CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

164
Parcel-gilt silver casket with the
Four Guardian Kings
Height 23.5 (9'A), width 20 (7 7s)
Tang Dynasty, ninth century CE
From the pagoda of the Famen Monastery at Fufeng,
Shaanxi Province
Famensi Museum, Fufeng, Shaanxi Province
Multiple containers made of valuable materials
were invariably used to hold relics (which could be
just tiny, glassy grains). In the case of the Famen
Monastery, where the relic was held to be from the
true body of Sakyamuni, the historical Buddha, the
containers had to be even more impressive. Placed
towards the rear of the innermost chamber, this is
the second of a set of eight nesting caskets. 1 Only
fragments remain of the outermost casket, which
was made of sandalwood carved with figures of
devotees and figures from the Buddhist Pure Lands,
475 FAMEN MONASTERY AT FUFENC