From hell to paradise

On the Chinese mountain treasure looks such as in a bad dream will not dream. However, tourists go and watch, look, watching.

Summer 1945. China ruined a long war. Neither pass, neither pass: the front line, the posts of Japanese invaders, soldiers of Chan Kai-Shi and Mao Zedong, and Nameless Honghuza-Robbers Grab. Why at such a time three Chinese archaeologists decided to organize a scientific expedition, now no one will say no longer. Maybe they were ready to risk life for science. And maybe they simply decided to find treasures and get rich, because the mountain, to which they walked, the locals called Baodinishan – a mountain treasure. Archaeologists make their way through the dense forest. Three crisp of the network of Lian, clogged on slippery ledge and. Suddenly find themselves face to face with thousands of stone sculptures. Archaeologists have discovered a secret complex of cave temples. But the joy of discovers was short. They thoroughly obscured the caves, rummed clay at the foot of the sculptures, but the treasures did not find. Rather, the treasures were everywhere, but they could not be carried.

For a long time about Baodinshan nobody remembered in China. And the first foreigner was the Canadian historian saw mysterious sculptures only in 1980. "This golden lived still not touched?!" – Surprised Canadian. But ten for ten years, before the grief, a balanced road was laid and began to finally sell tickets. Since then, tourists from all over the world come to look at this place. Not so long ago, Bill Gates and Richard Gir were visited here, famous admirers of Buddhist religion.

By the VI century, Buddhism was established in China and became a state religion, but not long. Buddhist-Asketov’s activities contradict the laws of the great teacher Confucius on active life for the benefit of society. Buddhists lived a closed monastic life and did not obey the state. Soon they began to force to move into their homes to families. Began to persecute Buddhists. They were accused of hostile activities – and the property of the monasteries took.

Baodinishan Mountain sculptures were carved by Buddhist monks who fled from persecution to the most difficult to reach from Chinese provinces – Sichuan. Get there and now not easy due to high mountains and stormy rivers that proceed in narrow gorges. In the ancient times, there were no roads in those places and therefore, to get to Sichuan could only be on Yangtze. The ship was equipped with a ship, and several hundred burlates dragged him upstream. In some places the trail on which they walked. was worn around the edge of the rock. Sometimes the width of this trail was less than half a meter. It is not surprising that many burly fell into the river and died.

Now tourists sail in Sichuan on a comfortable four-star motor ship or fly from Beijing by plane by local airlines. What will be seen tourists in Baodishan? Stone illustrations of the sacred postulates of Buddhism.

Buddhists have four "noble truths": Life is suffering, the cause of suffering is in human desires to stop suffering, you need to suppress our desires and achieve Nirvana by meditation. Therefore, in Buddhism, the perfect person must be immersed in himself and change his inner state. not paying attention to worldly worries, responsible or guilt to someone.

The largest of the figures in Baodishan – Shakyamuni. which is considered the last terrestrial embodiment of the Buddha. An ideal person, the founder of Buddhism. Statue height 30 m.

In one of the grottoes there is a statue of Peacock King. He sends on a huge bird-like monster, proudly dealing with his colorful wings. Around him on the walls of the grotto, a thousand identical buddes. Many people peacock – a symbol of abundance, fertility and immortality. That is why it can be so often seen not only in China, but also in many other countries, for example in India or even in Byzantium.

In the next cave – gold-covered statue of a savian who can turn into different animals to help people from different misfortunes. She has a thousand seven hands, so it can help many.

Stone guards Mountain treasures are very fierce. Some hold in the hands of the head of those. Who dare broke the Buddhist law. Buddhists believe that there is eighteen torture in hell. Each for a certain sin. One of the most terrible misconduct in Buddhism is drunkenness. Those who drink or advises others to drink, crush their knees. Nearly shown by drunkards: a husband who drank extra, can not recognize his wife, drunk son in the paddle kills his father and wounds his mother, a drunk brother can not recognize his younger brother.

Some statues depict the life of sinners after death in hell. Here is a creature with a hoping hidden headband tapping a person’s hair to a boiling oil boiler. But someone crude bones with a huge iron wheel. Two heads stick out of the bath with dirt and hollows. and the fierce guard makes them dive and deeper. All this involuntarily makes you remember the works of the famous Netherlands artist Jerome Bosch. The same people with animal heads, the same torture, only a little more sophisticated. And on Mount Treasure, and Bosch Damn is a creature with a human body and an animal. It is strange that hell at Buddhists and Bosch likes so much. After all, Bosch died even before Europeans visited China, – the first to come to the Marko Polo’s median empire in 1516.

Not all the shapes are terrible, a lot and fun – life, until he killed in hell, still good! Poor dancing, girl playing on flute, woman feeds peacocks, peasant rowing on a boat. Under the group of seven Buddhas show the birth of a child and ordinary maternal worries. Then the son grows up – learns, helps around the house, develops the body with exercise, and finally parents prepare him for the wedding. Usual life? Maybe. Of course, this is paradise! For many, a calm familiar life, without wars, misfortunes and diseases, is happiness, paradise, nothing else. True, in our opinion, the paradise of the mountain treasure is too fussy and shumen, the figures are very thick and closely arranged, too many musical instruments, and the peacocks must be disgusting. But this is not our paradise, but Chinese. The Chinese love noise, they are accustomed. They even believes that when noise, then calmer in the soul: people around, safely. And when there is no noise – it means there are no people, but there are no people – it means there is no good, wait for trouble. Well, about the flavors, it is also clear, they say that: "Zhen to – Din Shao. There are many people – little land".

Guides hurry wishing to go to the complex a lot. A tourist who came to China to see the mountain treasure is as important as the Great Wall, the Forbidden City in Beijing and the clay army in Si’an. This fifty years ago said: "To Sichuan further than to the sky", Now you get here at all just.