Time in Stone

Number of days: 1 day
Time: April
Average cost: 40 yuan
With whom：a person

The Beijing Stone Carving Art Museum, formerly known as "Zhenjue Temple" and "Zhengjue Temple" and popularly known as the Five Pagodas Temple, was originally an imperial temple. Later, a fire destroyed it, leaving only the Vajra Pagoda. Today, a courtyard has been formed around the pagoda, along with numerous stone inscriptions and statues unearthed in Beijing. The former temple is no longer in existence, and it has been renamed the Beijing Stone Carving Art Museum.

The Vajra Pagoda, with its unique shape, is not commonly seen by the public. Visitors often exclaim, "This pagoda is quite interesting!" This is the highest praise modern people give it. Vajra Pagodas often have a square, bungalow-like base, the walls of which are often carved with decorative patterns to imbue the pagoda with a sense of faith. The base needed to be sturdy and stable, as four or five familiar multi-eaved pagodas would be stacked atop it. A larger pagoda would occupy the center, surrounded by smaller ones. This is the most unique aspect of the Vajra Pagoda: a single-story building crowned by four or five small pagodas creates a remarkably solemn and square appearance.

After passing through security and entering the museum, you'll see the Vajra Pagoda nestled on the central axis of the courtyard. Two century-old apricot trees stand to the left and right of the pagoda, their dense branches and foliage obscuring the pagoda's entirety. This partially obscured presence adds to the enjoyment of viewing the pagoda. It's spring now, and the apricot leaves are vibrant green. Strings of tiny green fans hang upside down from the branches, filling the two apricot trees on either side. The wind rustles these little fans, swaying the branches and leaves with a gentle rustling sound like the waves, swaying with the sound of spring. For centuries, spring has passed through the pagoda like this, touching every brick and stone. Believers walk clockwise around the pagoda, silently reciting Buddhist scriptures. Whether with a wish or without, they clasp their hands together and circumambulate alone. Whether with a mind or without, they silently recite a thousand words to accumulate merit.

A hundred years ago, the monk Tianzhu came here to preach. Yongle built a temple in his honor. Later, Qianlong favored the temple and allocated funds for its reconstruction to celebrate his mother's birthday. The temple burned down during the turbulent years, leaving only the pagoda. The temple buildings are gone, but the foundations remain. A protective platform has been built on the foundation of the original main hall in front of the pagoda, and the column bases have been restored in situ on top of it, visually showcasing the original hall's column grid. Within this layout sits the stone Sumeru pedestal from the original Buddhist shrine, and the entire hall's original appearance appears before our eyes, seemingly dislocated in time and space. Neither the burning of fire nor the passage of time can destroy the stone's frozen memory. Those enshrined Buddha statues once rested upon this Sumeru pedestal, but now only the ornately carved stone remains.

Under the foundation stone of the Buddhist shrine, sat two female cultural relic painters painting patterns on the relics. They had two small folding cloth chairs and some stationery in their convenient travel pencil cases. Each of them wore a sun hat and a grid sketchbook on their knees. They chatted while skillfully copying the patterns on the relics. They talked about the characteristics of ancient relics from all over the world. One of them said, "The styles in the south and the north are really different. After you are used to seeing these serious stone lions in the north, when you go to Guangzhou to see the stone lions there, you will find them too frivolous and just a joke!" The other female painter said, "Yes, yes, they can't be serious at all." The two laughed together and painted happily. After finishing one place, they moved the folding chairs to another and continued to copy the remaining memories while chatting and laughing.

There are more than just these two people sketching in this courtyard. Turning around the base of the shrine, there is a group of children sitting outdoors sketching at the back. One of the female teachers stood up and ran to the two little boys. The two little boys were wandering around under the tower. The teacher walked to them and asked them to come back and continue painting. The little boy said, "I've finished painting, what else do you want to paint?" The teacher said, "Come back and revise it, paint slowly, we will color it soon..." The little boy still didn't want to go back to his seat. The teacher talked to them for a few more words and finally coaxed the little boys back to their seats. After the little boy returned to his seat, the whole group of children began to liven up the atmosphere. The teacher began to teach the children how to color. Another teacher kept the classroom discipline back and forth for a while, and then said to a little boy, "Stop talking." The little girls were quietly facing the ancient tower, concentrating on creating beauty, and whispered to the teacher, "Teacher, what do you think of this painting?" "Teacher, I adjusted a very dreamy color." While the girls were creating beauty, the boys were nagging, "Is it going to rain today? Do you think I painted this tree correctly? "How do I draw this leaf? Can we leave once we're done?" A little boy half-knelt on the ground, propping a small stool on his head while drawing. Two teachers busied themselves moving left and right. With the teachers' help, the children finished their works before their parents arrived. The parents looked at their drawings, walked around the tower, and admired the scenery. They felt pleased that it was worth it. After a few moments of parent-child interaction, they took the children home for dinner. This is a designated children's painting training institution. After the children were taken away by their parents in the morning, another group arrived in the afternoon, and the same routine repeated itself all afternoon.

I was meditating in front of a pagoda, where a broken stone incense burner stood. An elderly couple walked by as they emerged from the pagoda. The old woman said, "Look, this perfectly good incense burner has been smashed." The old man replied, "I smashed it a lot when I was in school." The woman said, "Why are you smashing it if you're fine? It's getting in your way." The old man replied, "Haha, I just didn't like it back then, and it was getting in my way." With a chuckle, they humorously recounted a turbulent period.

I sat for a long time under the apricot tree, a gentle breeze caressing me, gazing at the Vajra Pagoda before me. The patterns on the walls captivated my mundane eyes. Bricks have a certain number, pagodas have a certain number, people have a certain number, and all worldly things have a fixed number. But the Buddha statues on the pagoda are infinite. Thousand Buddha Pagoda, Ten Thousand Buddha Pagoda—no one questions this number; everything depends on the Buddha's affinity. Just as the devout circling the pagoda never question it, repeating and chanting, day after day.

Entering the pagoda, the passage to the second floor is blocked to protect the cultural relics. In the center of the first floor is a Buddhist shrine facing four directions, with a Buddha statue in each direction. Around the outer walls are displays introducing the history of the area and the decorative art of the pagoda. Most relics in Beijing bear memories of Emperor Qianlong. Throughout his long life, he left his memories in countless places, providing endless inspiration for storytellers of later generations.

Another major theme of the Stone Carving Museum is its diverse range of stone carvings, including the Turtle-Carrying Stele, the Huabiao (Huabi), the Drum-Holding Stone, the Mounting Stone, the Stone Tiger, the Stone Sheep, the Stone Weng Zhong, the Stone Altar Table, the Stone Tribute, the Stone Couch, the Stone Stele, and the Stone Tomb. All stone carvings unearthed in Beijing that represent a particular cultural type are displayed here. Walking through this space, one wonders whether one is struck by history or by the matrix of stones. The inherent weight of stone bears down on the path of time, anchoring a point in time for us as we journey through time, moving on to the next.

The turtle-carrying stele is the most common stone carving, and it's also the most common stone carving on display here. The stone turtles carrying the stele are called Bixi, a mythical ancient beast whose name is often difficult to recognize. Its homophone is "Bixi." Numerous Bixi, varying in size and appearance, gather here, forming a unique sense of form and a unique power within the Bixi stone carvings. The events recorded therein have long since faded into time, yet the Bixi still bear the weight of the wordless stele, a stele that, though unwritten, bears a thousand stories. From the Bixi formation, one peers upward at the Vajra Pagoda, hidden behind apricot leaves, further evoking the mystical stories of the ages.

The walls of the corridors surrounding the courtyard are inlaid with stone tablets that bear memories of this city, inscribed in traditional Chinese characters. Modern people cannot yet read classical Chinese texts in books, let alone these inscriptions that have been damaged by history. For tourists who are just passing through, when they come to the stone tablets, they insist on glancing at them for a while. If they find a few sentences they understand, they can't help but share them with their companions, repeating them over and over again. If they don't understand a single word, they will stand there for a while before walking away bored. Ancient inscriptions were often used to record events, a period of history, or a person's life. In the end, the person and the object are gone, but the stone tablet remains. The story of a lifetime is finally told in the words inscribed on the stone tablet. It was buried in the soil for unknown reasons on an unknown date, and then dug out and displayed to the world on an unknown date. People then anchor a time coordinate in the long river of time based on the content recorded on it.

"Hello, what is this sculpture? "The old lady next to me asked me, "I don't know. Let me take a look. There are introductions here." "This is a stone sheep, and this is a Huabiao..." "This one has the longest history and is from the Yuan Dynasty. This one is from the Ming Dynasty, and this one is also from the Ming Dynasty..." Each stone carving here will have a brief introduction. The old lady couldn't see the words on the introduction clearly, so I told her roughly. These stone sheep and stone tigers have long been worn away by time, leaving only a smooth head and a smile on their lips, which is a little funny. We passed by the stone carvings. In its long existence, we were a speck of dust or an ant that it didn't care about. We were like any other existing or non-existent things that passed by it. It remained motionless. Through the arbitrary passage of time, it existed according to its own laws.

"Do you know what this stone is used for? "In another place, another group of people were talking to each other during the tour," This is the Mounting Stone, there are many in Shanxi..." I looked at the Mounting Stone they were pointing to. A stone with two steps can indeed make it easy for horse riders to get on horses. These people were watching here as if they were on a study tour, comparing their memories while watching. A lazy, slightly fat man in a pair of cotton shoes led the other two people to lead the tour route. While visiting, they chatted casually about these cultural relics. Another answered his questions absent-mindedly. There was another person next to them like an auditor, who didn't say a word all the way. I met them again on the other side of the yard, at another time. The two seemed to have some knowledge in their questions and answers. The tour was nearing its end. The leader said to the auditor, "You can still spend more time to take a good look at these places. This place is worth seeing more. We will leave first. You can take a look at it slowly by yourself!" Two more people passed through the long passage of time on the stone carvings.

A photography enthusiast carried a backpack and a DSLR camera slung across his chest, but he didn't take any photos himself. He took off the camera and handed it to his female companion. She enthusiastically took it and looked for interesting angles at the Vajra Pagoda. As they snapped, they discussed the effects of the camera. Photos tell stories. Photographers choose the ones they want you to see, while those they don't want you to see will forever remain in their cameras. Fortunately, however, those taking photos are simply pursuing different aesthetics. Women always have their own perspectives on photography. For them, a phone is enough to capture their beauty. For beauty, everything is their backdrop. May the world always be their beautiful backdrop. Do different cameras capture different memories of history?

If stone is solidified history, then photography is the solidification of an instant, using the solidification of an instant to remember solidified history. The short-lived and the long-lasting confront each other in this moment. What about words? For these words, I racked my brains to come up with these words during a relatively long and empty period of time, and input them into my electronic device. They will not be engraved on the stone tablet, but will be published in several virtual worlds. As long as the server does not stop, they can still be found. They can be clearly seen and not difficult to identify. Even if there are a few words you don’t know, you can also find these useless words through a convenient search. These useless words only represent a time node for me, for my own recollection in my long life, although I don’t know when and why I will look through these words. They have no faith and no stories. A small courtyard gathers different people who come here for this purpose. I don’t know for whom they come, and I don’t know why they come. Stones remember the past and carry the future. New stories continue to pass by them.