Mystery 3: How did the relics of Famen Temple become Buddha bone relics?
The emperor of the Tang Dynasty, surnamed Li, claimed to be a descendant of Lao Tzu, so he did not have much respect for Buddhism at first. Even sometimes, Tang Taizong Li Shimin once regarded Buddhism as a kind of "virtual art".
However, the Tang Dynasty was able to thrive because of its broad-mindedness and inclusiveness. Tang Taizong did not govern the country according to personal likes and dislikes, but adhered to a tolerant attitude, conformed to the gradually heating up folk Buddhism craze, and respected and supported Buddhism in the way of "showing the religion of foreign religions". In his later years, Tang Taizong converted to Buddhism, calling himself the "Bodhisattva Precepts**" and actively building Buddhist temples and supporting the translation of Buddhist scriptures.
Historically, the relationship between Tang Taizong and Famen Temple can be traced back to the fifth year of Zhenguan (631 AD), when he issued an edict allowing the Buddha relics to be "revealed" for the first time. This decision was inspired by a rumor: "The ancient legend of the clouds: once this tower is closed, it will be revealed after 30 years, and it will make good life". It is said that once the Buddha relics are displayed, the miraculous phenomenon of "making good things happen" appears. The Tang Dynasty classic "Fayuan Zhulin" recorded: "Both the relics and the Taoism are common, and there are thousands of people, who look at the same thing for a while." There was a blind man, who had been blind for many years, and his eyes were straight into the eyes, and suddenly he was clear. The blind man actually regained his sight after seeing the Buddha Relic, which shows that the Buddha Relic has great magical powers. Chen Jingfu believes that the legend is intended to illustrate that through the display of Buddha relics, a consensus was reached between the Tang royal family and the common people, and the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty began a period of moderate Zhenguan rule, and Famen Temple also gained the status of a national temple.
Subsequently, Tang Gaozong Li Zhi opened the underground palace for the first time as an emperor in the fourth year of Xianqing (659 AD), and invited the Buddha's finger bone relics to Chang'an and Luoyang for two years. When the Buddha relics were sent back to the underground palace, Empress Wu Zetian proposed to put them in the nine-fold gold coffin and silver coffin for hiding, which was an extremely reverent practice. Later, she even sent her "one-waist embroidered skirt" into the underground palace to offer Buddha relics.
After Wu Zetian ascended the throne, he changed the name of the country to Zhou and proclaimed himself the Holy Spirit Emperor. As early as the age of 14, she entered the palace and became a talented person of Taizong, and after Taizong's death, she was sent to Ganye Temple to become a monk and nun. Later, she was recalled to the palace again by Gaozong until she became emperor. Perhaps in Wu Zetian's view, she was able to emerge again thanks to the blessing of the Buddha. In 704 A.D., Wu Zetian, who was over eighty years old, once again invited the Buddha's finger bone relics to be worshipped.
However, the following year, Wu Zetian died. After Tang Zhongzong Li Xian was reinstated, in 708 A.D., he "sent the hair of himself, the queen, and his heirs into the tower" to offer Buddha relics. It is worth noting that there is an ancient saying: "The body should not be damaged in the slightest way." "Offering hair to a Buddha relic can be seen as an act of making a physical offering. Chen Jingfu said that the Tang royal family's respect for the Buddha's finger bone relics has become stronger and more intense, and it has been continuously sublimated.
In the history of the Tang Dynasty, in addition to Tang Xuanzong Li Longji's special fondness for Taoism, which kept the Buddha finger bone relics in Famen Temple sealed for 30 years, Tang Suzong Li Heng, Tang Dezong Li Shi, Tang Xianzong Li Chun, and Tang Yizong Li Yi welcomed the Buddha's finger bone relics four times in the next 100 years. Then, in the fifteenth year of Xiantong (874 AD), Tang Emperor Li Yi sent the Buddha's finger bone relics back to the underground palace of Famen Temple, and the Buddha's finger bone relics were sealed again and buried in the ground for 1113 years.
Chen Jingfu studied the story of the emperors who greeted the Buddha's finger bone relics almost throughout the nearly 300-year history of the Tang Dynasty, and a problem gradually emerged.
Many years ago, when Chen Jingfu was compiling the "History of Famen Temple", he carefully reviewed the various descriptions of the Buddha relics in Famen Temple after Tang Zhenguan in the classics. He noticed that five years before Zhenguan, the description of the Buddha relics in Famen Temple was vague and unclear: at first, people only saw a "square bone", and sometimes "they could see it like jade, and the light was white." However, in the Xianqing period, the description gradually became concrete, and the shape of the Buddha's finger bone relics was depicted as "like the first bone of the little finger, the length of the inch is two, the inner hole is square, the outer is long, the lower is flat and the upper is gradual, and the inner and outer light are clean......And there is an exact "Buddha finger bone relic" words, such as "Fengxiang Famen Temple tower has Buddha finger bones", "protect the country of the real body tower, there is a section of Buddha finger bones in the tower".