Severely damaged by an earthquake and heavy rains, in 1981 the brick pagoda of Famensi (Templo of the Dharma Gate) collapsed and when in 1987 archaeologists undertook excavations, they discovered a sealed context from the year 874 in its “Underground Palace” (Digong), built in the form of a Chinese tomb. The unearthed relics of purported finger bones from the historic Buddha and the untouched sumptuous objects, probably donated by several emperors, are regarded as one of the most important discoveries of Chinese archaeology in the 20th Century and were declared the Ninth Wonder by UNESCO. Today Famensi and its pagoda, now reconstructed, constitute an important site of pilgrimage. In this paper I describe these extraordinary finds and outline its relation with Esoteric Buddhism and the ritual practices of relic veneration by members of the royal court, as well as their political use by emperors who tried to establish a Kingdom of Buddha in East Asia, especially the famous Tang dynasty empress Wu Zetian.

Keywords: Pagodas, veneración de reliquias, budismo esotérico, dinastías Sui y Tang.

Severely damaged by an earthquake and heavy rains, in 1981 the brick pagoda of Famensi (Templo of the Dharma Gate) collapsed and when in 1987 archaeologists undertook excavations, they discovered a sealed context from the year 874 in its “Underground Palace” (Digong), built in the form of a Chinese tomb. The unearthed relics of purported finger bones from the historic Buddha and the untouched sumptuous objects, probably donated by several emperors, are regarded as one of the most important discoveries of Chinese archaeology in the 20th Century and were declared the Ninth Wonder by UNESCO. Today Famensi and its pagoda, now reconstructed, constitute an important site of pilgrimage. In this paper I describe these extraordinary finds and outline its relation with Esoteric Buddhism and the ritual practices of relic veneration by members of the royal court, as well as their political use by emperors who tried to establish a Kingdom of Buddha in East Asia, especially the famous Tang dynasty empress Wu Zetian.

Keywords: Pagodas, veneración de reliquias, budismo esotérico, dinastías Sui y Tang.

Severely damaged by an earthquake and heavy rains, in 1981 the brick pagoda of Famensi (Templo of the Dharma Gate) collapsed and when in 1987 archaeologists undertook excavations, they discovered a sealed context from the year 874 in its “Underground Palace” (Digong), built in the form of a Chinese tomb. The unearthed relics of purported finger bones from the historic Buddha and the untouched sumptuous objects, probably donated by several emperors, are regarded as one of the most important discoveries of Chinese archaeology in the 20th Century and were declared the Ninth Wonder by UNESCO. Today Famensi and its pagoda, now reconstructed, constitute an important site of pilgrimage. In this paper I describe these extraordinary finds and outline its relation with Esoteric Buddhism and the ritual practices of relic veneration by members of the royal court, as well as their political use by emperors who tried to establish a Kingdom of Buddha in East Asia, especially the famous Tang dynasty empress Wu Zetian.

Keywords: Pagodas, relics worship, esoteric Buddhism, Sui and Tang dynasties.

1981年法门寺佛塔因受到地震的影响和暴雨的侵袭倒塌，1987年考古学家在形状如墓穴的地下宫殿里发现了封存于874年的文物。其中包括著名的佛指舍利，以及可能由多位君王供奉的完整的珍宝遗迹。这些遗存的发现是20世纪中国考古学最重要的发现之一，同时也被联合国教科文组织评为第九大奇迹。当今，法门寺和于本世纪重建的佛塔，已经成为了人们非常重要的朝圣之地。在本文中，我们将讲述这些重大的发现，这些文物与密宗之间的关系，王室成员为了供奉佛指舍利举行的宗教仪式，以及那些尝试在东亚建立佛之王国的君王的政治意图，在这里我们尤其要提到唐朝著名的女皇武则天。

关键词：佛塔，文物敬拜，密宗，隋朝，唐朝。