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object 19 |
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Between the end of the Han dynasty and the middle of the Tang dynasty, Buddhism gradually spread throughout China, appealing to all levels of society, men and women alike. It offered a rich body of scriptures (sutras) and various means of attaining personal salvation that could not be found, for example, in Confucian traditions. Mona-steries, along with their monks and nuns, were freed from some of the restrictions placed on the rest of society. Temples grew rapidly, becoming rich with offerings and communal gifts.
Relics (sarira) and other precious objects were placed beneath the foundations of a pagoda at major monastic establishments. The practice originated in India, with the building of sacred mounds called stupas over the scattered remains of the historical Buddha (Sakyamuni, who died about 500 B.C.). The Famensi, a monastery at Fufeng, Shaanxi province, was founded in the Western Wei dynasty but assumed greater importance during the Tang dynasty (618-907 A.D.). Famen refers to "gate to Buddhist dharma (law)." Famensi was located not far from the Tang capital at Chang'an (present-day Xi'an) and received state support under at least seven emperors. The centerpiece of the relics was a set of four fingerbones that were believed to be those of Buddha himself. About every thirty years, these relics and related objects were taken out and paraded to the capital, where they were displayed in the imperial palace. While such practices appealed to the faithful, they also raised protests from those concerned with state support of a foreign religion at a time when China's borders were coming under increasing pressure. The situation reached crisis proportions, and from A.D. 841 to 845 Buddhism was suppressed, monasteries were converted to other uses, and thousands of monks and nuns were forced to return to lay life.
The reliquary objects at Famensi lay undisturbed for centuries, until the 1980s, when the pagoda collapsed and renovations revealed three stone chambers beneath the foundations.
This silver casket was part of a set that contained the third fingerbone relic. On the sides are the Four Guardian Kings. The casket is worked in repoussé, in which raised portions are hammered from the inside. Details such as the cloud and dragon motifs on the lid are engraved on the outside. During the Tang dynasty, silver became popular for luxury items, and hammering and gilding replaced earlier cast and inlay techniques. This casket demonstrates the high degree of court patronage of Buddhist arts just prior to a period of suppression in the mid-ninth century A.D. Buddhism continued to thrive, but it never again enjoyed the level of state support that it did at the time when this casket was made.
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