《千佛堂碑》与民俗文化

The Qianfotang Stele with the Folk Custom Culture

中国佛教造像碑表现明代神魔小说《西游记》题材的极为罕见。此碑选取了唐僧取经的民间神话传说作为雕刻题材,表现了明清时期民俗文化对佛教造像艺术的影响。碑中观音、文殊、普贤和地藏四大菩萨及弥勒佛的化身布袋和尚同时出现,反映了明清时期佛教信仰的主流意识和佛教中国化与世俗化的进程。

It is very rare for Chinese Buddhist steles to depict the supernatural evil -spirit story of A Journey to the West that came into being a novel during the Ming Dynasty. This stele focuses on the folk tale of Monk Tang journeying to the west for Buddhist scripture, which shows that the folk culture has an effect on the Buddhist stele. The phenomenon of four Bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara, Manjusri, Samantabhadra and Ksitigarb- ha and Cloth Bag Monk Maitreya incarnating sculptured on the same stele reflects the mainstream Buddhist be- liefs and the course of Buddhism localization and secularization in the Ming and Qing periods.