Mysterious and unique, there is only one Kucha Grotto in the world

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Mysterious and unique, there is only one Kucha Grotto in the world

Before I came to Guici (qiū, Qiu) in Xinjiang, Guici gave me a mysterious feeling, and my mind was full of curiosity and imagination. In 2008, I took a bus from Hotan, Xinjiang, across the desert road to Kuqa (Kuicha). First, I visited the urban area, and it no longer looks like an "ancient city". Kucha Kingdom, the ancient country at the crossroads of the Silk Road in the Western Regions, has long been wiped out. When Banchao in the Eastern Han Dynasty managed the Thirty-Six Kingdoms in the Western Regions, he moved the Protectorate of the Western Regions to Kucha; in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Protectorate of Anxi was set up, and the government offices were all located in Kucha; in the Qing Dynasty, Kuche was designated as a county, and it is still in use today. Now Kuqa is already a modern city, and historic sites are hard to find, even a section of the ancient city wall is hard to find.

In 2008, I traveled to Xinjiang and came to Kuqa (Kuqa). The Kizil Grottoes (also known as the Thousand Buddha Caves in Kucha) must be seen.

There are many grottoes in Xinjiang, but they are mainly concentrated in the ancient Qiuci and Gaochang areas. The Kizil Grottoes in Qiuci is the westernmost and earliest large-scale grotto group, and it is listed as one of the four major grottoes in China. Tours are open, so I was lucky enough to "get here".

The Kizil Grottoes are located on the cliffs of Mingwutag Mountain in Kizil Town, Baicheng County, Xinjiang (ancient Kucha Kingdom). Kizil is a transliteration of Uighur, which means "red", and there are many Danxia landforms there. The Kizil Grottoes were excavated in the 3rd century AD, more than 300 years earlier than the excavation of the Mogao Grottoes, and gradually ceased construction in the 8th and 9th centuries.

As early as the first century BC, Buddhism was first introduced to Kucha, Xinjiang from India, forming "Buddhism in the Western Regions" and then introduced to the Central Plains. The word "Buddha" in the translation of Chinese Buddhist scriptures was first translated indirectly through Kucha.

Originally, Buddhism did not advocate statues. The appearance of statues was influenced by the plastic arts of Greece (spread through India). The prevalence of nudity and semi-nude in early statues and murals is influenced by it.

Grottoes are an important form of Buddhist art, which promote Buddhist teachings through architecture and murals. At the same time, these masterpieces of ancient Kucha Chinese painters also record the historical and real life scenes in Xinjiang from about the third century to the thirteenth century. The value of precious image data is self-evident. Today's painters and artists can't help feeling when they see these exquisite murals, "These murals will make you feel that your imagination is too pale."

The contents of the murals include "Jataka Stories", "Buddha Biography Stories", "Fate Stories" and so on, which express Buddhism, as well as a large number of murals expressing secular life scenes. Because it is not allowed to take pictures in the grottoes, the earlier pictures on the Internet make up for the brain:

There is a central pillar in the grotto, called the central tower pillar cave.

The back room of the central column is often a reclining image of Buddha's Nirvana

The story of the Buddha who practiced for many lifetimes before becoming a Buddha and finally became a Buddha is called "Jataka Stories".

The story of the prince feeding the tiger

It tells the story that the king took three princes on an outing, and came to a cliff, and saw a tigress with two suckling cubs under the cliff. The tigress was about to starve to death, and the cubs must not live. The third prince jumped off the cliff to feed the tiger with his body, but the tigress didn't even have the strength to eat him. The prince pricked his own flesh with thorns and fed it to the tigress.

"Buddha Stories" are stories and legends about Buddha's life and deeds.

"Stories of karma" tells about various karma, retribution, and metaphors told by the Buddha Sakyamuni, and shows various enlightenment deeds of Sakyamuni after he became enlightened.

The Kucha Grottoes were excavated from the end of the Five Dynasties to the Southern Song Dynasty (approximately 940-1211). A Turkic-speaking nation in the Pamir Plateau established the Khan Dynasty in present-day Xinjiang and Central Asia, which is called the Black Khan Dynasty in Chinese. The Black Khan Dynasty was strong, and the Kucha area gradually became subordinate to the Black Khan Dynasty. At that time, the Black Khan Dynasty had converted to Islam and vigorously promoted Islam through repressive means. Kashgar and Artush became the centers of Islam in the Western Regions. In 960, the Black Khan Dynasty adopted Islam as the state religion, and the subjects of the Black Khan were not allowed to continue to believe in the original Buddhism. In 1001, the dynasty defeated the Li Dynasty of Khotan (now Hotan) who believed in Buddhism through the "Shen War", and Islam promoted to the south of the Tarim Basin. Buddhist grottoes in Xinjiang gradually fell into disrepair. The rediscovery of the Kucha Grottoes came in the Qing Dynasty. In the evening, these amazing works soaked in the blood and sweat of the ancient Kucha people were looted by Western powers, so that many exquisite statues and murals are preserved in museums in some Western countries. It was not until 1928 that domestic scholars conducted systematic research on the Kucha Grottoes.

From Kuqa to Qiuci Thousand Buddha Caves (Kizil Grottoes), there is no tourist bus or shuttle bus, so I have to take a taxi and take the drunken road in Xinjiang - the Duku Highway. The road conditions are very good, and the natural landscape formed by the topography and landforms is extremely beautiful. I took a few photos on the driving car.

When I arrived at the Grottoes Scenic Area, the Kizil Grottoes sold tickets in sections at that time, divided into East District, West District, and Music Cave tickets. You can choose to see part or all.

August 2008 Tickets for Kucha Grottoes

When I arrived at the scenic spot alone, I felt lonely. Compared with the Mogao Grottoes, Longmen Grottoes, and Yungang Grottoes that I have been to, there are indeed quite a lot of tourists. A tour guide took me alone, opened a grotto door, locked it after explaining it, and then looked at the next one. I am an ordinary tourist and I am not allowed to take pictures.

The bronze statue on the Grotto Square is Kumarajiva, a translator of Buddhist scriptures, one of the three (four) major translators of Buddhist scriptures in China. The Buddhist scriptures he translated are still recited by Buddhists today. Kumarajiva (344-413) was born in Kucha, his father was Indian, his mother was the younger sister of King Kucha, and his parents were devout Buddhists. When he was 9 years old, his mother took him to Kashmir to worship a famous monk as a teacher. He returned to China at the age of 12. After 8 years of study tours and practice, he returned to Kucha at the age of 20 and was ordained as a monk in the palace.

Buddhism was first introduced to the mainland of China from Kucha. Among the countries in the Western Regions, Kucha was the first to send monks to the Central Plains to spread Buddhism. In 401 AD, Kumarajiva also came to Chang'an, and led his disciples and monks to start a large-scale scripture translation activity in Chinese history. For the first time, he systematically and correctly introduced the theory of Mahayana Buddhism to the Central Plains, making Buddhist cultural thought Widely spread in the Central Plains.

Kumarajiva lived in the war-torn era of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and his personal experience was quite rough. Even the guru who was regarded as the king became a hostage and prisoner, and was forced to marry.

Regardless of whether you understand Buddhism or art, you must visit the Kucha Grottoes when you arrive in Kucha, because there is only one Kucha in the world.

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