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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 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') ar ..., 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 As ... [...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] |
Tarim Basin
The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Northwest China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, China." Hydrological Processes 20.10 (2006): 2207–2216.online 426 KB) Located in China's Xinjiang region, it is sometimes used synonymously to refer to the southern half of the province, or Nanjiang (), as opposed to the northern half of the province known as Dzungaria or Beijiang. Its northern boundary is the Tian Shan mountain range and its southern boundary is the Kunlun Mountains on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau. The Taklamakan Desert dominates much of the basin. The historical Uyghur name for the Tarim Basin is Altishahr ( Traditional spelling: 六城 or ), which means 'six cities' in Uyghur. Geography and relation to Xinjiang Xinjiang consists of two main geographically, historically, and ethnically distinct regions with different ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land, the most of any country in the world, tied with Russia. Covering an area of approximately , it is the world's third largest country by total land area. The country consists of 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities, and two Special Administrative Regions (Hong Kong and Macau). The national capital is Beijing, and the most populous city and financial center is Shanghai. Modern Chinese trace their origins to a cradle of civilization in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. The semi-legendary Xia dynasty in the 21st century BCE and the well-attested Shang and Zhou dynasties developed a bureaucratic political system to serve hereditary monarchies, or ... [...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] |
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 Thou ... [...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] |
Kumtura Caves
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 measu ... [...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 T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Hopkirk
Peter Stuart Hopkirk (15 December 1930 – 22 August 2014) was a British journalist, author and historian who wrote six books about the British Empire, Russia and Central Asia. Biography Peter Hopkirk was born in Nottingham, the son of Frank Stuart and Mary Hopkirk (' Perkins); his father was an Anglican priest. The family hailed originally from Roxburghshire in the borders of Scotland. He grew up at Danbury, Essex. Hopkirk was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford. From an early age he was interested in spy novels carrying around Buchan's ''Greenmantle'' and Kipling's ''Kim''. While at the Dragon he played rugby and shot at Bisley. During his national service, he was commissioned in the Royal Hampshire Regiment in January 1950 and served as a subaltern in the King's African Rifles in the same battalion as Lance-Corporal Idi Amin. Before turning full-time author, he was an ITN reporter and newscaster for two years, the New York City correspondent of Lord Beaverbrook's ''Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 of China Publishing House, the encyclopedia was issued one volume at a time, beginning in 1980 with a volume on astronomy; the final volume was completed in 1993. It comprised 74 volumes, with more than 80,000 entries. Arranged by subject, which numbered 66 (some subjects occupy more than one volume), within each subject, entries were arranged by pinyin as many modern Chinese dictionaries have been. A Uyghur language edition was also published in 2015. A CD-ROM version and a subscription-based online version are also available. A second and more concise edition of the work was published in 2009. The third online edition was released and published in the end of 2018, which is free to use. More than 20,000 scholars participated in this online encyclopaedia program which started in 2011, including some experts from Chines ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caves Of Xinjiang
A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea caves, rock shelters, and grottos, that extend a relatively short distance into the rock and they are called ''exogene'' caves. Caves which extend further underground than the opening is wide are called ''endogene'' caves. Speleology is the science of exploration and study of all aspects of caves and the cave environment. Visiting or exploring caves for recreation may be called ''caving'', ''potholing'', or ''spelunking''. Formation types The formation and development of caves is known as ''speleogenesis''; it can occur over the course of millions of years. Caves can range widely in size, and are formed by various geological processes. These may involve a combination of chemical processes, erosion by water, tectonic forces, microorganisms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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