The brilliant effect of the Buddha not only strengthens Buddhist believers’ psychological effects of worship, consecration, and showing off of merits, but also becomes an important dissemination method to attract the public to join in. Starting from the golden skin of ancient Buddha statues, this paper analyzes the relevant historical documents and unearthed objects of gilded Buddha statues in ancient India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and China and pays attention to the body decoration and technology dissemination as well as the process and influence of Chinese localization. In traditional Buddhist culture, gold technology and its application have an important impact on artistic expression, appearance protection, and the psychology of Buddhist statues. In the Late Tang Dynasty, the government and Buddhism suffered conflicts between supply and demand due to gold resources. The forced stripping of gilded Buddha statues became a historical epitome reflecting the deep social and economic problems.

The Kitchen God has always been regarded as the protector of Chinese families and one of the most common and far-reaching gods in Chinese folk beliefs. The emergence and development of the Kitchen God are inseparable from the material carrier of the stove. The Han Dynasty was a critical period for the development and integration of stoves and the Kitchen God belief. Based on archaeological discoveries of cultural relics, characters and images, as well as relevant historical documents and records, this paper focuses on the interactive and symbiotic relationship between the spiritual belief in the Kitchen God and the material culture of kitchen stoves and its influence during the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty combined stoves with high cooking benches, large stove chambers, multiple burners, and functional designs that incorporated images of the Kitchen God, making them both practical and spiritual. The Kitchen God’s identity and functions were transformed from ancestor to household god, from giving food to monitoring merits and demerits, along with the renewal of stoves. These developments laid the foundation for the Chinese people’s earnest hope for a prosperous life and a peaceful and harmonious family.