興隆塔地宮探秘

吳增祥

勘察地宮

兗州市為上古九州之一，興隆塔位于兗州市內(nèi)，始建于隋代，重修于宋代。興隆塔因寺得名，是興隆寺僅存的建筑，呈平面八角形，共13層，下部7層，規(guī)格與同類磚塔近似，上6層急劇縮小，形成“塔上塔”景觀，為中國僅見。

2008年10月8日，在兗州市舉行的興隆塔地宮出土文物新聞發(fā)布會上，山東省文物局副局長王永波介紹，根據(jù)國家規(guī)定，對地宮一般不做考古發(fā)掘。但因興隆塔地宮目前狀況，為了解興隆塔地宮結(jié)構(gòu)和受損程度，弄清地宮文物埋藏情況，經(jīng)國家文物局批準，山東省文物局于2008年9月1日正式啟動興隆塔地宮調(diào)查勘測和維修加固工程。

兗州市文物局局長仇立彬是最早進入興隆塔地宮的專家之一。據(jù)仇立彬介紹，當挖掘到地下1.7米時，發(fā)現(xiàn)興隆塔地宮北門。在打開地宮甬道入口過程中，考古人員在夯土層中發(fā)現(xiàn)1件珍貴的陶質(zhì)力士頭像，還有小型佛像、瓦當、磚瓦殘片等，涵蓋了北朝、隋、唐、宋、元、明、清各個時期。從北門往下走7個臺階，進入一條長6.6米、寬1.2米的甬道，甬道內(nèi)有4道封堵磚墻。地宮有南、北兩條甬道，考古發(fā)掘從塔北側(cè)進行，由甬道進入塔基中央構(gòu)筑的地宮，地宮底平面為正方形，邊長2.8米，中心處頂高3.1米，頂部為疊澀頂，設(shè)有16排磚雕斗拱，一些邊沿斗拱已自然斷裂脫落。地宮中央有一口直徑26厘米的水井，深約170厘米，蓋在井口的方形石塊是一件唐代咸通年間的墓志銘。

文物呈現(xiàn)

山東省博物館考古專家肖貴田說，地宮內(nèi)曾遭受人為擾亂，石碑和埋藏舍利的石函已不在原有位置，根據(jù)痕跡復原后，地宮中央是仰覆蓮花座，上面放置著長方形石函，石函有蓋。石函是安葬佛陀舍利的最外層石棺。

在兗州市博物館特展室可以看到，石函四周刻畫有精美的人物圖案和花紋，圖案表現(xiàn)的都是護法神與佛弟子形象，并有“梵王眾”、“帝釋眾”、“比丘眾”、“波旬眾”、“天王眾”等榜題銘文，石函頂蓋上刻有龍、牡丹和金翅鳥圖案，彌足珍貴。

按復原后的位置，石函內(nèi)有鎏金銀棺、舍利金瓶、舍利、佛牙、琉璃瓶等佛教圣物。鎏金銀棺以銀做成棺的形制，通體鎏金，長47厘米、寬20厘米、高25厘米。銀棺表面鏨刻圖案生動豐富，左右兩個側(cè)面均表現(xiàn)了釋迦牟尼湼槃的場景。佛祖略側(cè)身橫臥，單手托腮，雙目緊閉，四周眾弟子傷心悲痛，神情動作各異，其它各面表現(xiàn)的是佛、弟子、菩薩等佛教神像，栩栩如生，其圖案內(nèi)容之豐富、刻畫之精美，可與法門寺唐代單體金銀寶函相媲美；在鎏金銀棺內(nèi)發(fā)現(xiàn)一件裝有頂骨真身舍利金瓶和大量舍利，舍利形狀、大小不一，色彩鮮艷，其數(shù)量之多令人震撼；銀棺內(nèi)還盛裝2顆長約7厘米的佛牙，這在中國亦比較罕見。

碑刻記載

據(jù)新近出土的紀事碑記載，現(xiàn)存興隆古塔是北宋嘉佑八年(公元1063年)為供奉“西天世尊金頂骨真身舍利”而修建，歷經(jīng)元、明、清至今，期間曾多次加固維修。

肖貴田介紹，地宮東側(cè)豎立一塊“安葬舍利”碑刻，清晰留有“大宋第5葉嘉佑八年癸卯歲十月六日安葬舍利金瓶一兩”字跡。據(jù)碑刻記載，鎏金銀棺中的頂骨真身舍利是光正大師法藏到西天取得，后來到兗州建塔安葬。該碑長85厘米、寬76厘米，刻寫文字32行，碑文記述了興隆塔和地宮的建造年代、原因和經(jīng)過，更重要的是記載了頂骨真身舍利的來歷和供養(yǎng)過程。

肖貴田說，興隆塔地宮中的鎏金銀棺和石函上的圖案保存較好，在其他宋代地宮和墓葬中也發(fā)現(xiàn)過一些壁畫及線刻圖案，但多數(shù)保存不好，不如興隆塔地宮石函上刻畫的精美和完整，特別是石函上刻畫有如此眾多的護法神極為罕見。

據(jù)碑文記載，經(jīng)文物專家初步研究，這是一處宋代名為“兗州興隆寺”，下設(shè)28個僧院，參加起塔供養(yǎng)緣會的高僧多達38人，寺院僧眾達萬人，有如此眾多的僧院、高僧，可見整個寺院規(guī)模之龐大。

山東省文物局副局長王永波認為：“從整個山東省而言，青州市的龍興寺、濟南市的靈巖寺、汶上縣的寶相寺都是當時規(guī)模較大的寺院。如此多的名剎集中在山東，說明了唐宋時期山東佛教文化的昌盛。而濟寧作為孔孟之鄉(xiāng)，如今看來也是佛教圣地。儒、佛兩家在這里交融整合，對山東地域文化的發(fā)展，齊魯大文化的形成都起了不可估量的作用，具有非凡的文化意義和價值?！?/p>

Exploring the Underground Palace of Xinglong Pagoda in Yanzhou

Xinglong Pagoda is located in Yanzhou City, Shandong Province. It was constructed during the Sui Dynasty (581-618) and was renovated during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). On the site where the present-day pagoda is located, there was previously a temple named Xinglong Temple, hence the name of pagoda. Nowadays, the octagonal pagoda is the only building still in existence on the site of the former Xinglong Temple. The pagoda has 13 storeys above ground and seven under the ground. The top six levels of the pagoda shrink abruptly, forming a spectacle of “tower on a pagoda,” which is rare in China.

At the news conference held in Yanzhou on October 8, 2008 to discuss the cultural relics unearthed from the underground palace under Xinglong Pagoda, Vice Director Wang Yongbo of Shandong Cultural Heritage Bureau was quoted as saying that usually no archaeological digging was allowed at the underground palace. However, considering the state of the underground palace under Xinglong Pagoda, and with a view to exploring the structure of the underground palace and the damaged level of Xinglong Pagoda, and to investigating the cultural relics in the underground palace, with the approval of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, Shandong Cultural Heritage Bureau started to explore the underground palace under Xinglong Pagoda and began the maintenance and reinforcing engineering project on September 1, 2008.

Director Qiu Libin of Yanzhou Cultural Heritage Bureau is one of the first group of experts to enter the underground palace under Xinglong Palace. He was quoted as saying that when an excavation was made at 1.7 meter under the ground, the northern gate of the underground palace was found. In the course of excavating the entrance to the palace, the archaeological workers found a rare pottery head portrait of the Nryana, a small Buddha statute, tiles, and broken bricks, which were made during the Northern Dynasty (386-518), Sui Dynasty (581-618), the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Walking downward along seven steps from the northern gate, one can enter a 6.6 meter long and 1.2 meter wide corridor, which is blocked by four brick walls. The underground palace has two corridors, which are located on the northern and southern sides respectively. The archaeological excavation was launched at the northern side of the pagoda, so the archaeological workers entered the palace through the northern corridor. The floor of the palace is a square shape with each side 2.8 meters long. The ceiling of the central area is 3.1 meters high. At the center of the floor there is a 1.7 meter deep well with a diameter of 26 centimeters. The square stone cover on the well is a piece of tomb tablet carved during the Tang Dynasty.