In August 1981, the Famen Temple Pagoda, known as the "Ancestor of guanzhong Pagoda Temple", was severely damaged in a storm in Fufeng, Shaanxi. Just when the experts were repairing it, they found the legendary underground palace, could it really contain the relics of Shakyamuni Buddha's bones?
At that time, the pagoda of Famen Temple was probably in disrepair, and cracks had appeared in the central part, and the northeast had completely collapsed, leaving only the southwest corner standing alone. Due to the historical significance of Famen Temple, the local cultural protection department chose to demolish the pagoda and rebuild it after argumentation.
However, by the time the construction of the pagoda began, it was already 1987. On April 3 of that year, the construction crew accidentally found a white jade slab under the floating soil, which was clearly carved with a relief of a male lion with exquisite workmanship. After observation, the archaeologists present were convinced that the stone slab originated in ancient times, and it is likely to be from the Tang Dynasty.
They remembered the legend that the underground palace of Famen Temple hid the relics of Buddha bones, and hurriedly beckoned the others to remove the other rubble slabs next to the white jade slabs. After some twists and turns, it was found that there was indeed a narrow and deep hole underneath, allowing only one person to pass.
Seeing that something had been discovered, the strength of the people to excavate was even higher, and soon a stone door appeared after excavating the steps made of 19 steps of bluestone. Judging from the style and structure of this stone gate, it is clearly the entrance to the underground palace. Although there is an iron lock on the stone door, due to its disrepair, the lock has long since rusted and has fallen to the ground at the slightest touch.
As the first door of the underground palace opened, in addition to the musty smell in the air, the entire corridor was covered with a thick layer of paper money. After the experts counted, there were more than 20,000 of these banknotes, of which 13 belonged to the commemorative coins made of tortoiseshells that were first discovered in China.
Further inside, there is a deep and bottomless tunnel. Although it is a tunnel, the two sides are made of black marble splicing together, which is extremely solemn. At the end of the tunnel, there are two stone tablets of black marble with a better texture.
Despite the darkness of the tunnel, thanks to a flashlight, experts were able to roughly identify the contents of two stele, one of which clearly recorded the ancient Indian Ashoka sending the relics to Famen Temple and the worship of the emperors, while the other was actually the names of the objects collected, such as the items donated to the relics and the names of the donors.
Judging from the records of the two stone tablets, not only is it true that the legend that the Famen Temple has a underground palace, but even the Buddha bone relics are also true. After the archaeologists removed the stele, a stone door with a statue of a bodhisattva appeared. Further inside, there was actually a stone door, this time it was a relief of the Heavenly King Lux.
Just after the stone door was opened, experts found hundreds of pieces of gold and silver and various jewelry. More importantly, behind this third stone gate is the middle chamber in the underground palace. In the middle of the middle room was a huge white jade spirit tent, and the contents were beyond everyone's imagination.
I saw that the top of the tent was covered with three robes made of pure gold ribbed thread and silk thread, and on the side was a pair of embroidered shoes made of gold silk, and there was a sandalwood box inside. After the experts opened the box, they found that it was full of porcelain made of the finest secret color porcelain in celadon porcelain, which was much more precious than gold at that time, and was generally only used for the royal family. What's more regrettable is that the process of firing secret color porcelain has been lost for many years.
However, where is the legendary Buddha bone relic?
At that time, the other staff also cleaned up the Ashoka Pagoda and the back room in the front room, and found a silk package in the back room. In order not to damage the internal structure as much as possible, it took the experts two hours to open the package, which contained an eight-story treasure letter. What is even more exaggerated is that each layer of this treasure letter is made of different materials, and there is a four-door small tower of pure gold in the innermost part.
However, after being confirmed by the stone tablets mentioned above, and combined with other records in history, this distinction is not a Buddha bone relic. Is the Buddha Bone Relic just a legend after all? Or has it already been stolen?
Just when the experts were already losing hope, a young archaeologist found an unusual piece of floating soil in a cleared corner of the back room. Curious, he dug up the floating soil, but found that there was indeed a secret niche hidden inside, and inside was an iron letter.
Shockingly, this iron letter also has several layers of structure, such as the sandalwood letter in the gold letter, and then a crystal rafter, and inside the crystal rafter is a small jade coffin that is almost flawlessly pure, and inside the coffin is the legendary Buddha bone relic, and it is a more precious Buddha finger relic. According to the superintendent of Famen Temple, this finger bone relic is only one in the world, and the small jade coffin covering him is actually a jade shadow bone, which plays a dual role in protection and reproduction.
However, what the experts could not understand was that two jade Buddha bones were later found in the Han White Jade Spirit Account and the Ashoka Pagoda. Why did a small Famen Temple place a relic of three bones, three jades, and four Buddha fingers?
According to research, there is a theory related to Tang Wuzong. Rumor has it that he was not kind to Buddhism at that time, and once ordered Famen Temple to send the relics of Buddha bones to him. As a result, a monk at Famen Monastery was worried that the Buddha bone relics would be damaged, so he copied several copies and hid the real Buddha bone relics.
But this monk probably did not expect that a torrential rain more than a thousand years later would make this relic of Buddha bones that had disappeared for a thousand years and only existed in the legend reappeared in the human world.