The Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves (, Uyghur: بزقلیق مىڭ ئۆيى ) is a complex of Buddhist cave grottos dating from the 5th to 14th century between the cities of

Turpan Turpan (also known as Turfan or Tulufan, , ug, تۇرپان) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 632,000 (2015). Geonyms The original name of the c ...

and

Shanshan Shanshan (; ug, پىچان, Pichan, Piqan) was a kingdom located at the north-eastern end of the Taklamakan Desert near the great, but now mostly dry, salt lake known as Lop Nur. The kingdom was originally an independent city-state, known in t ...

(

Loulan Loulan, also called Krorän or Kroraina ( zh, s=, t=, p=Lóulán <

Eastern Han Chinese

''lo-lɑn'' <

) at the north-east of the

Taklamakan Desert The Taklimakan or Taklamakan Desert (; zh, s=塔克拉玛干沙漠, p=Tǎkèlāmǎgān Shāmò, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Такәламаган Шамә; ug, تەكلىماكان قۇملۇقى, Täklimakan qumluqi; also spelled Taklimakan and Te ...

near the ancient ruins of

Gaochang Gaochang (; Old Uyghur: ''Qocho''), also called Khocho, Karakhoja, Qara-hoja, Kara-Khoja or Karahoja (قاراغوجا in Uyghur), was a ruined, ancient oasis city on the northern rim of the inhospitable Taklamakan Desert in present-day Xinj ...

in the Mutou Valley, a gorge in the

Flaming Mountains The Flaming Mountains () or Huoyan Mountains, are barren, eroded, red sandstone hills in the Tian Shan of Xinjiang. They lie near the northern rim of the Taklamakan Desert and east of the city of Turpan. Their striking gullies and trenches cause ...

, in the

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 ...

region of western China. They are high on the cliffs of the west Mutou Valley under the Flaming Mountains, and most of the surviving caves date from the West Uyghur kingdom around the 10th to 13th centuries.

Bezeklik murals

Bezeklik caves, Pranidhi scene 14, temple 9

There are 77 rock-cut caves at the site. Most have rectangular spaces with rounded

arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vault ...

ceiling A ceiling is an overhead interior surface that covers the upper limits of a room. It is not generally considered a structural element, but a finished surface concealing the underside of the roof structure or the floor of a story above. Ceilings ...

s often divided into four sections, each with a

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanis ...

of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...

. The effect is of entire ceiling covers with hundreds of Buddha murals. Some murals show a large Buddha surrounded by other figures, including Turks, Indians and Europeans. The quality of the murals vary with some being artistically naive while others are masterpieces of religious art. The murals that best represent the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves are the large-sized murals, which were given the name the "Praṇidhi Scene", paintings depicting

Sakyamuni Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in ...

’s "promise" or "praṇidhi" from his past life. Professor James A. Millward described the original Uyghurs as physically

Mongoloid Mongoloid () is an obsolete racial grouping of various peoples indigenous to large parts of Asia, the Americas, and some regions in Europe and Oceania. The term is derived from a now-disproven theory of biological race. In the past, other terms ...

, giving as an example the images in Bezeklik at temple 9 of the Uyghur patrons, until they began to mix with the Tarim Basin's original

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...

Tocharian inhabitants. Buddhist Uyghurs created the Bezeklik murals. However, Peter B. Golden writes that the Uyghurs not only

adopted Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

the

writing system A writing system is a method of visually representing verbal communication, based on a script and a set of rules regulating its use. While both writing and speech are useful in conveying messages, writing differs in also being a reliable form ...

and religious faiths of the

Sogdia Sogdia ( Sogdian: ) or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemenid Empi ...

ns, such as

Manichaeism Manichaeism (; in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian prophet Mani (A ...

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

, and Christianity, but also looked to the Sogdians as "mentors" while gradually replacing them in their roles as

Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and rel ...

traders and purveyors of culture. Indeed, Sogdians wearing

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the co ...

robes are seen in the ''praṇidhi'' scenes of Bezeklik murals, particularly Scene 6 from Temple 9 showing Sogdian donors to the Buddha. The paintings of Bezeklik, while having a small amount of Indian influence, is primarily influenced by

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...

and Iranian styles, particularly Sasanian Persian landscape painting.

Albert von Le Coq Albert von Le Coq (; 8 September 1860 Berlin, Prussia – 21 April 1930 Berlin, Germany) was a Prussian/German brewery owner and wine merchant, who at the age of 40 began to study archaeology.''Schatzjagd an der Seidenstraße.'' A film by Susann ...

was the first to study the murals and published his findings in 1913. He noted how in Scene 14 from Temple 9 one of the West Eurasian-looking figures with green eyes, wearing a green fur-trimmed coat and presenting a bowl with what he assumed were bags of gold dust, wore a hat that he found reminiscent of the headgear of Sasanian Persian princes.von Le Coq, Albert. (1913)
''Chotscho: Facsimile-Wiedergaben der Wichtigeren Funde der Ersten Königlich Preussischen Expedition nach Turfan in Ost-Turkistan''
. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer (Ernst Vohsen), im Auftrage der Gernalverwaltung der Königlichen Museen aus Mitteln des Baessler-Institutes

(Accessed 3 September 2016). The Buddhist Uyghurs of the

Kingdom of Qocho Qocho (), also known as Idiqut, ("holy wealth"; "glory"; "lord of fortune") was a Uyghur kingdom created in 843, with strong Chinese Buddhist and Tocharian influences. It was founded by Uyghur refugees fleeing the destruction of the Uyghur Kh ...

and Turfan were converted to Islam by conquest during a ghazat (holy war) at the hands of the Muslim

Chagatai Khanate The Chagatai Khanate, or Chagatai Ulus ( xng, , translit=Čaɣatay-yin Ulus; mn, Цагаадайн улс, translit=Tsagaadain Uls; chg, , translit=Čağatāy Ulusi; fa, , translit=Xânât-e Joghatây) was a Mongol and later Turkicized kh ...

ruler

Khizr Khoja Khizr Khwaja Khan (d. 1399, also known as Khizr Khoja) was the son of Tughlugh Timur and Khan of Moghulistan during the Chagatai Khanate, reigning from 1390 to 1399 AD. Reign as Khan of Moghulistan Khizr Khoja took the throne of Moghulistan af ...

(r. 1389-1399). After being converted to Islam, the descendants of the previously Buddhist Uyghurs in Turfan failed to retain memory of their ancestral legacy and falsely believed that the "infidel Kalmuks" (

Dzungars The Dzungar people (also written as Zunghar; from the Mongolian words , meaning 'left hand') were the many Mongol Oirat tribes who formed and maintained the Dzungar Khanate in the 17th and 18th centuries. Historically they were one of major tr ...

) were the ones who built Buddhist monuments in their area. The murals at Bezeklik have suffered considerable damage. Many of the temples were damaged by local Muslim population whose religion proscribed figurative images of sentient beings; all statues were destroyed, some paintings defaced and others smeared with mud, the eyes and mouths were often gouged out due to the local belief that the figures may otherwise come to life at night. Michael Dillon considered Bezeklik's ''Thousand Buddha Caves'' are an example of the religiously motivated

iconoclasm Iconoclasm (from Greek: grc, εἰκών, lit=figure, icon, translit=eikṓn, label=none + grc, κλάω, lit=to break, translit=kláō, label=none)From grc, εἰκών + κλάω, lit=image-breaking. ''Iconoclasm'' may also be conside ...

against depiction of religious and human figures. Pieces of murals were also broken off for use as fertilizer by the locals. During the late nineteen and early twentieth century, European and Japanese explorers found intact murals buried in sand, and many were removed and dispersed around the world. Some of the best preserved murals were removed by German explorer

and sent to Germany. Large pieces such as those showing Praṇidhi scene were permanently fixed to walls in the Museum of Ethnology in Berlin. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

they could not be removed for safekeeping, and were thus destroyed when the museum was caught in the

bombing of Berlin A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanica ...

by the Allies. Other pieces may now be found in various museums around the world, such as the

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the largest ...

in St. Petersburg,

Tokyo National Museum The or TNM is an art museum in Ueno Park in the Taitō ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the four museums operated by the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage ( :ja:国立文化財機構), is considered the oldest national museum in Japan, ...

in Japan, the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It documen ...

in London, and the national museums of

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic of ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. A digital recreation of the Bezeklik murals removed by explorers was shown in Japan.Reconstruction of Bezeklik murals at Ryukoku Museum
/ref>

Gallery

Image:Turpan-bezeklik-desierto-d03.jpg, View of the valley Image:Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves (23367458033).jpg, View of caves Image:Bezelik Caves 01.jpg, Closer view of caves Image:Turpan-bezeklik-pinturas-d02.jpg, Frescoes of Buddhas Image:Turpan-bezeklik-pinturas-d01.jpg, Frescoes of Buddhas Image:Uigure-bezeklik-17.jpg, A Uyghur prince Image:Museum für Indische Kunst Dahlem Berlin Mai 2006 064.jpg, Uyghur princesses, cave 9, Museum für Asiatische Kunst Image:Museum für Indische Kunst Dahlem Berlin Mai 2006 063.jpg, Uyghur Princes wearing robes and headdresses, cave 9. Image:Bezeklik Caves - Praṇidhi scene No. 5, Temple No. 9.jpg, Praṇidhi scene No. 5, Temple No. 9 Image:Central Asian Buddhist Monks.jpeg, Details from Praṇidhi scene No. 5. Buddhist monks of Tocharianvon Le Coq, Albert. (1913)
''Chotscho: Facsimile-Wiedergaben der Wichtigeren Funde der Ersten Königlich Preussischen Expedition nach Turfan in Ost-Turkistan''
. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer (Ernst Vohsen), im Auftrage der Gernalverwaltung der Königlichen Museen aus Mitteln des Baessler-Institutes

. (Accessed 3 September 2016). or

n origin on left, and East Asian on right File:Ancient Uyghur Art.jpg, A Uyghur painting from the Bezeklik murals File:Bezeklik Caves - Praṇidhi scene No. 6, Temple No. 9.jpg, Praṇidhi scene No. 6, Temple No. 9 File:BezeklikSogdianMerchants.jpg, Details showing

n donors to the

File:A brahmin, Bezeklik, Cave 9, probably 8th-9th century AD, wall painting - Ethnological Museum, Berlin - DSC01737.JPG, An Indian brahmin figure from Cave 9, dated 8th-9th century AD, wall painting File:Turpan-bezeklik-pinturas-d03.jpg, File:Fragment of a Buddhist Wall Painting, Bazaklik, region of Turfan, Sinkiang, China, Central Asian art, 8th century - Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art - DSC09159.JPG, Fragment of a Buddhist Wall Painting File:Marchands, dynastie Tang.jpg, Tradesmen, Tang dynasty File:Museum für Indische Kunst Dahlem Berlin Mai 2006 067.jpg, Uyghur female donor from the Bezeklik murals File:Uigure-bezeklik-19.jpg, Uyghur noble from the Bezeklik murals

Footnotes

External links

*
Chotscho: Facsimile Reproduction of Important Findings of the First Royal Prussian Expedition to Turfan in East Turkistan
', Berlin, 1913. A catalogue of the findings of the Second German Turfan Expedition (1904–1905) led by Le Coq, containing colour reproductions of the murals. (National Institute of Informatics – Digital Silk Road Project Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books)

* Bezeklik mural at Hermitage Museumbr>Silk Route photos
{{Central Asian history Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Xinjiang Chinese Buddhist grottoes Sites along the Silk Road Articles needing Uyghur script or text Religion in Xinjiang Caves of Xinjiang Chinese architectural history Buddhist temples in Turpan

Bezeklik murals

Gallery

See also

Footnotes

Further reading

External links