The Story of National Treasures - Children's Edition: National Treasure Journey (Complete Set of 4 Books)

Author: Zhang Deqin, Qi Jixiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: It has 84,000 brothers. Nowadays, many families have only three people, and classmates in a class are around 40. But the one I’m going to talk about has 84,000 brothers. What a huge family! The origin of this family is related to a person named Ashoka, who lived 2,300 years ago. He was a king in the Indian region and a strong advocate of Buddhism. Through his efforts, Buddhism not only spread throughout India but also reached many countries in Asia and Africa, becoming a world religion. To promote Buddhism, he ordered the construction of stupas in all 84,000 of the small states under his rule for worship. People called these stupas "Ashoka Stupas." Now, do you understand what I’m referring to as this "huge family"?
Around 1,100 years ago, Qian Liu, who ruled Hangzhou in China, imitated the story of Ashoka building stupas and created 84,000 small stupas to store Buddhist scriptures. These small stupas were made of copper, iron, wood, and pottery, and they were all called "Ashoka Stupas." Among them is the one you’re looking at now. This small stupa is incredibly beautiful, made entirely of pure silver, with some parts gilded in gold. The square base at the bottom of the stupa is decorated with small Buddha statues. Above the base is the stupa body, with each side carved with a story from Buddhist scriptures. Do you want to know what the story is about? I’ll briefly explain it.
This tall figure is a king, known for having exceptionally bright eyes that could see everything 40 miles away through the thick walls of his palace. Therefore, people called him "Vishnu," meaning "swift-eyed." To ensure the people lived well, Vishnu declared that anyone who was poor could come to him for gold, silver, treasures, firewood, cooking oil, salt, and anything else they needed. Besides his parents, he was willing to give away anything he had. When the news spread, people came from all directions to ask for what they desired.
One day, a blind man came to ask Vishnu for his eyes. However, the blind man’s intention was not to receive eyes but to trick Vishnu. He was from another kingdom, where the king was particularly cruel. To harm Vishnu, this cruel king forced a blind man in his own land to ask Vishnu for eyes. Eyes are extremely important to humans. At the time, everyone around Vishnu advised him not to give his eyes to the blind man. Would Vishnu agree to the blind man’s request?
Vishnu was a man of great integrity. He calmly told the blind man, "I will grant your wish, but before giving you my eyes, I must handle some important state affairs. In seven days, I will give you my eyes, and you can stay in the palace during that time." Seven days passed quickly. During those days, many people came to persuade Vishnu not to remove his eyes. However, Vishnu said, "Promises cannot be broken." He ordered the doctor to remove his eyes and give them to the blind man.
At that moment, the sky shook, and deities descended from the heavens. They asked Vishnu, "Why did you do this?" Vishnu replied, "To relieve the suffering of all living beings." The deities then asked, "Don’t you regret it?" Vishnu said, "I must keep my promise. I am sincere and will never regret it."
After Vishnu finished speaking, something unexpected happened. Bright and beautiful eyes grew back in Vishnu’s sockets, even brighter and more beautiful than before.
Now that the story of Vishnu is over, let’s continue looking at this stupa. As mentioned earlier, each side of the stupa body depicts a story from Buddhist scriptures. If you look closely, you’ll see a golden-winged Garuda on each corner of the stupa body. In Buddhist lore, Garudas are guardians of the dharma, so they are also placed here. The stupa body has many openings through which people can see a small golden coffin inside. Since the stupa body has not been opened, no one knows what is inside the coffin.
At the top of the stupa body, silver plates are used for decoration at the four corners, depicting stories of Shakyamuni. In the center, there is a spire, the highest part of the stupa, resembling a treasure flask.
That’s all about the small silver stupa for now. Over a thousand years ago, from emperors to common people, they regarded worshipping Buddha as a very important matter. They spent a lot of money on it, and this small silver stupa was just