Chapter 5 Four

The next day, as expected, Irie was released. After eating the delivered breakfast, Xiao Tang walked in when he fell back on the bed again. Turn your head away.Xiao Tang said while laughing. Irie turned back, Xiaotang covered his eyes with a black cloth in a quick movement, and then grabbed Irie's wrist: Come on, stop wrestling. The two walked out. When leaving the room, Xiaotang said kindly: From here is the stairs, be careful and go down slowly. It seemed that when he walked out of the courtyard, it was not Xiaotang's voice, but someone said: After arriving at Yuling, please do your research, we don't have time to take care of any Buddhas now.

Yes, I will do my best. Irie answered. It was the voice of the man from yesterday. An unknown person inserted both hands into Jiang's armpits from behind and picked him up. Another man lifted his feet. Put you on the back of the bike. It was Xiaotang's voice. Irie was carried to the back seat of the bicycle. Grab the front, the travel bag hangs right on the handlebars, and you don't have to worry about it. Xiaotang's voice is refreshing. The bicycle started to move, walked a difficult road, and almost fell off several times.We finally reached a slightly flat road, but after a while the road surface became more uneven again.It doesn't feel like the way a delivery truck passed yesterday.

After walking for about half an hour, the car stopped, and I felt that Xiaotang sitting in front got out of the car, and the car body tilted greatly.With one foot on the ground, Irie got down from the back seat. Going straight from here is Ruidianzhuang, which is at the foot of Yuling Mountain.Well, we parted here, and after counting to one hundred, I untied the cloth myself.Now you know. Xiaotang thumped Irie's shoulder heavily and said goodbye!Then run quickly. Irie began to count Xiaotang's footsteps could no longer be heard. After counting to one hundred, Irie took off the blindfold.

There is a peach tree beside him, and he stands under the peach blossom. The eyes blindfolded by the black cloth suddenly touched the morning sun, and Irie blinked several times. Hahaha There was laughter, and Xiao Tang appeared from behind the peach tree. Ah it's you! Irie said. yes.Think about why I ran away, this is not my character, so I came back quietly.let's go, quick! As Xiaotang said, he looked at the trunk of the peach tree. There was a slogan on the trunk saying that the War of Resistance Against Japan must be won! The signature is the same as yesterday's, it is the Loyalty and National Salvation Army of the Third War Zone.

Xiaotang babbled, tore off the flyer, tore it and threw it away. Isn't that your flyer?Why tear it up? Irie asked. We are not the National Salvation Army, don't get confused.What these guys do is colluding with each other, it's outrageous!Without these slogans, everyone knew that the War of Resistance Against Japan would be won. Xiaotang said angrily. Although the guerrillas to which Wolong belonged belonged to the same anti-Japanese camp as the National Salvation Army, they were not necessarily friendly. Irie handed over the blindfold and said: This is for you. You are really honest, as our leader said, you are not a bad person.

Taking the blindfold, Xiaotang smiled, and opened one eye playfully to look at Irie. Irie stepped on his bicycle and sped away on the country road. The Japanese garrison of Ruidianzhuang was stationed in the mansion of the landlord who had fled to the rear to take refuge in an empty mansion. Because they had contacted in advance, they knew the news of Irie's arrival.Although the arrival was delayed, no one was worried.It turned out that they only heard that they were coming soon, but they didn't know the exact date. Irie did not disclose that he was imprisoned for a day when he encountered guerrillas.

After reading the letter of introduction, Second Lieutenant Miyake said: It's only been a month, and we'll try our best to take care of you. On the day of arrival, Irie met the village chief under the care of Second Lieutenant Miyake. Does anyone know about Yuling?Enter the river and ask the village head. Well, Mr. Li Donggong is the only person with a lot of knowledge in the village. The village head replied. Can I trouble that person to take me there? After thinking for a while, the village chief said: That person is idle, um, I don’t know if he wants to or not. The tone and expression of the village chief showed that Li Donggong was a difficult guy.

But since the garrison captain spoke up, the village head couldn't help but help.He could only stammer: Give it a try, and if he doesn't want to, find someone else.Although we have lived here for so long, we are very embarrassed about the legend of the Buddha statue, and we really don’t know much about it. Then I will trouble you. After Irie finished speaking, he returned to the barracks of the garrison. That night, he had dinner with Second Lieutenant Miyake and several other non-commissioned officers. The table is filled with pork, prime chicken and fish, etc. Second Lieutenant Miyake looked around and said:

There's nothing good in the country, and tonight is your welcome party, so it's extra rich.You can't usually eat like this. yes.Irie bowed his head in thanks. For dinner, I drank local wine from the Shaoxing wine series, which is not strong.The wine was better than he expected. Second Lieutenant Miyake seemed to be a drunkard, and he kept toasting.When he was drunk, the captain of the defense vaguely revealed the truth: The army is very busy, I hope the soldiers will not be too troublesome.knew.Irie thought to himself, luckily he found a local Chinese to take him to see the Cliff Buddha.

The army has no time to deal with idlers, I hope you don't get me wrong. Irie was annoyed at being called an idler.He replied: Yes, I'm not going to bother the military. However, because you have a letter of introduction from the Shanghai Navy Command, you can't completely ignore it.Just find a soldier on duty to accompany you. Very blatantly said.Irie clearly felt the sting in Lieutenant Miyake's words. No need for soldiers on duty. Irie said. As long as you are in this barracks, you must be accompanied by a soldier on duty. If you live outside, it is another matter.There are many families evacuating in this area, and there is no shortage of vacant houses.

Miyake's words seemed to drive him away, Irie thought, maybe it would be better to find a place to sleep outside. If you want me to be by this man's side, I won't do it! Entering the river was very upset. He didn't like Second Lieutenant Miyake.Looking down on people's eyes is very unpleasant.Moreover, when the eyes leave the other person's face, the lips must be crooked, which makes people feel physically disgusted. The next morning, the village head sent a message saying that Li Donggong was willing to be a tour guide, and if he was not tired after entering the river, he could go on the road immediately.Entering the river immediately rushed to the village committee. Li Donggong looked a little old, about sixty years old. Sorry to trouble you, please take care of me. Iri bowed his head in salute, while Li Donggong only nodded slightly, and immediately turned his face to the side. Persuaded by the village chief and the others, he reluctantly agreed. Irie thought so. The Yuling Five Peaks are nearby, and Lee Dong-gong didn't say a word until arriving there.From the attitude, I know that I am very reluctant to be a tour guide. Standing in front of the first mountain peak, Li Donggong spoke for the first time: This is the fifth peak. Oh, is it so? Irikawa was about to approach, but Li Donggong said abruptly: It is better to look at the third peak first. Oh, is it so? Entering the river had no intention of rebelling against him, he passed the fifth peak and walked towards the third peak. The Cliff Buddhas on the peaks of Yuling Mountains indeed have the ancient and clumsy charm that reminds people of ancient Buddhas.However, the problem is that the Buddha statues here were not made by craftsmen or Buddhist masters representing the (1) level of that legendary era.Even today in the 20th century, if elementary school students are allowed to carve with a chisel, they may be able to create a classical statue like Tui Gu Buddha. The Cliff Buddha in Yuling may be a work of the new era! Irie observed this from the perspective of a scholar.Because the two largest Buddha statues in Yuling carved on the third peak are too skilled in technology. According to Irie's imagination, it is probably like this: In order to prove their piety, the local believers were carving clumsy Buddha statues with unfamiliar chisels when they happened to meet a special Buddhist teacher passing by.Master Buddha flashed the idea to let me demonstrate.Thus, two huge Buddha statues were completed. If Irie's speculation is correct, then the two Buddha statues on the third peak will be the key to calculating the age.But it doesn't look like the technology before the Tang Dynasty. It may be the works of the Five Dynasties or the Song Dynasty, or it may be the end of the Tang Dynasty. Irie said. No, those two were completed during the Liang Dynasty, and even the author's name is known.The above is Bao Xuan's work, and the bottom is Shi Neng's work. Both of them are descendants of famous families, not Buddhist masters. is that so? Irie said in a skeptical tone close to negative.Regardless of personal preferences, as long as academic issues are involved, even if the other party is furious, they will not easily agree. The cliff of the third peak is fifty meters high.If you look carefully, you will find that the rock does not stand straight on the ground, but is cut off at about the center, forming a prominent rock shelf, that is, it is greatly broken into two layers. A large Buddha statue is carved on the upper and lower floors respectively. Judging from the snail hair, meat bun, and pekoe (two), it is known that it is a statue of Sakyamuni.Both are sitting statues, each ten meters high. The same size, the same Buddha statue, and carved on the same rock face, it is very magical.Moreover, the two statues are technically very similar. After careful observation, it was found that the Buddha statues on the upper level were carved more devoutly than those on the lower level. Could it be that the same author carved the lower level first, then felt dissatisfied and decided to make corrections when carving the upper level?Irie had a whim. When it comes to stone Buddhas in China, most of them are like Yungang or Longmen, where caves are carved first and then Buddha statues are made.However, the common people of Yuling, who were not skilled in craftsmanship, carved them directly on the rock surface.Therefore, expressing shape only with lines is closer to painting than to sculpture. There are also many such cliff Buddhas in Japan.The same nameless common people put their faith in a certain shape, and it took many years to carve it. Among the Buddha statues carved out of such naive lines, only the two statues on the third peak are outstanding.Although there are only lines, the whole body has a three-dimensional effect. For some unknown reason, the lower statue of the Buddha had its lips painted vermilion. The Buddha statue below is painted with lipstick, why? Enter the river and ask Li Donggong. Paint vermilion once every ten years, only the Buddha statue.I don't know when it started, it became a routine ceremony in this area, called Zhuan Zhu. Order Zhu? Irie remembered that he had asked the same question back.By the way, the old landlord once mentioned not to miss the once-in-ten-year ceremony, and I presumably meant this point.At that time, I entered the river to ask what was going on, and the old landlord replied that he would know when he went. Lee Dong Gong also responded in the same way: Three days later, there will be a Dian Zhu, so you will know when you go to see it. I can't know the details, but anyway, it is a ceremony to paint the lips of the Buddha statue with red. Very high! Looking up at the rock face, Irie whispered.Even the lip height of the lower Buddha statue is about 20 meters above the ground. No matter how high it is, it will be held. Is there any allusion? There are many sayings.As you can see, the two Buddha statues are not directly on top of each other.The upper body of the lower Buddha statue is slightly to the right, and it looks like it is pressed under the buttocks of the upper Buddha statue.No matter how you look at it, the effect is not good, and I feel a little pitiful. To make up for it, I put red on my lips.There are even such rumors, but they are pure nonsense. What is the real statement? There are materials, put them in my house, you might as well take a look. After arriving at the Cliff Buddha, Lee Dong-gong, who was not at all friendly before, began to speak enthusiastically. Please let me see that file! Irie said. ︱ ︱ ︱ (1) From the end of the sixth century to the first half of the seventh century.Translator's note (2) All of the above are one of the thirty-two phases of the Tathagata.Snail hair, that is, snail bun, Sakyamuni's hair bun is knotted in a spiral shape, so it is named.Meat bun, the Buddha's head has a lump of meat protruding like a bun, so it is called.Baihao, according to Buddhist legend, there is white hair between the eyebrows of the World Honored One, which rotates to the right, like the center of the sun, and there is light when it is released.Editor's note