Dunhuang Mural-LAODUCHA劳度叉斗圣变

laoducha 劳度叉斗圣变

First of all, I will present a religious story here. Its name is Lao Du Cha

This story comes from India and appeared in the wall of Mogao Grottoes in China in the form of paintings.There are about religions, cultures, history, customs, and I hope I can use my own methods to bring the bitter and difficult Asian Buddhist culture to you in a new way.

The storyline is like this:
There is a minister by the Persian King of the Savior State of India named Xuda. He is wealthy. He is fond of charity, helping the poor, and helping the orphans. People respect him as "for the lonely elderly." He heard that the minister of Wangshe City, Humi, had a beautiful daughter, so he prepared a bride price and rushed to Wangshe City to propose marriage to his youngest son. There was a minister named humi in the royal city. In his home, Xu Da unexpectedly saw the Buddha Shakyamuni. He listened to the Dharma, like drinking sweet rain, and he suddenly started. After that, Xuda respectfully invited Sakyamuni to visit the city of Sravasti to speak for the people there. Shakyamuni said: "There is no sacred house where we live in Sravasti." Xuda promised to build for the Buddha, and Sakyamuni also agreed to Xuda's request and sent his disciple Sariputta back to handle this things with Xuda.

Xuda and Sariputta returned to the city of Sravasti and bought the garden of Prince Gonda at the price of gold paving, and prepared to build the abode for the Buddha. When the Brahmins heard this, they were very angry and planned to do their best to stop the Buddha from coming here to speak. They asked the Persian King(fig1) to allow them to fight with the Buddhists. Whoever wins will own the garden. The King agreed.

The next day, the king came to watch. The Brahmins sent Laoducha (fig 3) to sit high on the throne, and the Sariputta(fig 2) sat safely on the left side of Laoducha, and a fierce contest began.

The first battle （fig 5 ）

Lao Du Cha first transformed into a lofty mountain, where many gods sang songs with cranes and dragons. Sariputta transformed into a diamond warrior, and used the vajra to smash mountain.

The second battle （fig 6)

Lao Du Cha transformed into a buffalo

and Sariputta transformed into a lion and killed the buffalo

The third battle (fig 7)

Laoducha transformed into a turbulent deep pool, while Sariputta transformed into an elephant, and dried the pool with his long nose.

The fourth battle (fig 8)

In this round, Lao Du Cha turned into a huge poisonous dragon, and Sariputta turned into a beautiful golden-winged bird, and cut the poisonous dragon to death.

The firth battle (fig 9)

Lao Du Cha transformed into two evil spirits Sariputra transformed into King Bishamon

and the evil spirits had to kneel down and beg for mercy

Lao Du Cha was unable to do anything, and had to bow down to the wind and converted to Dharma. Soon pagodas built, only to be ushered up to the Buddha, but also to his younger son had married.

KING OF PERSIA (fig 1)

Sariputta and Believers（fig 2)

Laoducha and Believers ( fig 3)

Seculars (fig 4)

The first battle（fig 5 ）

The second battle (fig 6)

The third battle (fig 7)

The fourth battle (fig 8)

The firth battle (fig 9)

THE FINAL SHOW

"I don’t know when it starts. There is a date on everything. Saury will expire, canned meat will expire, and even plastic wrap will expire. I began to wonder if there is anything in this world that will not expire. of?"

Everything seems to have its time attribute from a certain moment, so that no one can resist, and the destructiveness of time is applied to the surface of any kind of material, whether it is a hard wall or a soft textile, they will be affected. Oxidized and decayed. But this destructive effect can make it more attractive in the senses, and the value of charm is often embodied in precious. China has a history of more than thousands of years, in which many different types of culture have been born. We have gone from the barbaric primitive period to the current technological age. Various forms and symbols are also changing. Dunhuang, once a mirror of reality, is also an important transit point for East-West trade. It is called "the library painted on the wall" by later generations. After the baptism of the years and the change of rulers, it has become more elegant today. No longer, for many people, the classical cultural heritage represented by Dunhuang seems to be something that is about to expire, or something that has expired. Compared with these things that take a lot of time to understand and learn, the public seems to be more willing to simply get started with cultural and entertainment products that do not need to spend more time to understand. This makes our society more and more flattened from a certain perspective. There is no depth, but the pace of time does not stay there for a moment. The destructive power of time has become more and more obvious to these cultural inheritance. In the age when we are unable to make a grand narrative, we still have the ability to inherit and remedy cultural heritage, which will always be effective before it expires.