Two copper Buddha statues from China were discovered as the oldest in Asia.
They were created more than 2200 years ago.
One statue, known as Shakyamuni, shows Buddha standing on a platform while dressed in a long cloak and the other is for Five Tathāgatas, which highlights the five great Buddhas.
These statues are more than 200 years older than Buddha statues from China. They were made in Gandhara style which is a form of Buddhist visual art developed in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan in the first and seventh centuries BC.
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Two copper Buddha statues from China were discovered to be the oldest known of their type.
Archaeologists found the statues of Buddha in Northwestern Shaanxi Province. It is located in central China and was where the world-famous Terracotta army, a collection of large-sized solider sculptures, was discovered.
Between June 2020 and November 2021, 3,648 old tombs were discovered. They date back to 475 B.C. during the Warring States period. CGTN reports.
Li Ming was the archaeologist who led the project. He said that the dig site Hongduyuan (now Xi’an) in northern Chang’an is the most important cemetery of this period, apart from the emperor’s mausoleum.
The majority of the people buried in these tombs were senior officers, royal family members, and dignitaries. All this information is documented in historical books.
One statue, known as Shakyamuni, shows Buddha standing on a platform while dressed in a long cloak and the other is for Five Tathāgatas, which highlights the five great Buddhas
Over 16,000 cultural relics (sets), have been found so far. This includes the two Buddha statues.
The Shakyamuni figurine stands four inches tall and the Five Tathāgatas, which lays flat, measures six inches – both are made of copper-tin-lead alloy.
The Five Tathāgatas shows the transcendent Buddhas, which include Aksobhya, Amitabha, Amoghasiddhi, Ratnasaṃbhava, and Vairocana.
Shakyamuni is the traditional representation of the Shakyamuni Buddha, in which he is holding a bowl in one hand and reaching down to the earth with his other.
According to the Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology, which led the excavations, the carved figures were widely believed to embody religious beliefs and did not appear until the Sixteen Kingdoms Period.
Gautama Buddha is believed to be the founder and first practitioner of Buddhist faith. He lived in the 600s and 400s BC.
Between June 2020 and November 2021, 3,648 old tombs were discovered. They date back to 475 B.C. during the Warring States period. 221 BC), to Qing Dynasty (1644-1911BC). One of these tombs is shown in the picture
Buddha, his disciples and others did not leave any writings. However his rules and teachings for monastic life were preserved and transmitted by oral tradition up to the second century BC. This was when the first Buddhist scriptures appeared.
Buddhism is one the most popular religions in the world. The followers of Buddhism believe meditation, spiritual, and physical labor are the best ways to reach enlightenment (or nirvana).
An additional excavation in China yielded more than 80 bronze mirrors that archaeologists found in April 2021. Some of them are still reflecting, and many were made around 2000 years ago.
These were found in an ancient grave large enough to hold a lot of them.
These mirrors are just three- to eight inches long and placed around the head of skeletons or inside tombs.
It is located in Shaanxi’s Gaozhuang Township, Xixian New Area. The graveyard contains more than 400 burials for the dynasty’s elites. Also, a large collection of pottery and bronze ware was discovered.
Four Chinese characters are displayed on one of the mirrors: Jia Chang Fu Gui, which roughly means ‘home of happiness’.
According to excavations, the gigantic cemetery is dedicated to the upper class residents of the Dynasty. This may be why the mirrors were placed in their graves.