It is the largest and richest Buddhist art place in the world.
Mogao Grottoes, Yungang Grottoes in Datong, Shanxi, Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Henan, and Maijishan Grottoes in Tianshui, Gansu are also called the four major grottoes in China.
Zhang Daqian, a native of Neijiang, Sichuan, is an ink painter and calligrapher in China.
Known as "the pen of the East" by the western art world.
From 1940 to 1942, China painter Zhang Daqian went to Dunhuang Mogao grottoes twice to copy murals. It is precisely because of this experience that the mystery of destroying national treasure murals is brought out.
First, Zhang Daqian was wronged.
1, Biography of Zhang Daqian published by China Youth Publishing House, in which Zhang Daqian's destruction of murals was defined as "particularly serious injustice".
According to the book, when Zhang accompanied Yu Youren to visit the Mogao Grottoes, local officials reached out to flatter Yu Youren. Zhang Daqian didn't do it, he was just there.
2. Professor Yu said that Zhang Daqian's peeling off murals was probably related to the lack of awareness of cultural relics protection at that time. As far as he knows, Zhang Daqian's destruction of Dunhuang murals was exposed in Gansu newspapers in the 1940s, but it did not attract attention. Therefore, the evaluation of him can not be divorced from the specific times environment.
3. Fan Jinshi, president of Dunhuang Cultural Relics Research Institute, said: "In the 1940s, the Mogao Grottoes were still in a state of lack of management and' very chaotic'. At that time, it was also the stable of Ma Hongkui cavalry. When Zhang Daqian came to copy murals, people came in and out very miscellaneous. No one can say that the destroyed mural was done by Zhang Daqian. "
Xie, a famous expert in calligraphy and painting, also mentioned this matter when interviewed by reporters. He said:
Before going to Dunhuang, the outer layers of these two murals had been knocked off by Zhang Daqian, so I didn't see the process with my own eyes ... If you had been in Dunhuang, you would have agreed to knock them off. Since the outer layer has been peeled off, you can't see anything distinguishable. There must be murals inside. Why not remove the outer layer and expose the elite inside?
Second, Zhang Daqian's theory of destroying the national treasure murals in Mogao Grottoes
1, 1942, 1942 On February 5, Fu Sinian and Li Ji wrote to Yu Youren, saying: Mr. Zhang Daqian wanted to copy the handwriting of people in various dynasties, so he drew the top layer first, then took it off after painting, and then drew the next layer, gradually drawing and taking it off, hoping to get the painting method of each generation. Feng and Zheng Erjun think that Mr. Zhang's move did not take into account the preservation method of antiquities. Stripping off a layer of murals means destroying one layer. Mr. Zhang's art has made great progress, but it is an irreparable loss to the whole culture. I hope the Ministry of Education and the Central Antiquities Preservation Committee will stop it as soon as possible.
2. The famous historian Xiang Da witnessed Zhang Daqian's copying behavior and said:
"Zhang Daqian, as a river's lake painter, has been here for more than ten years. He has teamed up with more than ten people to make replicas, sketching the original paintings at will, depicting and destroying the pictures without mercy. Moreover, the cave is used as a bedroom, the town is closed every day, and tourists are wrapped in their feet. What is particularly outrageous is the unauthorized peeling of murals. Zhang worshiped the Northern Wei Dynasty, Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, so he thought that it was not desirable to follow the Song Dynasty. In order to find out the titles and inscriptions of the works of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, all the murals in the Song and Yuan Dynasties were cut down in a drastic way. It seems that in 2002 or 2003, the Thousand Buddha Cave was devastated. I don't know what it is! "
"Zhang addicted to the Northern Wei, Sui and Tang Dynasties, so he cut off the upper layer drastically. Later, when people rebuilt it, 19 cut off the original painting to make the plaster stick easily. Therefore, after the upper layer is cut off, the income is still only residual water, and sometimes there is no residual water in this residual mountain. For example, Cave 302 compiled by Zhang was rebuilt in the Song Dynasty, and Zhang stripped off the Song paintings. Now the two statues of the heavenly kings painted in the Tang dynasty have been destroyed, and there is nothing under them, while the paintings in the Song dynasty have been broken and out of control. Wait, and so on. The Thousand-Buddha Cave is a collection of ancestral spirits and a treasure of China art, which is owned by the state, not privately owned by local individuals. Who is Zhang? What right does he have to treat the Thousand Buddha Cave as private property and destroy it at will? As for this? This can be tolerated! "
In fact, besides destroying murals, Zhang Daqian also took away an unknown number of Dunhuang cultural relics. According to He Shizhe, a senior scholar of Dunhuang Academy, "As far as I know, Mr. Zhang Daqian only gave Zhang Junyi to the former Dunhuang Academy of Art, and it is still kept in Dunhuang Academy. The rest of the cultural relics were taken away by Mr. Zhang Daqian and then distributed to the tenri university Library. "
Through two different theories, at least one conclusion can be drawn, whether Zhang Daqian personally produced murals or not, at least he personally participated in them, watched them or instigated them.
As for whether Zhang Daqian is responsible, or taboo to the venerable person, or because of practical interests, most of them are obscure and not obvious.
Historical figures are complicated, and it is undeniable that Zhang Daqian did a lot of good things in Dunhuang. When Zhang Daqian copied murals in the Mogao Grottoes, he also cleaned the caves. So far, the numbered ink that tourists see at the entrance of the cave is his handwriting. He exhibited copied murals in various places, which expanded the influence of Dunhuang. 1944, among the people of insight who called for the establishment of Dunhuang Art College, there was also Zhang Daqian's name.
Finally, say something interesting.
1, Zhang Daqian stayed in Dunhuang 1 for many years. When Chang Shuhong led the members of the Institute, Zhang Daqian left. Before he left, Zhang Daqian gave Chang Shuhong a mysterious drawing and told him not to show it to others. Then Chang Shuhong went to a forest according to the map and found it in the forest. . . Fresh edible wild mushrooms.
It was War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression at that time, and the living conditions were very bad. Mushrooms can be said to have greatly improved the living conditions of researchers at that time.
2. At that time, the murals in Mogao Grottoes were so old, weathered and mottled that it was very difficult to copy them. At that time, some researchers complained that plagiarism was too eye-catching. However, judging from some paintings copied by Master Zhang, the old man has a good eye (as the old driver knows).