analysis, it can be seen that the source of early Buddhist patterns mostly came from ancient Greece and Rome, and were introduced to China through the Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road in the western regions. Under the influence and transformation of local culture, In the later dynasties, it gradually formed decorative patterns with Chinese characteristics.

A glimpse into The Times

The early Buddha statues in China can be traced back to the Eastern Han Dynasty, but at that time they were only a basic form, the whole was not systematic, and there was not much available information. It was not until the period of Sixteen States that Buddha statues formally took shape and began to rise in the northwest of China. Geographically, it is easy to see that due to the proximity of Gandhara region to the Western regions, Xinjiang, China, China, and China. The style of early image making in Gansu region is basically directly copied Gandhara, and there is consistency in shape and shape.

Round lotus flowers first appeared in Gandhara in the absence of Buddha statues. With the introduction of statues into China, they were widely used in Han Dynasty, such as cave roof, head light, cave wall and so on. The shape of lotus in the Sixteen States Period and the early Northern Wei Dynasty was relatively simple. The tip of petals was prominent, sharp, slender and long. This subtle feature was completely softened and rounded in the later Northern Qi and Northern Zhou Dynasties under the influence of the Gupta classicism.

The late Northern Wei Dynasty was a special period, and the reform of Sinicization advocated by the ruling class was carried out in an all-round way, from cultural customs to marriage system, language, and even surnames were sinicized. The details of the change of Chinese surnames by Hu people were recorded in the Annals of Wei Shu and Guan Shi. In addition, the Southern Dynasty was the continuation of Han culture since the two Jin Dynasties, and the confrontation between the Northern and Southern Dynasties actually deepened the process of Han culture in the Northern Dynasty, effectively promoted the integration of various ethnic groups, and the conflict between Hu and Han has been increasingly weakened. After Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital to Luoyang, he built the Longmen Grottoes, and the statues of this period changed the style of the earlier Gandhara and created a Chinese character that was different from the Indian model. Clothing and body feel are fully Chinese, the so-called "Bao Yi Bo belt" style is extremely popular at this stage, loose and elegant, noble. Careful comparison we can see that the carving patterns of this period are showing a fluttering beauty, flame patterns are very popular, the weather is very diverse, honeysuckle patterns are also affected and full of flow, the circular twig patterns on the head light have appeared in large numbers, which is different from the simple honeysuckle patterns in the early Northern Wei Dynasty, the intertwined growth of lotus and honeysuckle, more changes, especially in the later period of development. After the Northern Wei was divided into Eastern Wei and Western Wei, the contents of this circular intertwining became more abundant, adding lotus leaves, lotus flowers, flying sky, young children, etc., and grape leaf patterns also appeared as an interspersed form.

After the Eastern and Western Wei Dynasties, lotus flower and honeysuckle pattern have more internal connections, which is because the lotus flower itself has the characteristics of metagenesis, and the variability of its form enables it to freely combine with various elements. It can be seen that the lotus flower appears in various forms in Chinese Buddha statues, and various metagenesis scenes, and the lotus child is the most common, which has been influential to this day. In this period as a whole, the shape of the decoration is beautiful and thin, similar to the artistic appeal of complementation of virtuality and reality in the Han Dynasty, which is emphasized in the unconscious of the whole era, which is endless, born and not bad. It can be seen that talk and metaphysics, since the Wei and Jin dynasties are the root, "all things negative Yin and Yang, Qi thought and" Yin and Yang embrace symbiosis, which is also the artistic tone of the entire Han and Wei era, and the cosmological view is the major premise.

After Northern Qi and Northern Zhou replaced Eastern Wei and Western Wei respectively, the styles of Buddha statues were different. In terms of regional style, the Northern Zhou region generally continued the Gandhara style, but different from the early Northern Wei and the Sixteen States period, the shape was fuller and the layout was more coordinated, which was obviously influenced by the Indian Gupta style, but this influence was more prominent in Northern Qi region. For example, Qingzhou style in Shandong province has a stronger Gupta wind. The Buddha statues of the Gupta era were based on Indian classical art, which required perfect and symmetrical proportions and forms of the human body, and were more diverse in ornamentation than those of Gandhara. After their introduction to the Han Dynasty, they were widely accepted by the Northern Qi Dynasty, thus changing the elegant and unsophisticated atmosphere of the previous dynasties and replacing it with an elegant and restrained image. Among them, the selection and transformation of Han culture is a relatively important part, after all, the orthodox status of Confucianism has been deeply rooted. Compared with the Buddha statues in the Northern Qi era, it can be seen that the elegant and correct temperament is consistent. From the details of the decoration, the layout of the ring plant pattern on the head light is exquisite and gorgeous, honeysuckle pattern, intertwining lotus flower pattern, and rich form of chemical children, etc., combined with each other. Born children is a theme that began to appear since the Northern Wei Dynasty, in all regions of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the form is common, this theme has continued to the Qing Dynasty.

The most typical twig pattern in the Northern Qi Dynasty is the lotus twig honeysuckle pattern in the Xiangtang Mountain grottoes. It can be seen that the leaves of honeysuckle are wide and elastic, and the arc of turning and turning has a beautiful relaxation. The craftsmen processed the shape of the blade and summarized it into a flow of flame phosgene as a whole, which was obviously influenced by the moire pattern of Han Dynasty, and had the shadow of cloud gas from starting to ending. The open lines of the blade also had a sense of progressive rhythm. If you look closely at the blade, it was not a flat carving, but a sense of convex and convex layers, and the fusion and curling of micro-rising and disappearing showed agility. He also showed perseverance. In the Northern Qi period, the main types of plant ornamentals were honeysuckle and lotus. In the Gupta period, the dense tangled branches of flowers, large jaggly buttercup and sweet leaves, and a large number of unknown curtillaria were not mainstream in the Northern Qi period. The adherence and recognition of honeysuckle and lotus in the Northern and Southern Dynasties revealed the conservative and restrained side of The Times, as if seeing the back of the old school. For the impact of multiculturalism, the turbulence and sudden changes of The Times, we are not at a loss and go with the flow, but prudently and steadily walking on the rugged road.

The Sui Dynasty realized the unification of the north and the south, and during the reign of Emperor Wen, he advocated reconciling the contradictions between Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. Buddhism was extremely prosperous in the Sui Dynasty, so there are a lot of statues left in the year of Emperor Kai, but the number of grottoes dug is relatively small, far less than the Northern Dynasty, the current Qingzhou Yunmen Mountain, Jinan four men Tower cliff statues and so on are a few of the remains.

When the process of history moved towards the Tang Dynasty, all artistic forms were marked with dazzling labels. More than 10 million square kilometers of land covers many different ethnic groups, different regional cultures, inclusiveness and openness beyond any other era in history. Trade along the Silk Road reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty, and exchanges with Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia were unprecedentedly close. We can see many exotic elements on the artifacts of the Tang Dynasty, such as the palm pattern on the pottery POTS, the lion's bead pattern, passion flower, etc. At the same time, it also exported culture and art to other countries. The Chinese traditional lotus pattern and phoenix pattern often appear on the handicrafts of Persia, Korea, Japan and other countries, forming a strong exchange circle with each other, reflecting the openness and mind of an era.

Buddhism was strongly supported by the ruling class in the Tang Dynasty and made great efforts to build grottoes. As the largest and most magnificent group of statues in Longmen Grottoes, Fengxian Temple was excavated during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty. The Buddha statues of this era showed a sense of unrestrained power, exude confidence and magnanimity, and the types of patterns increased. In addition to the traditional honeysuckle pattern and lotus pattern, peony pattern, treasure flower, large group flower, bird and animal wrapped branches pattern appeared in a large number of Buddhist art. Baoxiang flower is a magnificent decorative flower created in the Tang Dynasty. This pattern is based on the image of peony or lotus, and decorated with gorgeous beads and patterns at the root of its petals. It can be dyed with many rich levels, and the visual effect is rich and luxurious.

Lotus petals of the Tang Dynasty began to appear rolling shape, the base of the Buddha, the backlight can be seen this deliberately exaggerated lotus, full and noble. The lotus pattern is free and unrestrained, and the sense of power is obviously enhanced, and it is no longer deliberately pursuing the soft and elegant details of the Northern Qi era, but it is casual and loose to express the dynamic, and it begins to have the meaning of realism and secular. A large number of peony patterns entered the Buddha statues from the Tang Dynasty. The mysterious and light clouds in the War Han Dynasty, the graceful cirrus clouds in the Northern Dynasty, and the gorgeous and full clouds in the Sui and Tang Dynasties are the reflection of the style of each era, and the ethereal Buddhist world has many earthly sustances.

Overall, the number of decorative types in the Sui and Tang Dynasties increased, began to appear a lot of secular interest, the pursuit of visual richness, can feel the richness of the heart, is no longer the emotion of the Northern Dynasty era, this is the attitude of embracing the world, self-confidence and self-identity fully displayed, this spiritual tension has continued to the five dynasties period, until the Northern Song Dynasty gradually faded.

In 960, the Northern Song Dynasty unified the North and the South, putting an end to the long-standing division of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms and ushering in an era of greater stability and cohesion in Chinese history. The spiritual style of Buddhist statues began to be secularized in general, especially in the Southern Song Dynasty, which showed a weak and delicate temperament everywhere. The themes of decorative decoration were more diverse, and flowers, birds, and various birds and beasts could be combined together, and even many scenes in life were directly moved into the Buddha statue system, such as the Dazu Grottoes in Sichuan Province. The early days of the Northern Song Dynasty still have the charm of the Tang Dynasty, such as Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei and other places still have vigorous vitality, but the overall has been unable to reproduce the bold and magnificent atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty. This can almost see the shadow of neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty, clear reasoning and speculation, infinite internal seeking for a perfect person, into benevolence, personality, thorough self-cognition indicates that the era of "man" will come.

Yuan Dynasty was a dynasty founded by the Mongolian people, and it was also the first unified dynasty established by ethnic minorities in history. It had a vast territory and a certain degree of cultural inclusiveness. Han cultural customs were respected, but Mongolian culture was in an important position. Compromise and antagonism existed between the Han scholar-officials and the Mongol rulers, which was also reflected in artistic forms, pluralism, hybridisation, and various regional styles. The coexistence and fusion of Tibetan and Han traditions are reflected in Buddhist statues, such as the grottoes statues on the Feilai Peak rock wall in Hangzhou. The overall style of Buddha statues in the Han Dynasty of the Yuan Dynasty continues the Song style, but the dress is completely different, and the beauty of harmony and perfection in the secular world is full of every detail, and the life and fireworks have been fully reflected. At this time, the traditional honeysuckle, lotus, and twig flower patterns have added a lot of decorations to the details, such as the lotus seat in the Yuan Dynasty, the lotus petals are embellished with a lot of details, the use of multiple superposition, line, Ruyi roll, etc., reflects the luxurious and worldly aesthetic, such as the Yuan Dynasty carving by Juyong Guan Yuntai, the complex and fine carving can be seen. The change from moire to wishful pattern is also very popular.

After the Song Dynasty, Buddha statues covered a wide range of themes, especially in the Ming and Qing dynasties, all kinds of auspicious patterns with local characteristics appeared one after another, and folk customs were integrated into them, more in the south than in the north. The decorative patterns of this period are more of a sense of rules and procedures, especially the border decorations on the backlight, more decorative, the lack of a clever side, compared with the Tang and Song Dynasties, less than a lot of God's escape gas, and far less than the simple and pure honeysuckle pattern and flame phosgene in the Southern and Northern Dynasties - the divine, detached artistic conception.

It can be seen that the development of Buddhist patterns, regardless of subject matter or style, is a process from simple to complex, from symbolic to concrete. From a distant perspective, this is also the general law of Buddha sculpture art, and even human civilization is just like this. From the worship of gods in ancient times to the present sense of self-identity, in fact, the individual "man" is constantly examining heaven, earth, and earth. In conflict and connection between people, they slowly move forward.