Mogao Grottoes, commonly known as the Thousand Buddha Caves, is located in the southeast of Dunhuang City, at the eastern foot of Mingsha Mountain, located in Dunhuang at the west end of the Hexi Corridor, was built in the pre-Qin period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, after the construction of successive dynasties, it has formed a huge scale and the most abundant Buddhist holy land today.

The picture scroll we found in Maijishan, the pattern on it appeared in the 126th cave of Mogao Grottoes, and the next day Ye Zhiqiu asked Song Wenjie to take us there, and the first thing that caught our eyes in Mogao Grottoes was the statue of Peking University.

This is a building composed of nine layers of eaves, is in the middle of the cliff cave, and the cliff top is the same height, majestic and magnificent, its wooden structure is earth red, the eaves teeth are high peck, the appearance outline is staggered, the eaves corner is tied to the bell, and it rings with the wind.

In the meantime, there is a seated statue of Maitreya Buddha, 35 meters high, painted by stone clay sculptures, and the No. 126 grotto we are looking for is in a secluded corner in the south of the statue of Peking University, the deep grotto can not even shine into the sunlight, and the outside is a closed iron gate.

Fortunately, Song Wenjie can take us in, in the deepest part of the grotto, Song Wenjie handed us the flashlight, where any temperature of the light is not allowed, under the flashlight we saw a badly damaged mural, mottled and peeling walls and long-standing blackened paint, has made it impossible to distinguish the final original appearance of the mural.

It's just that on the left side of the mural, we saw the same half-section of the soul flag as in the picture scroll, Ye Zhiqiu took out the picture scroll and compared it with the remaining mural, and it was really as Song Wenjie said, the two were exactly the same.

"Ling Xuan went to great lengths to leave a picture scroll in Maijishan, presumably to guide this place." The palace lord looked up and stared earnestly for a moment. "But what's so unusual here?"

"These five flying heavens are very different from the flying heavens in the murals of the entire Mogao Grottoes, and they should have other meanings." Ye Zhiqiu said.

"Feitian means the gods, and they are generally holding musical instruments in their hands, symbolizing the unity of heaven and man, and these five things that are held in the hands of the five Feitian are rarely seen in the history of Dunhuang, at least I have never seen them." Song Wenjie said with certainty.

"From the left, the first flying man is holding a spirit flag, which is quite common in the north, and it is used to return the soul to the land of the ancestors after death." Tian Ji shines a flashlight on the mutilated mural. "Feitian is holding the spirit flag, how much does this mean, who is this for?"

"The soul flag, also known as the spirit flag, Feitian is one of the eight heavenly dragons of Buddhism, but the soul flag is a thing used by Taoism, there are only two kinds of Taoist flags, which are the gods and Huiyao, the soul flag in the portrait, the role of white and yellow silk is Huiyao." Ling Zhihan stepped forward to look at it carefully for a long time and shook his head and said. "What you said about guiding the souls of the dead is to move the gods, and returning to Yao is not to let the souls rest in peace."

"What does that mean?" Song Wenjie should not have been exposed to this kind of thing, so he asked with great interest.

Ling Zhihan subconsciously looked at Zhuo Mingfeng, these metaphysical things, of course, he is the one who has the most right to speak, I saw Zhuo Mingfeng behind him, his expression was calm and he didn't say a word, he just looked at the mural, as if he didn't care about what we said.

Ling Zhihan was humble, probably because he saw that Zhuo Mingfeng didn't plan to mix in, so he told Song Wenjie that in the Taoist Hui Yao Banner can summon the Long Night Mansion, seal the soul of the Xudu Soul, hang it under the altar with a long rod, let the wind blow, and the ghost of the ten directions, see this spirit flag, go to the South Palace, Hell Kaitai, and the dead soul will be reborn.

"Huiyao is not a conjuring spirit, but a command of the dead." Ling Zhihan looked at Song Wenjie with a sure expression.

"Feitian is a celestial of the Buddhist family, but he holds a Taoist magic weapon, and he is still ordering the souls of the dead?!" Song Wenjie estimated that like Ye Zhiqiu, it was difficult to accept things that were beyond their cognition.

I pointed to the thing that the second Feitian was holding in his hand, one end of which was the shape of a vajra, the other end was a three-edged shape with a point, and there were three Buddha heads as handles in the middle, one was laughing, one was angry, and the other was scolding, and asked Ling Zhihan seriously: "What is this thing for?" ”

"I have been studying metaphysics, and the demon pestle is a Buddhist magic weapon, and I know very little." Ling Zhihan was blunt.

Cough! Cough!

Ye Zhiqiu coughed inexplicably next to her, raised her head and looked at me with a high-spirited look, it took me a long time to react, it turned out that she understood, and it seemed that she was waiting for me to ask her.

"You can be great, and give us popularity." I asked with a wry smile.

Ye Zhiqiu is not usually so pretentious, and I don't know when she learned to show off in front of me, she triumphantly pointed to the second flying sky on the left side of the scroll and said: "It is called the Vajra Demon Pestle, which is a kind of magic weapon in Tibetan Buddhism, usually used by the Buddhist Tantric Cultivation and Subjugation Method, to subdue demons and grudges, indicating that it has powerful mana." ”

"Zhiqiu, the shape of this demon-descending pestle is a long time ago, and it is not the tantric magic weapon you said." Song Wenjie has been studying the history of Dunhuang, presumably his knowledge in this area is much richer than Ye Zhiqiu, he said with a stern expression. "This is the Dharma instrument of the Buddhist Miscellaneous Tantra, which is even earlier than the formation of Tantra."

"What is heterogeneity?" The general was puzzled.

"Han Buddhism is divided into three parts, the Miscellaneous Tantra, the Tibetan Realm, and the Vajra Realm, in which the content of the Miscellaneous Secret is extremely complex, paying attention to supernatural powers and spells, it is the earliest prototype of Tantra that retains all the spells and mysteries of Tantra, and the Vajra Demon Pestle is derived from the Miscellaneous Secret, which is used to catalyze the power of spells in the early Miscellaneous Secret." Song Wenjie said to us calmly. "The main purpose is also to drive away ghosts and spirits."

I frowned after hearing this, the Vajra Demon Pestle and the previous Soul Banner were both used for the same purpose, all of them were used to command the souls of the dead, but these two magic weapons were magic weapons of different religions.

"However, it is not surprising that although the Mogao Grottoes are a sacred place for Buddhism, with the construction of successive dynasties, Taoist culture has also flourished in the Mogao Grottoes, which may be a manifestation of the melting of two different religions." Song Wenjie said rigorously.

"You know so much, tell me what it means that this flying sky on the right is holding a sword?" Tian Ji pointed to the portrait and asked Song Wenjie.

"The sword is a blade, which represents power and majesty in religion, and it is not surprising that both Buddhism and Taoism have sword weapons." Song Wenjie replied seriously.

", you're still an expert." The general glanced at Song Wenjie. "Did your eye see that this sword is a magic weapon of the Buddha and the Tao?"

Song Wenjie is engaged in research, and the people he contacts are all people like Si Swenwen, and he should not have dealt with people like the general, as soon as the general opened his mouth, Song Wenjie was stunned at a loss.

"There are seven stars on this sword, and the hilt is engraved with Mongolian characters, this thing is called the seven-star sword, don't think that Taoism only uses it, this is a shamanic weapon." The general spat out.

"It's the shamanism of the dancing gods?" Tian Ji frowned and looked at the general. "Uncle Wei, how do you know this thing?"

"How can I not know, you have forgotten where I am from, I have watched wizards dance when I was a child, wearing a mask, wearing a human skin drum, and wielding this thing in my hand." The general said with a cut of the iron.

Song Wenjie's face flushed after hearing this, and he hurriedly buried his head in the picture scroll, looked at it carefully for a long time, and nodded with shame: "It is indeed not a Buddhist and Taoist magic weapon, if it is really shamanism, it can also be explained, Dunhuang is an important channel and hub of the Silk Road, in the Han and Tang dynasties, there are many religions with Buddhism as the main religion coexistence pattern, but there are still many primitive religions, among which the most influential is shamanism." ”

"What are you using this seven-star sword for?" I asked the general.

"It's a bit mysterious to say, the wizards who dance the gods generally don't use the seven-star sword, and they only use this thing when they talk to the dead, to put it bluntly, when they ask the dead to help with things." The general replied.

"That's the same as the previous Soul Banner and the Vajra Demon Pestle." The palace lord looked at me with a serious face and said coldly. "It's all about controlling the souls of the dead, what do you mean?"

"Needless to say, this scepter should be the same at the end." Tian Ji looked up and asked curiously. "What religion is the scepter?"

Ye Zhiqiu and Song Wenjie shook their heads silently, and Ling Zhihan couldn't answer, Song Wenjie was right before, this thing doesn't look like the Central Plains, but all cultural relics always have a heritage, even if the shape is weird, you can recognize it, but I have never seen the style and style of this scepter.

"Since the opening of the Silk Road, the culture of the Western Regions has been very complicated, and the Eastern and Western cultures have converged and melted here. Ye Zhiqiu speculated.

"There are skeletons on the scepter, and generally the skeleton represents death and is also a symbol of dark power in the West." Song Wenjie thought about it and said thoughtfully. "This should be similar to the soul control in our traditional religion, and four of the five flying hands are holding magic weapons of different styles and different religions, which is a very bizarre thing in itself."

"The flying sky in the middle is holding a door in both hands." Tian Ji pointed to the portrait and said. "This is definitely not a magic weapon, what does that mean?"

Gong Jue suddenly turned his head to look at the picture scroll, and his mouth slowly opened with a surprised expression: "The four flying heavens are standing left and right, and all the magic weapons in their hands are commanding the souls of the dead...... The door in the middle is closed, is this door a symbol of the passage that separates the two worlds of yin and yang?! ”

"Zhiqiu, you study archaeology, it's rare to come to Dunhuang once, and meet your old classmates again, such a good opportunity, don't let Wenjie take you around." The general suddenly turned around and said to Ye Zhiqiu with a smile.

"I'm not thinking about the ...... in this picture"

"Let's go shopping." I saw the general's hand on Ye Zhiqiu's shoulder, although he was still smiling, his tone had become heavier.

I suddenly understood in my heart that the general wanted to break them away, to be precise, he wanted Ye Zhiqiu to take Song Wenjie away, Ye Zhiqiu was not stupid, and he probably thought of it, but the general did this, and it was not a good thing to designate it, otherwise he would not avoid Song Wenjie.

Seeing that Ye Zhiqiu was not moving, the general put away the scroll from Tian Ji's hand and handed it to Song Wenjie: "I have troubled you so much, and I don't have anything to thank you for, I see that you like this painting very much, so I will give it to you, we still want to see more, you take Zhiqiu around." ”

Song Wenjie was excited when he heard this, his trembling hands almost reverently took the scroll from the general's hand, and said thank you to us vigorously, as if he was afraid that we would regret it, and pulled Ye Zhiqiu out, before leaving the grotto, Ye Zhiqiu couldn't help but look back, his eyes were full of helpless regret and reluctance.