Note 5 — Chapter XIII · NAGÂRA. FESTIVAL OF BUDDHA’S SKULL-BONE. OTHER RELICS, AND HIS SHADOW.
James Legge translation
In Williams’ Dictionary, under 頂, the characters, used here, are employed in the phrase for ‘to degrade an officer,’ that is, ‘to remove the token of his rank worn on the crown of his head;’ but to place a thing on the crown is a Buddhistic form of religious homage.