The Prints of Buddha in Gaochang

Gaochang lied in the Turpan Basin that was in the east of TianShan Mountains--the lowest basin in China. It had created the brilliant ancient culture. After the Buddhism was introduced into China, it had been the largest Buddhist center on the Silk Road and was admired by numerous pious Buddhists.

Gaochang was famous for its wide physiognomy and large gathering of men of talents. In 104B.C., the Wu Emperor of Han Dynasty sent general Li Guangli to go on expedition to Dawan. After Li Guangli led the troops to go out of Hexi, they entered Moheyanzhi. Because of the dry and fervent weather and lack of supply, the diseases often happened in the troops. After entering the Turpan Basin, the natural circumstance of this oasis make the soldiers get up steam. Li Guangli thought that the weather was delightful and they could use the slush of TianShan Mountains to break fresh ground and plant foods. He ordered the patients and the wounded of the troops to quarter at there. Later, it was called “Gaochang Bi”. With the development of population, it had been the place of Wuji Xiaowei’s office established by Han Dynasty and ruled by Dunhuang Prefecture. So Gaochang City had been the exchange place between the Western Regions’ culture and the Central Plain’s culture.

In the period of Wei and Jin dynasties, it had still been the place of Wuji Xiaowei’s office set up by the Central Government and ruled by Dunhuang Prefecture in a long term. In the period of Wei Dynasty of Cao Authority, the prefect of Dunhuang Cangci showed solicitude for the businessmen and he was supported by the businessmen and the civilian. When Cangci died of illness, the businessmen and the civilian gathered in front of Wuji Xiaowei’s office. “Some people use the knife to cut their faces and use the blood to indicate their ambition. They build the memorial temple for Cangci and commemorate him.” So, Gaochang had gradually been the political center in the Western Regions.

In period of Western Jin Dynasty, Hexi had been the shelter of Central Plain’s people after the Yong Jia Rebellion. Gaochang had an opportunity to let the Hans settle in. In A.D.327, the King of Front Liang, Zhang Jun formally set up the Gaochang Prefecture in Turpan and expands the scale of Gaochang City. By the period of Northern Liang, Juqu Wuji and Juqu Anzhou westward moved to Turpan and drove away the Prefect of Gaochang, Hanshuang. Gaochang City became the capital of Northern Liang Dynasty. In A.D.460, Rouran staged a comeback and destroyed Juqu Anzhou. Rouran propped up Han Shuang’s descendant Han Bozhou to be the King of Gaochang. Since then, Gaochang State had been a self-governed authority.

The Ancient Gaochang City had been repaired in past dynasties. The scale of existing city was the relic of the day. Its girth was 3.415 meters and its walls were made from loess. The height of the wall was 11-12 meters and the thickness of wall base was 11 meters. There was a small town outside the city gate and it was a hard fort in the Western Regions at that time. There were streets in length and breadth and many stores. The businessmen sold the goods in the city and there was the largest international market in the Western Regions.

Gaochang had been affected by Buddhism. In Tuyu Gou, the Japanese Expedition Team was lead by Otani Kozui had found a book the Strategic Collected Sutra on Buddha written in the 6th year of Yuan Kang Period of Jin Dynasty (A.D.296). It was the existing earliest sutra with a way of counting the years in the Western Regions. In the period of Northern Liang Dynasty, Juqu Mengxun set up Gaochang Prefecture and the Buddhism developed quickly. After the period of Ju’s Family ruling Gaochanga and Xi Chow in Tang Dynasty, the Buddhism developed continuously.

Lots of relics of Buddhist temples and buildings were kept in the existing Ancient Gaochang City. They mainly lied in the south of the outer city. The basin of temple and Zhiti-style survival grottos and some murals were kept in the southeast; the scale of temple in the southwest was over 10,000 square meters. The basin of the stupa had many small niches. There was a building in the north of inner city called “Khan Barrier”. In the southeast of temple relics, German explorer A.V.Lecog had dug up the “The Memorable Stele for the Benefaction of Juqu Anzhou of Building Temple”, which was sculpted in the 3rd year of Cheng Ping of Northern Liang Dynasty (A.D.445). The experts analyzed that this place had been the imperial temple. The statues, frescos, Murals and other Buddhist arts could show the prosperity of Buddhism in Gaochang City. The Buddhism of Gaochang was mainly the Mahayana. The Hinayana had definite affected in there. After going on a pilgrimage for Buddhist scriptures, Xuan Zhuang passed by Gaochang and lived there for 3 years. He also improved the development of Buddhism.

There were two famous important Buddhist historical sites in Gaochang area. It was “Dinggu Grottos Temple” and “Ningrong Grottos Temple” mentioned by historical material the Picture Sutra of Xi Chow in Tang Dynasty. “Dinggu Grottos Temple” was nowadays the Bezaklik Grottos.

Tuyu Gou, the cultural famous historical site, lied in a small village east over 20 li away from Ancient Gaochang City. There are 46 grottos in the Gou now. The most grottos were carved in Tang Dynasty. The Picture Sutra of Xi Chow unearthed in Dunhuang recorded, “the temple is built against the mountains and the stupa is built in the sky. Just as the star and rainbow in the sky. The mysterious peaks stand upright and the bourn is under the mountains”. At that time, the condition was fit for monks’ meditation. The earliest statues of the grottos in Tuyu Gou were carved in the periods of Jin Dynasty and Sixteen Kingdoms. There was a fresco of Jataka story in a survival grotto in the east of Gou. And there were some words in the fresco. After proclaimed himself the King in Turpan, Juqu Anzhou carried vigorously forward the Buddhism. He carved the grotto in Tuyu Gou and built the statues. In A.D.444, he went to Tuyu Gou to worship the Buddha in person and copied out the Buddha in Preaching on the Sutra of Bodhisattva, so the grottos of Tuyu Gou developed quickly.

The mural style of Tuyu Gou Grottos had been affected by those of Quici and Dunhuang. There were not only Sermon Painting of one Buddha and Two Bodhisattvas, and Painting of Thousand Buddha Meditation, but also the Painting of Jataka Story and Painting of Causes Story.

In A.D.1905 and 1907, after the Russian, A.V.Lecog explored Turpan. He exclaimed with the fine murals and statues in the Tuyu Gou grottos and stole numbers of Buddhist scripture rolls or reels of Tang Dynasty in a sealed adytum. He carried them together to Berlin. It was regretful that these fine Buddhist arts were destroyed in the World War Two.

In A.D.1903 and A.D.1908, the Japanese Otani Expedition Team was divided into five teams to rob the plentiful materials, scripture and bronze etc. A hand-copied book of “Buddha in preaching on the Sutra of Bodhisattva” sign “the Grand Liang King Juqu Anzhou provides it”, was an invaluable cultural remains.

Bezaklik was northeast 57 kilometers away from Turpan County. It and Thousand Buddha Grottos in Tuyu Gou were the bright pearls in Turpan Oasis. Northeastwards along the Gobi in front of Blaze Mountains and entering the Mountains by way of Aydingkol, frontward along the Mutou Gou, there were 83 grottos on the west bank of river valley. In Uygur language, “Bezaklik” meant “mountainside”. The Grottos Temple was also in the mountainside. The original constructing period was during the period of Ju’s Family ruling Gaochang and the construction lasted until A.D.13th century. The scale of construction reached the peak in the period of Song and Yuan dynasties.

Bezaklik Grottos Temple had mainly three styles, including central-pole style, rectangle style and square-arch ceiling style. Among the rectangle style was popular in Bezaklik Grottos Temple and it should be carved in the period of Ju’s Family and the flourishing of Uighur-Gaochang Kingdom (A.D.8th century-A.D.10th century). The archeologists of Xinjiang cleared these relics and found 16 wooden arches that diameter was 75cm and the surface was vermeil or painted under the grotto. Concluding from this, there were large-scale hall and corridor with ladder outside of the grotto at that time.

The existing murals were totally 1,200 square meters and the contents were the Buddhist stories. The thousand Buddha was painted in the ceiling and the Buddhist stories were painted in the two sides. The tall standing Buddha with red cassock, jade-like stone and straw sandals stood on the lotus flowers, which was in full bloom. His expression was kind and majestic. The Bodhisattvas, monks, Brahman and kings clustered round the Buddha and this was used to propagandize the offering and cultivation according to a religious doctrine. There were many murals of merciful Kwan-yin and the nirvana. The back wall of the No.33 grotto was a mural, which showed the disciples were going into mourning after Buddha’s nirvana. The Buddhists of various nationalities surrounded pathetically the Buddha’s body. These Buddhists with different raiment and hairstyle were mournful and serious.

In the Bezaklik Grottos Temple, the murals of kings and queens of the Uighur-Gaochang Kingdom were the colliery and complete elaborate works.

A.V.Lecog robbed this mural in the No.9 grotto (nowadays No.20 grotto) and that was the important materials. In that mural, the king wore the knife, flint, rubstone and needle with lotus-shape crown, large gown and caestus. The queen wore the fish-shape crown and golden and silvery accouterments with the nacarat gown. The raiment was fit in with those mentioned in the Tang Annals. The vigor of style in painting was fine and ingenious and it showed the living custom of Uighur.

The mural of the kings and queens were in the No.32, No.34, No.45, No.47, No.48, and No.53 grottos. The title in Uygur language was kept, meant mainly was “ the empire ruler, …brave Weikai Dekaien was national hero, just like the god”.

In A.D.840, as a branch of Mobei Uighur, Uighur of Gaochang entered Turpan Basin and conquered Gaochang. The Uighur Asilan Khan, namely Lion King, was the ruler of Gaochang. They believed in Manicheism in Mobei, so there were many grotto and murals of Manicheism in Bezaklik. After entering Turpan, they converted to Buddhism and became the pious Buddhists, and they popularized the Buddhism. So from A.D.10th to A.D.11th, the Grottos Temple had become the imperial temple for a special purpose.

During this period, there was a kind of small grotto for the hierarchy except the large rectangle-shape -ceiling grotto. The grotto was divided into front room and back room. The pottery sarīra box was placed in it and the content of the mural was plentiful. There were massif, woods, flying birds, flowers and warriors in the front wall of front room in No.82 grotto.

In the early 20th century, the foreign explorers robbed the Bezaklik Grottos. A.V.Lecog used knife, hammer, and chisel to cut the whole mural and carried back to Berlin of Germany. In Bezaklik Grottos Temple, the marks were left. It was unluckily that the grotto was seriously destroyed. In World War Two, the Allied Forces made the air attack to Berlin and destroyed more than half of 620 murals in Berlin Human Culture Museum. This loss could not be made up.

Compiled by www.travel-silkroad.com
Translated by www.xinghui.com
February 12th, 2001