Page 478 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

Like the scenes on the side, these motifs are worked
in repousse from the inside; chased and engraved
details decorate the outside. The raised motifs and
chased outlines are gilded, while the silver ground
behind them is stippled so that they stand out even
more clearly against it. The third casket is of plain
silver. Next are two caskets decorated with figural
designs: the fourth with preaching scenes of four
Buddhas, each associated with one of the four
directions; the fifth illustrates Esoteric deities. The
sixth and seventh caskets have no figural designs,
but are encrusted with pearls and semiprecious
stones. Finally, the eighth container, a mere two
inches in height, is not a casket but a tiny single-
story pagoda fashioned out of solid gold; the
relic fingerbone rested on a silver post. RW

1 Excavated in 1987 (FD 5:011-2); reported: Shaanxi 19883,
20-21.
2 Whitfield 1982 -1985, 2: pi. 16.

477 FAMEN M O N A S T E R Y AT FUFENC