Xinjiang temple site displays key Chinese characteristics

Question: In your opinion, the Mo'er Temple Site was greatly influenced by Han Chinese Buddhism. Is there any more concrete evidence to support this?

Xiao: In addition to this shape of Buddhist halls, we have also discovered a large, centrally symmetrical building at the Mo'er Temple Site. This building has a rectangular plane and consists of a central hall, side chambers at both ends, and gatehouses on the sides. There is a spacious front courtyard in front of the building.

Within this building, particularly in the central hall, we have unearthed Kaiyuan Tongbao copper coins (a popular Tang Dynasty coin) and numerous fragments of plaster Buddhist statues. This confirms that it was a large Buddhist hall from the Tang dynasty. Unlike other Buddhist halls and monk quarters that face southwest or southeast, this building aligns with the square pagoda, facing northeast, suggesting that they may form a group. This unique architectural form is not found in Buddhist temples in India, Central Asia, and other regions, but shows similarities to the plane structure of traditional single buildings in China's Central Plains, indicating possible influence from the Central Plains.

Furthermore, at the Mo'er Temple Site, we have also discovered two rectangular buildings with front courtyards. These buildings consist of a front hall, side chambers on both sides, a central room, and two rear rooms. In one of the buildings, there is a hearth and a stove, while the other has an excavated cellar. These two buildings have yielded round coins with square holes, as well as coins resembling Jianlun Wuzhu, a type of coin widely used during the Han Dynasty and artifacts related to daily life, suggesting that they were monk quarters. These buildings with such structural characteristics are locally created.

It is worth mentioning that nearly 200 coins have been unearthed at the Mo'er Temple Site, all of which are round coins with square holes. Among them, there are coins resembling the Jianlun Wuzhu and Kaiyuan Tongbao. Many others are likely small copper coins minted locally in imitation of the Wuzhu coins (a Han Dynasty coin), but due to severe corrosion, they are difficult to accurately identify. However, this coinage system is a unique symbol of Chinese culture, reflecting the important position of the Central Plains culture in the Mo'er Temple Site and the local economic life.

Question: What other historical remains can prove the influence of Han Chinese Buddhist culture on Xiyu, or the western regions (a term used to describe today's Xinjiang and Central Asia in the past)?

Xiao: In fact, the influence of Chinese Buddhist culture in Xiyu is quite evident, with a typical example being the popularity of high-rise pavilion-style pagodas in Xiyu. According to Professor Chong Feng from Peking University in his book Buddhist Archaeology: From India to China, the high-rise pavilion-style pagodas in China are a combination of Indian Buddhist thoughts and China's ancient cosmology and inherent beliefs in immortals. Renowned Chinese architectural experts like Liang Sicheng also believe that "although the pagoda is the most significant symbol of Buddhism, it became sinicized upon its arrival in China, transforming into a fusion of Chinese and Indian styles". This sinicized pavilion-style pagoda was transmitted back to Xinjiang during the Tang dynasty.

According to the research conducted by Professor Ran Wanli from Northwest University in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, the Subashi Buddhist Temple Site in Kucha contains both covered stupas and Han Chinese pavilion-style pagodas. Professor Ma Shichang from Peking University's Han Chinese-style Grottoes in Kumtura also points out that there are Han Chinese-style grottoes in Kumtura, which are caves in the Kucha region during the Tang dynasty that have strong Central Plains' cultural influences in terms of their mural themes and forms. They directly transplanted the sutra transformation paintings from the Central Plains, with their composition, figures, architecture, and decorative patterns being almost identical to those popular in the Central Plains.

Additionally, these grottoes also feature statues with Han Chinese characteristics and inscriptions in Chinese, as well as depictions of donors wearing Han Chinese attire. Therefore, some scholars believe that these Han-style grottoes were Buddhist temples funded and built by Han Chinese residents in Kucha, with Han monks serving as abbots. A notable feature is that these Buddha and Bodhisattva statues do not have foreign features, and the secular figures in the sutra transformation paintings are depicted wearing Han Chinese clothing.

Miao Lihui from the Kucha Grottoes Research Institute believes that all the existing caves in the Qipan Grottoes in Kashgar area are covered with truncated pyramid ceilings, a form that is rarely seen in India and Central Asia but quite common in Dunhuang, Gansu province such as Cave 285 from the Western Wei Dynasty (535-556), a typical example of a truncated pyramid ceiling cave. Scholars studying this have proposed that the truncated pyramid ceiling was inspired by the design of canopies, making it a cave ceiling type created in the Han Chinese region.

The axial symmetrical courtyard layout of the Central Plains also influenced the temple layouts in Turpan and Kucha. Furthermore, since the Tang dynasty, many Buddhist temples in Xiyu have Chinese names. For example, recent archaeological discoveries in Beiting Ancient City Site have revealed pottery fragments inscribed with "Beitian Temple". Of course, this is not the only example of Buddhist temples in Xiyu being named in Chinese. Research by Dunhuang scholar Yang Fuxue suggests that Uyghur Buddhism can be seen as a "replica" of Han Chinese Buddhism to some extent.

Question: Can you describe the Buddhism development in Xiyu during the Tang Dynasty?

Xiao: Buddhism in Xiyu flourished during the Tang Dynasty in China. The central government also effectively managed Buddhism in Xiyu, establishing a Buddhist administration position called dusengtong that oversaw Buddhist affairs in Kucha, Shule, Khotan, and Karasahr, with Han Chinese monks serving in these positions.

Hui Chao, a monk from the Silla on the Korean Peninsula, arrived in Anxi (present-day Kucha in Xinjiang) in 727 seeking Buddhist teachings. According to The Biography of Hui Chao, there were numerous Han temples and Han monks in the four towns of Anxi. Among them, Kucha, Shule, and Suyab had the Deyun Temple, while Kucha also had the Longxing Temple. Khotan had the Longxing Temple and Kaiyuan Temple, all of which were official temples at the time and led by Han monks. Shule also had the Deyun Temple, with a Han monk from Minzhou as the abbot.

According to Professor Rong Xinjiang from Peking University's book Hui Chao Records Han Buddhist Temples in Tang Dynasty Xiyu, during the prosperous period of the Tang Dynasty, Xiyu implemented a Han Buddhist temple system, with official temples as the main body following the request of the Tang Dynasty.

Furthermore, during the Northern Wei period, the monk Song Yun traveled to Xiyu to seek Buddhist scriptures. According to his travelogue, Record of Song Yun's Journey, in Qiemo in the eastern part of the Tarim Basin, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas had "non-foreign features".

DeepChina: According to what you have mentioned above, what can be observed from the path of Buddhism's spread in China?

Xiao: Both the Mo'er Temple Site and other existing Buddhist sites in Xinjiang, China, are sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the transmission of Silk Road Buddhist culture was a process of continuous localization and enrichment through the absorption of other cultures.

In fact, while Buddhism was declining in India, it gradually flourished in the Central Plains of China and flowed back westward, forming a center for the exchange of Buddhist culture in Xiyu. Professor Li Silong, a Chinese scholar, stated in his book Translation and Confluence: Interaction between Xiyu and Chinese Buddhism, "Buddhism, originating from Indian civilization, once it entered the East Asian Confucian cultural sphere, developed its own characteristics as Han Chinese Buddhism and gradually flowed back to Xiyu, especially in Xinjiang during the Sui (581-618) and Tang dynasties, enriching the historical connotation of Buddhism in Xiyu."