**6. Conclusions**

Wuyue kings manifested their religio-political aspirations when the role of A´soka stupas transitioned from bodily reliquary st ¯ upas to containers for Dharma relics. The Seven- ¯ Jeweled A´soka Stupa of the Changgan Monastery can be seen as a synthesized product ¯ of the heritage of the A´soka cult and relic worship at this site, the adoption of Wuyue miniature reliquary stupas, the participation of ordinary believers, and the negotiation ¯ between political and religious power. The Changgan stupa changed its function from ¯ a pure reliquary to a materialized embodiment of laypeople's beliefs and expectations. On one hand, the A´soka stupa was no longer a depository for a particular type of relic, ¯ but a symbol of relic worship with conceptual significance. The three types of relics—the us . n . ¯ ıs .a, numinous-response relics, and the relics of holy monks—were simultaneously stowed in the same nested reliquaries. On the other hand, the abundant offering objects, with numerous votive inscriptions, reveal the pragmatic and utilitarian demands of relic worship, displaying the degree of Buddhist secularism in the lower Yangtze River region during the Song Dynasty. With respect to secular features of Song Buddhism, the presentday scholar Ge Zhaoguang 葛兆光 contends that Chinese religions are distinguished by their tendency for pragmatism, which tends to be a psychological comfort, a strategy, or anything besides a pure belief system. Instead of being passive to religious doctrines, the Chinese believers showed remarkable agency by adapting religion to their own interests (Ge 1996, p. 42). Likewise, the A´soka stupa of the Changgan Monastery is a reformed ¯ reliquary in terms of conception, function, and purpose, and a good representation of secular Buddhism from the Song Dynasty. Through scrutiny of this invaluable reliquary, present-day people can ge<sup>t</sup> a glimpse of the artistic innovations and the indigenous practice of relic worship in Nanjing during the Northern Song Dynasty.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The author declares no conflict of interest.
