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Kumtura
The Kumtura Thousand Buddha Caves ( zh, t=庫木吐喇千佛洞, s=, p=Kùmùtǔlǎ Qiānfódòng) (also Qumtura) is a Buddhist cave temple site in the Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, China. The site is located some 25 km west of Kucha, Kuqa County, on the ancient Silk Road. Other famous sites nearby are the Kizilgaha caves, the Kizil Caves, Subashi Temple and the Simsim caves. 112 cave temples survive, dating from the fifth to the eleventh centuries. Damaged by occasional habitation after abandonment of the site, Kumtura was visited by a number of the early foreign expeditions to Chinese Central Asia, including the 1902 Ōtani expedition, Oldenburg, and Le Coq. The last detached several wall paintings and took them back to Berlin (now at the Museum für Asiatische Kunst). Construction of the Dongfang Hong Hydroelectric Plant in the 1970s caused the water level of the Muzat River to rise and has increased the rate of decay of the wall paintings. Long-term preservation me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kizil Caves
The Kizil Caves ( zh, t=克孜爾千佛洞, s=克孜尔千佛洞, l=Kizil Caves of the Thousand Buddhas; ug, قىزىل مىڭ ئۆي, translation=The Thousand Red Houses; also romanized Qizil Caves, spelling variant Qyzyl; Kizil means 'red') are a set of Buddhist rock-cut caves located near Kizil Township (, ''Kèzī'ěr Xiāng'') in Baicheng County, Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, China. The site is located on the northern bank of the Muzat River 65 kilometres (75 km by road) west of Kucha. This area was a commercial hub of the Silk Road. The caves have an important role in Central Asian art and in the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism, and are said to be the earliest major Buddhist cave complex in China, with development occurring between the 3rd and 8th centuries CE. The caves of Kizil are the earlier of their type in China, and their model was later adopted in the construction of Buddhist caves further east. Another name for the site has been ''Ming-oi'' (明屋, "The Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tocharian Clothing
Tocharian clothing refers to clothing worn by the Tocharians. A series of murals from Kizil, Kizilgaha and Kumtura caves depicting Kuchean royalties, knights, swordsmen and donors have provided the best source of information on Tocharian costume. Their clothes were made of colourful, richly patterned fabric; a single- or double-lapel, belted caftan was very popular. This type of clothing was referred to as East Sassanid costume () by Albert von Le Coq. However, Mariachiara Gasparini argued that the style was under various influences, which can not be easily categorised as being strictly "Sasanian". According to Mariachiara Gasparini: Plaid textiles recovered from the Taklamakan Desert are of similar appearance to and are made with similar weaving techniques as textiles discovered at the Celtic sites of Hallstatt and Hallein. Gallery File:Donor figures from Kizil Cave 189.png, Tocharian donors, Kizil Cave 189 File:Prince Tottika of Kucha with his wife Svayamprabhā, accomp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kizilgaha Caves
The Kizilgaha Caves ( zh, t=克孜爾尕哈石窟, s=克孜尔尕哈石窟, p=Kèzīěrgǎhā shíkū) consist in a Buddhist Temple inside a complex of caves in the area of Kucha, Xinjiang, China. The paintings in the cave go back to the 5th century CE. Other famous sites nearby are the Ah-ai Grotto, Kizil Caves, Kumtura, Subashi Temple and the Simsim caves.(Other than Kizil)... "The nearby site of Kumtura contains over a hundred caves, forty of which contain painted murals or inscriptions. Other cave sites near Kucha include Subashi, Kizilgaha, and Simsim." in Gallery File:Kizilgaha beacon tower.jpg, Kizilgaha beacon tower File:Donors, Kizilgaha cave 14, Kucha.jpg, Donors in Tocharian clothing Tocharian clothing refers to clothing worn by the Tocharians. A series of murals from Kizil, Kizilgaha and Kumtura caves depicting Kuchean royalties, knights, swordsmen and donors have provided the best source of information on Tocharian costum ..., Kizilgaha cave 14, Kucha File:Kizil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devata
''Devata'' (pl: ''devatas'', meaning 'the gods') (Devanagari: देवता; Khmer: ទេវតា (''tevoda''); Thai: เทวดา (''tevada''); Javanese, Balinese, Sundanese, Malay: ''dewata''; Batak languages: ''debata'' (Toba), ''dibata'' (Karo), ''naibata'' (Simalungun); '' diwata'' (Philippine languages)) are smaller and more focused Devas (Deities) in Indian religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism. The term "devata" itself can also mean deva. They can be either male or female. Every human activity has its devata, its spiritual counterpart or aspect. Types There are many kinds of devatas: vanadevatas (forest spirits, perhaps descendants of early nature-spirit cults), gramadevata (village gods), devatas of river crossings, caves, mountains, and so on. For example, in the Konkan region of India, Hindu devatas are often divided into five categories: # Grama devatas or village deities who could be the founder deity such as Jathera or ancestral worship of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simsim Caves
The Simsim caves, also called the Caves of Senmusaimu (), are decorated Buddhist caves in the area of Kucha, Tarim Basin, China. Other famous sites nearby are the Ah-ai Grotto, Kizil Caves, the Kizilgaha caves, the Kumtura Caves, and Subashi Temple. References External links Simsim caves Sources *Zhongguo Xinjiang Bihua Quanji 5: Keziergaha Senmusaimu 中国新疆壁画全集 5: 克孜尔尕哈 森木赛姆 omplete Collection of Xinjiang Murals 5: Keziergaha Senmusaimu Grottoes中国壁画全集编辑委员会 Zhongguo Bihua Quanji Bianji Weiyuanhui. Tianjin, 1995; (Tianjin Renmin Meishu 天津人民美术) * Peter Hopkirk: ''Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia''. The University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst 1980, . * ''Zhongguo da baike quanshu The ''Encyclopedia of China'' () is the first large-entry modern encyclopedia in the Chinese language. The compilation began in 1978. Published by the Encyclopedia o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hephthalite
The Hephthalites ( xbc, ηβοδαλο, translit= Ebodalo), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during the 5th to 8th centuries CE. They formed an empire, the Imperial Hephthalites, and were militarily important from 450 CE, when they defeated the Kidarites, to 560 CE, when combined forces from the First Turkic Khaganate and the Sasanian Empire defeated them. After 560 CE, they established "principalities" in the area of Tokharistan, under the suzerainty of the Western Turks (in the areas north of the Oxus) and of the Sasanian Empire (in the areas south of the Oxus), before the Tokhara Yabghus took over in 625. The Imperial Hephthalites, based in Bactria, expanded eastwards to the Tarim Basin, westwards to Sogdia and southwards through Afghanistan, but they never went beyond the Hindu-Kush, which was occupied by the Alchon Huns, previously m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kucha
Kucha, or Kuche (also: ''Kuçar'', ''Kuchar''; ug, كۇچار, Кучар; zh, t= 龜茲, p=Qiūcí, zh, t=庫車, p=Kùchē; sa, कूचीन, translit=Kūcīna), was an ancient Buddhist kingdom located on the branch of the Silk Road that ran along the northern edge of what is now the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin and south of the Muzat River. The former area of Kucha now lies in present-day Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, China. Kuqa town is the county seat of Aksu Prefecture's Kuqa County. Its population was given as 74,632 in 1990. Etymology The history of toponyms for modern Kucha remain somewhat problematic; however, it is clear that Kucha, ''Kuchar'' (in Turkic languages) and ''Kuché'' (modern Chinese),Elias (1895), p. 124, n. 1. correspond to the ''Kushan'' of Indic scripts from late antiquity. While Chinese transcriptions of the Han or the Tang imply that ''Küchï'' was the original form of the name, ''Guzan'' (or ''Küsan''), is attested in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subashi Temple
The Subashi Temple is a ruined Buddhist temple near Kucha in the Taklamakan Desert, on the ancient Silk Road, in Xinjiang, Western China. The city was partly excavated by the Japanese archaeologist Count Otani. Other famous sites nearby are the Ah-ai Grotto, Kizilgaha caves, the Kumtura Caves, the Kizil Caves and the Simsim caves. These sites and others along the Silk Road were inscribed in 2014 on the UNESCO World Heritage List as the Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor World Heritage Site. A sarira, a Buddhist relic box of the 6th–7th century, discovered in Subashi shows Central Asian men in long tunics, reminiscent of friezes produced by the Tocharians. The "Witch of Subashi" is another famous archaeological artifact, the mummy of a woman with a huge pointed hat, thought to be a representative of early Caucasian populations who lived in the region around the beginning of our era. File:Subashi Buddhist Temple Ruins - West.jpg, Subashi Buddhist Temp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1902 Ōtani Expedition
The 1902 Ōtani expedition was a Japanese archaeological expedition to a series of Silk Road sites in the Taklamakan Desert, led by Count Ōtani Kōzui and lasting from 1902 until 1904. The expedition aimed to study the early transmission of Buddhism through Central Asia into China, and conducted major excavations in the Kucha area. Background Between 1900 and 1902, Ōtani, a Buddhist priest, lived in London studying Western theology and came into contact with a number of European explorers including Aurel Stein and Sven Hedin. Hedin had made his first expedition to Tibet in 1893, and had brought back a large number of documents from his second expedition, while Stein had recently completed his first expedition in the Taklamakan Desert. Having learned of the results of these expeditions, Ōtani decided to return to Japan by land via Tibet, with the intent of researching the spread of Buddhism through Central Asia. Expedition The expedition consisted of Ōtani, as the lead, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kuqa County
Kuqa is a county-level city in Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. Other names and variants of spelling of Kuqa are Kocha, Kuchu, Kuchar, Kuchi, Kuchel, K'u-ch'e-chen, K'u-ch'e-hsien, Kuga, Kucha and K'u-ch'e. It was once the homeland of the ancient Buddhist Kingdom of Kucha. History According to the ''Book of Han'' (completed in 111 CE), Kucha was the largest of the "Thirty-six Kingdoms of the Western Regions", with a population of 81,317, including 21,076 persons able to bear arms. In 630, Xuanzang (玄奘; Xuán Zàng), a well-known Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler and translator visited Kucha during the Early Tang period. In the book " Hudud ul-'alam min al-mashriq ila al-maghrib", written in 982 by an unknown Arab or Persian writer, and presented to Abu'l Haret Muhammad, the ruler of Guzgan, the following is written regarding Kucha: Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat, a military general, in his historical book Tarikh-i-Rashidi used the word " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ah-ai Grotto
The Ah-ai Grotto ( zh, t=阿艾石窟, s=阿艾石窟, p=Ā ài shíkū) is a small, standalone Buddhist rock-cut cave located in the Kyziliya Grand Canyon, Kuqa, Xinjiang. The area is under the administration of Ah-ai Town, hence its name. The grotto was discovered by a young Uyghur shepherd named Tudi Azze () in April 1999, while on his way to collecting medicinal herbs. Compared with other famous sites in Xinjiang, such as Bezeklik Caves or Kizil Caves, the small Ah-ai Grotto is not widely known. The cave murals have suffered from vandalism. The grotto Built in the 8th century, financially supported by devoted laities, the cave was a product of a flourishing period of Kuchean Buddhism. The Vairocana image presented in the mural denotes an Esoteric Buddhist influence from the Tang dynasty. The cave is 4.6 metres long, 3.4 metres wide and about 2.5 metres high, with a vertical rectangle plane and a lunette vault. A rectangular earthen altar lies at the centre of the groun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major National Historical And Cultural Sites (Xinjiang) ...
This list is of Major Sites Protected for their Historical and Cultural Value at the National Level in the autonomous region of Xinjiang, People's Republic of China. See also * Principles for the Conservation of Heritage Sites in China References {{National Heritage Sites in China, state=expanded Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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