Gold and Silver Gilt Turtle-shaped Tea Box of Famen Temple

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This luxurious Gold and Silver Gilt Turtle-shaped Tea Box is a container holding tea dust, which was a part of tea set in the court during the Tang Dynasty. The silver box takes the overall shape of a walking and highly dynamic turtle. With goldgilt decoration, this artwork is vivid and true to life, which reflects the people of the Tang Dynasty liked turtle. The decoration approach reflfl ects the superb goldware and silverware processing technology. The silver box is processed with sheet metal, molding, carving, gold, welding and other processes, which can be opened. Turtle abdomen serves as box body, and turtle shell serves as the cover. Turtle head and four feet are hollow under split welding and molding. Turtle head and abdomen are under combined welding. Turtle tail and abdomen are welded.

Unearthed from Famen Temple Underground Palace, this tea set also includes silver fire clamp, silver tea crusher, silver tea container, silver tea sieve, long-handle silver spoon, silver salt platform, silver furnace, gold-gilt ball-pattern silver cage, gold and silver bond wire cage, tea mixer, tea cup, cup holder, etc. This tea set is collected in the underground palace, with a view to praying for blessing from the Buddha and peace. Its design and decoration have religion signififi cance. It is the earliest, the most comprehensive and the highest-class tea set in the world up to now, which demonstrates unique charm of tea ceremony culture in the Tang Dynasty.

Tea Drinking Method of the Tang Dynasty

Tea Drinking Method of the Tang Dynasty was different from present method of drinking tea. At that time, people were used to firstly making tea block or tea cake, baking and sealing it. Before drinking tea, they took out tea block or tea cake, crushed it and placed in the screener, and then put in boiling water. Before that, crushed tea should be placed in a particular container to prevent from being scattered everywhere, which was convenient for immediate access before making tea.

Famen Temple Underground Palace

Famen Temple is located in Famen Town, Fufeng County, Shaanxi, which is 100 km distant from Xi’an. In 1987, in the reconstruction of Famen Temple Pagoda, underground palace closed with stone gate was found. This is the largest stupa underground palace discovered in China by far, which was built in the Tang Dynasty. Famen Temple was the royal temple in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Emperors of Tang Dynasty came here to welcome Buddhist relics eight times, and returned a wealth of treasures every time. These treasures are collected in the underground palace.

Turtle—A mascot for the people of the Tang Dynasty

In the Tang Dynasty, people deemed the turtle as a mascot. In ancient China, the tortoise was regarded as one of “four divine animals”. “Four divine animals” refer to four magical creatures as symbol of happiness, i.e., Dragon, Phoenix, Unicorn and Turtle. Dragon has leading role among them, which is a symbol of unity and integration. Phoenix is a symbol of good luck and happiness. Unicorn is a symbol of abundant descendants. Turtle is the only real animal among them, and it is a symbol of longevity and health.