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Qigexing Buddhist Temple Ruins
The Shorchuk or Shikshin Temple ( ug, Хорчу, script=cyrl, translit=Xorqu; zh, t=七個星佛寺, s=, p=Qīgèxīng Fósì, l=Seven-Stars Buddhist Temple) is a ruined compound of Buddhist sites located about 25–30 km southwest of the town of Karasahr, Yanqi Hui Autonomous County, Xinjiang, China. The site was a major religious center along the northern route of the Silk Road in the second half of the first millennium CE. Another name for the site is ''Ming-oi'' (明屋, "The Thousand Houses") in Turkic. Names The site's Chinese name "Qigexing" has also been spelled as "Shikchin", "Shikshin", "Šikšin", "Xikeqin", or "Xigexing". The archaeologist Albert Grünwedel who worked at the site during the third German Turfan expeditions, German Turfan expedition (1905-1907) referred to the site as "Šorčuq"(derived from the Uyghur language, Uyghur name Xorqu), this name is also sometimes spelled as Shorchuk,Aurel Stein: ''Serindia - Detailed Report of Explorations in Central ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 of the country at the crossroads of Central Asia and East Asia. Being the largest province-level division of China by area and the 8th-largest country subdivision in the world, Xinjiang spans over and has about 25 million inhabitants. Xinjiang borders the countries of Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The rugged Karakoram, Kunlun and Tian Shan mountain ranges occupy much of Xinjiang's borders, as well as its western and southern regions. The Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract regions, both administered by China, are claimed by India. Xinjiang also borders the Tibet Autonomous Region and the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai. The most well-known route of the historic Silk Ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hinayana
Hīnayāna (, ) is a Sanskrit term literally meaning the "small/deficient vehicle". Classical Chinese and Tibetan teachers translate it as "smaller vehicle". The term is applied collectively to the ''Śrāvakayāna'' and ''Pratyekabuddhayāna'' paths. This term appeared around the first or second century. Hīnayāna was often contrasted with ''Mahāyāna'', which means the "great vehicle". In 1950 the World Fellowship of Buddhists declared that the term Hīnayāna should not be used when referring to any form of Buddhism existing today. In the past, the term was widely used by Western scholars to cover "the earliest system of Buddhist doctrine", as the ''Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary'' put it. Modern Buddhist scholarship has deprecated the pejorative term, and uses instead the term ''Nikaya Buddhism'' to refer to early Buddhist schools. ''Hinayana'' has also been used as a synonym for Theravada, which is the main tradition of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kara-Khanid Khanate
The Kara-Khanid Khanate (; ), also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids (), was a Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia in the 9th through the early 13th century. The dynastic names of Karakhanids and Ilek Khanids refer to royal titles with Kara Khagan being the most important Turkic title up until the end of the dynasty. The Khanate conquered Transoxiana in Central Asia and ruled it between 999 and 1211. Their arrival in Transoxiana signaled a definitive shift from Iranian to Turkic predominance in Central Asia, yet the Kara-khanids gradually assimilated the Perso-Arab Muslim culture, while retaining some of their native Turkic culture. The capitals of the Kara-Khanid Khanate included Kashgar, Balasagun, Uzgen and Samarkand. In the 1040s, the Khanate split into the Eastern and Western Khanates. In the late 11th century, they came under the suzerainty of the Seljuk Empire, followed by the Qara Khitai (Western Liao dynasty) in the mid-1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iconoclasm
Iconoclasm (from Ancient Greek, Greek: grc, wikt:εἰκών, εἰκών, lit=figure, icon, translit=eikṓn, label=none + grc, wikt:κλάω, κλάω, lit=to break, translit=kláō, label=none)From grc, wikt:εἰκών, εἰκών + wikt:κλάω, κλάω, lit=image-breaking. ''Iconoclasm'' may also be considered as a back-formation from ''iconoclast'' (Greek: εἰκοκλάστης). The corresponding Greek word for iconoclasm is εἰκονοκλασία, ''eikonoklasia''. is the social belief in the importance of the destruction of icons and other images or monuments, most frequently for religious or political reasons. People who engage in or support iconoclasm are called iconoclasts, a term that has come to be figuratively applied to any individual who challenges "cherished beliefs or venerated institutions on the grounds that they are erroneous or pernicious." Conversely, one who reveres or venerates religious images is called (by iconoclasts) an ''Iconolatry, ic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aurel Stein
Sir Marc Aurel Stein, ( hu, Stein Márk Aurél; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at Indian universities. Stein was also an ethnographer, geographer, linguist and surveyor. His collection of books and manuscripts bought from Dunhuang caves is important for the study of the history of Central Asia and the art and literature of Buddhism. He wrote several volumes on his expeditions and discoveries which include ''Ancient Khotan'', ''Serindia'' and ''Innermost Asia''. Early life Stein was born to Náthán Stein and Anna Hirschler, a Jewish couple residing in Budapest in the Kingdom of Hungary. His parents and his sister retained their Jewish faith but Stein and his brother, Ernst Eduard, were baptised as Lutherans. At home the family spoke German and Hungarian, Stein attended Catholic and Lutheran gymnasiums in Budapest, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hotan
Hotan (also known as Gosthana, Gaustana, Godana, Godaniya, Khotan, Hetian, Hotien) is a major oasis town in southwestern Xinjiang, an autonomous region in Western China. The city proper of Hotan broke off from the larger Hotan County to become an administrative area in its own right in August 1984. It is the seat of Hotan Prefecture. With a population of 408,900 (2018 census), Hotan is situated in the Tarim Basin some southwest of the regional capital, Ürümqi. It lies just north of the Kunlun Mountains, which are crossed by the Sanju, Hindutash and Ilchi passes. The town, located southeast of Yarkant County and populated almost exclusively by Uyghurs, is a minor agricultural center. An important station on the southern branch of the historic Silk Road, Hotan has always depended on two strong rivers—the Karakash River and the White Jade River to provide the water needed to survive on the southwestern edge of the vast Taklamakan Desert. The White Jade River still provides w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kashgar
Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan. With a population of over 500,000, Kashgar has served as a trading post and strategically important city on the Silk Road between China, the Middle East and Europe for over 2,000 years, making it one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the World. At the convergence point of widely varying cultures and empires, Kashgar has been under the rule of the Chinese, Turkic, Mongol and Tibetan empires. The city has also been the site of a number of battles between various groups of people on the steppes. Now administered as a county-level unit, Kashgar is the administrative center of Kashgar Prefecture, which has an area of and a population of approximately 4 million as of 2010. The city itself has a population of 506,640, and its ... [...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] |
Four Garrisons Of Anxi
The Four Garrisons of Anxi were Chinese military garrisons installed by the Tang dynasty between 648 and 658. They were stationed at the Indo-European city-states of Qiuci (Kucha), Yutian (Hotan), Shule (Kashgar) and Yanqi (Karashahr). The Protectorate General to Pacify the West was headquartered in Qiuci.Xue, p. 596-598. History The Anxi Protectorate was created in Xi Prefecture (Gaochang) after the Tang dynasty successfully annexed the oasis kingdom in 640. The protectorate was moved to Qiuci in 648 after the Tang dynasty defeated Kucha. However, due to local unrest with support from the Western Turkic Khaganate the Tang protector general was assassinated and the protectorate was moved back to Xi Prefecture in 651. When the Tang dynasty defeated the Western Turkic Khaganate in 658, the protectorate headquarter was moved back to Qiuci. The full establishment of the Four Garrisons, and with them a formal Tang military protectorate over the Tarim Basin, is therefore dated to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conquest Of The Western Turks
The conquest of the Western Turks, known as the Western Tujue in Chinese sources, was a military campaign in 655–657 led by the Tang dynasty generals Su Dingfang and Cheng Zhijie against the Western Turkic Khaganate ruled by Ashina Helu. The Tang campaigns against the Western Turks began in 640 with the annexation of the Tarim Basin oasis state Gaochang, an ally of the Western Turks. Several of the oasis states had once been vassals of the Tang dynasty, but switched their allegiance to the Western Turks when they grew suspicious of the military ambitions of the Tang. Tang expansion into Central Asia continued with the conquest of Karasahr in 644 and Kucha in 648. Cheng Zhijie commanded the first foray against the West Tujue, and in 657 Su Dingfang commanded the main army dispatched against the Western Turks, while the Turkic generals Ashina Mishe and Ashina Buzhen led the side divisions. The Tang troops were reinforced by cavalry supplied by the Uyghurs, a tribe that had been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tang Campaigns Against The Western Turks
The Tang campaigns against the Western Turks, known as the Western Tujue in Chinese sources, were a series of military campaigns conducted by the Tang dynasty against the Western Turkic Khaganate in the 7th century AD. Early military conflicts were a result of the Tang interventions in the rivalry between the Western Turks, Western and Eastern Turkic Khaganate, Eastern Turks in order to weaken both. Under Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor Taizong, campaigns were dispatched in the Western Regions against Gaochang in 640, Karasahr in 644 and 648, and Kucha in 648. The wars against the Western Turks continued under Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Emperor Gaozong, and the khaganate was annexed after General Su Dingfang's defeat of Khagan, Qaghan Ashina Helu in 657. The Western Turks attempted to capture the Tarim Basin in 670 and 677, but were repelled by the Tang. The Second Turkic Khaganate, Second Turkic Empire defeated the fragmented Western Turks in 712, and absorbed the tribes into the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tang Campaigns Against Karasahr
The Tang campaigns against Karasahr () were two military campaigns sent by Emperor Taizong of the Tang dynasty against the Tarim Basin kingdom of Karasahr, a vassal of the Western Turkic Khaganate. The city-state, which later became part of Xinjiang), may have been known to its inhabitants by the Tocharian name ''Agni'', which was rendered ''Yanqi'' in Chinese sources. The first campaign in 644 was led by the Tang commander Guo Xiaoke, protector-general of the Anxi Protectorate in western China, who defeated the oasis state and a Western Turkic army and installed a Tang loyalist as ruler. The second campaign in 648, which was part of the campaign against Karasahr's neighboring state of Kucha, was led by a Turkic general of the Tang Dynasty, Ashina She'er, who defeated and conquered Karasahr. Background Karasahr, a kingdom in the Tarim Basin, became a tributary state of Tang China in 632. In 632, the nearby oasis states Kashgar and Khotan surrendered to Chinese suzerainty, as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_of_Kashgar%2C_73_CE.jpg "Click for more on -> Kashgar")
