Althouse: "In the southeastern Chinese city of Quanzhou, a well-known Buddhist monk named Fu Hou has been mummified and encased in gold leaf."

April 28, 2016

"In the southeastern Chinese city of Quanzhou, a well-known Buddhist monk named Fu Hou has been mummified and encased in gold leaf."

"[T]he monk's body was washed, treated by two mummification experts, and sealed inside a large pottery jar in a sitting position... The monk's body was then sterilized and painted. The final step – gilding with gold leaf – started on March 16...."

12 comments:

Richard Dolan said...: That's one way to go. Beats being frozen in liquid nitrogen.; 4/28/16, 4:37 PM
MadisonMan said...: Glad to read it all happened after he died.; 4/28/16, 4:55 PM
YoungHegelian said...: Rumor has it that his favorite movie was "Goldfinger".; 4/28/16, 5:23 PM
YoungHegelian said...: Yet another proof that traditional "on the street" Buddhism is a lot weirder than the whitewashed, deracinated Buddhism as preached & practiced by many on the New Age-y side of things.; 4/28/16, 5:29 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Cool. I was going to go for cremation with a spreading of ashes in the Olympic National Park, but this sounds promising as well.; 4/28/16, 5:47 PM
JCC said...: He's headed for Donald Trump's mantle.; 4/28/16, 6:22 PM
D. B. Light said...: I hope they waited until he expired to begin the process. Hate to think that he was just in a deep trance.; 4/28/16, 7:41 PM
MaxedOutMama said...: It seems like sealing in a jar would have to be the last step, not the second step? I suspect a mistranslation, or perhaps just gobbledygook.; 4/28/16, 8:43 PM
Joe said...: Waste of money and resources.; 4/28/16, 8:49 PM
FullMoon said...: I plan on living forever, so far, so good.
(Steven Wright?); 4/28/16, 9:00 PM
Todd said...: You would have thought that they would have displayed him on a nice table cloth for photos, instead of news paper. Just saying...; 4/29/16, 8:35 AM
mikee said...: To be so honored after his death! Here's hoping some who now see him will remember that when one meets the Buddha in the street, one should kill him.

And no, I have no idea what that is supposed to mean. I only know what it means to me.; 4/29/16, 12:33 PM