Kumarajiva and the Kizil Caves

My knowledge of the spread of Buddhism was very rudimentary before this visit - so I have this expertly led tour to thank for the "enlightenment"!

So the statue above is of Kumarajiva, the son of a princess of Kucha and a nobleman from India. He became a monk and, dissatisfied with the then current interpretations of the Buddha's teachings, set out to translate them from the original. This was somewhere between the 4th and 5th centuries. Kumarajiva was already well respected as a teacher of Mahayana Buddhism, and had a deep knowledge of Sanskrit. His translations into Chinese are still read today and in fact he is credited in part with the widespread adoption of Mahayana Buddism in China and Japan.

The Kizil Caves are a one and a half hour's drive from Kucha where we stayed for a few nights. On the way we stopped to admire the extraordinary rock formations - still visible despite the sand in the air.

   

The caves are not naturally formed but carved out of the rock. 

In this part of the former Kucha kingdom the artwork, dating from around the 5th to 7th centuries, shows very distinct Persian (Sasanian) and Indian (Gandharan) influences - both in the choice of colour (they used predominantly lapis lazuli for blue and malachite for aqua/green, with touches of cinnabar, black and white) and in the facial features and the style of the robes, which also show traces of Greco-Roman influence. To preserve the friezes the authorities now do not allow photos to be taken, so here are a few from websites instead:

Each devotional/meditation cave, also called a central pillar cave, had certain features in common. As devotees entered they would be facing a statue of the Sakyamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha, (all the statuary has unfortunately now gone) against the central pillar, while on the side walls as well as the vaulted ceilings would be depictions of the life of the Buddha (Jataka Tales) and preaching stories after his enlightenment. A corridor going around the central pillar also contained friezes and the back wall often showed scenes of Nirvana as well as paintings of the donors who sponsored the paintings. Finally, facing the exit would be a depiction of the Maitreya, the Buddha of the future, a reminder perhaps that the line of divine revelation would always continue?

You can see in the top picture of the ceiling that the robes have been scratched out and that is probably because there was gilt for the taking. In other times, Muslims in around the 12th century, objecting to the facial images, scratched out the eyes and mouths of the figures. Then, when the explorers/treasure seekers of the early 20th century discovered the rich artistic heritage of Central Asia, they prised off rectangular blocks (as the friezes were painted onto a mixture of mud, straw and camel dung) and took whatever they could fit onto their donkeys and camels and transported them back to their museums in Europe, Britain and Japan. You can see some of them here and read more about one of the raiders, Albert von le Coq here. I leave you to draw your own conclusions about the rights and wrongs of such acts.