Sacred Relics of the Silk Road: The Golden Splendor of Jingchuan Dayun Temple

A Gateway to the Spiritual Silk Road

1.Located in Jingchuan: County, Gansu Province, Dayun Temple is a profound cultural and religious landmark situated at the intersection of the Loess Plateau and the paths of the ancient Silk Road,. Historically serving as the western gateway to the capital of Chang'an during the Sui and Tang dynasties, this site has witnessed over a millennium of Buddhist devotion and imperial patronage. The temple is renowned globally for the discovery of the Buddha's sarira (relics) and its exquisite gold and silver caskets, which represent the pinnacle of Tang Dynasty craftsmanship,,.

The Legacy of Two Emperors

2.The history of Dayun: Temple is defined by two major imperial decrees. In 601 AD, Emperor Wen of Sui, the first monarch to allow the worship of Buddha's sarira in China, sent 14 grains of holy relics to be enshrined at the site, then known as Daxingguo Temple,. Decades later, in 690 AD, Empress Wu Zetian—China’s only female empress—ordered the renaming of the temple to Dayun Temple and commissioned a set of multi-layered caskets made of gold, silver, copper, and stone to re-bury the relics in 694 AD,. This enshrinement predates the famous Famen Temple underground palace discovery by approximately 180 years.

The 1964 Miraculous Discovery

Lost to history after a devastating flood during the Ming Dynasty, the temple’s treasures remained hidden until October 1964. Local farmers in Jiajia Village accidentally unearthed the underground palace while leveling land, revealing the Gold and Silver Caskets and the 14 grains of sarira,. This archaeological breakthrough was hailed as a monumental event in Chinese Buddhist history and was later documented in the Encyclopedia of China. The caskets have since traveled to over ten countries, including Japan and the USA, as representative cultural treasures of China.

Architectural Grandeur and the Underground Palace

3.The modern Dayun: Temple complex is designed in a majestic Tang-style architecture, featuring a Mountain Gate, Stele Pavilions, and a Bell and Drum Tower,. The centerpiece is the Dayun Pagoda, a 95-meter tall structure with 14 stories (7 visible and 7 hidden/underground),. The Underground Palace, situated at the heart of the pagoda, is divided into three levels: the first exhibits Buddhist sculptures and stories, the second houses the gold and silver caskets and the holy sarira for public veneration, and the third contains sacred scriptures,.