Tooth relic of the Buddha (China)
There are several tooth relics of the Buddha in China. They are less famous than the “Buddha's Tooth” in the temple of the tooth in the Ceylonese Kandy . In 19th century China, four temples claimed to have such relics. Three of them were symbolic objects , similar to the numerous " footprints of the Buddha " in Southeast Asia.
One such relic was on the Gǔshān - it is described as a white stone, about six inches in diameter.
In Wànnián sì , the piece on display was made of ivory and “the size of a man's breast” (1888). It was shown to visitors until the 1920s.
A large rose quartz was exhibited under this label in Beijing (1920–1935).
Tooth relic in the west mountains of Beijing
The only halfway authentic Chinese tooth relic is said to have been in the country since the 5th century. It had been in a pagoda west of Beijing since the eleventh century . This was destroyed in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion . Monks recovered the tooth and kept it hidden until 1955.
Since 1955
After being handed over to the BAC , it was first exhibited in Guǎngjì sì in Beijing . Chou En-lai wanted to give the piece to Burma first, then instead it was decided to go on “tours” through countries of southern Buddhism. First, from the beginning of October 1955, I went to Burma for eight months, then to Ceylon for some time in 1961.
As early as 1956, a new, fifty-meter-high pagoda for the relic began to be built in Língguāng sì (靈光寺, "Temple of Divine Light," Beijing West Mountains). It was finally consecrated in the presence of numerous foreign Buddhists on June 25, 1964.
literature
- Prip-Møller, Johannes; Lohner, Henry; Buddhist temples in China, 中原佛寺 圖 考 [ Zhōngyuán fósì túkǎo ]; Norderstedt 2017; Vol. II: ISBN 978-3-7448-7273-7 , p. 694.
Individual evidence
- ↑ South China Morning Post , No. 3249, p. 17.