The legendary story of Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang: King Shibi cut off the flesh to save the pigeon and the Buddha’s spiritual practice before he became enlightened, which is called a "Jataka story".

In the mural on the north wall of Cave 254 of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes (Northern Wei Dynasty), the deeds of King Shibi "cutting flesh to save pigeons" are described in the form of paintings. Only two scenes of cutting meat and weighing are depicted, which is the earliest in Mogao Grottoes.

One of the comic strips.

As early as the predecessor of Sakyamuni Buddha, when he was King Sibi, he was compassionate and benevolent, widely practiced the path of Bodhisattva, and only aspired to become a Buddha.

In order to test King Sibi's compassion and Taoism, Emperor Sakyamuni and Vishogkarma agreed to transform into eagles and doves and perform hunting and escaping for their lives.

The dove hid in the king's arms, and the eagle flew after him. The king expressed his determination to save all sentient beings, and the eagle complained: "You save all sentient beings, am I not among all sentient beings? Why am I the only one who is not free from your compassion?"

Steal my food?" The king said, "I have made a vow that if any sentient beings come to seek refuge, I will protect them. What food do you need? Just ask, and I will definitely fulfill your wish." The eagle asked without hesitation.

"New hot meat," the king thought deeply, "This is difficult. How can I get it without killing? My body will become rotten and smelly in an instant after death from old age, illness, and death. Since the eagle wants it, give it to it." So!

The king asked someone to take a knife and cut off the thigh meat himself and gave it to the eagle.

Unexpectedly, the eagle asked: "I want your meat to weigh as much as a pigeon. Don't lie to me about the weight." The king ordered the people to bring a scale, let the pigeon stop on one end, and put the king's cut body flesh on the other end.

The strange thing is that the weight of the pigeon increased rapidly at this time, and the king's body became relatively lighter.

Almost all the flesh has been cut off, but it is still as heavy as a small pigeon.

King Bodhisattva was determined to sacrifice his whole body in order to be as heavy as the dove, so he struggled hard to climb up the scale.

Even the eagle couldn't bear to look at the bloody, trembling body.

"Your Majesty, why are you doing this? I can just give the pigeon back to me." The king insisted on his sad wish and climbed the scale with his hands. Unexpectedly, when he exerted force, his flesh and tendons were broken, he lost control and fell to the ground, but he got up and stepped on the scale again.

With a firm mind and no regrets, he felt that the earth shook, dead trees sprouted flowers, fragrant rain fell from the sky, and the goddess sang praises to this Bodhisattva, who must become a Buddha.

The king then made a vow, "If I cut my flesh and bleed, I will not be angry or upset, and I will not be bored in order to pursue the Buddha's path, my body will immediately recover as before." In an instant, the body returned to its original state.

When people and heaven see it, they are all filled with great sadness and joy.

Shakyamuni Buddha then gave the perfection of alms.

It turns out that the white dove was transformed by Emperor Shitian, and the eagle was transformed by Bishou Xiangmo.

They used this method to test King Sibi's firmness and sincerity towards the Buddha and the salvation of all sentient beings.

Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes Legend Story: Prince Sattuna sacrificed his life to feed a tiger. The Buddha once taught his disciples the deeds of practicing Bodhisattva for many years. Amid the respect and piety of everyone, the Buddha touched the earth lightly with his hand, and six kinds of shaking auspicious signs appeared, a seven-jeweled building.

Stupas emerge from the earth.

Disciple Ananda opened the door of the pagoda and saw a seven-letter letter containing countless snow-white relics.

The Buddha saw this and immediately praised: "The Bodhisattva's extraordinary merits are due to his diligent practice of the six perfections. Therefore, he bravely seeks Bodhi and maintains great equanimity without getting tired." The Buddha taught the monks that they should pay homage to this relic! Because the relic is the supreme precepts and concentration.

It was cultivated by Hui Hui, and then told the story of "Prince Sattva sacrificed his life to feed the tiger", revealing the predecessor's efforts in practicing the Bodhisattva path and even becoming a Buddha. This story is in the south of Cave 254 of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes (Northern Wei Dynasty).

The walls are displayed to people in the form of Jataka story paintings.

A long time ago, there was a king named Dacha. He had three princes, and the youngest prince was named Mahasattva.

One day, the three princes were visiting the mountains and valleys and came to a bamboo forest.

I saw a tigress giving birth to seven new babies. They seemed to be dying after not eating for many days.

The eldest prince said: "Seven tiger cubs were entangled. The tigress had no time to look for food. In the end, she starved and must have eaten the cubs." The second prince agreed: "What a pity! These tigers will definitely not survive. What do I have to do?

How can I help them?" The little prince Mahasattva did not say a word, thinking deeply that my body has been living and dying for thousands of kalpas without any real benefit. Why can't I give it up today to save the tiger? The great use of this body lies in its ability to

Do great good deeds and make great benevolent voyages in the cycle of life and death.

If you abandon these, this body is just a shell.

I should give up my attachment to the body in order to seek the ultimate Nirvana, to be free from sorrow and sorrow, to achieve all wisdom, and to give immeasurable happiness to all sentient beings.

The little prince felt great courage, and his compassion and aspiration strengthened his faith.

But I was worried about the two royal brothers, so I asked them to return to the palace first.

So Prince Mahasattva went to the tiger's den, took off his clothes, hung them on a bamboo branch, and then lay down in front of the tiger, but the tiger was very hungry and weak and was unable to eat him.

Seeing this, the compassionate prince pricked his neck with a dry bamboo branch to cause bleeding, and then sacrificed his life to feed the tiger.

For a moment, I felt the six major vibrations of the earth, like the wind stirring up the water, flooding with uneasiness. The sky and earth, the sun and the moon were dim, and the rain from the sky was full of flowers, falling in colorful colors all over the bamboo forest.

All the heavens and beings in the sky are full of praise.

At this time, the hungry tiger licked the blood and ate all the meat, leaving only the remaining bones.

The king and queen were in the palace and suddenly had an ominous dream.

At this time, I was shocked to hear the report from the palace maid that the young prince had been away for a long time and had not returned.

The king sent people to search everywhere, and finally got revenge on the prince for his sacrifice.

The king and queen were so sad that they went together to the place where the prince died. They saw the remains scattered everywhere. The mother and queen were heartbroken, like a fish on land or a cow missing its calf. How embarrassing it was.

The king ordered the left and right to collect the remains of Prince Sattva and build a pagoda to offer them.

The holy place where the Bodhisattva sacrificed his life to feed tigers is located in Nepal and is still visited by Buddhists for pilgrimage and worship.

This is also the subject of many Buddhist cave murals.