An ancient Chinese statue of Buddha is shocking and delighting scientific researchers. The figure is hiding a full human skeleton inside of it. Archaeologists working on the case believe that the human bones belong to a monk named Liuquan who lived about 1,000 years ago and who studied at the Chinese Meditation School.
So far, the statue seems to be the first of its kind. It was recently examined by the Meander Medical Centre in the Netherlands. The mummy had been on display at the National Museum of Natural History in Budapest as part of an exhibit called Mummy World when it was sent to the medical center for scans.
The medical team studying the statue of Buddha conducted tests on it similar to what they would perform on a living person. So far, they have taken bone samples, done CT scans, and performed an endoscopy on the human skeleton along with looking inside the statue’s ears and other openings. The endoscopy revealed the monk’s stomach cavity was filled with pieces of paper containing Chinese writing along with a substance that the researchers have yet to identify.
So how did the human skeleton wind up inside the statue of Buddha? Scientists think that Liuquan participated in “self mummification.” This included starving and poisoning the body by one’s own hand until at the brink of death. A monk undergoing this process would consume only seeds, nuts, bark and roots for 2,000 days and then drink a poison liquid made from a specific type of tree. Once the person was nearly gone, he would be buried while still breathing. In this case, it seems Liuquan chose to be buried inside of a statue of Buddha, suspended in a meditative pose for all eternity. He sits in the traditional lotus position, with his legs crossed over one another, and forearms and hands resting on his upper legs with the palms open and face-down.
According to Discovery Magazine, the name Liuquan means “six perfections.” Researcher Erik Bruijn explained, “It refers to the virtues perfected by a being who seeks buddhahood through the systematic practice of the six perfect virtues but renounces complete entry into nirvana until all beings are saved.”
While many monks attempted to complete the process of self-mummification, very few actually succeeded. Liuquan may be the only monk who finished the journey and was then buried inside of a statue. To date, no other full human skeletons have been discovered embedded in a statue of Buddha. The find is currently on display in Budapest and is set to move to Luxemburg in May.