In the previous article about the documentary, I told you the story of the mysterious Zhongshan Kingdom in the Spring and Autumn Period, and today I will tell you the story behind the Buddhist holy relic Shakyamuni And its back according to the 5th episode of the first season of the documentary "Archaeological Exploration of China".
Episode 5 of the first season of Archaeological Exploration of China
Shakyamuni was the founder of Buddhism, surnamed Gautama and given his name Siddhartha. "Shakyamuni" is an honorific title given to him by Buddhists. He lived in the ancient Indian state of Kapilavan (the area bordering the indian state of Uttar Pradesh in southern Nepal today) more than 2,500 years ago, and was the prince of the Kapilavan kingdom of Jingdi.
Legend has it that when Shakyamuni was 29 years old (it is said that he was 19 years old), he felt the troubles of birth, old age, illness, and death in the world, and he gave up the life of a prince and became a monk, hoping to find a solution to these troubles for the world. He visited the sages to study their philosophical ideas. At the age of 35, Shakyamuni realized the true meaning of life under a Bodhi tree in Gaya (Bodh Gaya) and founded Buddhism. People called him "Buddha" or "Buddha." Later, the Buddha and his disciples preached in the Ganges Valley, while constantly improving and enriching the Buddhist ideological system, laying the basic teachings of primitive Buddhism.
Shakyamuni Buddha
In 486 BC, at the age of 80, Shakyamuni attained Nirvana in the city of Naga (the outskirts of the present-day United States of India). After the Buddha's death, his disciples cremated his flesh, and it is said that after the Buddha was cremated, he left behind an unburned piece of the top bone, two phalanges, four teeth, a middle finger bone, and 84,000 bead-shaped crystals.
Generally speaking, the flesh left behind after the death of a Buddhist monk or the bones, ashes, and crystals that have not been burned after cremation are called "relics" or "relics". The flesh that does not decay is called a "whole body relic" and is generally molded into a Buddha statue and called a "bodhisattva in the flesh.". The famous Six Ancestors huineng, Shijizang Bodhisattva, Yongci Master, etc. on the mainland, their remains were made into bodhisattvas in the flesh according to their last wishes. In the Buddhist "Golden Brahma Sutra", it is recorded: "Those who give relics are the places of cultivation of precepts and wisdom, which is very difficult to obtain, and the highest blessing is the most blessed." It can be seen that no matter what form of relics, in the minds of Buddhists, they are extremely precious holy relics.
Seated statue of Master Six Ancestors Huineng in the flesh
250 years after the death of Buddha Shakyamuni, a great king was born in ancient India, and he was Ashoka. Ashoka lived in the late Warring States period on the mainland. In his early years, he was belligerent and murderous, unifying the northern part of the South Asian subcontinent and establishing a powerful Peacock Dynasty. In his later years, Ashoka was a firm believer in Buddhism and made great contributions to the development of Buddhism in India. Ashoka built Buddhist buildings throughout the country, and it is said that a total of 84,000 Buddha stupas dedicated to Shakyamuni were built. In ancient India, the general monks were cremated after death, and the cremated ashes, relics and other remnants were generally buried in the ground, and the buildings above the ground were called towers, which was equivalent to a Chinese grave. Containers for the collection of relics can be buried in the ground or enshrined in the tower interior. Our Chinese pagodas were developed according to Buddhist customs combined with chinese architectural styles.
A newly built stupa at Famen Temple
In order to spread Buddhism to all parts of the world, Ashoka sent a large number of Buddhist monks to carry some of the relics of Shakyamuni Buddha to the surrounding countries to teach the Dharma. There are 19 copies of the Buddha's relics that have been brought to us in China, including the relics of shakyamuni shakyamuni's true body finger bones mentioned today. These Shakyamuni Buddha relics were introduced to the mainland around the time of Qin Shi Huang, and Buddhism gradually expanded its influence in China during the Eastern Han Dynasty, and with the financial support of Liu Zhi, the Emperor of Han Huan, 19 Buddhist relics pagodas were set up throughout the country, the earliest of which was the Buddha Stupa in Ashoka Temple, and the Eastern Han Ashoka Temple is now Famen Temple. Legend has it that every 30 years, the emperor of the Central Plains Dynasty would open the pagoda of Ashoka Temple, welcome the Buddha's relics to the palace for a period of time, and then send the Buddha relics back to the temple and bury them again.
Due to the historical opposition of Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei (拓跋焘) and Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou (Yuwen Yongyōng) against Buddhism during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhism was at a low ebb. In the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism ushered in the golden age of development, and Famen Temple became the royal temple of the Tang Empire. In more than 200 years, although emperor Wu of Tang (Li Yan) experienced the campaign to destroy Buddhism, there were still 8 emperors who sent six greetings and two gifts to enshrine the buddha's real finger bone relics at Famen Temple. In the late Tang Dynasty, in order to pray to the Buddha to bless the Tang Dynasty to change its decline, Tang Yizong (Li Huai) welcomed the Relic of the Buddha's true finger bone into the imperial palace for the last time. But he soon died, and the 12-year-old Tang Dynasty (Li Yanxuan) hurriedly returned the Buddha's true finger bone relics to the underground palace of Famen Temple for sealing in 874 AD. I didn't expect this letter to be 1113.
In the autumn of 1981, a pagoda at Famen Temple in Fufeng County, Shaanxi Province, collapsed in half during a storm. The collapse of the stupa made the local monks and faithful very sad. Because they have been passed down from generation to generation: the underground palace under the stupa is buried with the relics of the Buddha's true finger bones. But no one was sure whether this legend was true or not, and the matter was shelved.
In 1986, the Shaanxi Provincial Government decided to rebuild Famen Temple, and in order to cooperate with the construction of Famen Temple, the Pagoda of Famen Temple was excavated in February 1987. After more than three months of excavation, the underground palace of Famen Temple built in the Tang Dynasty was cleared out.
Cross-section of the underground palace of Famen Temple
The underground palace of Famen Temple is composed of three stone gates, Yongdao, the front room of the underground palace, the middle room of the underground palace, and the back room of the underground palace.
After the first stone door was opened, the Yongdao was covered with a thick layer of copper coins, of which 13 commemorative coins made of tortoiseshell were the first discoveries in Chinese archaeology. Two stone tablets inscribed with Chinese characters were found in front of the second stone gate, which clearly recorded the grand situation from Ashoka's distribution of relics to Famen Temple to the emperors of the Chinese dynasties, especially the Tang Dynasty, to the offering of Buddha bone relics. Judging from the importance that the emperors of successive dynasties attached to the Relics of the Buddha Bones, the Relics of the Buddhas collected in the underground palace of Famen Temple should be the real Relics of the Bones of the Buddha, and they do exist. The inscription also records the name and quantity of the items donated for the worship of the Buddha bone relic, as well as the name of the donor.
Famen Temple underground palace item stele
On the ground of the front room of the underground palace are piled up a large number of Tang Dynasty silk fabrics, and according to the inscription, there are skirts donated by Empress Wu Zetian and Empress Hui'an. But most of these silk fabrics have been carbonized because they are so old. Thankfully, five tufts of gold embroidered clothes have been preserved intact. The gold thread on these tufted gold embroidered clothes is as thin as 0.06 to 0.1 mm, even modern high-tech technology is difficult to achieve such a fine degree, but the Tang Dynasty more than 1,000 years ago can be completely done by hand, which is really incredible. It is these gold threads embedded in the silk that protect the silk from oxidation, so that we have the privilege of seeing the true appearance of Datang silk. At the end of the front room of the underground palace, a white jade pagoda was found, which was later known as the Ashoka Pagoda, about 80 centimeters high, and was painted on all four sides with exquisite color reliefs, and the reliefs were brilliant in color, as if they had just been painted. Will the mysterious Buddha bone relic be in this tower?
Tufts of gold embroidered clothes found in the underground palace of Famen Temple
The Ashoka Pagoda of the Underground Palace of Famen Temple
Subsequently, when cleaning the back room of the underground palace, 121 pieces of gold and silverware and more than 400 pieces of various jewelry and jade objects were found. In order to prevent the spices in the sachets from spilling out, the makers specially set up a balancing device with the same principle as the gyroscopes used in today's navigation and aerospace. There is also a gilded silver tin rod that is the largest and most exquisitely crafted Buddhist ritual vessel in the world.
Gilded silver tin staff
Gilded gold and silver sachets
Balancing device inside a gilded gold and silver sachet
Archaeological excavations finally cleaned up the inner chamber of the underground palace, where a huge white jade spirit tent was placed, on which were carved very elaborate patterns and Buddha statues. On top of the tent are three robes woven with thread and silk thread in pure gold. Archaeologists found some secret color porcelain that was praised by the Tang dynasty as "the nine autumn winds dew more kiln open, winning the thousand peaks of green color". Some glasswork with an Islamic style that was very valuable to the time was also found. In addition, several sets of gilded tea sets used by Emperor Tang were also found. Everything found in the underground palace chamber is related to Buddhism. So where is the Buddha's finger bone relic that we are looking forward to?
A glazed glass plate in the Islamic style found in the underground palace of Famen Temple
Tang Dynasty secret color porcelain
The excavations in the underground palace are nearing completion, and only the Ashoka Pagoda in the front room, the White Jade Spirit Tent in the middle room, and the silk parcel in the back room have not been opened. The staff began to open the silk package, and the glorious treasure letter was revealed. There is a layer of treasure letters, the outermost is the sandalwood treasure letter, followed by gold, silver, jade, pearl inlaid with various treasure letters, a total of eight layers of treasure letters. In the innermost part is a small tower of sparkling pure gold with four doors, and when opened, there is a silver pillar like a finger on the gold seat, and on it there is a tubular object exactly like the inscription. Everyone jumped up excitedly, is this the legendary Buddha finger bone relic? After the excitement, people found out that this was just a jade imitation. Is the real Buddha's finger bone relic no longer in the underground palace of Famen Temple?
A treasure letter where the "Shadow Bone" of the Buddha Bone Relic is placed
Just when people were extremely disappointed, a young man noticed that there were traces of passivity on a piece of ground in the back room of the underground palace, and soon found a secret niche here, and an iron letter was found in the secret niche. Open the iron letter, inside is a layer of gilded gold and silver letters, then a layer of sandalwood letters, the wooden letter contains a huge crystal coffin studded with gems, and the innermost is a small white jade coffin. Inside the jade coffin is the long-awaited relics of shakyamuni Buddha's true finger bones. This is a real Buddha bone relic. "One inch and two minutes long, folded up and down, high and low, flat on three sides, slightly tall on one side, with hidden marks." The color is as white as rain and slightly green, fine and lustrous, the marrow point is large, and the shape of the upper and lower parts is completely consistent with the "Tang Xiantong Qiyang True Body Wenzhi" and the inscription of the underground palace of Famen Temple! The supreme relics of Buddhism, the only buddha in the world, have finally appeared!
Shakyamuni's true body refers to the bone relic
A crystal coffin where the Buddha bone relics are placed
A jade coffin where the Buddha bone relics are placed
In the following days, two jade imitations of the middle finger bone relics were found in the Ashoka Pagoda and the White Jade Spirit Tent.
Found in the underground palace of Famen Temple, one spirit bone and three shadow bones
From May 5 to 12, 1987, a total of 4 relics were found during the opening of the underground palace of Famen Temple. Three of them are made of white jade, and all three belong to the "Shadow Bone", which is placed together with the "Spirit Bone" to protect the latter. 4 relics are equally sacred in the minds of Buddhists! As Zhao Puchu, former president of the Buddhist Association of China, said, "The shadow bone is neither one nor different, just like the three rivers of the january shadow"!
The discovery of shakyamuni Buddha's true finger bone relics caused a sensation in the Buddhist community, and the Buddha's finger relics once traveled to Taiwan Province of China, Thailand, South Korea and other regions for Buddhists around the world to worship. Famen Temple has thus become a famous shrine in Buddhism, attracting a large number of Buddhists from all over the world to pay homage to the Buddha's true finger bone relics every year!
The rebuilt Famen Temple
The next issue will continue to tell you the story of other "Chinese archaeological explorations". Follow me for more exciting content.