Van Vilsteren doesnΓÇÖt know for sure how Liuquan happened to become a mummy,
but ΓÇ£in China, and also in Japan and Laos and Korea, thereΓÇÖs a tradition of
self-mummification.ΓÇ¥
James Sullivan | @kingpiranha825| February 23, 2015
An ancient Chinese statue of an iconic sitting Buddha holds a surprise beneath
its gold painted exterior. Within the statue, scientists found 1,000 year old
mummified remains of a Buddhist monk.
The mummy may have once been a respected Buddhist monk, who after his death was
revered as an enlightened being, according to Vincent van Vilsteren, a curator
at the archaeology wing of Drents Museum in the Netherlands, where the statue
was held for exhibit last year.
For many years, those working to restore the statue suspected something, but it
was only until late last year that archaeologists did scans and took tissue
samples from the mummy.
The unusual statue is currently on display at the Hungarian Natural History
Museum of Budapest.
The papier-mâché statue bears the approximate dimensions of a single, seated
person, the remnants are then covered in a lacquer alongside a gold-based
paint. The provenance, however, is somewhat obscure. Archaeologists believe
that it was kept in a Southeastern China monastery over the last several
centuries. It likely came to Europe at some time during the Cultural Revolution
of the late 1960s, when Chairman Mao called on Chinese citizens to destroy
ΓÇ£bourgeoisΓÇ¥ cultural institutions in order to make way for the new order.
By 1996, the statue was in the Netherlands, traded privately, when one of its
owners hired someone to clean the gold-painted exterior of the statue. The
statueΓÇÖs restorer lifted the statue from a wooden platform, revealing two
pillows covered in ancient Chinese inscriptions. Lifting the pillows, he found
human remains. The text revealed the mummy to be Liuquan, a teacher who was
revered in the years following his death.
ΓÇ£He looked right into the bottom of this monk,ΓÇ¥ van Vilsteren told Live
Science. ΓÇ£You can see part of the bones and tissue of his skin.ΓÇ¥
According to carbon dating, the mummy is believed to have lived some time in
the 11th or 12th century. The carpet upon which the statue is seated is
approximately 200 years older.
Mummies of this sort are found quite often in Asia. A 200-year-old mummified
monk was discovered recently in Mongolia, preserved in the lotus position for
meditation.
Van Vilsteren doesnΓÇÖt know for sure how Liuquan happened to become a mummy,
but ΓÇ£in China, and also in Japan and Laos and Korea, thereΓÇÖs a tradition of
self-mummification,ΓÇ¥ he said.
To do so, elderly Buddhist monks were known to gradually starve themselves to
death ΓÇô eliminating fat and liquid for a diet of primarily pine needles and
resin, which was often used for processes of mummification. When they were
approaching death, they were simply buried alive, equipped with only a
breathing tube that let them meditate peacefully until their lives were over.
ΓÇ£There are historical records of some aging monks who have done this
practice,ΓÇ¥ van Vilsteren said. ΓÇ£But if this is also the case with this monk
is not known.ΓÇ¥
http://www.sciencerecorder.com/news/ct-scan-reveals-mummy-hidden-within-buddha-
statue/
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