Two Thousand Years in Xinjiang

Author: Liu Xun, Liu Di / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: The ancient Kingdom of Kucha was the center of the spread of Buddhism and the development of Buddhist art, especially Buddhist cave art, in Xinjiang. Located in the central area of the northern route of the "Silk Road" south of the Tianshan Mountains, from today's geographical perspective, it roughly includes the five counties of Kuche, Shaya, Xinhe, Baicheng, and Luntai. After the establishment of the Western Regions Protectorate in the second year of Emperor Xuan of the Western Han Dynasty (60 BC), the Kingdom of Kucha came under its jurisdiction. During the reign of Emperor He of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Ban Chao deposed the loyalist of the Han Dynasty, King Yuliduo of Kucha, and installed Bai Ba as the new king, moving the Western Regions Protectorate to the capital city of Kucha, Yancheng. From then until the Uyghurs migrated westward and occupied the area, Kucha was ruled by the prominent Bai family for nearly a thousand years. The Kingdom of Kucha was devoutly Buddhist and was known as the "Buddhist Kingdom of the Western Regions." The Book of Jin·Western Regions Chronicle describes its capital: "The Kingdom of Kucha has city walls, with three layers of walls, and in the middle there are numerous Buddhist pagodas and temples." Today, although the ancient Kingdom of Kucha no longer exists, the valuable caves that remain allow people to strongly feel the profound Buddhist charm of ancient Kucha. There are a total of eight cave sites in the territory of ancient Kucha, including: the Kumeilula Caves, the Kizil Caves, the Tayater Caves, the Kizilqaha Caves, the Subashi Temple, the Sengmesim Caves, and the Mazabeh Caves, as well as the Tuohuakeken Caves. The content of the murals in the Kucha caves is deeply influenced by Mahayana Buddhism, which is the "true scriptures" that the Tang monk Xuanzang endured countless hardships to obtain from the West and which had long been spreading in the Western Regions. Mahayana Buddhism is vividly reflected in Buddhist texts and art. What is particularly interesting is the depiction of the countless sacrifices of the Buddha's past lives for the sake of goodness, generally known as Jataka tales. Like the biographies of many religions, the Jataka tales often interweave the story's events with human life and natural scenery to make the narrative vivid and touching, bringing the story to life on the page. Stories like "Offering One's Life to a Tiger" and "Cutting Off One's Flesh to Feed an Eagle" are full of rich creativity and imagination. The scenes depicting these stories are equally vivid and beautiful, and can be more persuasive in infecting believers than the images of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. The murals in the Kucha caves also depict scenes from the Jataka tales, such as the Transformation of Subduing Demons and the Transformation of Nirvana. These were common methods used in the early days of the introduction of Buddhism to describe the historical events of the Buddha's entry into Nirvana, and they are also the last phase of the "Eight Phases" of the Buddha's life. Generally speaking, Buddhist images can be divided into two types: one is the simple images of the Buddha, Bodhisattvas, disciples, apsaras, and arhats; the other is the depiction of Buddhist scripture stories through illustrations. Sometimes only one scene of the story is depicted, sometimes several representative scenes are selected from the story, and sometimes, like modern comic strips, a series of illustrations are used to narrate the story, with the purpose of making believers understand it better. This is called transformation scenes or simply transformations, and so on. In terms of architectural style, the Kucha caves are highly distinctive, to the point where this style is specifically named "Kucha-style." The main feature of the "Kucha-style" is that the caves are divided into front, main, and rear chambers. The front chamber is generally no longer preserved, while the main chamber is spacious and grand, with large Buddha niches surrounded by beautifully posed apsaras and donors, giving a sense of light and hope. However, entering the rear chamber through a narrow passage brings a mood of compassion and sorrow. From the upright or recumbent statues of the Buddha in the right side to the grieving disciples, to the cremation of the sacred remains and the division of the relics, the events of life and death, the past and the present are intertwined, creating a truly solemn and sorrowful scene that evokes a sense of religious mystery and sorrow in every visitor who enters the rear chamber. This makes us admire the artistic masters of the time for making the murals have the effect of a stage play. P50-51