China News Service, Beijing, May 17 (Reporter Sun Zifa) Famen Temple, as a royal temple in the Tang Dynasty, does the spices enshrined in its underground palace originate from the local area or from where?
attention for a long time.
However, due to the difficulty of long-term preservation of spices, few physical objects have been unearthed at the site, and the analysis of their composition and origin has been carried out less, and related mysteries have been unsolved.
A research team composed of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (National University of Science and Technology), the Palace Museum and Famen Temple Museum has recently completed a comprehensive analysis and research on three types of spice samples unearthed from the underground palace of Famen Temple, a royal monastery in the Tang Dynasty. Ingredient, origin, and the mystery of "Japanese incense".
This important research paper on spice archaeology has been published online by the international academic journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in the early morning of May 17th, Beijing time. Evolution and development are of great significance.
The situation when the relics from the back room of the underground palace of Famen Temple were unearthed.
Photo courtesy of Famen Temple Museum
Spices unearthed in Famen Temple provide physical data for related archaeological research
The corresponding author of the paper, Professor Yang Yimin of the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology of the National University of Science and Technology, said that spices are widely used in religion, etiquette and other spiritual beliefs and medical and health fields, as well as in many secular life, and have been valued by the world since ancient times.
China's stable and open social environment in the Tang Dynasty created unprecedented prosperity in foreign exchanges, and a large number of foreign spices arrived in China via the land and sea Silk Road.
The spices unearthed in the Tang Pagoda underground palace of Famen Temple provide rare material materials for the study of incense culture, spice trade, and Buddhist incense and relic offerings in the Tang Dynasty.
The floor plan of the base palace of Famen Temple Pagoda.
Photo courtesy of Famen Temple Museum
Famen Temple is located in the western part of Shaanxi Province. It is often revered by the royal family of the Tang Dynasty because of its worship of Buddha bone relics. It has an important position in the history of Chinese Buddhism.
A four-level wooden pagoda was built in Famen Temple in the Tang Dynasty, and a thirteen-level brick pagoda was rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty.
In 1987, archaeologists discovered tower bases, stone chambers and underground palace buildings in the Tang Dynasty, as well as Buddha finger bone relics and a large number of exquisitely crafted gold and silverware, lacquer woodware, glazed ware, secret-colored porcelain, silk fabrics, stone carvings, spices and other precious cultural relics.
Buddhism highly respects incense, and it is inseparable from the use of incense in various Buddhist activities and rituals. Buddhism developed prosperously in the Tang Dynasty, and spices are even more indispensable in welcoming and offering relics.
In the 14th year of Xiantong (AD 873), Tang Yizong held the largest and last event to welcome the Buddha's bones. In the following year, Tang Xizong returned the relic to the underground palace of Famen Temple. The items worshipped by the royal family and the Buddhist monks were buried with the Buddha's bones. In the underground palace under the tower, among the cultural relics discovered by archaeology in 1987, there are many magnificent incense, incense utensils and precious spices.
All three spice samples were found in the back room of the underground palace of Famen Temple
The first author of the paper, Dr. Ren Meng from the Palace Museum's Department of Culture, Protection, Science and Technology, said that the three spice samples in this study were all found in the back room of the underground palace of Famen Temple.
The first sample is a yellow block, taken from the "Golden Four Heavenly Kings' Silver Treasure Letter", which is the seventh of the "Eight-fold Treasure Letter", a relic container enshrined by Tang Yizong, which is the most important offering in the underground palace. One, the eight treasure letters are stacked on top of each other, and the outermost layer is made of wood, which was damaged when unearthed.
Spice sample 1: The yellow spice "elemi balsam" placed in the seventh layer of the eight-fold treasure letter enshrined by Tang Yizong.
Photo courtesy of the research team
A treasure letter containing spice samples was unearthed: the gilded silver treasure letter of the Four Heavenly Kings on the top of the crown - the seventh of the "Eight Treasure Letters".
Photo courtesy of Famen Temple Museum
The second sample is in the shape of a plant root and is taken from the "Silver Letter on the Top of the Gate of the Gate of the Wisdom Wheel". There is a chisel on the front of the letter, indicating that it was the Wisdom Wheel of Daxingshan Temple in August of the 12th year of Xiantong (AD 871). A set of relic containers (two layers in total, one for gold letter and one for silver letter) made of Buddha's real body relics. The "Wheel of Wisdom" was an eminent monk of esotericism in the late Tang Dynasty, and participated in the last activity of welcoming Buddha bones in Famen Temple.
Spice sample 2: The wood spice placed in the silver letter enshrined by the esoteric monk Wisdom Wheel in the late Tang Dynasty is agarwood.
Photo courtesy of the research team
Unearthed spice sample 2: The spice in the silver box on the top of the door seat of the Wisdom Wheel.
Photo courtesy of Famen Temple Museum
Sample 3 was taken from the "Shuanghong Pattern Begonia-shaped Silver Incense Box". The box is shaped like a begonia, and the box is filled with brown powder, which is relatively loose. Some light yellow particles can be observed in the micrograph of its cross-section, suggesting that the sample may be A blend of various spices.
Spice sample 3: Agarwood and frankincense are ground into powder and mixed, which is also an earlier material evidence of "harmonious incense" in ancient China.
Photo courtesy of the research team
Unearthed spice sample 3: spices in a silver incense box in the shape of a double-hung pattern.
Photo courtesy of Famen Temple Museum
Tang Yizong enshrined the yellow spice as the first discovery of Elemis
Ren Meng said that the research team analyzed three spice samples with modern scientific instruments, and the results showed that the yellow spice (sample 1) placed in the seventh layer of the eight-fold treasure letter enshrined by Tang Yizong was produced by olive plants. Elemi, this kind of spice was discovered for the first time in China.
Elemi comes from a wide range of sources. The most common is Manila elemi, which is produced by olive trees in Luzon in the Philippines. Elemi can also be obtained from Java olive trees in Indonesia, Vietnam and other places. China's Fujian, Taiwan, Guangdong, Guangxi, etc. There are olive trees such as Bailan and Wulan.
Elemi is opaque light yellow with a strong fragrance, similar to pine and citrus, and is suitable for use in Buddhist ceremonies, but there is no clear record of "elemi" in ancient books of the Tang Dynasty, suggesting that the use of elemi in China during this period was relatively low. few.
The elemi unearthed from the underground palace of Famen Temple is light yellow with few impurities. It may come from the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian regions, and it is not ruled out that it comes from the southern borders of China, such as Fujian, Taiwan, Guangdong and Guangxi.
Sample 1 was mistaken for frankincense when it was unearthed, and there is a corresponding record in the excavation report.
Ren Meng said that because resinous spices lack plant morphological characteristics and are mostly produced outside the region, it often brings difficulties to archaeological research.
This research provides evidence of the first discovery of elemi in China, and is also the earliest evidence that elemi was used for Buddhist offerings in China. Tang Yizong placed it in a very high-standard eight-fold treasure letter to offer Buddhist bone relics. precious.
The eight-fold treasure letter was unearthed (the outermost layer was damaged when unearthed).
Photo courtesy of Famen Temple Museum
Frankincense and its products were imported into Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty at the latest
What were the results of the analysis of the other two spice samples?
Ren Meng said that the wood spice (sample 2) placed in the silver letter enshrined in the wisdom wheel of the esoteric monk in the late Tang Dynasty was agarwood. Due to the deposition of a large amount of resin inside the sample, its morphological characteristics were not obvious, and it was difficult to analyze it through microscopic observation. Species identification.
The research team used organic solvent to extract the resin in it, and detected a large number of characteristic chemical components of the incense part of agarwood in the extract - "2-(2-phenylethyl) chromones".
Agarwood is a genus of agarwood in the Periaceae family. The sources include domestic agarwood (also known as white wood incense) from Hainan, Guangdong, Fujian and other places in China, as well as imported agarwood from Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, India and other places.
According to the "Tang Liu Dian" and other documents, domestic agarwood (white wood incense) has been included in the system as a tribute in the Tang Dynasty. In addition, through tribute, trade, etc., a large number of imported agarwood were continuously imported into China.
As for the spices (sample 3) placed in the silver incense box with double-hung pattern, the research team simultaneously detected the cracked products of lignin, the characteristic markers of agarwood, and the characteristic markers of frankincense. Wood and frankincense are ground into powder and mixed to make, which is also an earlier material evidence of "harmonious incense" in ancient China.
Ren Meng pointed out that frankincense is a resin produced by the genus Boswellia in the olive family, and is mainly distributed in Somalia, Ethiopia, the Arabian Peninsula, and India along the coast of the Red Sea.
Frankincense is also a very common offering spice in Buddhism and is widely used in Buddhist activities.
As for when frankincense began to be introduced into China, further research and textual research still needs to be done. However, the study of sample three this time fully shows that frankincense and its products have been imported into Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty at the latest.
The back room of the underground palace of Famen Temple and the unearthed spice samples involved in this research.
Photo courtesy of the research team
Witness the smooth flow of the Silk Road in the Tang Dynasty, the prosperity of the spice trade and the development of Buddhism
Yang Yimin pointed out that during the Tang Dynasty, the exchanges between China and foreign countries were frequent, and the varieties of spices entering China increased. After a large number of foreign spices were imported, complex and diverse methods of "harmonious incense" appeared in China. The characteristics are made into processed products in various forms and uses, and many "Hexiang recipes" are learned from Buddhist scriptures.
He said that there are few historical records about "harmonious incense" before the Tang Dynasty. The research on spices unearthed in Famen Temple revealed for the first time the main raw materials of "harmonious incense" in the Tang Dynasty. Both agarwood and frankincense were important spices in Buddhist scriptures. Their uses may be The combination of incense and frankincense in Buddhist offerings has also become the basis of "Japanese incense" in later generations, which is of great significance for the exploration of Buddhist incense and the development of ancient Japanese incense technology.
Spice is an important representative of tribute, trade and religious activities on the Silk Road, and has a profound impact on the development of the Silk Road.
Among the spices unearthed in the underground palace of Famen Temple, it was found that elemi, agarwood, frankincense, and "Hexiang" products of the Tang Dynasty, "these spices were mostly produced outside the region, and were transported to the ancient capital Chang'an and the eastern capital Luoyang via the land or sea Silk Road, and were shipped by Emperors, eminent monks, etc. dedicated it to the underground palace to make offerings to relics, which is the historical testimony of the smooth Silk Road, the prosperity of the spice trade, and the development of Buddhism during this period." Yang Yimin said.
(Finish)