Seven treasures of Buddhism
Refers to seven kinds of treasures, also known as seven treasures. Seven treasures refer to tortoise shell, agate, crystal, coral, amber, pearl and musk. The seven treasures translated by different Confucian classics are different. Kumarajiva's translation of the Amitabha Sutra says that the seven treasures are gold, silver, colored glaze, glass, red beads and Diannao; The seven treasures mentioned in Xuanzang's translation of Ode to Pure Land are gold, silver, dog skin glass, pretty jade, Muroti Gerapo, lohitamuktika and Ashima Gerapo. The seven treasures mentioned in the Prajna Sutra are gold, silver, colored glass, coral, amber, canal and agate; The seven treasures mentioned by Hokkekyo are gold, silver, coloured glaze, canal, agate, pearl and rose; The seven treasures mentioned in Amitabha Sutra are gold, silver, coloured glaze, glass, ditch, red pearl and agate.
In different versions of the same scripture translated in different historical periods, the seven treasures are also different. Take "Infinite Life Sutra" as an example. The seven treasures in the Han Dynasty are gold, silver, glass, water essence, car canal, coral and amber. The seven treasures contained in the Cao Wei edition are purple gold, silver, colored glaze, water essence, dragonfly, coral and amber; The seven treasures of the Tang Dynasty are gold, silver, coloured glaze, pear, beautiful jade, red pearl and amber. The seven treasures of Song Dynasty are gold, silver, glass, pear, pearl and amber.
The seven treasures in Tibetan Buddhism are agate, beeswax, canal, pearl, coral, gold and silver, which are collectively called "Seven Treasures of the West". So there are more than ten kinds of things that can be used as seven treasures.
The seven treasures of Buddhism contain the brightness and wisdom of the pure land of Buddhism, and contain profound connotations, making them the spiritual objects in jewelry.
[Edit this paragraph] The Legend of Pearl in China
Pearl has been used by human beings for thousands of years. It is said that she is the embodiment of stone.
Xi is the apple of Chang 'e's eye in the moon palace. She was ordered by the Jade Emperor to save the people of wuyue from years of war, and pearls are her embodiment.
It turns out that the fairy Chang 'e has a sparkling pearl, which is very lovely. She often holds it in her palm to play with. At ordinary times, she ordered colorful golden roosters to guard day and night for fear of losing them. And the golden rooster has long had the desire to play with pearls. When Chang 'e was unprepared, she secretly put pearls in her mouth, hid behind the moon palace to enjoy them, and threw them intermittently. It was really fun. But accidentally, the pearl rolled down from the moon palace and flew directly to the world. The golden rooster was frightened to disgrace, and in order to escape punishment, it was still in hot pursuit.
After learning the news, Chang 'e ordered the Jade Rabbit to catch up with the Golden Rooster. The Jade Rabbit traveled through the clouds for nine days, catching up with puyang river in Zhuji, Zhejiang. On this day, at the foot of a mountain by the Puyang River, the wife of a farmer surnamed Shi was washing gauze by the Puyang River. Suddenly, she saw a bright pearl in the water and reached for it. However, the pearl flew directly into her mouth like a wing and got into her abdomen. Shi's wife seems to have been pregnant since then.
16 months later, the woman only felt unbearable abdominal pain, but she couldn't give birth. She was so anxious that her husband knelt down and prayed to God. Suddenly one day, I saw colorful golden cocks falling from the sky and stopping on the roof. Suddenly, the house was full of pearls. Just then, I heard a cry, Wow, Shi's wife gave birth to a beautiful girl named Shi. Therefore, there is a saying that "the mother is bathed in the stream and the pearl bud is pregnant." Said.
When Shi grew up, he dissolved the hatred between wuyue and China, turned it into a pearl and left it in the world, continuing to contribute to the health and longevity of the people at Dawn. Since then, Zhuji has become the hometown of pearl culture in past dynasties, which is famous at home and abroad. This legend has a history of more than 2500 years.
[Edit this paragraph] Typhoon Pearl
A tropical disturbance formed in the Pacific Ocean north of Palau on May 8th. At 9: 00 pm on May 8 (UTC, the same below), the typhoon warning center upgraded it to tropical depression 02W. The next day, the Japan Meteorological Agency upgraded it to a tropical storm and named it Pearl. It continued to strengthen, landed in the Philippines with strong tropical storm intensity on May 10, and then entered the South China Sea and strengthened into a typhoon. On May 15, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center upgraded Pearl to a super typhoon, but it weakened into a typhoon less than 1 day later. After weakening, the pearl began to move northeast and east of China.
On May 18, it swept through the eastern part of China and weakened rapidly, then became an extratropical cyclone and moved to the East China Sea the next day.
Central weather bureau, Taiwan Province Province, said: The L-shaped peculiar path of Typhoon Pearl is unique in the May typhoon recorded by the Bureau in the past 60 years.
Western legends about pearls
In western legends, it is said that Venus was born in a shell, and when the shell was opened, the dew dripping from her became crystal clear pearls. During the Renaissance, the famous painter Botticelli put the goddess on a huge scallop and slowly emerged from the bottom of the water in the painting The Birth of Venus. The water drops shaken off by the goddess form pearls, which are flawless and dazzling. Danes associate pearls with mermaids. Mermaids miss the prince but can't. They shed tears, cherished by Fritillaria, and guarded by them. Over time, tears turn into pearls.
In ancient India, people believed that pearls were made by the gods with dew in the early morning; Persian mythology believes that pearls symbolizing light and hope are changed from the tears of the gods; The Romans only associated the formation of pearls with Venus, the goddess of love. It is said that when Venus came out of the bubble-filled oyster shell, the water drops dripping from her body were condensed into shining pearls by Venus' moving brilliance. There are also sayings among the people in China, such as "the essence of a thousand-year-old mussel, feeling the moon gives birth to pearls" and "dew becomes pearls". From myth to legend, pearls have always been regarded as a gift from the gods to the earth. In fact, apart from explaining the gift from heaven, it is hard to believe that an ordinary oyster can breed a perfect treasure. However, modern science shows that pearls are produced in some mollusks, such as white butterflies and spider shells. Shells become "pearl embryos" due to the infiltration of foreign bodies into their shells, thus forming bead-like particles. As time goes by, this kind of pearl will become bigger and bigger because of the package of mussel shell secretion. So generally speaking, the older the pearl mussel, the bigger the pearl, so there has always been a saying that "the old clam gives birth to pearls."
The main component of pearls is calcium carbonate, accounting for about 82-93% of the total. In addition, pearls also contain 4- 14% protein and 2-4% water, as well as more than a dozen amino acids and 28 trace elements, including anti-aging substances such as selenium and germanium. The hardness of the pearl is 3, the specific gravity is 2.7 1, the refractive index is 1.53- 1.68, and the particle size of 1 is about 0.0648 g, and the pearl crystals are vertically arranged in the form of beads or spears, forming a radial pearl layer. Under the action of light, these radial nacreous layers will produce iridescent luster, that is, pearlescent. The value of pearls depends on their size, roundness, luster, shape and so on.
Uncut gems are not precious gems, but the first-class pearls taken from pearl mussels are beautiful decorations without thinking. Therefore, some gem experts believe that pearls may be the earliest decorations used by human beings. There is no evidence to find out when pearls were discovered, because pearls are easily damaged, so ancient pearls are difficult to pass down. The earliest pearl on the earth was unearthed in Triassic strata in Hungary 200 million years ago, with a diameter of only 0.1mm; ; A pearl found in the Miocene strata in Germany more than 20 million years ago was 4 mm in diameter ... These pearl fossils hidden in ancient shells, after a long and intense geological movement, not only completely preserved the quality light of pearls, but also kept the secret of pearl formation.
About 5,000 years ago, ancient Indians began to regard pearls as treasures, which, together with religion, were called the seven treasures of Buddhism, and began to enjoy a high reputation in Ganges culture. Like India, the Chinese nation is one of the earliest nations to know and use pearls in the world. "Materia Medica of Haiyao" refers to pearls as real pearls, which means pure and true medicinal effects of pearls. Er Ya praised pearls and jadeites as "the beauty of the West". Zhao Haoqi of Qin Dynasty listed pearls and jade as the "jewelry treasures". Gong Yu, a Confucian classic, recorded that "one pearl was misplaced", which indicated that freshwater pearls appeared in the Yu Xia era in 2200 BC at the latest, and were listed as a tribute that had to be paid at that time.
Pearls are crystal clear and dignified, round and colorful, elegant and pure, and are known as the "Queen of Gems". The international gem circle also lists pearls as lucky stones for June birthday and commemorative stones for 13 and 30th wedding anniversary. Pearls with magnificent colors and elegant temperament symbolize health, purity, wealth and happiness, and have been loved by people since ancient times.