佛缽作為跟彌勒信仰、轉輪圣王、月光童子等觀念密切相關的"圣物"或者符號,除了存在于人們的思想之中,而且也是一個確實存在的器物。隨著中土高僧西行巡禮佛缽,有關佛缽的宗教、信仰、政治意涵也逐漸傳入中古時代的中國。4、5世紀,出現了大量佛缽與中土各種因緣的觀念和傳說,甚至出現了《佛缽經》之類進行政治、宗教宣傳的偽經。"月光將出,靈缽應降"這一佛教救世主信仰的理念,對中古時代的政治、信仰世界產生了深刻影響。 As a sacred item or symbols closely connected to beliefs in Maitreya the Buddhist messiah,Cakravartin the ideal Buddhist monarch,as well as Prince Moonlight(Candraprabha),Buddha’s bowl(Patra) not only existed in the imagination of medieval Chinese,but also did exist physically in Central Asia.As a result of Chinese pilgrims to this sacred bowl,its religious and political meanings were gradually introduced to China and then accepted and used during the medieval period.In the 4th and 5th centuries such concepts were comprehensively acknowledged and even Buddhist texts produced in China in order to use such concepts for religious and political propaganda.The belief in that the Candraprabha will come while the sacred Patra will descend has deeply influenced the medieval Chinese world.
