Page 466 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

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Parcel-gilt silver khakkhara (monk's staff)

Length 196.5 (77 Ys), diam. of handle 22.5 (87s);
weight 2.39 (5 'A)
Tang Dynasty, dated by inscription to 873 CE
From the pagoda of the Famen Monastery at Fufeng,
Shaanxi Province

Famensi Museum, Fufeng, Shaanxi Province
Washington only

1
This magnificent ceremonial Buddhist staff was
found propped up in the rear left corner of the
innermost chamber. It is exceptional not only in
size but also in its construction and decoration.
The crowning ornament here consists of two inter-
secting "wheels," each of which carries six rings,
three on either side; within the wheels is a vajra,
or diamond club, supported on a lotus rising out
of clouds and topped by a jewel on an openwork
base; above this, the rings join and are crowned
by a lotus bud. The long shaft is engraved with
figures of twelve pmtyeka Buddhas wearing the
kasaya, or outer ceremonial robe.
Such Buddhist staffs had both practical and
symbolic functions. Usually they feature only one
wheel and six rings, symbolizing the cycle of birth
and rebirth and the six ways of existence. Carried
and shaken by a monk, the staff would announce
his presence; its noise was thought to drive away
small creatures, so that the monk might not inad-
vertently step on them and so kill living things. 2
Such a staff also appears as an attribute of the Bod-
hisattva Ksitigarbha, who is closely involved with
the Six Ways, and of Buddha Bhaisajyaguru— the
Medicine Buddha, whose Twelve Vows may well be
represented in this example by the twelve rings
and the twelve monks engraved on the long handle.
(Bhaisajyaguru is worshiped in the present life
for healing from sickness, lengthening of life, and
spiritual guidance toward rebirth in Amitabha's
3
Pure Land. ) The vajra so prominently displayed
in the middle of the intersecting wheels appears
on several other objects found in the crypt of the
Famen Monastery pagoda, in particular on four
arghyas (vessels for offerings of scented water)

465 FAMEN M O N A S T E R Y AT FUFENG