Chapter 37 Section 17 Tang Famen Temple Pagoda Palace

Famen Temple is located in Famen Town, Fufeng County, Shaanxi Province.It is one of the four famous temples in my country.Among the four famous temples, Puwang Temple in Sizhou sank into Hongze Lake in the 19th year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1680 A.D.).The relics of Wutai Temple in Daizhou and Wutai Temple in Zhongnanshan were destroyed by imperial edict during the Huichang period of the Tang Dynasty (841-846 A.D.).Therefore, the underground palace of the Famen Temple Pagoda is currently the only underground palace in my country that preserves the relics of Sakyamuni's real body.The original pagoda in the temple collapsed due to the rain. In 1981, in order to rebuild the tower, the tower base and its periphery were cleaned and excavated.The archaeological excavation has made great achievements.Let me make an introduction:

The base of the tower in the Tang Dynasty is a square with a side length of 26 meters and an area of ​​600 square meters.The underground palace is no later than the fifteenth year of Tang Yizong Xiantong (874 A.D.). The central square seat is located on the square rammed earth platform in the center of the pagoda base.The side length is 10.5 meters and the area is 106 square meters.The center is raised, the surroundings are inclined, and the height is 2.2 meters.The foundation groove of the back room of the underground palace is dug in the middle of the central square seat. The underground palace is located in the middle of the tower base.It consists of steps, walkways, platforms, tunnels, front room, middle room, back room and secret niches in the back room.The total length is 21.1 meters.

The unearthed relics include four relics (relics, Sanskrit transliteration, meaning body bones).There are 121 pieces of gold and silver wares, and more than 400 pieces (pieces) of glass, various pearls, gemstones, and jade wares.There are 16 pieces of porcelain, 12 pieces of stone cultural relics, 19 pieces of lacquered woodware, 16 pieces of iron cultural relics, and more than 700 pieces of silk fabrics. of.It is a rare treasure for studying the life and social features of the nobles in the Tang Dynasty. Relics can be divided into two categories: In the first category, there are four Buddha finger relics, all in tubular shape. "The color is white like jade, young green, fine and dense like luster, the medullary acupoints are square and large, both up and down, and there are texts (patterns) on the two corners."After identification, one spirit bone and three shadow bones.

The first Buddha finger was hidden in the back room of the underground palace.The four-door golden pagoda stored in the eight-fold treasure letter enshrined by Emperor Yizong of Tang Dynasty.A silver pillar is welded in the middle of the tower base, and the Buddha's finger is placed on it.The second Buddha finger is placed in the gilt silver coffin with double phoenix patterns in the iron box of the white marble double eaves spiritual tent in the inner room of the underground palace.The third Buddha finger is placed in the crystal coffin and the jade coffin on the pot gate seat in the secret niche in the back room of the underground palace.The fourth Buddha finger is hidden in the silver coffin in the copper pagoda in the white marble Ashoka Pagoda in the front room of the underground palace.

The other category is the objects dedicated to offering relics. Among the gold and silver wares, there is a gold-plated silver box with double earrings and double ear rings, weighing 6.26 kg.The gold-plated bodhisattva holds the real body, the crown is inlaid with pearls, and the whole body is covered with pearl wreaths.A gold-plated lying tortoise and silver incense burner, with a unicorn-shaped head at the base of the burner, with a special shape.Gilt hollow silver cage (tea set).Gilt silver turtle box.Gilt hollow silver sachet, etc.Exquisitely made, rare in the world. Among the gold and silver instruments, the rarest one is the Yingzhen body silver gold flower four-wheeled 12-ring tin rod with a total length of 1.96 meters and a weight of 2.39 kilograms.The sheet [ban version] is formed of gold, the rod is round and hollow, the whole body is chiseled [zan temporary] decorated with patterns, the head of the staff doubles up to the lotus seat, and 12 body edge enlightened monks are chiseled from top to bottom. Standing on the lotus platform with a Dharma bell in hand.

Gold and silver tea sets include tea troughs, mills, spoons, boxes, and stoves. Porcelain, including bottles, bowls, plates, dishes, etc.Among them, most of them are "mysterious porcelain".The glaze color is mainly green, and the glaze layer has a sense of transparency.It is a boutique of "winning the emerald beauty of thousands of peaks".It can also be regarded as a breakthrough discovery in the underground palace cultural relics.It shows that the firing time of my country's secret porcelain was before the fifteenth year of Xiantong in Tang Dynasty (874 A.D.). 20 pieces of glassware.Among them, the decal vase is a product of the Byzantine Empire, and the engraved plate and plain plate are Islamic products.The light yellow teacup and saucer are products of the Tang Dynasty.

Among the silk fabrics, plain silk, yarn and damask are the most, followed by silk, brocade and woven gold brocade.There are also embroidered products, as well as gold-embroidered half-arms, gold-embroidered cassocks, gold-embroidered skirts, etc.There are all kinds of silk, silk, yarn, silk, brocade, embroidery, printing, gold pasting, gold painting, twisting gold, and gold weaving in the Tang Dynasty.Especially the diamond brocade weaving is exquisite in craftsmanship.There is also the tortoiseshell "Kaiyuan Tongbao" money.All are rare new discoveries of archeology in the Tang Dynasty.