BUDDHA STATUES SYSTEM

AND NATIONAL TREASURES OF TAY SON PERIOD AT TAY PHUONG PAGODA

What impresses the visitors when visiting Tay Phuong pagoda is the system of statues, which focuses on rare masterpieces of religious sculpture including carvings, reliefs and statues. There are carvings everywhere in the pagoda. The levers, imperial robes, the armpit beam, planks... have carved the familiar decorative themes of the nation such as the image of mulberry leaves, ficus leaves, lotus, daisy, dragon, phoenix, tiger face... that are very sophisticated. In particular, the system of Buddha statues is the most unique feature in the pagoda, can be considered as a Museum of Buddha statues in Vietnam. The architecture of Tay Phuong pagoda is different from many other pagodas, which leads to the arrangement of the Buddha statues in its own way. The system of statues of the pagoda is quite numerous, but especially typical are the statues created in Tay Son period including: the statues of Di Da Tam Ton, the statue of Tuyet Son, the statues of Maitreya on the Buddha temple in the middle court. The statues of Colossus in the outer court, the statue of To Ke Dang in the court behind the main pagoda.

The statue of Di Da Tam Ton includes statues of A Di Da, Quan The Am and Dai The Chi. This is an important embodiment of Tinh Do belief in Vietnamese Buddhism. In Vietnam, there is no separate Tinh Do group, but Tinh Do belief is widespread, as a popular group for Buddhism. According to this belief, it is believed that there is a Tinh Do Land or western ecstasy, where A Di Da Buddha reigns, Bo Tat Quan The Am and Dai The Chi have brought the human beings' soul there. People only need to recite the name of A Di Da Buddha many times to be able to die in the ultimate blissful realm. The name A Di Da Buddha has become the greeting of Vietnamese Buddhists. Unlike the statues in other pagodas, which are gilded with gold, the statues of Tay Phuong pagoda have a face and hands painted in skin color, a mahogany coat with strips and a gently flying shirt fringes.

Tuyet Son statue depicts Thich Ca Buddha during the ascetic period, eating a millet a day, a sesame seed, and self-mortifying to rise to the bright spiritual world. The statue is dark black, wearing a thin robe, skinny, emerging bones in front of the chest. The whole body is deep in thinking, the eyes are sunken, facing inward. Anan and Cadiep are standing flanking in the two sides.

Di Lac Statue is one of the statues with a deep realistic style and high scientific anatomy. The statue is carved in a sitting position, leaning back slightly (like Tuyet Son statue), the right leg leans, the left leg folds horizontally, the right hand is on the knee, the left hand is on the elbow like a large Hau Thien bag, all are close to each other into a mass with bulging plates, the aesthetic effect is different from Tuyet Son. The statue wore a long dress but the front bodies are not closed, but the laps are tied, but the chest and abdomen are shown. The head is round and the face is smiling, the whole body trembles with excitement. According to Bat Dai Bo Tat Man Do La bible, the statue of Di Lac must be painted in yellow, but in Tay Phuong pagoda, the statue is made of solid copper.

Bo Tat Phap Hoa Lam and Dai Dieu Tuong (ie Van Thu Bo Tat and Pho Hien Bo Tat) are sculpted in a standing position, the statue of Dai Dieu Tuong binds the secret seal with the meaning of taking the Dinh to keep the Tue, the face is like that of the elderly. The statue of Phap Hoa Lam is in a lotus position, he clasped his hands in front of his chest, stretched out his ten fingers like a blossoming lotus, like when a human hand in the fetus, not dividing the two parts of reason - mind, chubby face of young people. Both statues are in solid dark brown clothes, and the faces and hands are painted in flesh colors. The statues can be found in many pagodas, but the earliest and most beautiful ones are still in Tay Phuong pagoda.

The colossus is the legal support of the Buddha and Bo Tat. That force, from Pham Thien, De Thich, Bat bo of ghosts and gods, from the king to the people are protectors of the Buddhism and is called the colossus. The outstanding success in the art of the colossus is the statues of Crown Prince Ky Da and eight statues, which constitute the Vajrapani at Tay Phuong pagoda.

Crown Prince Ky Da (also known as Ho Tam Chau Do, obeying the Buddha to maintained the Buddha Dharma in the three continents) is carved in a standing position on the clouds, a solemn, steady posture, wearing a hat (Kim Khoi), wearing armor (Nhan Nhuc), healthy body. His hands clasped in front of his chest in a lotus position, resting the sword on his arms at chest height. The face is gentle, flying shirt lines, simple shirt designs arranged in pieces. The object is a balanced layout between the right and left halves, basic vertical lines, tends to rise. The whole person has both a deterrent to evil and encouragement for good things, which is the premise for the later stages to aggregate and separate into two colossuses who are Khuyen Thien (Goodness Promotion) and Trung Ac (Evil Destruction).

The set of Vajrapani statues still has 08 statues (Thanh Tru Tai, Tich Doc Than, Hoang Tuy Cau, Bach Tinh Thuy, Xich Thanh Hoa, Dinh Tru Tai, Tu Hien Than and Dai Luc Than). All of them are martial arts generals, standing on clouds, similar in size. There are five red faces holding the dharma weapon expressing determination to fight evil. Three pinky faces, holding Buddha's treasures, signifies goodness promotion. Kim Khoi is wearing a hat, an armor with symbols of stars, thunder and lightning as the power of the universe. This armor is also known as the forbearance armor to keep the body and mind pure, persevere in protecting the Buddha Dharma, and steadfast as a diamond, so it is called Vajrapani (Kim Cuong-Diamond). The Vajrapani are clearly like human, beautiful appearance, and lively internal life, consistent with Tay Son art style.

To Ke Dang Statues: The focus of Tay Phuong sculptural art is To Ke Dang statues with 18 statues. The first statue (venerable Mahākāśyapa) and the second (venerable Ānanda) are decorated on the Buddha temple, in line with Tuyet Son statue. The remaining 16 statues are arranged in the two left compartments and the two compartments at the right of the last court of the main pagoda, including:

- The 3rd Statue: venerable Thuong Na Hoa Tu

- The 4th Statue: venerable Uu Ba Cuc Da

- The 5th Statue: venerable De Da Ca

- The 6th Statue: venerable Di Gia Ca

- The 7th Statue: venerable Ba Tu Mat

- The 8th Statue: venerable Phat Da Nan De

- The 9th Statue: venerable Phuc Da Mat Da

- The 10th Statue: venerable Hiep

- The 12th Statue: venerable Ma Minh

- The 13th Statue: venerable Ca Ty Ma La

- The 14th Statue: venerable Long Thu

- The 16th Statue: venerable La Hau La Da

- The 17th Statue: venerable Tang Gia Nan De

- The 18th Statue: venerable Gia Da Xa Da

- The 19th Statue: venerable Cuu Ma La Da

- The 20th Statue: venerable Xa Da Da

In terms of number, Tay Thien saints associated with Hinayana have 28 and Dong Do Do associated with Mahayana have 6, of which Bo De Dat Ma is both the last Tay Thien saint and the first Dong Do saint, so all are 33, but Tay Phuong pagoda selects only 18 to sculpt wooden statues. In general, the statues are sculpted in a similar style, wearing the same robes, but each of them has a different shape and position to enhance the mind and wisdom. The statues may be standing, sitting, rising up, spreading to make a rhythm. At the hands of talented artisans, every statue is alive and elegant. According to the biography of each saint, each of them has a unique personality, a very private life in daily life, happiness, sadness, passion, problems, joy etc. They are typicalization, summing up the distinctive features in the same direction to highlight both the reality and the soul of the statues. Most of To Ke Dang statues in Tay Phuong pagoda are painted in the main tones of red - black and brown - red. The ancients skillfully combined sculpture with lacquer painting to contribute to the creation of lively statues.

Tay Phuong pagoda is the only temple in Vietnam that preserves the system of Buddha statues that are masterpieces of Vietnamese ancient sculpture (or in other words, a typical example of Vietnamese Buddhist art) that artists in Tay Son period created through beautiful statues. All have an artistic style that is realistic and alive in Tay Son period, with a style different from the other times.

The birth history of Tay Son Buddha statues at Tay Phuong Pagoda is associated with a very proud historical period of our nation, after the spreading of Tay Son peasant uprising movement has pushed to the peak overthrowing both dominating forces Trinh-Nguyen, smashing the invasions of foreign powers Siamese and Qing enemies, forming Tay Son dynasty to replace the decaying Le dynasty. Tay Son dynasty only existed for a very short time, but Emperor Quang Trung quickly overcame the severe crisis of centuries ago, gradually stabilizing society and promoting national culture... From this common achievement, some places have rebuilt the abandoned temples and pagodas (especially casting many bells). The temples of this period carved quite a lot of statues, including Tay Phuong pagoda that have both gathered large numbers, and reached the peak of Buddha sculpture, from the statue system on the Buddha temple to Vajrapani statues, especially the To Truyen Dang statues. The success of Tay Phuong pagoda sculpture in general, the statues of To Truyen Dang and Vajrapani in particular has become a modern event. The researchers agreed that the style of statues of Tay Phuong pagoda is typical among Tay Son art style.