By
Zheng yanjiang The
Kizil Caves panoramic view. The Kizil Caves sits on the cliffs on
the northern bank of the Muzat River, 7 kilometers southeast of Kizil town in
Baicheng County, Xinjiang, China. Kizil in the Uygur language means red. Caves stretching for
about three kilometers in a general east-west trend, it is one of the Four Greatest Caves in
China, together with Mogao Caves (Gansu Province), Yungang Grottoes in Datong (
Shanxi Province), Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang (Henan Province).The Kizil Caves
is the earliest Buddhist art treasure trove in the West Region of China, cut the third century to eighth or
ninth century.The murals in the Kizil Caves are found in more than 200 caves
with a total area of more than 10,000 square meters. On
the way to the Kizil Caves. About a 40-minute drive out of the Baicheng
city,what
one sees are oasis, gobi, yardang landform. Either on the gobi, or
between two mountains, winding its way to make one feels the desolation of Xinjiang.Being in the mood, there
are two columns in
Han and Tang dynasty-style occurred between two hills, remind of boom between
8-9 century, that means cave is not far away. After another 10 minutes ,a piece of green land appeared among
the mountains , a boulder at the entrance says "Xinjiang Qiuci Research Institute". Here we
are,the Kizil Caves. About
to reach the Kizil caves. Kumarajiva, a translator who is ealier than
Xuanzang Enter the Xinjiang Kucha Research Institute, in front of the Kilzil Caves, Zheng Yanjiang saw Kumarajiva set in the square.
The square in front of the Kilzil Caves. Now it's necessary to talk about religious history in xinjiang, The evolution of religions in Xinjiang was a long historical
process, roughly went through four stages: the stage of primitive
religion, the formation stage for the coexistence of a variety of religions
with Buddhism as the major one, the evolution stage for the coexistence of many
religions with Islam and Buddhism as the two major ones, and the development stage
for the coexistence of a variety of religions with Islam as the major one. After the 1th century BC Buddhism was
introduced into Xinjiang, gradually there came into being a pattern where in a
variety of religions coexisted, which continues today. From the 4th to the 10th century
Buddhism reached its peak. In oases on the periphery of the Tarim Basin
Buddhist temples arose in great numbers, with a multitude of monks and nuns.
Khotan, Kashgar (Shule), Kucha (Qiuci), Gaochang and other famous Buddhist centers
took shape. The Kizil caves is the best evidence of Kucha as Buddhist
Center. Kumarajiva. Kumarajiva was born in Kucha. his mother was the sister of
the king of Kucha.When
he was 7 years old, his mother became a Buddhist nun, and after two years, at
the age of nine, he was taken by his mother to be better educated under the
noted monk Bandhudatta in India and Buddhayashas. Kumarajiva
back
to Kucha with his mother at age 12, hearing his back , the king had a golden lion throne made
and Qin brocade mattress for him and asked him to deliver a
lecture. All the nations stood in awe of Kumarajiva and the kings
would kneel beneath his speaking platform to listen to him expound upon the sutras.
In 401, Kumarajiva
arrived in Chang-an, the ruler of Later Qin honored him as the Imperial Teacher
. He
stayed at the Xiaoyao Garden and began his great translation work, known as
three great translators of Buddhist scriptures along with Kulanatha and
Xuanzang.Kumarajiva and his disciples have translated 35 major sutras in 294
volumes, made an indelible contribution to Buddhist culture. Kumarajiva
was one of the four great Buddhist scripture translator in China.
Deep into the mountains, Kucha cultural
treasures . Walk through the Kumarajiva, stair to
the Buddha cave, tour guide told Zheng Yanjiang, only part of the caves are
open so far, however, those caves digging in the 3-8 th-century each has its
own characteristics.The cave area was divided into four areas: West-Valley Area, inside the Valley, East-Valley Area and
Rear-hill Area. 235 official numbered caves in 1953, a new cave has found in
1973, became new cave 1 .In the need of reinforcing the rock
restoration project of the Kizil caves, 10 buried caves have been cleaned out
in 1989 , another 23 caves in 1990. There are now 269 numbered caves, still
nearly 350 unnumbered caves. According to the subsurface
exploration, there suppose to have a number of underground burial caves. The Kizil caves is the largest existing with
well-preserved murals ,it is a typical representative of Kucha
grottoes. Buddhist
temple and Vihara of the Kizil cave. Grottoes
in Kizil are divided into two kinds, one kind is monk’s room equipped with
stoves, heated brick beds, and other simple facilities, the other kind is
Buddhism hall which provides room for praying and Buddhist preaching. Buddhism
hall is subdivided into two kinds: one is the great statue grotto which has
standing Buddha statue with high ceiling and hole-shape doors, the other is the
central tower grotto which is the quadrate room with pillars supporting ceiling
in the middle. Functions of grottoes differ from their shape and decorations,
so many grottoes regularly buit together, formed small units, each unit could be a Buddhist temple.
Buddha-worship,all stories about
Sakyamuni.
Now,
what is the difference between Mahayana and Theravada? Theravada regard Shakyamuni as a
teacher and missionary, who is the only Buddha. While Mahayana believe that there have been countless Buddhas on
earth. Theravada Buddhism emphasises attaining self-liberation through
one's own efforts,while mahayana Buddhism stresses that helping all sentient
beings attain enlightenment is more important than just
self-liberation. In terms of practice, Therevada is the Four Noble Truths,
the Twelve Links describe in detail how the process of karma works. Mahayana
promotes six perfections , they vow to help all beings realize enlightenment
and enter Nirvana. Buddha
cave deducing all the deeds of the Shakyamuni. The
dark part of the picture changed color because of oxidation ,cinnabar retain its
original color in some of the deepper caves,The Great Tang Records on Western
Regions notes :“Xuanzang travelled into India where he found 100 monasteries with 5,000 Buddhist monks, who
are studying Theravada.” Later in addition to a small number of caves
are full of painted buddhas, the Kizil Caves center column mural theme mostly
depicts all the deeds of Sakyamuni ,reflecting concept of Theravada that
only Maitreya (the future Bodhisattva and Buddha) Sakyamuni are recognized. Time
has left its impact upon the mural. Who
brought us Mahayana Buddhism ?Kucha and Central Plains have a close
relationship early in BC, By the Tang Dynasty, the development of this
relationship became a higher order of existence. Zhenguan fourteen years (AD
641 years), Tang established the Anxi Protectorate in Xizhou. In
658 AD , it was shifted to Kucha and situated there for most of the period,
promoted to Protectorate General to Pacify the West. Since then, Kucha became political, economic and cultural center in the south
of Tien Shan mountains and west areas of Cong Ling Ridges. In 808 AD, the Tibetan
Empire trapped in Anxi , Tang ended the reign of Kucha. Tang Dynasty has
jurisdiction over Kucha for hundred years, during which a large number of Han
Chinese officials , soldiers , people and monks moved to Kucha , bringing the Central
Plains culture and Chinese Mahayana Buddhism . Ruins, looted murals What is more painful is caves were stolen,dug and plundered in the end ,
Zheng Yanjiang learned that the cassocks were made of gold foil, were also stolen. Stolen mural of gold foil cassocks. The Kizil Caves encountered twice disasters. As the Islamic culture
spread eastward across the pamirs,in nearly two centuries of religious disputes
between Buddhism and Islam,the Kizil Caves and gradually being abandoned as well as suffered large vandalism in the 10th century,with
the decline of Buddhism in Kucha.”The Kizil Caves suffered catastrophe for
the first time in history. “At the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th
century, the foreign expedition continuously crazy about robbery of grotto
murals in Kucha region, including a lot of exquisite murals ,painted clay
sculpture and precious cultural relics in the Kizil Caves. This
is the second time in history the Kizil Caves suffered catastrophe.Before the liberation, the Kizil Caves has been in a state
of unattended. After the founding of new China, the cave was effectively
protected, and have been on the list of preserved cultural relics in 1961.In
2014, the Kizil Caves was listed in the World Culture Inheritance. Clearly visible scotches left after the robbery. At the beginning of the 20th century,
German expedition uncovered some cultural relics from the Kizil Caves,
most of which is now in the possession of the Berlin Museum of Asian Art. the Kizil Caves are built on sandstone,
its painting process involves placing a layer of mud on the sand ,but dry mud
is easy to fall off ,the
thickness of mud is varies, as time goes by, some fall off naturally or in the process of stealing and digging
.Zheng
Yanjiang noticed that the scratches are still exist in some of the murals.The
looted murals are common in Europe especially in German museum.
Diamond-shaped , main composition form of Kucha mural
In
Kucha Grottoes ,the Buddha is depicted in numerous disasters in the past with
all sorts of different identities on bodhisattva path,such behaviors like charity,
giving, precepts, perseverance, and Jataka as well as the karma story of sermons
tour and universals restoration. Generally in the form of single diamond lattice
patterned , and successive patteren with diamond lattice as the basic unit of
the structure .In the early days of the murals , diamond-shaped composition is
not very clear , gradually formed mature pattern , became the most important composition form
of Kucha murals . Exquisite
statues in the Kizil Caves . Murals here not only include flying
gods, gods of arts, Buddhist pagodas, Bodhisattva, Arhat, the eight races of
non-human entities described in Buddhist cosmological text Lotus Sutra ,
stories of Buddha, but also some other folk stories and social life of ancient
times.The
scenes of production and life, landscapes, donors, birds and animals etc. The
diamond-shaped vaulting recorded five hundred times reincarnation of Buddha. The diamond-shaped Composition. Central-pillar cave vault regularly
painted several columns of diamond lattice , ranging from a few dozen to more
than a hundred, each painted a book or karma story. Both the originality and
diversity of the diamond-shaped composition and layout of Dense and integral, has
became one of the outstanding achievements of Kucha grottoes Art.
Buddha
was re-incarnated into a elephant to save others. Story of elephant save others .Karma and Jataka stories, except that some are painted on
the walls of the square grotto,others are mostly arranged on the central column
grotto of the main chamber and square grotto vault , taking the form of a single
composition, the vault is divided into many of the rhombic lattices, each
diamond lattice drawing a single story.Because of the small space, the
pictures uses a small number of characters and backgrounds, and select the
typical plot which able to summarize the story. Figure
outline is still clear one thousand years ago. The main theme of the mural are Buddha ,
karma and Jataka stories.There are two types the Buddha story: One is the description
of the Buddha's biography, it is arranged on the walls of the square grotto ,
with successive checkered pattern,expressing Buddha's life from beginning to the
end, Another is statement graph ,it is arranged along two side walls in the
main chamber of the central-pillar cave. Although many of those in the form of checkered
pattern, separate into pieces each with
its own theme , there is no undertake mutual relationship between them. Karma
Story shows that all living creatures provide all kinds of supports for the
Buddha and demonstrates great magic power of Buddha. Jataka stories shows
various difficult and ascetic when Buddha on the Bodhisattva path in his
previous life. Kucha, the ancient Silk Road Transport
Station "Kucha
" is one of the big Western regions in ancient China , one of four towns
in Anxi in Tang Dynasty , located at the crossroads of the ancient Silk Road (
now Aksu Kuqa , Baicheng area ). Ji Xianlin once said :"Kucha is the only intersection
of ancient India, Greece and Rome, Persia, and the Han and Tang Dynasties
civilization in the world. The Kizil caves in Kucha region , was the first
Buddhist grottoes in China's history , accomplished
in Eastern
Han dynasty. In
2014, as Chinese Kizil caves, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan “The three joint inscription" The
Silk Road Changan Tianshan corridor road network in the site of a success
included in " The World Heritage List ". Kizil
Cave 14, Mang wang saves business man out of sea . Baicheng now belongs to ancient Kucha
boundaries , but Kucha is located in the hub of the ancient Silk Road, Buddhism
was first introduced into Xinjiang from India ,after the formation of the
western regions Buddhism then transferred to the Central Plains, Geographical location
in Baicheng is determinant to become the bridge of the western regions Buddhism
center and Central Plains. Grottoe Mural is an important form of Buddhist
art. Many types of The Kizil Caves are widely used, the structure and
layout of monk room and Buddhism hall is extremely rare. While The
Kizil Caves is
the pronoun of Mural Gallery with rich content and Large quantity, ranked first
in China's existing grottoes. Peace
Bell and pagodas in the pavilion. River is clear outside , in the pavilion,you
can see a construction of the Buddha which was donated by Thailand Princess
Sirindhorn ,also you can see the peace bell and pagoda. Oasis
outside the Kizil Caves. Outside the Kizil Caves, you can see
oasis among the vast Gobi. Whithin a few centuries, Kizil
is international
Buddhist center of the Silk Road , day and night, the valley echoed with the
Buddhist music , yellow Cassock is the only color here. Eighteen hundred years ago, much earlier
than the Mogao Grottoes, when unknown artists from all over the world piously painted
pictures of not only the
Buddha in their mind but also understanding and
interpretation of belief .
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