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

Author: None
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-12
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 large family! The creation 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 also an active promoter of Buddhism. Thanks to 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 the 84,000 small states under his rule for worship. People called these stupas "Ashoka Stupas." Now, do you understand what family I’m referring to?
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 bronze, iron, wood, and pottery, and they were all called "Ashoka Stupas," including the one you’re looking at now. This small stupa is incredibly beautiful—it’s made of pure silver, with some parts gilded in gold. The square base at the bottom serves as the pedestal, adorned with small Buddha statues. Above the pedestal is the body of the stupa, which is carved with stories from Buddhist scriptures on each side. Do you want to know what these stories are about? I’ll briefly explain one.
This tall figure is a king, said to have exceptionally bright eyes that could see everything outside the thick walls of his palace from 40 miles away. 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. The news spread, and people from all directions came to ask for what they desired.
One day, a blind man came and asked Vishnu for his eyes. In reality, the blind man’s intention was not to ask for eyes from Vishnu. He was from another kingdom, where the king was particularly cruel. To harm Vishnu, this cruel king forced a blind person 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. Do you think Vishnu would 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 to wait." Seven days passed quickly. During these 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 heavens trembled, and deities descended from the sky. 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 not insincere—I have no regrets."
After Vishnu finished speaking, something unexpected happened. Bright and beautiful eyes grew in Vishnu’s sockets, even brighter and more beautiful than before.
Now, 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 bird on each corner of the stupa body. In Buddhist lore, these birds are guardians, 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. The vertical structure in the center is called the finial, the highest part of the stupa, resembling a treasure flask.
That’s all about this 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. This small silver stupa was just...