Liang, the most charming ancient capital of Japan. From Tokyo to Nara, you have to take the Shinkansen to Kyoto first, and then take the bus. Once in Nara, it is an idyllic scene. There are not many jagged bridges and buildings in big cities in Japan, and everything is quiet and natural. The fresh fields are full of fresh fragrance and extend along the flat road, but there is no soil on the road. In the distance, at the end of the field of vision, occasionally there are several pavilions floating vaguely, antique, quite China Tang Dynasty architectural style. I think this place is very "China". Kindness and surprise come to mind together. If you look closely, the castle is gone. The car is speeding, and there are plenty of varied pastoral scenery on both sides, which gives you some surprises. You won't get tired after watching it for a long time. How nice and beautiful.

However, if Nara is just indifferent, it will fail to live up to the accumulation of the ancient capital of the Millennium. Going deep into the city, the antique charm seems to float in the air between the roads, brewing in the smell of buildings on both sides and coming to you. When you arrive at Dongda Temple, you see the most exciting aspect of this ancient capital-grandeur. Nara's essence and aura are all concentrated here.

See more wonderful pictures

Nara, an island country in Japan, was the capital of Pingcheng thousands of years ago. It was crowded with cars and businessmen. Time flies. Today, the highlight of Japan has been occupied by Tokyo and Osaka, leaving only a thousand years of sighs. It is this kind of vicissitudes that makes Nara a silhouette of Japan and a living fossil of Japan.

For thousands of years, the sea has washed away this island country in the Pacific Ocean. 1300 years ago, a blind monk in China, dressed in rags and panting barefoot, set foot on this land far from home. Recalling the choppy ocean behind him and stroking the ebony noodle carving column in Nara, he may understand that this life will be entrusted to this land, and his passion will spread on the land of Buddhism here. But he didn't expect that the beautiful talk of "Tang Feng Man Nara City", together with his name, has been heavily engraved on the scroll of history, and it still shines after thousands of years.

This is Jian Zhen.

Now, Master Jian Zhen has passed away. Standing in the courtyard of Dongda Temple, you can imagine the spirit and tolerance of the master. Before the Tang Temple was built, he had been preaching in Dongda Temple. Perhaps Dongda Temple was infected by the Buddha's light and spirit of Buddhism? No wonder Dongda Temple has such a temperament and majesty: after crossing the mountain gate, the main hall is in sight. Although rebuilt in 1692, it is still the largest existing ancient wooden structure in the world, magnificent. The cornices of the double-eaved roof are solid but not heavy, and they move but not frivolous, which inspires the grandeur of the whole hall. How many years have they endured? Just below is the Tang wooden frame, which is three-dimensional and beautiful. The finishing touch is the cornice above the main entrance, which is six or seven meters higher than the main entrance. It is placed horizontally between the double cornices, with flat ends and a slightly upward arc in the middle. Exquisite modeling is lively, but also exudes golden grace and brilliance, and the whole hall is decorated with black and white as the main color. This roof has enhanced the vitality of the whole temple. Coupled with the incense burner in front of the door, you will really feel that this is a magical hall bathed in Buddha's light and treasures, and you can vaguely see the glory of Buddhist elders.

See more wonderful pictures

After entering the main hall, its interior has become more and more magnificent and open-minded. Maybe this hall has long been beyond the ordinary? The profound thought of this hall is the faint wood fragrance emitted by the ancient wood in the building, which is wrapped like the sound of wooden fish from nature. The Buddha is mysteriously hidden in the misty fragrance, which is her extraordinary temperament. On one side of the temple, there is a small hole with the bottom sticking to the ground at the lower end of a huge pillar. There has been a legend since ancient times: whoever can drill through the hole under the main hall column of Dongda Temple is extremely clever and talented. Helpless, our generation has already grown into a tall body, and we can only look at the "hole" and sigh, unfortunately, unfortunately! There are a group of little dolls who have just babbled, scrambling to get out of the hole. Maybe they are the rising stars of Japan?

See more wonderful pictures

The hall is magnificent, but the scenery around her is quite charming. No wonder the Japanese emperor used it as his palace. Walking out of the cloister around the main hall is beautiful. Who says it's picturesque here? The painting is not as beautiful as here. A quiet river flows into the temple from the outside to feel the aura, forming a small lake in the southeast of the temple. Elegant sika deer, regarded by the Japanese as the embodiment of Buddha, play by the lake in twos and threes.

See more wonderful pictures

The lake is so clear that people want to hold it and drink the blue sky and white clouds reflected on it. The lake is a gentle slope, extending to a hill not far away. The gentle slope is so beautiful that people want to forget themselves and roll on the green grass on the hillside. There are all kinds of trees between the lake and the mountain, which are different, brown, red and green, and reflected in the water. A small waterfall on the right quietly emerged from the crack in the stone, gently fiddling with the flashing ripples, carrying the golden carp across the small wooden bridge and rippling to your feet in waves. This is a natural garden without artificial decoration. It's so beautiful, you can't even take the film from the camera, and you will get drunk through the viewfinder. Perhaps this charming scene is the subtle feeling of Master Jian Zhen when he meditates?

See more wonderful pictures

On the bus from Nara to Osaka, I talked and thought a lot with the teachers in Shanghai Ganquan Middle School. Nara, in this trip to Japan gave me the deepest impression. To my surprise, this ancient city still seems to be vividly fixed in the original ecology of the Japanese balance era.

In 7 10 AD, Empress Yuan and Ming moved the capital from Fujiwara to Pingcheng, Nara, which was the beginning of Japanese history from Baifeng era to Tian Ping era, which coincided with the prosperous era of Kaiyuan in China in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, large-scale envoys were sent to the Tang Dynasty, which enabled Japan to completely imitate the concept and shape of Chang 'an in the Tang Dynasty and build this exquisite city of peace. 1300 years is like a cloud. In today's China, there are no relics with the overall characteristics of the Tang Dynasty, and there are really few historical sites before the Ming and Qing Dynasties. As a representative of the spiritual outlook of a distant era, the prosperous Tang Dynasty only existed in the vague memory and imagination of China people. In Nara, Japan, a sea away, almost the whole city is still the original shadow of the Tang Dynasty in the era of balance.

The historical sites in Nara are by no means the only bonsai left in the modern bustling city, nor are they the treasures displayed in the museum window; But alive, for example, you see the wine flag hanging in front of Jingyanggang Hotel, and a guest official named Song Wu is still saying, "Shopkeeper, three bowls of wine, two pounds of beef!" For example, Tao Yuanming said in his own works that people in the Peach Blossom Garden are "ignorant Han people, regardless of Wei and Jin Dynasties". Many people's most vivid impression of most of China's historic sites is that it is a tourist attraction, and they seem to live with the flags waving in the hands of tour guides and the noisy and crowded tourists. But the feeling in Nara is that we took a time machine and disturbed the quiet life of the ancients. This is a wonderful feeling, and I don't know what it is. Ancient rhyme, which is imagination and mourning elsewhere, seems to be daily life here. As long as you push open an old house by the roadside, you may walk out of an old man who lived a thousand years ago and wave and smile at you in a strange way. Walking on its dense ancient road, if we pass through the memory of the Tang Dynasty, those who are separated by the breath of the dynasty will still breathe vividly and flexibly, as if holding a strong and steady grandmother and walking through the small bridge where she laughed and played when she was a child.

See more wonderful pictures

If it is not so sensational, we should mention such a contrast: Himeji City, Gujingdu and Gonnara in Japan are all listed as "World Cultural Heritage" in the name of the whole city. In contrast, no famous historical and cultural city in China can be listed as a world heritage in the name of the whole city (Pingyao and Lijiang are territorial counties). In Beijing, one of the most typical urban planning in the world, the only ancient city with a complete central axis and a strictly standardized symmetrical layout, a foreigner may not know what the difference is from Shanghai and Guangzhou when he leaves the Forbidden City. It is not difficult to keep several ancient buildings intact, but it is difficult to maintain an overall style, atmosphere and emotional umbilical cord, which is Nara's biggest shock to me. What is the secret of this?

Of course, we can indignantly accuse those fanatical times, secretly scold the brainless party, and secretly scold Miss Liang Sicheng, who is standing on the ruins of the tower and is in tears. However, in the face of history, intense feelings will blur many people's eyes. There have been too many discussions about how the Japanese treat historical sites with advanced concepts and how China people lack the awareness of ancient cultural protection. I will say more about it as sheer nonsense. What I care about is, from a broader historical perspective, which historical sites in Japan have been preserved? I think there are two main reasons.

First of all, if we pay attention to the history of the destruction of historical sites in China for more than 2,000 years, we can certainly find that more than 70% of the destruction of important historical sites occurred at the historical moment of regime change. With the change of dynasties, the country changed hands. Out of a very emotional or "cultural orthodoxy" mentality, the relics of the former dynasty were often destroyed, from Epang Palace to Chang 'an City, from Jiankang City to Yuandadu. Including the cultural catastrophe in the 20th century, can also be completely explained as the stupid behavior caused by the rebellious mentality towards the ruins of the former dynasty. The situation in Japan is different. Japan's Mikado system is a complete royal family. According to the ancient history books "Historical Records" and "Records of Japan", the first emperor Emperor Jimmu was born in 660 BC. Although this record is mythical and unreliable, it is certain that the emperor system has a long history and has been passed down from generation to generation, and the royal family has always existed. Looking back at the history of Japan, we can find that there are wars in Japan, and the regime has changed hands several times, but the replacement only happens between samurai regimes. Separatism or extermination is the behavior of the shogunate, but the Mikado system above the shogunate remains unchanged. In other words, nominally, Japan has always been in the civil war of the same dynasty, at least nominally. Japanese historical stages are divided by "certain times", such as "heian period" and "Edo Times", instead of "certain dynasties" like China, such as "Han Dynasty" and "Tang Dynasty". In other words, Japanese history is only a change of several generations, not a change of North Korea. This historical change is mainly power struggle and minority cultural rebellion. Therefore, the intentional destruction of historical sites by ideology caused by the change of dynasties is quite limited in Japan, and the destruction is mainly the objective result of war, which is quite rare. This is one of them.

Second, it may be due to the change of Japanese interest from "tang style" to "national style" in heian period's later period. Let's make a bold assumption: If the Japanese did not stop absorbing China culture after the prosperous Tang Dynasty and continued to imitate China in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, regardless of the political consequences, it is estimated that what I am seeing in Nara now is not like the Tang Dynasty. Japan's well-preserved ancient cities may be like the Forbidden City, Suzhou or Pingyao. It is impossible for them not to be contaminated with the colors of the Ming and Qing dynasties, nor to have elements that represent the cultural characteristics of the Ming and Qing dynasties. However, after learning that the imitation of the Tang Dynasty system spread from the Baifeng era to the Heian period for more than 200 years, it suddenly took a big turn in the later period of Heian. They are no longer eager to be consistent with China, and begin to explore their own local national culture. The Japanese consciously bid farewell to China culture until the Meiji Restoration, left Asia and entered Europe, and began to turn to the road of westernization. Their large-scale absorption of mainstream China was fixed in the Tang Dynasty and their Pingcheng Jing and Anjing. Nara, a Japanese city filled with tang style, has objectively set a beautiful date for China's ancient style. That's why-China's historical river has been flowing forward since the Tang Dynasty. After the overwhelming color flow in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties and the delicate and soft style submerged the rich Han bone tang style, a mirror reflecting the glory of the Tang Dynasty can still be found from Nara.

At the end of this article, I want to talk about what kind of Tang Dynasty style I wrote "Nara Ancient Rhyme" and what the Tang Dynasty looks like in my eyes. However, after returning to China, I read a book and saw a sentence by Liang Sicheng summarizing the style of the Tang Dynasty: "The big arch, the far eaves and the gentle slope of the roof are steady and solemn, and their strength is endless, which is enough to show the youthful spirit in the ascendant at that time." Concise, I don't need to say much, but I have all the impressions of Tang architecture during my visit. In the words of this respectable scholar, send it to this precious Nara city full of tang style!