Chinese Monk Mummy Spends Eternity in Gold

A Buddhist monk named Fu Hou had an unusual request that he said should be fulfilled upon his death. He wanted to be mummified. His followers and friends, eager to preserve his legacy, took it one step further.

Fu Hou began practicing Buddhism in 1932 when he was 13 years old, and he devoted the rest of his life to this religion until his death in 2012 at 94 years of age in Fujian Province, China.

Having earned a place of utmost respect from his fellow followers, they took his request to mummify his body after death very seriously. They even took it one step further.

After being placed in a meditating position and being properly taken through the various steps of mummification, such as a light covering of gauze and lacquer, Fu Hou’s body was then covered with a layer of gold leaf.

Now resembling a full golden statue, Fu Hou sits in an ancient temple shrine in a place of honor, protected by both worshippers and a slightly more advanced technologically advanced anti-theft system. As long as he remains there, Fu Hou sits as a reminder of the area’s faith in the Buddhist religion and as quite possibly the most impressive mummy that the world has ever known.

Photo Credits: Beibaoke