五台山看寺：佛光与南禅
　　作者：孙 侃
　　汉语版：
　　山西的佛光寺和南禅寺，是国内仅存的唐代遗留建筑物，这样古老的建筑在亚洲堪称第一。
　　山西省五台山，东、西、南、北、中五峰之内称台内，五峰之外称台外。佛光寺和南禅寺均在台外，佛光寺位于五台县城北10余公里的佛光山之中，南禅寺则位于五台县城西15公里处的李家庄村附近。
　　汽车翻过五台山主脉拐入一条简易公路，忽见在一处峁梁的背后，赫然显出一座恢弘寺院的清晰轮廓来，这就是佛光寺！
　　相传佛光寺创建于北魏孝文帝时期(471-499年)，当年北魏尊崇佛教，在开凿大同云冈石窟的同时又在五台山兴建了大孚灵鹫寺(即今显通寺)，接着又开始兴建佛光寺。至唐元和年间(806-820年)，佛光寺已是一个佛事兴盛、声望极高的寺院，现存的佛光寺东大殿，敦煌五代壁画《五台山图》中就绘有五台山大佛光寺的图像。在金、元、明、清各朝代，佛光寺均进行过一定程度的修葺或装绘，但主体建筑、寺内泥塑、壁画等仍为原物。
　　入得寺内，沿着寺内甬道穿过一处穹门，躬背迈上极陡的数十级台阶，佛光寺东大殿即在眼前。东大殿筑在用块石叠砌起的十多米高的台基上，居高临下，尤显巍峨雄伟，具有唐代建筑的典型特征。大殿的板门上留着多处唐、宋、明各代游人的题记，皆为原物，清晰可辨。一路上陪同我们的祝大同先生是一位研究山西文化遗存的学者，他向我们介绍了建筑学家梁思成、林徽因夫妇考察佛光寺的故事。
　　1937年6月，为了印证法国汉学家伯希和《敦煌石窟》一书中有关佛教圣地五台山寺庙布局的记载，梁思成、林徽因从北京乘火车专程到太原，并换乘汽车、骡车和步行抵达佛光寺。梁思成夫妇冒着成群的蝙蝠、嗜血的臭虫和厚积的灰尘，仔细察看了佛光寺东大殿的斗拱、梁枋和棋盘式的天花板及雕花的柱础，当他们爬进天花板上面的黑暗空间时，梁思成出乎意料地看到其屋顶架构使用的竟是两根“主椽”而不用“中腹杆”，这与中国较后的屋顶架构正好相反！这种架构以前他只在唐代绘画中见过，但从未目睹这样的建筑实体，这使得夫妇俩兴奋异常！正因如此，1942年至1944年梁思成在其重要著述《中国建筑史》中，对佛光寺作如此定论：“唐代木构之得保存至今，而年代确实可考者，唯山西五台山佛光寺大殿一处而已。寺为唐代为五台大刹之一，见于敦煌壁画五台山图，榜曰：‘大佛光之寺’，其位置在南台之外，为后世朝山者所罕至，烟火冷落，寺极贫寒，因而得幸免重建之厄。”
　　尽管在梁思成夫妇考察完佛光寺不久，中日战争全面爆发，他给寺内和尚带来的政府资助以及对寺庙建筑进行大规模修缮的许诺无法兑现，但从此以后佛光寺的知名度大大提升，很多关于古建筑的著述中都把佛光寺列为名首。不过，这座知名寺院之所以能历经千年尤其是历经近代战乱仍完整保存至今，另有一个重要的原因是因为佛光寺处在五台之外，比起其他寺院来，它游客较少，香火冷落，人为损坏较少，加之地处偏僻，民众贫穷，布施微薄，一直缺乏大修大建的资金，故寺院建筑包括塑像、壁画等基本上保持了原貌。
　　我们品味了这一唐代建筑的每一处细节，尽情感受了它的古老、精巧和神秘，祝大同先生忽然说：“还没有去南禅寺呢，到了那里，你们更会觉出咱们寺院建筑文化的更加特别之处！”于是我们继续驱车前行，过了五台县城和东冶镇，沿一条乡村公路行驶了好久，终于远远地看见一座高高的土岗，南禅寺大殿漂亮的单檐歇山式屋顶映入了我们的眼帘。
　　这又是一座国宝级的寺院建筑，其文物价值绝不在佛光寺之下。南禅寺始建年代不详，1953年文物考古人员在考察南禅寺时，在殿内的一根大平梁上发现了一行不十分明显的墨迹：“因旧名(时)大唐建中三年？？重修殿法显等谨志”，就是说，南禅寺大殿曾于唐建中三年(782年)重修。哪怕从这一年算起，它也已在五台山麓矗立了1200多年，且比佛光寺年代更早，为我国现存最古的一座唐代木结构建筑。
　　南禅寺主殿大佛殿高大雄伟，方整的基台几乎占了整个寺院的一半。单檐灰瓦歇山式屋顶由台基、屋架、屋顶三部分组成，共用檐柱12根。殿内无柱，也无天花板，梁架制作简练，屋顶重量通过梁架由檐墙上的柱子支撑。四周各柱柱头微向内倾，与横梁构成斜角；四根角柱稍高，与层层迭架、层层伸出的斗拱构成“翘起”，使梁、柱、枋更加紧凑地结合，增加了大殿的稳固性，使得出檐深而不低暗，整座大殿透出有收有放、有抑有扬、轮廓秀丽、气势雄浑的风格，给人以庄重而健美的感觉，并体现出浓烈的中唐大型木构建筑的显著特色。大殿内至今尚存泥塑像17尊，塑造手法与敦煌莫高窟唐代塑像极似。寺内角石上雕卧狮三尊，殿内存石狮三尊，小石塔一座，皆为唐代遗物。
　　毕竟地处僻乡，它与佛光寺一样，偌大的南禅寺空无一个其他游人，院落内的平地上晒满了红枣和玉米。我们的到来惊动了寺院的管理人员，那是一位已很有些年岁的老人。因为游客稀少这儿没有讲解员，甚至没有起码的景点介绍。好在祝大同先生始终陪伴在侧，凭仗他的讲解，我们方才明白了此寺的来历、显赫的身份以及上述建筑结构上的种种精妙之处。当我们知道自己此时究竟身处怎样的一座寺院内之时，一伙人不由得都呆在那儿有点儿不肯走的意思，可惜红日将落，我们只得离寺。
　　离开南禅寺，当我们从远处回眸大殿的轮廓与更远处的山际线一同起伏、浑然一体之时，我忽然感叹：这美丽的山川、这荡漾着古代文明气息的寺院，一千多年来竟是这样的和谐和美丽！
　　英文版：
　　Two Temples of The Tang Dynasty
　　Foguang (Buddhist Glory) Temple and Nanchan (Southern Zen) Temple are two religious sanctuaries well preserved in northChina's Shanxi Province. Compared with other Buddhist temples only a dozens of kilometers away in the other part of Mount Wutai,which attracts millions of both Buddhist pilgrims and secular tourists per year, Foguang Temple and Nanchan Temple attract fewtourists though the two were very famous in ancient times. Lost in time, the two temples are located in the extremely poverty-strickenarea where funds for any major restoration projects in the past were hard to come by, though small maintenance projects took placeduring subsequent dynasties over centuries. That accounts for the fact that no major restoration projects took place to change theiroriginal structures and shapes, according to experts.
　　Foguang Temple was first built during the years (471-499) of the Xiaowen Emperor of the North Wei Dynasty (386-534). In theYuanhe years (806-820) of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Foguang Temple enjoyed prosperity and reputation as a Buddhist sanctuary.
　　The most magnificent building in the temple is the East Hall. You need to walk along a corridor and through a door and then climba dozens of steep steps before reaching the Hall. The East Hall resides on a more-than-ten-meter-high foundation of rocks. Themagnificent hall features typical architectural characteristics of the Tang Dynasty. Inscriptions left over from the dynasties are stilllegible.
　　The discovery of the Foguang Temple was a crowning moment in the history of Modern Chinese architecture. In June 1937, LiangSicheng (1901-1972) and his wife Lin Huiyin (1904-1955), traveled all the way from Beijing to Mount Wutai. They came to verify thelocations of Buddhist temples scattered in the mount area, as described by a French Sinologist in an academic book entitled DunhuangGrottos. During their stay there, they visited Foguang Temple. They fought bevies of bats, bedbugs, and thick dust during their visit tothe temple. Despite unimaginable hardships, they examined the East Hall meticulously. It was when they reached the dark space abovethe ceiling that Liang saw the roof structure. To his great surprise and tremendous delight, the roof structure comprised two mainrafters, a structure rarely used after the Tang Dynasty. Liang had only seen the structure in paintings and academic records before, butnever the real thing. In History of Chinese Architecture, a masterpiece written by Liang during the years from 1942-1944, Liang saidthat Foguang Temple was the only wooden building in China that could be accurately traced back to the Tang Dynasty.
　　Nanchan Temple is another wonder left over from the Tang Dynasty. Thoughit has stood for centuries, no one actually knew exactly when it was first builtuntil 1953 when a group of experts came to the temple and conducted a fieldworkthere. They found a hardly legible line of words written in ink on a beam. Thewords said the temple was rebuilt in the third year of the Jianzhong period of theTang. The year was 782 A.D. Even if counted from that year as the starting point,the wooden-structured temple is more than 1,200 years old.
　　The main hall of the temple is extremely magnificent. Its square base nearlyoccupies the half of the temple's compound. The hall is really an ingenious woodenstructure without a ceiling or a single pillar in the open space. A system of woodensquare blocks inserted between the top of columns and crossbeams make thestructure stable. The structure highlights a beautiful rhythm and a sturdy outlinethat conveys grace and beauty and suggests the outstanding features of the large-scale structures of the Tang Dynasty. Today, the main hall still has 17 clay godstatues, which resemble the Tang statues seen in Dunhuang. There are also sculptedlions outside and inside the hall, all wonders created in the Tang Dynasty.
　　(Translated by David)