
Gilt silver
This silver staff was recovered from the Qingshan Temple Pagoda in 1985. The head is composed of four joined wires representing the four noble truths. They are curved in the shape of a peach and topped with a jewel. Twelve rings representing the twelve links of dependent origination and the twelve divisions of the canon are attached to the wires. At the center of the head, there is a gold square pavilion which stands on the end of the shaft. The shaft is gilded but some of the gold has peeled away over time.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Artifacts, page 271.