This bronze sculpture is 15" high

Stupas appeared in China with the import of Buddhism and, during a long history of well over a thousand years, have become a valued part of the national Buddhist art.

At the beginning, the stupa was a reliquary for keeping the relics or ashes of a saintly Buddhist. It is said that bead-like crystals of white or some other colour were often found among the ashes after cremation, and they are called shelizi or "holy relics."

Buddhists believe that when Sakyamuni, founder of the faith, was cremated, 84,000 beads of holy relics were found. They were shared among the kings of eight nations, who built stupas to house them for worship. This was generally thought to be the origin of stupas or pogadas. Subsequently they were built not only to bury the relics or ashes of venerable monks but also to safekeep holy scriptures and various ritual implements. They are therefore also called fota (Buddha's pagodas) or baota (treasure pagodas) and are objects of homage.