巴中石窟三题

Some Remarks on the Buddhist Grottoes at Bazhong

地当四川东北部的巴中市,唐代为巴州化城县治,是古代米仓道上的军事经济重镇,历代文物古迹甚多。隋唐之际,佛教造像建寺的风气在四川转盛,巴中见有以南龛、北龛、东龛、西龛为主体的佛寺石窟造像。《舆地纪胜》、《蜀中名胜记》、《金石苑》等类笔记和金石著作对其中的部分石窟寺曾有收录。笔者自1988年以来,曾先后三次赴巴中作石窟艺术的考察,现就巴中石窟中的某些问题谈点初浅认识。

An important military pass on the route of food provision in old days, City of Bazhong boasts a lot of monuments from the past. There was a vogue in Sichuan of building Buddhist icons and temples in the intermediating years of the Sui and Tang dynasties, and hence mushrooming of grottoes at Bazhong. The author of this article has visited the area thrice since 1988, and developed some ideas about those Buddhist grottoes. The first thing he wants to say is that building of caves at Bazhong began in the period of the Zhenguan reign (627-649) of the Tang dynasty. The second, that Bazhong Buddhist carvings include among them some on themes of Amitahba Pure Land such as Three Amitahba Sages, Fifty Buddhissattvas and Nirvana, with a richness and variety comparable to paintings of the Dunhuang caves of the same time. The third thing, that some carvings displays an influence from the capital area of the Tang dynasty.