Studies on the History and Culture Along the Continental Silk Road [1st ed.] 9789811576010, 9789811576027

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Silk Road Research Series Series Editor: Xiao Li

Xiao Li   Editor

Studies on the History and Culture Along the Continental Silk Road

Silk Road Research Series Series Editor Xiao Li, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China

Since the international development strategy known as “Belt and Road” was officially proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, the field of Silk Road studies has attracted renewed attention around the globe. Springer Nature, together with the SDX Joint Publishing Company, has built upon this development with their new academic publication, the Silk Road Research Series (SRRS). As a high-level, interdisciplinary academic platform, the Series will provide both established academics and ambitious early-career researchers an opportunity to present their work. While a considerable part of the research related to the Silk Road is being pursued in China and being published in Chinese, we consider it vital to encourage and assist Chinese experts with publishing their research results in English and in a Western style in the Series. As a new conceptual approach, the focus of SRRS will not only be on the historical, extensive Silk Road trade network that connected the Eurasian civilizations in the distant past; it will also shed light on the contemporary political and economic dynamics that shape the new Silk Road. The content will cover a broad spectrum of fields, including history, archaeology, linguistics, religious studies, geography, art and economics from prehistoric to modern times, and ranging from the Mediterranean and Egypt to Western and Central Asia and China.

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/16069

Xiao Li Editor

Studies on the History and Culture Along the Continental Silk Road

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Editor Xiao Li Renmin University of China Beijing, China

Supported by “B&R Book Program” ISSN 2524-390X ISSN 2524-3918 (electronic) Silk Road Research Series ISBN 978-981-15-7601-0 ISBN 978-981-15-7602-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7602-7 Jointly published with SDX Joint Publishing Co., Ltd. The print edition is not for sale in China Mainland. Customers from China Mainland please order the print book from: SDX Joint Publishing Co., Ltd. © SDX Joint Publishing Co., Ltd. 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Editorial Advisory Board

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.

Prof. Nicholas Sims-Williams (SOAS University of London) Prof. Jianjun Mei (The Needham Research Institute) Prof. Mayke Wagner (German Archaeological Institute, Eurasia Department) Prof. Abdurishid Yakup (Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities) Prof. Etienne de la Vaissiere (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales) Prof. Irina Popova (Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, Russian Academy of Sciences) Prof. Sergei Miniaev (Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cengiz Alyimaz (Ataturk University, Kazim Karabekir Education Faculty, Department of Turkish Language Teaching, Yoncalik) Prof. Mehmet Oelmez Yildiz (Turkey Teknik University) Prof. Dr. M. B. Vosoughi (History Department, Tehran University, Iran) Prof. Ismailova Jannat Khamidovna (State Museum of the History of Uzbekistan, Doctor of Historical Sciences) Prof. Yoshida Yutaka (Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Japan) Prof. Valerie Hansen (Yale University) Prof. Xinjiang Rong (Peking University) Prof. Yuqi Zhu (Peking University) Prof. Qing Duan (Peking University) Prof. Yu Zhang (School of Economics, Renmin University of China) Prof. Xianshi Meng (School of Chinese Classics of Renmin University of China) Prof. Wuyun
Bilig (School of Chinese Classics of Renmin University of China) Prof. Weirong Shen (School of Chinese Classics of Renmin University of China) Prof. Bo Bi (School of Chinese Classics of Renmin University of China) Prof. Yugui Wu (History Institute of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

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23. 24. 25. 26.

Editorial Advisory Board

Prof. Chongxin Yao (Department of Anthropology at Sun Yat-sen University) Prof. Feng Zhao (China National Silk Museum) Prof. Feng Luo (Ningxia Institute of Archaeology) Dir. Dongqiang Er (Shanghai Er Dongqiang Silk Road Vision Literature Centre) 27. Prof. Defang Zhang (Gansu Bamboo Slips Museum)

Series Foreword

In recent years, conducting research on the Silk Road has become a popular trend in the international academia. Without a doubt, this is directly related to China’s Belt and Road initiative. At the same time, we notice that this particular trend is also a reflection on how the academia in the East and the West leverage the topic and engage in dialogue. Furthermore, this represents efforts by scholars in the post-Cold War world to promote direct dialogue on issues that are of common interest, rather talking past each other. There are two senses about the Silk Road. The narrow sense is about economic and cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries in Central Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and the Mediterranean region. On the other hand, the broad sense refers to all kinds of exchanges between the East and the West. As such, understanding of the Silk Road in the academia has long been tilted towards the popular narrative, and a majority of Silk Road research, in fact, caters to the taste of the general public. Nevertheless, the Silk Road epitomizes all kinds of exchanges of material and spiritual cultures across a vast area, from China to Rome, and from the equator to the North Pole. As such, the development of Eastern and Western civilizations and their interactions in Asia and Europe can be understood within the Silk Road framework. In this vein, many far-sighted scholars have long ago started making use of this broad concept to consolidate the many common points emerged from a variety of academic research. This also leads to the emergence of many issues that are of interest to both the East and the West. In particular, the many archeological relics unearthed at old Silk Road towns have become the focal points in Silk Road research, as these relics exemplify the intermixture of Eastern and Western civilizations. Silk Road towns like Chang’an, Dunhuang, Turpan, Bamiyan, Ai-Khanum, Samarkand, and Palmyra have attracted the attention of scholars, and the related Silk Road research is also linked to a wide variety of disciplines, such as archeology, history, Dunhuang studies, Iranian studies, and classical studies. Over the years, there have been many scholarly works on the Silk Road. Yet, on its own, Silk Road is not an official academic discipline. Therefore, the relevant vii

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Series Foreword

research results are classified under the related disciplines. In China, they are often seen through the lens of history of Chinese-Western communications, history of Sino-foreign relations or history of cultural exchange between China and the world. That said, we understand that a stringent Silk Road research requires a scholarly journal about the Silk Road. In the past, due to the popularization of concepts relating to the Silk Road, most magazines dealing with the topic were focused on content that was of popular interest. In fact, only a few titles were scholarly in nature. In the early 1990s, Silk Road Art and Archaeology, a journal published by the Institute of Silk Road Studies, which was in turn founded by Ikuo Hirayama, played an active role in advancing scholarly research on the Silk Road. Unfortunately, the passing away of Ikuo Hirayama had dealt a severe blow to the journal, as it was unable to continue operation. On the other hand, the Silk Road, supported solely by American scholar Prof. Daniel C. Waugh since 2000, has also become unsustainable despite its rich content. Fortunately, under China’s Belt and Road initiative, the academia and publishers in China have shown a great deal of interest in Silk Road research. Within the past two to three years, we have seen the birth of numerous scholarly journals bearing the “Silk Road” name. Among them is Silk Road Research Series, a large-scale and comprehensive scholarly journal edited by Li Xiao and published by Sanlian Bookstore. The first volume, in Chinese, has already been published, and it deals with wide-ranging subject matters, such as archeology, history, the arts, language, religion, and culture. Now, we are launching the English version of Silk Road Research Series, and the content is sourced from the Chinese version as well as fresh contributions. The majority of the authors in the English version are Chinese scholars, and in some senses, this represents the contributions of Chinese authors to this field of study. We also hope that we can engage in dialogue with our international counterparts through this medium to advance research on the Silk Road. As the mother tongue of the authors and editors is not English, it is a challenge for them to publicize their works in this language. We hope that through our concerted efforts, this English-language journal will be more refined in the not-so-distant future. Beijing, P.R. China

Xinjiang Rong

Foreword

The Silk Road was a network of trade routes in Europe and Asia in pre-modern era. After the Age of Discovery, the world saw a rapid move toward globalization, and both Europe and Asia were the main areas of human activities in pre-modern era. The Silk Road connected the period’s major areas of civilization, and it provided a solid historical foundation for a globalized word. An important way to move civilizations forward is through interaction between different civilizations. Interdependency is a defining essence in human civilizations and their related cultures. In short, each of the civilizations is influencing each other, and this process resulted in shared cultural essence in different civilizations and helped those civilizations to progress. Therefore, cultural exchanges have resulted in a rich cultural mosaic. Today, we enjoy the fruits of globalization—convenience, efficiency, and diversity—and it is important to bear in mind that those benefits are the results of the history of knowledge that has been accumulated over a very long period of time. Human beings have paid a dear price—not only sweat and blood but also scarify—in the process. Our obligation today is to learn from the past so that we can gain the right to enjoy a better future. In this vein, it is a sacred mission for scholars to study the history and be inspired by the historical lessons. Silk Road Research Series is an endeavor by scholars to shed light on the issue. Cultural exchange had always been a main theme in the Silk Road. Due to environmental differences, the Silk Road can be sub-divided into land silk road, grassland silk road, and maritime silk road. Due to different audiences, these routes are also known as “The Road of Pottery,” “The Road of Tea Leaves,” “The Road of Spices,” “The Road of Jade,” “The Road of Pilgrimage,” etc. Over the past 2000 years, the number of ways to understand the Silk Road corresponds to the number of tangible and intangible “goods” that passed through it. If we apply our inquiry of globalization into the world in the Silk Road age, we will be moved by our predecessors’ aspirations for peace. In turn, we will have longings about the world’s future, and perhaps we can inspire our fellow citizens in today’s world. Over the years, the advancement in archeological studies on the Silk Road has provided valuable first-hand information for Silk Road research. Suffice to say, ix

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today’s historical study of the Silk Road is enjoying an unprecedented conducive condition. While there are many challenges facing today’s globalization, one thing for certain is that the process is deepening. As far as Chinese scholars are concerned, China’s Belt and Road initiative has given hope to the world and impetus for scholarly research. Developments under the Best and Road initiative can be economical or political, but it is unimaginable that a complete and successful Belt and Road initiative would be without the relevant research in history and culture. The history of the Silk Road is multifaceted culturally and conceptually. If we consider these as the inherent characteristics of the Silk Road, then we should apply these characteristics in Silk Road Research Series. The journal is a serial scholarly publication focusing on the Silk Road’s history and cultural research. To offer a more complete picture about the Silk Road, we also care about the economic and political aspects of Silk Road research. Scholarly value is the first and foremost principle that underpins Silk Road Research Series. The pursuit of realistic results through a stringent scholarly approach permeates this publication. The China Renmin University (CRU) is a comprehensive institution focusing on liberal arts. Silk Road Research Series is a scholarly journal published jointly by the School of Economics and School of Chinese Studies of the CRU. We hope that Silk Road Research Series will become an important scholarly platform for exploring the history and culture of the Silk Road. The Silk Road had wide-ranging cultural and historical aspects, and that provides countless research focus. On that note, we sincerely invite our academic friends to take part in this worthwhile project. Beijing, P.R. China

Xianshi Meng

Contents

1 A Eurasia Perspective on the Silk Road Between Han and Tang Dynasties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Xinjiang Rong 2 About qushu: Carpets or Rugs with Long Hair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Qing Duan and Liang Zheng

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3 The Study of an Ancient Prescription from Xizhou in Tang Dynasty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Xiao Li

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4 The Silk Road Between China and South Asia as Illustrated by the Records of Tang Dynasty’s Buddhist Pilgrim Monks . . . . . . . . Xianshi Meng

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5 Ferghana on the Eve of the Current Era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Farhod Maksudov

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6 Ferghana During the Early Medieval Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Farhod Maksudov

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7 The Representation of Non-Buddhist Deities in Khotanese Paintings and Some Related Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Matteo Compareti

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8 Searching for the Origin of an Art Motif: The Tree as a Universal Separating Device in Early Indian, Iranian, Etruscan, and Chinese Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Hanmo Zhang 9 Verification on the Name and Reconstruction on the Theme of the Wall Paintings and Statue in Kumtura Kuqun Qu Cave 12 . . . . 177 Tao Liu

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Chapter 1

A Eurasia Perspective on the Silk Road Between Han and Tang Dynasties Xinjiang Rong

Abstract This essay is an observation of the trade changes on the continental Silk Road between the second century BC and eighth century AD in a Eurasia perspective. Zhang Qian’s first trip to the West between 138 BC and 126 BC just pioneered the road, but there was no trade formed. In 119 BC, Zhang Qiao had his second journey to the West with 300 envoys and therefore developed the trade far from the Parthian Empire in the West Asia and Sindhu (India) in South Asia to Dayuan (present-day Fergana), Kangju (present-day Tashkent in Uzbekistan) and Greater Yuezhi (Bactria) in Central Asia. From second century BC to second century AD, the routes that transcended Asia and Europe straddled four empires. They were, from east to west, Han dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD), Kushan in Central Asia (c. 30 BC to 226 AD), Parthia in West Asia (mid-3rd c. BC to 226 AD) and Rome in Europe (30 BC to 284 AD). The four empires were at their height, and they were active in expanding their influence. As such, direct linkages between the East and the West were established as there were interactions between the four empires. Towards the end of second century AD and the beginning of third century AD, the decline and fall of the four great empires on the Silk Road, coupled with frequent conflicts, had led to disruptions on the Silk Road. However, this had provided opportunities for small nations on the Silk Road to survive and develop, and entrepot trade run by Sogdian private caravan from Middle Asia became the major way for the trade along the Silk Road. Sogdian merchants reconstructed the trade network along the Silk Road gradually and used a combination of caravans and settlements to control the entire Silk Road trade during the Middle Ages. The trade along the Silk Road was therefore further developed from third to eighth century AD. Keywords The Silk Road · Zhang Qian · Rome · KUshan · Sogdian merchants

X. Rong (B) Peking University, Beijing, China e-mail: [email protected] © SDX Joint Publishing Co., Ltd. 2020 X. Li (ed.), Studies on the History and Culture Along the Continental Silk Road, Silk Road Research Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7602-7_1

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X. Rong

1.1 Introduction Silk Road is a hot topic these days, and among scholars, politicians, and the general public, there are varied understandings about this ancient transcontinental trade network. Even among scholars, due to differences in their specializations and disciplines, their points of view can vary greatly as a result of their perspectives. There is no reason to harmonize the different points of view, but clarifications are called for whenever there are misunderstandings. These misunderstandings are usually results of analyzing the Silk Road from a specific vantage point or geographical perspective. The Silk Road was an ancient network of east-west overland and maritime routes that facilitated communication and interaction between countries. Discussions in this essay are limited to the overland Silk Road between the second century BC and the eighth century AD, and it is hoped that through the perspective of Eurasia, we can generalize the Silk Road’s ups and downs and characteristics during this period. The Silk Road epitomized a lot of things, and our discussions mainly revolved around communication and trade, with occasional references to politics, cultures, etc.

1.2 The Establishment of Trade Along the Silk Road Between Han (China), Rome, Parthia, and Kushan The Silk Road had existed before the Han dynasty, as nomadic tribes in the north were already facilitating the exchange of goods between the east and west. However, sporadic records and archeological findings have enabled us to outline a general picture of the Silk Road at that time. Therefore, sizeable trade on the Silk Road probably began in Han Dynasty. As early as 1877, German geographer F. von Richthofen characterized the transportation routes between China, southern and Western Central Asia, and India, which saw a predominant trade in silk, as Seidenstrassen in German or the Silk Road in English. In 1910, German historian A. Hermann, based on the discoveries and studies of cultural relics, defined the Silk Road as overland trade routes from ancient China to South Asia, West Asia, Europe, and northern Africa via Central Asia. Even though discussions about the Silk Road have been going on for more than a century, and that there have been extensions in regard to the time period and place of the Silk Road, the basic definition still stands. Today, when we discuss the overland Silk Road in Europe and Asia, it is still within the boundaries of this basic definition. If the Silk Road had existed before the Han dynasty, then why we say it began in Han Dynasty? Obviously, this had a lot to do with Zhang Qian’s journey to the West. Zhang Qian was dispatched by Emperor Wu of Han as his imperial envoy, and his journey, for the first time, opened up communication and trade between China and countries in the West. In Chinese history, this epic journey is known as zaokong凿 空, or “opening up”. More importantly, from the second century BC to the second century AD, the routes that transcended Asia and Europe straddled four empires.

1 A Eurasia Perspective on the Silk Road Between …

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They were, from east to west, Han dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD), Kushan in Central Asia (c. 30 BC to 226 AD), Parthia in West Asia (mid-3rd c. BC to 226 AD) and Rome in Europe (30 BC to 284 AD). The four empires were at their height around the epoch year for the Anno Domini calendar era, and they were active in expanding their influence. As such, direct linkages between the East and the West were established as there were interactions between the four empires. The routes between the empires were well maintained, as postal and relay stations were erected at key points, and the routes were used by official couriers to deliver government documents. From the Mileage Book of Postal and Relay Stations wooden slips discovered at Juyan and Dunhuang, we can find out the distance between each postal and relay stations along the route from Chang’an, the capital of Han Dynasty, to Dunhuang, the frontier city.1 From Dunhuang, the route continued to Loulan Kingdom in Lop Nor along the Great Wall and frontier towns. From Lop Nor, it branched off into separate routes and entered the northern and southern areas of the Western Regions. The Yuezhi expanded into the west and occupied Bactria, where step-by-step, a Kushan prince united a host of fragmented small states and formed the Kushan kingdom. The kingdom continued to expand and became an empire in Central Asia during the first century AD. Kushan was well-connected to neighboring areas. Apart from routes to various oasis kingdoms in Tarim Basin through the Pamir Mountains, it was connected to the maritime route linking India and Rome through an overland route from Gandhara, the capital city to Barygaza, a port city on India’s northwest coast. In addition, in the Parthian Empire, there was a “royal road” for communication between the capital city as well as Hecatompylos and Ephesus in Asia Minor. In the east, there was a postal route between Babylon and Bactria, and along the route, postal and relay stations and guesthouses were established for merchants to rest or change horses. The Roman Empire also had a well-established network of roads, with a direct maritime link to India. Due to the richness of Chinese historical documents, we can get a glimpse of certain situations on the Silk Road at that time. In Zhang Qian’s first mission to the West from 138 BC to 126 BC, he merely opened up the route, and there was no trade to speak of as he was kidnapped by Xiongnu midway into his mission. When he embarked on his second mission to Wusun in 119 BC, the situation was completely different. According to the Biography of Dayuan in Chap. 123 of the Records of the Grand Historian: The son of Heaven agreed with this [advice] and appointed [Zhang] Qian to be Leader of the Gentlemen of the Palace, with a force of 300 men; each man had two horses, and the cattle and sheep were counted by the tens of thousands. He took gold, valuables, and silk worth an enormous amount, and there were a large number of deputy envoys bearing their insignia to be sent to the neighboring states, if the roads were feasible…Zhang Qian, therefore, sent his deputy envoys on separate missions to the states of Dayuan, Kangju, Da Yuezhi, Daxia, Anxi, Shendu, Yutian, Wumi, and the adjacent states…About a year later the deputy envoys whom he had sent to make contact with states such as Daxia all came to court, in many cases

1 He

(1998), pp. 62–69; Hao and Zhang (2009), pp. 106–33.

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X. Rong with people from those places, and for the first time the states of the northwest then came into communication with Han.2

Obviously, this 300-person mission, traveling with a large volume of valuable items, was just diplomatic. They were also tasked with conducting trade with these countries. They reached as far as the Parthian Empire in West Asia and Sindhu (India) in South Asia. The areas of focus were Dayuan (present-day Fergana), Kangju (present-day Tashkent in Uzbekistan), and Greater Yuezhi (Bactria) in Central Asia. According to historical records, the deputies that accompanied Zhang Qian on his return trip to Chang’an included officials from Bactria. The “Biography of Dayuan” continued as follows: And Han for the first time built [fortifications] at Lingju 令居 and farther west. At first the prefecture of Jiuquan was founded in order to communicate with the states of the northwest. Thereafter [more] envoys were sent out, and reached Anxi, Yancai, Lixuan, Tiaozhi, and Shendu. As the Son of Heaven had a fondness for the horses of [Da]yuan, these envoys were in sight of each other on the roads. A single mission comprised several hundred members, if large, and a hundred or so if small…Each year the number of Han missions amounted to over ten, if many, and five or six, if few; those that went on long distances returned after eight or nine years, those on shorter distances after several years.3

From this record, it is clear after Zhang Qian’s second mission to the West, the envoys dispatched by Emperor Wu of Han reached as far as Ossetes (present-day Caucuses), Alexandria (Roman Empire) and Seleucid Empire (Syria). The size of those missions could be as large as a few hundred people, or as small as just over 100 people. The frequency of those missions was also on the high side, averaging over 10 missions per year, or at least five or six missions a year. Also, it took a few years for the envoys to return to China proper. There’s also a similar chronicle in the “Biography of the Western Regions”, Chap. 96 of the Book of Han: Originally Emperor Wu had been won over by Zhang Qian’s reports and whole-heartedly wished to open communications with Dayuan and various states. [Han] envoys were in sight of each other [as they made their way] along the routes, and as many as ten missions were sent during a single year… [The area] west of Wusun as far as Anxi is close to the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu had once harassed the Yuezhi; consequently when a Xiongnu envoy carrying tokens of credence from the Shanyu reaches one of the states, the states en route provide a relay service of escorts and food, and do not dare to detain or harm the envoy. When the case of Han envoys arises, if they do not bring out valuables they do not get any food, and if they do not buy horses they have no means of travelling on horseback. The reason for this state of affairs in that Han has been regarded as being distant. However, Han possessed many valuable goods, and consequently purchasing has been necessary to acquire what is required. By the time that the Shanyu Huhanye came in homage to the Han court, and thereafter, all have held Han in high esteem.4

2 Sima

2013, pp. 3918–819; Yu 2014, pp. 41, 44, 46. 2013, p. 1820; Yu 2014, p. 48. 4 Ban 1962, pp. 3876, 3896; Hulsewé and Loewe 1979, pp. 85, 137–138. 3 Siam

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This passage complimented the one in the “Biography of Dayuan”. As the countries in the Western Regions faced threats from Xiongnu in the north, there they treated Xiongnu and Han envoys differently. While this passage in the Records of the Grand Historian also represented Sima Qian’s criticism of Emperor Wu on his decision to dispatch a mission to the west, it also revealed the large scale of trade between Han Dynasty and the countries in the Western Regions, as well as the Parthian Empire. At the same time, Xiongnu also conducted the same kind of trade. The addition in the Records of the Grand Historian concerned about the submission of Huhanye (49 BC) and the weakness of Xiongnu. This, in turn, caused the countries in Central Asia to take a less harsh approach to the Han envoys. Furthermore, it suggested that trade between Han and Central Asia and West Asia was unbroken until Emperor Xuan of Han. The latter period of Western Han saw Wang Mang seized the power and disturbances in China proper. This caused a break in communication with the Western Regions and the control of the Western Regions by Xiongnu. Communication with the Western Regions was re-established, albeit with periodic disruptions, in Eastern Han when Ban Chao managed to control the various countries in Tarim Basin in the Western Regions. In the 6th year of the reign of Yongyuan of Emperor He of Han (94 AD), Ban Chao succeeded in quelling the unrests in the northern and southern areas of the Western Regions, Gan Ying was dispatched to Daqin (the Chinese name for the Roman Empire) in 97 AD. “Biography of the Western Regions”, chap. 88 of the Book of the Later Han noted: In the ninth year of the Yongyuan reign-period of Emperor He (97 AD), the Protector-General, Ban Chao, sent Gan Ying as an envoy to Daqin. He arrived at Tiaozhi, overlooking the great sea. When he was about to take his passage across the sea, the sailors of the western frontier of Anxi told [Gan] Ying: “The sea is vast. With favorable winds it is still only possible for travelers to cross in three months. But if one meets with unfavorable winds, it may even take two years. It is for this reason that those who go to sea always take on board three years’ provisions. There is something in the sea which is apt to make men homesick, and several have thus lost their lives there.” It was when he heard this that [Gan] Ying gave up.5

The Seleucid Empire referred here is actually Antiochia in Syria, and the sea, according to certain scholarship, refers to the Red Sea. People in the Parthian Empire, in an attempt to stop Gan Ying from communicating with the Roman Empire, exaggerated the difficulties of crossing the sea. This obviously had something to do with economic considerations, as the Parthian Empire wanted to take on the role of enter port so that they could earn lucrative profits from trading silk and other goods. The historical records from Han and Rome also suggested that there was no record of direct trade between China and Rome, despite the fact that goods from both sides reached each other’s territory. The bamboo slips from Han Dynasty unearthed at Xuanquan station in Dunhuang also evidenced the historical exchanges between the former and later Hans and countries in Central and West Asia. These bamboo slips could be traced back to as early as 111 BC, i.e., the 6th year of the reign of Yuanding of Emperor Wu of Han, and 5 Fan

1965, p. 2918; Yu 2014, p. 374.

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as late as 107 AD, i.e., the 1st year of the reign of Yongchu of Emperor An of Han. The envoys recorded on the slips came from countries west of the Pamir Mountains, i.e., the Greater Yuezhi, Kangju and Dayuan, as well countries north and south of Tian Shan, i.e., Wusun, Shule (Kashgar), Gumo (Aksu), Kucha, Karasahr, Jushi, Khotan, Yarkant (Shache), Jingjue, Loulan (Shanshan). The farthest envoy came from Alexandria Prophthasia in West Asia. Among these envoys, some groups had more than 1000 people, and they carried with them camels, horses, and even lions. These missions not only engaged in diplomacy but also tributary trade. In short, it matched the records in Records of the Grand Historian and Book of Han and Book of Later Han.6 The discovery of monsoon in the second half of the first century had helped the Roman Empire to open up a direct maritime trade route from the Red Sea to India’s west coast.7 It also helped the Roman Empire to get around the Parthian Empire and take advantage of the much less transportation and transit costs viz-a-viz the overland option. The trade between Rome and India also saw the influx of a large amount of Roman coins into India. Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) recorded in his Natural History Vol. 3, 12.41.84: And by the lowest reckoning India, Seres and the Arabian peninsula take from our empire 100 million sesterces every year – that is the sum which our luxuries and our women cost us.8

According to an anonymous Periplus of the Erythraean Sea Chaps. 49, 56 in the mid-first century, Barygaza and Malabar, the port cities on India’s northwestern coast, had imported a large amount of Roman coins.9 Archeological findings also backed up the records in these documents. According to the statistics, about 8000 Roman coins had been unearthed. Among them, there were 1200 gold coins, almost 7000 silver coins, and a small amount of bronze coins.10 The Kushan Kingdom reached its zenith in mid-second century AD under the rule of Kanishka I. Its territory included the Amu Darya, the Indus River, and a large swath of land in the Ganges. Chinese goods transferred from the oasis kingdoms in the Tarim Basin could be transported to the port on India’s west coast via the Gandhara region, Hindu Kush, and Taxila. From the port, the goods would then be transported to Rome by sea.11 Kushan’s participation also caused the centre of Rome-India trade shifting to India’s northwestern coast. It was also likely that merchants from Kushan took part in the Indian Ocean’s overseas trade activities, and this theory has already been validated by the discovery of Bactrian 6 Hu

and Zhang 2001; Zhang 2004, pp. 129–147; Hao and Zhang 2009, pp. 178–258. a better understanding of the conditions of maritime trade between Rome and India, see Warmington 1928 (rev. ed. in 1974); Wheeler 1955. 8 Pliny the Elder 1855, p. 137. 9 Casson 1989, pp. 81, 85. 10 Wheeler 1951, pp. 374–381; Turner 1989, pp. 23, 45-91; de Romanis 2012, pp. 180–185. The aforementioned numbers are tabulated by Luo Shuai according to the statistical information complied in these three books. Details can be referred to Luo 2015, pp. 108–109. 11 Hudson 2004, pp. 39, 56. 7 For

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and Kharosthi inscriptions, which were used in Khushan, in Socotra, an island located at the junction between the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.12 In general, Han, Kushan, Parthian Empire and Rome were active in conducting external trade once their sphere of influence had reached a certain area. In fact, sizeable trade was conducted among Han, and Kushan and Parthian Empire; Kushan, and Han and Roman Empire; Parthian Empire, and Rome and Han; as well as Rome, and India, Kushan and Parthian Empire. As these countries provided enormous support to the trading activities, the trade was mostly official and long-distance in nature. Quite often a few hundred people or sometimes up to a thousand people were involved in a trading mission. The items involved in the trade included mainly high-end luxurious goods, silk, as well as gold and silver coins. Also, it could not be ruled out that individuals and merchants families were involved in the Silk Road trade, but they were usually deemed as part of a national trading mission. Towards the end of the second century AD and the beginning of third century AD, the decline and fall of the four great empires on the Silk Road, coupled with frequent conflicts, had led to disruptions on the Silk Road. Yet, some newly established nations and tribes on the Silk Road started participating in the Silk Road trade, in addition to collecting business taxes. In essence, this led to the partition of trade that was once the big nations’ hegemony, and the demise of the old trading pattern.

1.3 Rebuilding of the Silk Road Trade During the Middle Ages–Contributions of the Sogdian Merchants From the third century AD, the decline and fall of big states had provided opportunities for small nations on the Silk Road to survive and develop. In Central Asia, whether it was in northwestern India, Tokharistan, Sogdia or Tarim Basin, a host of small kingdoms were established. After the fall of Xiongnu in the north, Xianbei, Rouran and Turkic Khaganate had successively held hegemony over the region north of Gobi Desert, but Rouran and the Turkic Khagnante, the two empires that once controlled Central Asia, inherited Xiongnu’s practice of taxation on those oasis kingdoms rather than ruled them directly. Furthermore, the Sasanian Empire (224–651) in Persia and Gupta Empire (319–500) of India had once deeply influenced Sogdia and Tokharistan, but they did not sever the royal lineage in these kingdoms. The Hephthalites, who moved to the south from the north, once conquered Sogdiana in the late fourth century, and they finally settled in Bactria and became a strong power in Central Asia. At the same time, other small nations continued to exist. The year 552 saw the rise of the Turkic Khaganate, and in 558, it teamed up with Sasanian Empire and wiped out the Hephthalites. The conquerors divided up the Hephthalites’ territory and the boundary was set by Amu Darya. In China, the Three Kingdoms period began in 220, and while there was a brief period of unification under Western Jin, the nation was soon plunged into a tumultuous period where 12 Strauch

2012, pp. 202–203, 205–206.

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it was fractured into Sixteen Kingdoms, followed by the Northern and Southern Dynasties. China was once again unified after Sui defeated Chen in 589. Soon after the establishment of the Tang Dynasty in 618, it started to expand into the Western Regions, and in 658 Tang defeated the Western Turkic Khaganate. As such, nations to the east and west of the Pamir Mountains, and various tribes and nations north and south of Tian Shan became under the control of Tang Dynasty under the Jimi (loose rein) system. The various oasis kingdoms, on the other hand, were wiped out. At the same time, the period saw the rise of the Arabs on the Arabian Peninsula, followed by their eastward expansion. In 651, they defeated Sassanian Iran and entered Sogdia, but they did not conquer the area and exert direct control. In 661, the Umayyad Caliphate, with its capital in Damascus, was active in expanding its territory, and in the early eighth century, the Arabs conquered Sogdia’s core area. After the Abbasid victory over the Tang at the battle of Talas in 751, Tang Empire faced the An Lushan Rebellion in 755. During this period, the Tang forces held firm at Tarim Basin while the Arabs did not cross the Pamir Mountains. During times of conflicts and wars between big nations, official trade missions often became targets for robbery. It was against this environment that the Sogdian caravan started to appear on the Silk Road. As the Sogdian caravan was merely private trade missions, there were little records about them in official history. Yet, through scattered records and archeological findings, we could still come up with a picture of the activities of Sogdian merchants on the Silk Road between the mid-third century and mid-eighth century. The following is a chronological outline of the activities of Sogdian merchants during Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties. During the Taihe era (227–233) in the reign of Cao Rui, Emperor of Wei, Cang Ci was appointed as the governor of Dunhuang. He took actions to suppress the local powerful and wealthy families who harassed the foreigner from the Western Regions. The foreign merchants “[If the merchants] wished to go to Luoyang, the government gave them passports to cross the frontier posts; if they wished to return to their own countries, the government bought all their goods with official goods and at market price, and made sure that they were well looked after en route.”13 As a scholarship pointed out, the “various hu from the Western Regions” should include the merchants from Sogdiana.14 As such, we can ascertain that they used Dunhuang as a headquarter, where some of them headed to Luoyang to carry out their trading activities and the others returned to their homeland from here. This suggested that a trading route had existed between Sogdia and Luoyang with Dunhuang as an intermediary point. Furthermore, the Sogdian Ancient Letters proved that there was indeed a progressive way of trade carried out by the Sogdian merchants. The Sogdian Ancient Letters were discovered by Marc Aurel Stein at the watchtower of the Great Wall northwest of Dunhuang. Scholars have translated letters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. The letters recorded the activities of a Sogdian trade mission from Samarkand in the early fourth century. The mission was based in Wuwei, Liangzhou, and their merchants were sent to areas like Luoyang, Ye, Jincheng (Lanzhou), and 13 Chen 14 Ma

1959, “Biographyof Cang Ci”, p. 512. 1983 (1990), p. 53; Wu 1997, p. 302.

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Dunhuang to conduct trade.15 Letter 6, which has not been fully translated, mentioned trips to Loulan made by the Sogdians for the purpose of trade.16 Although the unrest in China proper in late Western Jin had severely disrupted the trading activities of Sogdian merchants in Luoyang, the letters helped us to understand that these merchants, who came from Samarkand to the eastern section of the Hexi Corridor in China, had used Wuwei as a base to resell goods to other areas. The letters also provided us with information about the goods they sold—spices, medicine, textile, grains, etc. The records of the Sogdian merchants in the Sogdian Letters were also validated by the relevant archeological findings. Marc Aurel Stein excavated some Sogdian wooden slips in the ruins of the ancient city of Loulan located in the northwestern Lop Nor. Same as the Sogdian Letters, these slips were dated in the fourth century.17 Like the document concerning Li Bai letters (written in 328), the Sogdian document Otani No. 6117 was probably discovered from the Loulan.18 It should be noted that in the spot where four Sogdian wooden slips were unearthed, and there was also a Chinese wooden slip numbered L. A. I. iii. 1 which recorded an accounting entry: “The 17th day in the third month in the 18th year of Jianxing (330), Sogdians in Loulan (intelligible) 10,000 shi of food (?) and 200 of coins.”19 The date matches one of the Sogdian wooden slips, and trading volume of 10,000 shi suggested that there was a sizeable number of Sogdians staying in that area. Also, these Sogdians should belong to a community that has had maintained contact with the Sogdians in Wuwei. Going further west is Niya site. In 1994, the Sino-Japanese Joint Research of the Niya excavated a small paper bag tied with a feather rope (number 93A27F1:3) at the Niya 93A27. It turned out the paper bag was a Sogdian letter, probably written between the late third century and early fourth century. The paper bag contained some kind of powder. This could be a discarded letter used to warp certain spices. The 93A27 ruin also saw the discovery of Kharosthi wooden slips with the Chinese words “Chief Commandant of Shanshan Commandant”. This led to speculations that the ruin was once a subordinate organization of a postal and relay station or a guesthouse.20 Furthermore, another Kharosthi document (Kh.35) excavated by Marc Aurel Stein mentioned the following: “At present there are no merchants from China, so that the debt of silk is not to be investigated now. … When the merchants arrive from China, the debt of silk is to be investigated…21 ” It was believed that these merchants from China would bring with them silk so that they could settle the 15 Sims-Williams 2001, pp. 267–280; Grenet, Sims-Williams, and de laVaissière 1998, pp. 91–104;

Sims-Williams 2005, pp. 57–72; Sims-Williams 2017, pp. 171–178. 1996, p. 49. 17 Reichelt 1931, p. 42; Sims-Williams 1976, p. 43, n. 10; Grenet and Sims-Williams 1987, p. 111, n. 42. 18 Yoshida 1996, pp. 69–70. 19 Hu 1991, pp. 41–42. 20 Sims-Williams and Bi 2018, pp. 83–104. 21 Burrow 1940, p. 9. 16 Sims-Williams

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dispute about the silk. It is possible that these merchants could be the Sogdians who brought with them silk and spices. Heading further west on the southern Silk Road would reach Khotan. Marc Aurel Stein discovered a Kharosthi contract (No. 661) at Endere, and it showed that a Sogdian Vagiti Vadhaga (servant of god(s))22 was the buyer. The document contained the regnal years of Khotanese king, but scholarship has not reached an agreement as to which era this Kharosthi document belonged to. Generally speaking, it was believed that this document came from a period not far from the date of the Kharosthi documents unearthed at Niya. This is because, after the fourth century, Khotanese was the language used in daily life in the Kingdom of Khotan, including Endere. Previous scholarship also pointed out that the Sogdian witness in the contract, Nani Vandhaga, carried the same name as the person in Ancient Letter 2 discovered at Dunhuang, Nanai-vandak “servant of Nana”.23 Although we cannot say the two were the same person, Goddess Nana was a shared belief of the Sogdians who went to China in the early days. As the two sets of documents were roughly contemporary, the contract proved that Sogdian merchants, at one point, conducted trading activities in Khotan. Heading west from Khotan would reach the upper Indus area in Pakistan by passing through Khabandha (present-day Tashkurgan in Xinjiang) and Wakhan valley and crossing the Pamirs. In the 1970s and 1980s, German and Pakistani archeologists conducted an archeological survey of the ancient Silk Road along the upper Indus and discovered over 600 Sogdian inscriptions in places such as Chilas, Shatial, and Hunza, which indicated between the fourth to sixth century, there were Sogdians coming from Tashkent, Maymurgh, Ishtikhan, Samarkand, Kushanika,24 as well as the Farn-m¯ethan from the nearby Panjikent. These inscriptions suggested that Sogdian merchants headed south to conduct trade with Indians via Bactria. At the same time, one of the Sogdian inscriptions at Shatial suggested that people from here headed to Tashkurgan in the west of Xinjiang, which linked the trade route of the Sogdians with Khotan. Under the threats from Rouran in the north, it was natural in the early days for Sogdian merchants to use the southern Silk Road on the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert and head east to China via Khotan, Niya, Loulan, and Dunhuang. In contrast to this, the Silk Road on the northern edge of the Taklamakan Desert was not used by the Sogdian merchants until a slightly later period, probably after the midfourth century or even later, evidenced by the appearance of Sogdian merchants on the Kucha mural paintings.25 Also, Sogdian silverwares from the fourth to fifth centuries were discovered in Karasahr.26 Little evidence of the activities of the Sogdians in the

22 Stein

1921, pl.XXXVIII; Boyer et al. 1920, p. 249; Burrow 1940, p. 137. 1965, p. 594; Lin 1986, pp. 98-99. 24 Sims-Williams 1989, pp. 131–137. These issues have been dealt with by the same author: The Sogdian and Other Iranian Inscriptions of the Upper Indus, I, London 1989, II, 1992. 25 Rong 2005, pp. 207–230; Kageyama 2005, pp. 363–375. 26 Watt et al. 2004, pp. 185–188; Bi 2014. 23 Brough

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northern Silk Road might be due to the lack of documents, whereas more documents were excavated in Turfan which provided us with more information. The colophon of The Golden Light Sutra (Suvarnaprabhasa-Sutra), unearthed from Anjanlik, Turfan, showed that in 430 there was a landmark building, Hutian Temple, located in the east of Gaochang. Based on the Sogdians’ practice of establishing Zoroastrian temples in their colonies by Sogdian merchants along the Silk Road, it was believed that there was a Sogdian settlement in the east of Gaochang.27 The Scale-fee Tax Receipts of Gaochang was a record of tax concerning the trade of spices and perfumes in Gaochang under the rule of the Qu Family (502–604). Among the 30 or so transactions, both parties involved were mainly Sogdians from Samarkand, Kushanika, Ishtikhan, Bukhara, and Tashkent. Although the sellers were from the west and the buyers were locals in Gaochang, they were all Sogdians. The trade involved gold, silver, silk, aromatics (including spice, incense), turmeric, ammonium chloride, copper, brass, medicine, and raw sugar. Aside from silk, most of the items were imported goods from the West, and transactions involving those items were in large-scale.28 This document demonstrated that the Sogdians were conducting trade in precious metal, spices, silk, etc. in Gaochang. Sogdian merchants from the west transported the goods to Gaochang in bulk and then sold them to the Sogdian merchants in Gaochang. Here, the Sogdian merchants would distribute or transport the items in bulk to Hexi or the Central Plains for sale. The document vividly depicted the business model of the Sogdian merchants, and it matched the descriptions in the Ancient Letters written in the Sogdian language. As recorded by the Ancient Letters, places east of Dunhuang were a trading paradise for the Sogdian merchants. Letter 2 mentioned Wuwei, a major base of the Sogdian merchants. Letter 5 also mentioned that Wuwei in the fourth century was a trade distribution point of the Sogdian merchants. They stored goods here and dispatched merchants elsewhere to sell the goods.29 The passages about Sogdiana in the “Biography on the Western Regions” in the History of the Northern Dynasties (Chap. 97) gave a clearer explanation of the issue: “Merchants of that country used to come in great number to the district Liangzhou to trade. When Guzang (i.e., Wuwei) was conquered by the Northern Wei all of them were captured. At the beginning of the era of Wencheng, the king of Sogdiana sent embassies to ask for their ransom, which was granted by the order of the Emperor (Gaozong).”30 It is evident that when the Northern Wei defeated Northern Liang and seized its capital (439), they captured a large number of Sogdian merchants living in Wuwei and resettled them in Pingcheng (present-day Datong), the capital of Northern Wei and neighboring areas. This measure was to enrich the capital area by leveraging the Sogdian merchants’ wealth. In 452, the king of Sogdiana sent an emissary to ask for the ransom of these merchants. The emissary made it clear that these merchants were of importance to Sogdiana and that the Silk Road trade could not be. 27 Rong

2007, pp. 1–13. 1992, pp. 450–453. Cf. Zhu 1982, pp. 17-24; Jiang 1994, pp. 138–139, 175. 29 Grenet et al. 1998, pp. 91–104. 30 Wei 1974, p. 3221. 28 Tang

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Wuwei in Liangzhou was the principal city of Hexi which explained why there was a large number of Sogdian merchants living there. Historical sources records: “For generations, from An Nantuo in the Northern Wei to his grandson Panpoluo, they lived in Liangzhou for generations and served as sabaos.”31 Almost at the same time in Liangzhou, the Emperor of the Northern Zhou appointed Shijun (Wirkak) as the sabao of Liangzhou. Anjia, the sabao of Tongzhou in the late Northern Zhou period, also came from Liangzhou.32 Both appointments represented the existence of Sogdian settlements, and the settlement resulted from a Sogdian merchant mission that consisted of hundreds of people. This showed how prosperous the Sogdians were in Wuwei. This also explained why the brothers An Xinggui and An Xiuren toppled the regime of Li Gui in Liangzhou so easily, and eventually handed the conquered land of Hexi to the newly founded Tang Dynasty. In recent years, large-scale tombs of the Sogdian leaders, Kang Ye, Shijun and An Jia were discovered in the eastern suburbs of Chang’an, capital of the Northern Zhou. This meant the Sogdians enjoyed a certain status in Chang’an. In the chap. 146 of Tongdian, “Music”, a passage about“The Music of Kucha” says: “A Turkic woman was betrothed to Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou as empress, and countries in the Western Regions sent bridesmaids for the occasion. Therefore, musicians from Kucha, Kashgar, Bukhara, and Samarkand gathered in Chang’an. The Emperor assembled the foreigners in Chang’an and asked Bai Zhitong, a Jie person teach the new music.”33 This suggested that in the court of the Northern Zhou, there were many Sogdians serving as musicians and dancers.34 The “Biography of Liu Qing”, Chap. 22 of the Book of Zhou recorded that a Sogdian family in Yongzhou was robbed35 because it was a merchant family and was considered relatively wealthy. As the capital of the Northern Zhou, Chang’an must have been a vital place for the Sogdian trade. Another important place for the Sogdian trade in China was Luoyang. The “Biography of Cang Ci” quoted above mentioned that “[If the merchants] wished to go to Luoyang, the government gave them passports to cross the frontier posts.” This suggested that from early on, the Sogdian merchants went to Luoyang and made it as their trade destination. The Ancient Letters offered further proof that the Sogdian merchants in Wuwei in the later Western Jin period also went to Luoyang to conduct trade. In 493, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei moved the capital to Luoyang, and the city, once again, became the centre of north China. At the same time, it also saw an influx of Sogdian merchants. According to the Chap. 3 of the A Record of Buddhist Monasteries in Luoyang, “From the west of the Pamir Mountains to Daqin (Roman Empire), where thousands of cities in hundreds of countries and all have 31 “Surname

An” under “Guzang, Liangzhou” in Lin 1994, p. 500.

32 The Xi’an Institute of Archeology and Antique Preservation 2005, pp. 4–33; The Shanxi Province

Institute of Archeology 2001, p. 8, Photo 7, pp. 25–26; Also, idem 2003, pp. 59–63. 33 Du 1988, p. 3726. 34 About the Sogdians in Chang’an during the Northern Zhou period, please read Bi 2005, pp. 149– 171. 35 Linhu 1971, p. 371.

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come over and pledged allegiance. Foreign merchants daily descend from the passes of the mountains, and these are people who come from every place in the world. Those who take delight in China and its scenery and settle down are too numerous to be counted. There are more than ten thousand families who have settled in China.”36 Obviously, the Sogdian merchants were among the foreign merchants in this text. In late Eastern Han, Cao Cao was bestowed with the title of Duke of Wei. He lived in Ye, and the city was of utmost importance during the Three Kingdoms period. The Sogdian Letters mentioned the east end of their trading routes was Ye,37 which suggested an early presence of the Sogdians in the city. After the break-up of Eastern and Western Wei, Ye became the capital of Eastern Wei and later Northern Qi. The Sogdians from the Northern Qi brought with them distinctive customs and practices, and that was relished by historians. In the Northern Qi bureaucracy, there was safu for the capital and safu for each prefecture. Safu (i.e., Sabao) was essentially the leader of a Sogdian settlement, and this suggested the Sogdians had strong influences in the Northern Qi. A set of the stone coffin was once excavated at Anyang on which the pictures of a Sogdian leader traveling and attending a banquet were depicted. Based on this, the scholarship suggested the coffin belonged to a safu.38 Sogdian merchants also helped the Northern Qi to conduct multinational trade. For example, the “Chronicles of Tuyuhun” in the chap. 50 of the Book of Zhou stated that in 553, the second year of the deposed Emperor of the Western Wei, Tuyuhun, a nomadic tribe in the territory of Qinghai “established diplomatic contacts with Qi. Upon learning of their return trip, the Governor of Liangzhou Shi Ning led a force to attack them at Chiquan to the west of Liangzhou and captured the military official Qifu Chuban and General Di Panmi, as well as 240 Sogdian merchants, 600 camels, tens of thousands of silk.”39 The mission sent from Tuyuhun to Qi was obviously also a caravan whose leaders were Qifu Chuban, General Di Panmi and its main body were the Sogdian merchants. This caravan from the Northern Qi was ambushed by the Western Wei armed forces near Liangzhou, which resulted in the capture of 240 merchants, 600 camels, tens of thousands of silk, and this suggested that the trade mission was of considerable size. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties period, the footprints of Sogdian merchants also reached south China. One particular route to the south passed through Xiangyang. According to an essay in Sengyou’s Collected Records Concerning the Tripitaka, in the first year of the era of Ningkang of the Eastern Jin (373), Huichang, a s´raman.a in Liangzhou, asked Kanger, a trader in Liangzhou to bring the Da´sabh¯umika S¯utra to Chang’an. This Sogdian merchant of Samarkand origin delivered the sutra to Chang’an in the fifth month of the first year of the era of Taiyuan (376). In the tenth month in the second year of the era of Taiyuan (377), An Fahua, a monk in Chang’an, delivered the sutra to a trading institution, followed by the delivery of the sutra to Xiangyang by a trader. As such, we can reconstruct 36 Zhou

1987, p. 132. 1948, pp. 608–609. 38 Scaglia 1958, pp. 9–28. 39 Linhu 1971, p. 913. 37 Henning

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the trading activities of the Sogdian merchants from Guzang to Chang’an, and then from Chang’an to Xiangyang.40 Obviously, An Fahua was a Sogdian in origin, and he was responsible for the transportation of Buddhist scriptures in Chang’an. And in Chang’an, there must have been Sogdian merchants responsible for the transportation of goods. Another route to the south started from the Hexi Corridor. After passing through the Songpan area, it reached Chengdu. From Chengdu, it followed the Yangtze River where it could reach the capital of the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties, Jiankang (Nanjing). Due to the frequent hostility between the Southern Dynasties and the Xianbei regime in the north, the northwestern hub of this route lied in Tuyuhun, a kingdom in Qinghai, from where travelers could bypass the Hexi Corridor occupied by the northern regime and traveled west across Qinghai. These travelers could reach the Shanshan area by crossing the Altyn-Tagh. From there, they could continue heading west and reach Khotan, or heading north and reach Gaochang.41 According to the “Biography of Shi Daoxian” in the Chap. 26 of Supplementary Memoirs of Eminent Monks: “Shi Daoxian was an enlightened monk. He was a merchant and originally from Kangju (i.e., Samarkand). During the period between Liang (Southern Dynasties) and Northern Zhou period, he traveled between Wu and Shu (present-day Sichuan area), where had accumulated lots of jewelleries. The goods he obtained could fill two boats and valued at tens of thousands of guans (a unit of currency).” He later converted to Buddhism and sank all the valuables into the river.42 Also, the “Biography of He Tuo” in the chap. 75 of the Book of Sui recorded: “He came from the Western Regions, and his father’s name was Xihu. He did business in the Shu area, and the family lived in Pi County. He served under the Prince of Wuling and helped him to manufacture goldware and silk products. As such, he accumulated a great fortune and known as a wealthy merchant in Xizhou.”43 He Xihu was obviously a Sogdian merchant coming from Kushania, and it was believed that he entered the Shu area via the Tuyuhun route. The Sogdians “were everywhere profit is to be found.” Apart from entering the oases in the Western Regions and China, the Sogdians also entered the various nomadic kingdoms in the north. For example, in the pictures on the sarcophagus of Wirkak, there is a depiction a sabao, the leader of the Sogdian caravan, visiting the leader of the Hephthalites. And the picture on the funerary couch of Anjia shows a Sogdian sabao meeting and feasting with the leader of the Turks. According to the Byzantine historian Menander, Western Turkic Khagan Istämi once sent a Sogdian Maniakh as head of a trade mission to Persia. He requested to sell silk products within the Persian territory freely, but the request was refused. In 567, the Turks broke off their relationship with Persia. In early 568, Istämi dispatched Maniakh to Constaninople on joint Turkic-Sogdian diplomatic mission. Upon its 40 Zhu

1988; Here after: Zhu 2000, pp. 327–336. 1958, pp. 40–50; also in Xia 2000; Zhou 1982, pp. 65–72; Wang 1986, pp. 145–152; Rong 2018, pp. 59–82. For a detailed examination, see Chen 2002. 42 Taish¯ o Tripit.aka, Volume 50, p. 651. 43 Li 1974, p. 2753. 41 Xia

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arrival at Byzantium, the mission received a warm welcome by Justin II (reigned 565–574), and both sides formed an alliance. In August 568, Byzantine ambassador Zemarchus returned to the Turkic Khaganate with Maniakh, and both sides saw frequent interaction afterward. This had led to the establishment of a trade route to Byzantium that bypassed Persia and went through the Caucasus.44 From the pictures, in the funerary couch of Anjia, we can ascertain that the trade of the Sogdians in the east was protected by the nomadic tribes in the north. Professor N. Sims-Williams has pointed out that the Sogdians were not only the facilitators in the trade between Sogdiana and China but also the broker of the trade between China and India.45 Professor Jiang Boqin also emphasized that the Sogdians were, in fact, the broker of the Silk Road’s trade during the Middle Ages.46 Evidence above indicates, the Sogdians progressively formed their own trade networks between Sogdiana and China, as well as between China and India, and between the northern nomadic tribes and the southern agrarian communities. These networks spanned from the south to the north, and from the west to the east. At the same time, colonial settlements were established as their east-west trade transfer points at the junctions of the networks. The Sogdian merchants were led by sabaos, and mission after mission departed from Sogdiana and arrived at various points on the Silk Road, where they offloaded their goods. Some of them returned to Sogdiana and some of them decided to continue their journey. The process resulted in the continued replenishment of both the merchants and the settlements. Therefore, it can be said that after the fall of Han, Kushan, Parthian, and Rome empires, small countries did not have the resources to manage large-scale trade. The Sogdians in Central Asia seized the opportunity to slowly revived the Silk Road trade. They used a combination of caravans and settlements to control the entire Silk Road trade during the Middle Ages. Even at the height of the Turkic Khaganate and the Uyghur Khaganate, and the rule of China by the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Silk Road trade was firmly controlled by the Sogdians. From the Sogdian documents excavated at Dunhuang, Turfan, and the Western Regions, we can see that from the early seventh century to mid-eighth century, trade between China proper and the Western Regions was dominated by the Sogdians. And before An Lushan launched his rebellion, he used the Sogdian merchants’ networks to “secretly conduct trade, from which he managed to sell hundreds of thousands of precious goods every year.”47 Through these clandestine activities, An Lushan managed to amass the capital he needed to start a war. After the An Lushan Rebellion, the horse and silk trade between the Uyghur Khaganate and Tang Dynasty was also controlled by the Sogdians. Although historical materials about the Sogdian merchants are fragmented, we can still piece together different historical records and ascertain that the active roles the Sogdian merchants played on the Silk Road during the Middle Ages.

44 Blockley

1985, pp. 111–117. 1996, pp. 45–67. 46 Jiang 1994, pp. 150–226. 47 Yao 1983, p 12; des Rotours 1962, pp. 108–109. 45 Sims-Williams

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1.4 Conclusion The Silk Road was a trade and transportation route with close ties to China. Yet, it was also related to other countries in Europe and Asia. The prosperity of the Silk Road trade was a result of the efforts of different countries. While the geographical and political environments on the Silk Road that transcended Europe and Asia were not favorable, the route was never completely cut off. There were different characteristics in the Silk Road trade at different times. From the second century BC to third century AD, it was mainly long-distance trade between the great powers. During the Wei, Jin, Southern, and Northern Dynasties, the route was dominated by private groups such as the Sogdian merchants, who first conducted intermediary trade among small nations, followed by an increase in volume and size. This has revived the Silk Road trade networks. Most of the time, the Silk Road trade in Eurasia was a linear development, but rather it was developed in phases.

References Ban G (1962) The book of Han. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Bi B (2005) Sogdians and Sogdianization in Northern Zhou’s Chang’an (in Chinese). J Lit Hist Issue 4:149–171 Bi B (2014) Sogdians in Yanqi (Karasahr) (in Chinese), paper presented at the International symposium. Sogdians in China: New Evidence in Archaeological Finds and Unearthed Texts. Yinchuan, August Blockley RC (1985) (ed. and trans.) The history of Menander the guardsman, (ARCA, 17). Liverpool Boyer AM, Rapson EJ, Senart E (1920) Kharosthi Inscriptions, I. Oxford Brough J (1965) Comments on the third-century Shan-shan and the history of Buddhism. Bull School Orient African Stud 28:585–612 Burrow T (1940). A translation of the Kharosth¯ı documents from Chinese Turkestan. London Casson L (1989) The Periplus Maris Erythraei, text with introduction, translation, and commentary by L. Casson. Princeton University Press, Princeton Chen L (2002) Henan road of the Silk Road (in Chinese). China Social Sciences Press, Beijing Chen S (1959) Records of the three kingdoms. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing de Romanis F (2012) Julio-Claudian Denarii and Aurei in Campania and India. Annali dell’Istituto Italiano di Numismatica 58:180–185 des Rotours R (1962). (tr.), Histoire de Ngan Lou-chan (Ngan Lou-chan che tsi). Paris Du Y (1988) Tongdian. In: eds., Wang Wenjin’s version with punctuations. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Fan Y (1965) The book of later Han. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Grenet, F. and N. Sims-Williams 1987, The Historical Context of the Sogdian Ancient Letters, in Transition Periods in Iranian History, Leuven, pp. 101–122 Grenet F, Sims-Williams N, de la Vaissière E (1998) The Sogdian ancient letter V. Bulletin of the Asia Institute, XII, pp 91–104 Hao S, Zhang D (2009) The studies on the Xuanquan wooden slips (in Chinese). Gansu Culture Press, Lanzhou, pp 106–133 He S (1998) Northwestern postal routes and facilities in Han—an examination of the Chinese slips ‘mileage book of postal and relay stations’ from Jiaqu houguan and Xuanquan” (in Chinese). J Nat Museum China Issue 30:62–69

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Henning WB (1948) The date of the Sogdian ancient letters, BSOAS 12: 601–615 Hu P (1991) A translation of excavated cultural relics from Loulan” (in Chinese). J Cultural Relics (8):41–7 Hu P, Zhang D (2001) A selected collection of the interpretation of the Xuanquan wooden slips found in Dunhuang (in Chinese). Shanghai Guji Press, Shanghai Hudson GF (2004) Europe and China. (trans: Li S et. al.) 2nd edn. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Hulsewé AFP, Michael L (1979). tr., China in Central Asia: the early stage, 125 B.C.–A.D. 23: an annotated translation of Chapters 61 and 96 of “the history of the former han Dynasty. Bril, Leidenl Jiang B (1994) Documents from Dunhuang and Turfan about the Silk Road (in Chinese). Cultural Relics Publishing House, Beijing Kageyama E (2005) Sogdians in Kucha: a study from archaeological and iconographical material. Les Sogdiens en Chine, sous la direction de Étienne de la Vaissiere et Éric Trombert. École française d’Extrême-Orient, Paris, pp 363–375 Li Y (1974) History of the Northern Dynasties. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Lin B (1994) Yuanhe Xingzuan (Register of surnames of the Yuanhe reign) with four annotations, annot. Cen Zhongmian, complied by Yu Xianhao and Tao Min, revised by Sun Wang, Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company Lin M (1986) The question of the date of Sogdian ancient letters excavated at Dunhuang (in Chinese). J Chinese Hist Stud Issue 1:87–99 Linhu D (1971) Book of Zhou. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Luo S (2015) Changes in the Indian ocean trade as seen from the Roman coins excavated in Indian subcontinent (in Chinese). Journal of Turfan Studies—Essays on Ancient Coins and Silk: Selected Papers, the Fourth International Conference on Turfan Studies, eds. Academia Turfanica and Turfan Museum, Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Press, pp. 108–109 Ma Y 1983 (1990) Study of Central Asians who visited China in Late Eastern Han (in Chinese). originally in the Collection of economic theory and economic history essays. Peking University Press, Beijing included: Ma Yong, Study of cultural relics from the western regions (in Chinese). Cultural Relics Publishing House, Beijing, pp 46–59 Pliny the Elder (1855) Natural History, tr. with copious notes and illustrations by J. Bostock & H. T. Riley. Henry G. Bohn, London Reichelt H (1931) Die soghdischen Handschriftenreste des Britischen Museums. II, Heidelberg Rong X (2005) Sabao or Sabo: Sogdian Caravan Leaders in the Wall-Paintings in Buddhist Caves. Les Sogdiens en Chine, sous la direction de Étienne de la Vaissiere et Éric Trombert. École française d’Extrême-Orient, Paris, pp 207–230 Rong X (2007) Colophon of ‘Golden Light Sutra’ from Turfan and the early introduction of Zoroastianism in Gaochang Area (in Chinese). In: Zhu Y (ed) Literature and history in the Western Regions 2 edn. Science Press, Beijing, pp 1–13 Rong X (2018) The Rouran Qaghanate and the Western Regions during the second half of the 5th century based on a Chinese document newly found in Turfan (tr. Wen Xin), Great journeys across the Pamir Mountains: A Festschrift in Honor of Zhang Guangda on his Eighty-fifth Birthday. Brill, Leiden, pp 59–82 Scaglia G (1958) Central Asians on a Northern Ch’i Gate Shrine. Artibus Asiae, XXI, pp 9–28 The Shanxi Province Institute of Archeology (2001) The Tomb of An Jia Discovered in Xi’an” (in Chinese), in Cultural Relics, Issue 1, pp 4–26 The Shanxi Province Institute of Archeology (2003) The Tomb of An Jia in Northern Zhou’s Xian (in Chinese). Cultural Relics Publishing House, Beijing Sima Q (2013). Records of the Grand Historian. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Sims-Williams N (1976) The Sogdian fragments of the British Library. The Indo-Iranian J XVIII:43– 82

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Sims-Williams N (1989) The Sogdian Inscriptions of the Upper Indus: a preliminary report. In: Antiquities of Northern Pakistan. Reports and Studies, 1: Rock inscriptions in the Indus Valley, ed. K. Jettmar, Mainz, pp. 131–7 Sims-Williams N (1996) The Sogdian Merchants in China and India. Cina e Iran da Alessandro Magno alla Dinastia Tang, ed. A. Cadonna e L. Lanciotti, Firenze, pp. 45–67 Sims-Williams N (2001) The Sogdian Ancient Letter II. In: Schmidt MG, Bisang W (eds) Philologica et Linguistica: Historia, Pluralitas, Universitas. Festschrift für Helmut Humbach zum80. Geburtstag am 4. Dezember 2001. Trier, pp. 267–280 Sims-Williams N (2005) Towards a new edition of the Sogdian Ancient Letters: Ancient Letter 1. de la Vaissière E, Trombert E (eds) Les Sogdiens en Chine. Paris, pp 57–72 Sims-Williams N (2017) The Sogdian Ancient Letter No. 4 and the personal name Manavaghichk. Estudios Iranios y Turanios 3:171–178 Sims-Williams N, Bi B (2018) A Sogdian fragment from Niya. In Chen H, Rong X (eds) Great Journeys across Pamir Mountains: a Festschrift in Honor of Zhang Guangda on his Eighty-fifth Birthday. Brill, Leiden, pp 83–104 Stein A (1921) Serindia. Detailed report of explorations in Central Asia and Westermost China. vol 5. Clarendon Press, Oxford Strauch I (ed) (2012) Foreign sailors on Socotra, the inscriptions and drawings from the Cave Hoq. Hempen Verlag, Bremen Tang Z (ed) (1992) Excavated documents from Turfan I. Cultural Relics Publishing House, Beijing Turner PJ (1989) Roman coins from India. Royal Numismatic Society, London Wang Y (1986) Study of Qinghai Road of the Silk Road (in Chinese). Historical Geography, Issue 4:145–152 Warmington EH (1928) The Commerce between the Roman Empire and India. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (rev. ed. in 1974) Watt J et al (2004) (eds) China. Dawn of a Golden Age, 200–750 AD. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Wei S (1974) History of the Northern Dynasties. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Wheeler REM (1951) Roman Contact with India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. In: Grimes WF (ed) Aspects of archaeology in Britain and beyond: essays presented to O. G. S. Crawford. H.W. Edwards, London, pp 374–81 Wheeler REM (1955) Rome beyond the Imperial Frontiers. The Camelot Press, London Wu Y (1997) A study of the Sogdian An family at Liangzhou” (in Chinese). Journal of Tang Studies, vol. 3 Peking University Press, Beijing, pp 295–338 The Xi’an Institute of Archeology and Antique Preservation (penned by Yang Junkai and Sun Wu) 2005 A Brief Report of the Excavation of the Tomb of Shi Jun (Wirkak), sabao of Liangzhou in Xi’an, Northern Zhou (in Chinese). In: Cultural Relics, Issue 3, pp 4–33 Xia N (1958) Coins from the Sasanian Empire Excavated at Xining, Qinghai (in Chinese). Archeology, Issue 1:40–50 Xia Nai (2000) The Works of Xia Nai. Social Sciences Academic Press, Beijing Yao R (1983) The factual traces of An Lushan, vol 1. Shanghai Guji Press, Shanghai Yoshida Y (1996) Additional notes on Sims-Williams’ article on the Sogdian Merchants in China and India, Cina e Iran da Alessandro Magno alla Dinastia Tang, ed. A. Cadonna e L. Lanciotti, Firenze, pp 45–67 Yu T (2014) A Concise commentary on memoirs on the Western Regions in the official histories of the Western and Eastern Han, Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern dynasties. In: (ed) VH Mair. The Commercial Press, Beijing Zhang D (2004) The studies and discussions on the records about the Western regions in the Xuanquan wooden slips, (in Chinese). In: Rong X, Li X (eds) The relationship between China and the Foreign countries: new materials and new questions. Science Press, Beijing, pp 129–147 Zhou W (1982) Study of ancient Qinghai Roads (in Chinese). J Northwest Univ Issue 1:65–72 Zhou Z (1987) An annotated translation of a record of Buddhist temples in Luoyang (in Chinese). Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing

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Zhu L (1982) Taxation in the Qu’s Kingdom of Gaochang (in Chinese). Materials on the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties, Sui and Tang, Issue 4, pp 17–24 Zhu L 1988 (2000). Trading between in Guzang, Chang’an and Xiangyang during the Eastern Jin, Sixteen Kingdoms period (in Chinese), originally In: Economic development of the Ancient middle Yangtze region. Wuhan, Wuhan Publishing House; Here after: Zhu Lei, Essays on the Dunhuang and Turfan documents (in Chinese), Lanzhou, Gansu People’s Press, pp 327–36

Chapter 2

About qushu: Carpets or Rugs with Long Hair Qing Duan and Liang Zheng

Abstract The five Carpets of Lop Museum are actually ko´savas or kojavas. In the Pali Text Society’s Pali-English Dictionary, kojova is explained as ‘a rug or cover with long hair’. The present paper is about some new knowledge achieved through analysis based on Kharos.t.h¯ı documents from Niya and archaeologically unearthed pieces of carpets which show that neither patterns of design, nor material, nor the purpose of usage did determine the terminology for carpets, but different technics applied in knotting have given birth to varied terms, and ko´sava or kojava designates one type of carpets. According to Xuan Zang “氍毹” ko´sava is the most striking tradition from Khotan. The five carpets of Lop Museum are the best evidence from this tradition. As proven, all knots of these carpets are tied in U form. This makes up one of the two conditions that make the type of carpets to be named ko´sava or kojava. The second one which has led to the explanation of the Pali-English Dictionary is that the carpets are with long hairs, however, it is to be noticed that they are tufted to the backside. Searching the etymology of ko´sava we have come to a series of Sumerian words that show a possible etymological connection with ko´sava. They are kuš, kus ‘skin, animal hide, leather’, kuš-amar ‘calfskin’, kušum4, kušu ‘herd of cattle or sheep; livestock’. It seems that ko´sava or kojava may be a compound word of Sumerian ku´s ‘animal hide’ with the foregoing word of Khotanese pe’ma- and Persian pašm, both of which mean ‘wool’. Whatever the etymology is, it is quite for certain that ko´sava or kojava has retained itself in modern languages, from which English word cozy and German word kuschelig are derived. Keywords Khotan · Ko´sava · Kojava · Knotting technics · Sumerian

Q. Duan (B) Peking University, Beijing, China e-mail: [email protected] L. Zheng Professor of Jimei University of China, Xiamen, China e-mail: [email protected] © SDX Joint Publishing Co., Ltd. 2020 X. Li (ed.), Studies on the History and Culture Along the Continental Silk Road, Silk Road Research Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7602-7_2

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2.1 Introduction “qushu” (wool rug) is a term frequently appeared in ancient Chinese literature. Cen Sen, a frontier poet in the Tang dynasty, wrote in a poem about a dance that he saw, “The hall is decorated with red wool carpets, let’s try this unique dance in the world.” In essence, the author was describing not only the wonderful dance but also the captivating imagery of the wool carpets. So, what exactly are these wool carpets? Are there still ancient wool carpets or rugs that have been preserved? In recent years, through multiple research and study, as well as comparing physical items with literature, we believe that the qushu wool carpets collected by Xinjiang Lop Museum are the ancient qushu. To facilitate further research by experts, it became necessary for us to publish what we know so far, and the first thing is to clarify concepts relating to qushu.

2.2 The Technical Aspects of qushu What is qushu? Is it just a piece of carpet? There are no simple answers to this question due to differences in habits and customs between people living in the Central Plain and frontier regions. People of Central China were good at manufacturing textile using silk and had multiple terms describing silk products based on different manufacturing techniques. For example, juan (tappy silk); lian (white silk); ling (damask); luo (gauze); chou (pongee); and duan (satin). The variety of terms is due to the different textile techniques, but terms for flock carpets, in the Chinese language, were identified according to functionality, such as carpet and tapestry. But in ancient Xinjiang, according to extant Hu language documents, such as the Kharosthi documents unearthed at Niya, there are clearly three distinct terms relating to flock wool fabric. Previous studies have already determined that in the Kharosthi documents, the way to name and identify different flock fabric was done according to the differences in flocking techniques.1 In fact, terms like “ta deng” (carpet) and “qushu” did appear in ancient Chinese literature. The issue was that the real meanings of these terms were not fully explained from a technical perspective. qushu was usually written as kojava or ko´sava in the Kharosthi documents as recorded on wooden tablets. As early as 1936, German scholar Heinrich Lüders already pointed out that kojava in Kharosthi/G¯andh¯ar¯ı is in fact kocava (Lüders 1936, p. 5), mentioned in Arthashastra, an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy, written in Sanskrit. On the other hand, renowned

1 Duan and Tshelothar (2016) have already published the essay entitled “Wine, Rug, Felt and Woolen

Fabric” and studied the various terms relating to textile products in Kharosthi. This essay focuses on concepts about “qushu”. For explanations on other terms, please refer to Duan and Tshelothar 2016, pp. 53–68.

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twentieth-century French scholar Paul Pelliot went further and suggested that the Chinese term qushu is a transliteration of kojava/ko´sava.2 The meaning of the term is mentioned in Yiqiejing yinyi (Pronunciation and Meaning in the Complete Buddhist Canon), authored by the Tang dynasty lexicographer monk Huilin. In the book, he pointed out that qushu means wool tapestry.3 In Pali, the Kharosthi term ko´sava is written as kojava, and it appears multiple times in annotated Pali literature, such as Lakkhana Sutta.4 Therefore, the term and its meaning are included in all kinds of Pali-English dictionary. In the Pali-English dictionary published by Pali Text Society, the meaning of the term is listed as “a rug or cover with long hair, a fleecy counterpane.” For kocava (qushu), the same dictionary points out that it possesses specific characteristics. According to the English explanation, if we compare kocava with other types of wool carpets, then it is quite possible that kocava is a long-haired wool flock rug. As such, in Pali, qushu is described as having an extremely soft texture. So how soft is it? We can get some clues from a Pali analogy. In short, five nikayas (collections) of the Pali Canon (the standard collection of Buddhist scriptures in the Theravada tradition, as preserved in the P¯ali language), such as the D¯ıgha Nik¯aya (Collection of Long Discourses) and the Majjhima Nik¯aya ¯ (Collection of Middle-length Discourses), are equivalent to D¯ırgha Agama and ¯ Madhyama Agama, respectively, in Chinese Buddhism. Yet, there isn’t any equivalent in Chinese Buddhism scriptures for the Khuddaka Nik¯aya (Minor Collection). Nevertheless, scriptures from the Minor Collection can be seen in various Chinese Buddhist scriptures, such as Dhammapada, a collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form. From the early fourth century onwards, the Chinese translation of Dhammapada contains differences in style and verse from the Pali version, but it can still be determined that both versions are the same work but of different derivations. In fact, the major difference between Pali Canon and Chinese Canon lies with annotation. The annotations in the Pali version of Dhammapada contain a lot of folklores. For example, many stories are included before Chap. 2 Appam¯ada-vaggo (On Nonlaxity), and one of the stories is about a wealthy man in Kosamb¯ı, a city in ancient India. This man brought home a royal baby boy and raised him up. Subsequently, his wife gave birth to a baby boy, and the man decided to kill the foster-son. The man tried to set the foster-son up multiple times; on one occasion, he ordered his maid to bring the foster-son to a canyon high up in the mountain and push the foster-son 2 Pelliot, Paul. 1959–1973. Notes on Marco Polo, ouvrage posthum, publié sous les auspices de l’Académie des Inscriptions e Belles-Lettres e avec le Concours du Centre national de la Recherche scientifique, vol. 1–3. Refer to vol. 1, page 492. 3 Huilin 慧琳, Yiqie Jing Yinyi一切经音义 [= pronunciations and meanings in the complete Buddhist canons]: “氍毹……织毛为文彩, 本胡语也。此无正翻。俗曰毛锦, 即文罽也。” CBETA, T54, no. 2128, p. 383. [= qushu: wool weaving for embellishment, originally from Hu language and no official translation. Colloquially known as wool damask, aka wool carpet.]. 4 For example, it appears in the following compound noun: kojava-kambala-paccattharanam . “beddings like qushu, blanket, etc. Refer to SV. part III, p. 924 and Burrow 1937, p. 84.

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down the canyon. However, the canyon was covered in bamboo forest with thick layers of Chinese liquorice on the top. As such, the foster-son suffered no injuries after falling down, and eventually, the foster-son was adopted by a passer-by. In the Pali language, there is a saying about the incident: Tam . kho pana pabbatakucchim . niss¯aya mah¯avel.ugumbo pabbat¯anus¯areneva vad.d.hi, tassa matthakam . ghanaj¯ato jiñjukagumbo avatthari. D¯arako patanto kojavake viya tasmim . pati (CD. 1, p. 177)

In essence, it means “That canyon is covered in great bamboo forest with thick Chinese liquorice on the top. When the child falls, it is just like falling onto a kojava.” As we can see, this saying encapsulates the softness of qushu. Obviously, when the child was pushed into the canyon, his life should be endangered, but because of the bamboo forest and the thick layers of Chinese liquorice, the child was unscathed after falling into the canyon, as if he were falling onto a wool carpet. Such an analogy tells us that the surface of qushu must be thick, as it is used to analogize the thick layers of Chinese liquorice in the bamboo forest. And qushu is not like today’s rug or carpet, which consists merely of a thick flocked surface. Per the English explanation, qushu must be a long-haired carpet or rug. So where is the long hair? In May 2017, we arrived at the Xinjiang Lop Museum and made a close observation to the carpets collected by the museum. With permission, we turned over the carpets and found out that on the reverse side, the carpets are covered with thick long hair (Photo 1). As it turned out, beyond the colourful-flocked surface, there is another layer with long hair. Also, the long hair on the reverse side is undyed. The coloured wool came from white sheep and brown sheep. In sum, the surface consists of a colourful-flocked surface and the reverse side consists of pure colour wool. As such, we can say that qushu is actually a dual-layer rug—two carpets combined into one. And in the Pali-English translation, the so-called “with long hair” actually means the long hair on the reverse side. The physical items in the Lop Museum also help us to understand the analogy in Dhammapada—that is why the analogy emphasizes the canyon is covered in bamboo forest with layers of Chinese liquorice. This is because qushu is a combination of two carpets, and the bamboo forest refers to the long hair on the reverse side of qushu, whereas the Chinese liquorice layer refers to the flocked surface. In fact, the flocking technique for qushu required a special knotting method. Jia Yingyi, a researcher at the Xinjian Museum, did an analysis of the different types of flock carpets and recorded her findings in A Research of Xinjiang Ancient Rugs (Jia 2015). She identified three different knotting methods. First, the horseshoe buckle—as seen in flock carpets unearthed at Niya. Also, the two colourful carpets with tortoiseshell patterns unearthed at the Niya tombs in Minfeng County were flocked with the horseshoe buckle method.5 Second, U shape—this flocking method is evident in the five carpets collected by the Lop Museum. This U shape method is obviously different from the method used to flock the carpets unearthed at Niya. 5 For details, refer to the descriptions in Chap. 7 of Jia 2015. My description is based on Jia Yingyi’s

private communication.

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As stated by Jia Yingyi, the U shape method “uses float stitching to knit. Once the fabric has been knitted, a pair of scissors is used to cut the yarn. After further processing, plush fabric is formed, which is similar to present-day velvet pile fabric. Carpets knitted by this method have a dense pile, and the fabric is softer and is better at warmth retention.” (Jia 2015, 186). Such a method is also known as velvet knitting. Apart from these two methods, the third method is known as the Iranian buckling. All three methods have been mentioned in the Kharosthi documents unearthed at Niya. At this stage, a complete explanation can be made for qushu. To begin with, in ancient times, there was the definition made by Huilin, where he mentioned “colourful knitting or birds and beasts, aka wool tapestry.” (CBETA, T54, 711) In modern days, we call it a combination carpet or rug. The top layer was knitted by the U-shape method and the bottom layer with protruding long hair. Pattern is seen on the surface, whereas the long hair on the bottom carpet is used to increase the level of softness.

2.3 qushu Depicted in Niya’s Kharosthi Documents The term qushu appeared frequently in Niya’s Kharosthi economic documents recorded on wooden slips, and it is believed that such a frequent appearance indicated that qushu was used as tax payments or as a means of payment for business transactions. Generally speaking, flocked wool fabrics were considered as valuable high-end items. Previously, we mentioned that in the Kharosthi documents, there are three distinctive terms relating to three types of rug. The differences between the terms lie with the flocking technique. They are: Ko´sava (kojava): “qushu” (wool carpet or rug) tavasta´ga “ta deng”: a carpet knitted with the horseshoe buckle method. It shares the same origin as the German word “Teppich”. Arnavaji: a kind of flock wool rug. Literally, it is probably a rug knitted with the Iranian buckling method.

The three terms represent different qualities of flock wool carpets or rugs, and their values naturally differed. However, when it comes to tavasta´ga carpets, the emphasis in the Kharosthi documents is on the carpets’ dimensions, and one would infer that the valuation of the carpets must be based on dimensions. When it comes to qushu (ko´sava), it seems like there are no differences in dimensions, as the records only indicated the quantity in each transaction. There were no records about dimensions. We can first examine the dimensions and prices of these tavasta´gacarpets. The British Library’s Helen Wang did in-depth research on this issue, and the following provides a brief account of Wang’s research findings (Wang 2004, p. 68). The tavasta´ga carpets had multiple dimensions; due to different eras in the historical documents, and that the fluctuation in price had something to do with era, our study was limited to several documents from the third century. It should be noted that the following documents were written during the reign of King Am . gvaka, who

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succeeded the throne at around 245 BC and ruled for 38 years. For example, the Kharosthi documents KI 431–432 recorded the head of a family presented a 13-inch6 carpet to the queen who asked for one golden coin. In KI 579, it mentioned a 13-inch carpet, valued at 12 copper coins.7 Also, there were carpets measured at 8, 6, 4 feet, etc. Yet, KI 583 is the document that can shed mostly light on the issue. The document is about a transaction of a camel, and two carpets—measured at 4 and 6 feet—were used as items to exchange for the camel. Also, a qushu was included as part of the transaction, but its size was not mentioned. In sum, it is clear that information about size would be included whenever tavasta´ga carpets were mentioned. At least 10 Kharosthi documents mentioned qushu as an item to offset taxes or for exchange of goods. In all of these cases, the mentioning of qushu always included information on quantity, irrespective of size. Some documents indicated that before the reign of King Mayiri,8 which is in the third century, the value of qushu was basically set at 5 copper coins.9 For example, KI 327 mentioned the trafficking of humans, where the vendee gave the vendor one qushu, valued at five copper coins. KI 549 is an important Kharosthi document, as it made the first mentioning of 10 a Shanshan king, Rom . graka. Until recently, the king’s name was misread. Lin Meicun believed that Rom . graka, only appeared twice on the Kharosthi documents, should be King Am gvaka’s grandfather. However, according to KI 549, we can refine . Professor Lin’s opinion. Rom . graka was Am . gvaka’s predecessor and reigned for a short period of time.11 As such, KI 549 was likely written at least prior to 245. KI 549 is a document concerning the sale of land. The vendee gave the vendor a special qushu from Khotan. (The original text is “Khotaniya alena kojava,” meaning alena qushu from Khotan),12 and five units of foodstuff. The total payment was valued at 15 copper coins. KI 222 was written during the 22nd year of the reign of Mayiri (or spelt as Mahiri), roughly within the first 10 years of the fourth century. Grand Secretary Som . jaka bought a piece of land and used a qushu to exchange for it. At this moment, the qushu was valued at 10 copper coins, which was doubled the previous value. This could be due to the special status of Som . jaka, or as time progressed, the value went up as well.

6 This

is approximately a carpet of 3 m. Refer to Duan and Tshelothar 2016, p. 63. muli in Kharosthi means one copper coin. Refer to Wang 2004, p. 68 for details. 8 It is widely believed that King Mayiri succeeded the throne between 283 and 289 AD. 9 KI 327 mentions about the 23rd year of a reign of a king, and the area where the king’s name should appear is damaged. But the wooden slip recorded a witness by the name of Karam . tsa. This person lived during the era of king Am . gvaka. Refer to Duan and Tshelothar 2016, p. 31. 10 Misread as Tomgraka. Refer to Lin 1991, p. 43 and to Duan 2018, p. 27. . 11 Such an inference is due to two factors: First, there are also a limited number of Kharosthi documents relating to Rom . graka. Second, the name “Karam . tsa” appears in KI 549, and this person was active during the reign of Am . gvaka. 12 We are uncertain as to what exactly is alena, as the term appeared once only. Etymologically, it should be similar to Sanskrit words a¯ laya or -¯al¯ına, meaning a residence or home. 7 Helen Wang opined that one

2 About qushu: Carpets or Rugs with Long Hair

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According to the evidence we have found, the size of qushu was fixed and not too big as reflected in the Kharosthi documents. The conclusion is based on comparing the value of a tavasta´ga carpet. If the measurement of this kind of carpets reached 13 feet (3.12 m), then its value during the 70 s and 80 s in the third century should be equivalent to one gold coin or 12 copper coins. And a qushu had a value of five copper coins. We need to emphasize that our review of the Kharosthi documents indicates that there was no mentioning of size respecting the transactions of qushu. This suggests that apart from the flocking method and the protruding long hair characteristic, qushu had a fixed size. This led us to take another look at the qushu collected by the Lop Museum. Of the five qushu, the largest two are measured at 256 cm × 150 cm (#1) and 220 cm × 199 cm (#2), respectively. The two big carpets, while matching the characteristics of qushu—U-shape buckle and long-haired underneath layer—but the size is not unified. We believe that it is inappropriate to use the specifications of the two big carpets as specifications of qushu. This is due to the fact that all figures on the carpets are images of deities. The surrounding geometric patterns are images of griffins hunting cloven-hoofed animals, which are auspicious guardians for the divine world (Duan 2020, pp. 28–30). The images knitted into the centre are deities that were worshipped by people. Given these patterns the carpets must be made for a specific religious ceremony, therefore, they cannot be regarded as examples of typical specifications. Also, In Jia Yingyi’s book, there is a mentioning of a lion pattern wool carpet unearthed at the Yingpan Tombs, and this carpet is one of the seven surviving carpets knitted with U shape buckling. The size of this rug is rather big, measured at “312 cm in length and 178 cm in width.”13 During the uncovering process, the carpet was found covering a coffin with colour drawings. Obviously, the carpet was made for a funeral, not everyday use. As such, the dimensions could not be used as a reference point for the size of everyday use qushu. Apart from the two big carpets, Lop Museum also collected three smaller carpets measuring 118 cm × 118 cm. There were close links between the manufacturing of the big carpets and small carpets—they were made for a religious ceremony. However, the three smaller carpets have an equal size—square in shape. Referencing the value of an ancient carpet measuring 13 historic feet (approximately 3.12 m), a rug measuring 118 cm × 118 cm would be roughly equivalent to 5 historic feet, per the conversation rate of 1 Chinese foot equals to 24 cm.14 As 13 ancient feet represent 2.6 times of 5 historic feet, that is broadly equivalent to the ratio between 12 and 5 copper coins (2.4 times). This illustrates our belief that the three smaller carpets at the Lop Museum can be regarded as examples of standard specifications. While the three carpets were knitted with U shape buckles, they don’t have a base rug with protruding long hair. However, it is observed that felt of the same size is attached to each of these three carpets. This could be an alternative form of qushu that instead 13 Jia

2016, p. 186. Photo and citation in p. 176. calculation is based on the basis that hasta in G¯andh¯ar¯ı means feet, approximately 23 or 24 cm. Refer to Duan and Tshelothar 2016, p. 63 for details. 14 The

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of base carpet with long hair, and additionally attached piece of felt may function as the bottom layer either. Irrespectively, it is considered to be a combination rug.

2.4 qushu—A Specialty of the Kingdom of Khotan It is unnecessary to discuss again that qushu was a speciality of Khotan. The clearest record came from renowned Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang. He wrote: Gostana, a country that spans 4000 miles, and a vast majority of the land is covered with sand. The soil is not rich, and they grow grains and fruits. Also, the country manufactures qushu and fine felts, plus a speciality of spun silk. The land yields white and black jade” (Xianlin et al. 1985, p. 1001).

As previously mentioned, it was Paul Pelliot who first identified qushu was a Chinese term transliterated from the Kharosthi-G¯andh¯ar¯ı word kojava or ko´sava. The question then follows: what is the etymology of the term? This term under discussion has different spellings within the Indo-language family. In fact, even in the Kharosthi documents unearthed at the same location, there could be two different spellings. The variations in spelling are also evident in Arthashastra, an ancient Indian treatise written in Sanskrit. qushu was rendered as kaucapa (Zhu 2015, p. 90) in Sanskrit and kojava in Pali. The spelling also varied in G¯andh¯ar¯ı, a dialect spoken in northwestern India, and other regional dialects. This suggests that the term didn’t etymologically come from one or another of the above-mentioned Indic languages. We believe that kojava or ko´sava is originally a Khotanese term because an Indic ´ as spelt in Kharosthi, always became -´sa- in Khotanese (or -´sa’- in Later -ja-, or -ja Khotanese); for example, the Sanskrit word dhvaja, meaning pennant or flag, is spelt as da´sa- in Khotanese; the Sanskrit word tejas, meaning energy or power, is spelt as tt¯ıs´a- in Khotanese. As such, there are reasons to believe that kojava in Kharosthi is likely spelt as *ko´sava- in Khotanese. Unfortunately, to this day, we are still unable to find a corresponding term in Khotanese. Of note is that some interesting Khotanese economic documents have been unearthed at the Hetian area, such as those brought back to Sweden by Sven Hedin.15 Within those documents, some mentioned taxation on textile products, and those cases happened between the last 30 years of eighth century and the first 10 years of ninth century. On the other hand, some Khotanese documents even talked about knitting and weaving households, similar to those in Tang dynasty, where spun silk or brocade was presented to authorities to offset tax burden. Yet, in all of these documents, we haven’t seen any mentioning of qushu being used as items offsetting taxes.16 This is obviously different from the documents unearthed at Niya where tax items are listed. Suffice to say, the changes with time means changes in tax items as well. It is clear that qushu was not a tax item in the Kingdom of Khotan, and at the very least within a 30-year period between 15 Sven

Hedin’s Khotanese Documents are mainly anthologized in H. W. Bailey, Khotanese Texts 4, Cambridge, University Press, 1961. 16 Details can be found at: Duan and Wang 2013.

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eighth and ninth centuries, it wasn’t listed as a tax item or a means of payment in transactions. In our search for the origin of the word kojava/ko´sava, we are certain that it didn’t originate from any ancient Indic dialects. As we could not locate its etymology in Sanskrit or Pali, we turned our focus to the ancient Iranian languages since qushu was a specialty of Khotan. Perhaps due to the limited surviving vocabularies from the old Iranian languages, we were unable to locate the origin in either Avestan (representing the old East Iranian language branch) or old Persian language. Yet, the qushu collected in Loupu Museum represented myths of Sumerians—the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia, while supposedly the name of a Khotanese goddess, b¯ujsam . j¯a-/b¯ujsyaj¯a- goes back to an origin of Sumerian language (Duan 2017, p. 13). Therefore the term qushu may also have left a very long history behind. As it turned out, there were some surprising similarities. The followings are related Sumerian terms: kuš, kus → skin, animal hide, leather kuš-amar → calfskin kušum4 , kušu → herd of cattle or sheep; livestock17

Kojava/ko´sava looks like a compound noun, of which the first part can be traced back to the Sumerian term ku´s (animal hide) and kušum, kušu (livestock). The second part likely includes the meaning of calfskin. In Khotanese and Persian, calfskin is known as pe’ma- and pašm, respectively. In sum, we believe that the original term meant in part “knitted with woo”. Although this theory cannot be confirmed, it is encouraging to see that consistency can only be found in Sumerian language. If we leave the etymology of the term aside, we found out in modern Indo-European languages certain vestiges of Kojava/ko´sava although the meaning has shifted: For example, cozy in English and kuschelig in German. Both terms mean warmth and comfort, which can trace their origins to the term qushu. We believe that qushu was actually a flocked wool carpet or rug invented by the Sakas. It had brought warmth and comfort to generations of people in Middle Asia. While modern people have forgotten about what exactly qushu is, its meaning has retained in our languages. Acknowledgements This text is one of the interim results from a major project of the National Social Science Foundation, “Dunhuang and Khotan: The Inter-influence of Buddhist Art and Material Culture”. (Project number 13&ZD087).

17 These words and their meaning are citied from Sumerian Lexicon, edited, compiled, and arranged

by John, Alan, Halloran. 2006. Los Angeles: Logogram Publishing: 153a and 154a.

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References Burrow T (1937) the language of the Kharos.t.hi Document from Chinese Turkestan. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge CBETA = Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association CD 1 = Norman HC (ed) (1970) The commentary on the Dhammapada, vol. I. Part I. Published for the Pali Text Society. Luzac & Company, LTD, London Duan Q (2017) Greek Gods and traces of the sumerian mythology in carpets from the 6th century. In: Silk road studies. Inauguration issue. SDX Joint Publishing Company, Beijing, 1–17 Duan Q (2018) Esoteric ancient history of Cad.ota and Shanshan. Int J Eurasian Stud 7:21–34 Duan Q (2020) Legends and ceremonies—based on the observation of the Qu shu Collection at Xinjiang Lop Museum. In: Li X (ed) Non-Han Literature Along the Silk Road, pp 21–45 Duan Q, Wang H (2013) Were textiles used as money in Khotan in the seventh and eighth centuries? J Royal Asiatic Soc 23(02):307–325 Duan Q, Tshelothar (2016) Wine, rug, felt and woolen fabric. In: The Kharosthi documents collection at Qinghai Tibetan medical culture museum. Zongxi Book Company, Shanghai pp 53–68 Ji X et al (1985) (revised edition). Chronicles of the Western Regions during the Great Tang. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Jia Y (2015) A Research of Xinjiang Ancient Carpets. Shanghai Guji Press, Shanghai KI = Boyer AM, Rapson EJ, Senart E, Noble PS (1997) (reprint). Kharos.t.h¯ı Inscriptions, discovered by Sir Aurel Stein in Chinese Turkestan. Clarendon Press, Oxford Lin M (1991) A study of the genealogy of Shanshan kings in the era of Kharosthi. Western Regions Studi 1:39–50 Lüders H (1936) Textilien im alten Turkistan. Abhandlungen der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Phil.-Hist. Klasse. Nr. 3. 3-38. Lüders, Heinrich. 1973. In Kleine Schrieften, ed. Oskar von Hinüber, Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag GMBH 447:445–480 SV = Stede W (ed) (1971) Suma˙ngala-Vil¯asin¯ı, Buddhaghosa’s Commentary on the D¯ıgha-Nik¯aya. Part III (suttas 21–34). Published for the Pali Text. Luzac & Company, LTD, London T = 大正新脩大藏經 Taisho Tripitaka (according to CBETA) Wang H (2004) Money on the silk road, the evidence from Eastern Central Asia to c. AD 800. The British Museum Press, London Zhu C (2015). Translated and categorized Arthashastra—introduction. In: Translated text and categorization. Peking University doctoral thesis

Chapter 3

The Study of an Ancient Prescription from Xizhou in Tang Dynasty Xiao Li

Abstract Through the study of an ancient prescription from Tang Xizhou unearthed at Nara, Japan, this essay argued that the unearthed prescription not only suggested the widespread exchange of Chinese culture in the Tang dynasty but also the rapidity of such exchange. The unearthed prescription also helps scholars to engage in a deeper study of the health care system and the level of health care in the ancient Gaochang area. At the same time, it also provides evidence on medical exchanges between the Tang Dynasty and Japan. The author discussed the matter from four angles: the origin of the prescription, the academic significance of the prescription, the background of the origin of the prescription and the reasons why the prescription was spread to Japan. Keywords Xizhou in tang dynasty · Ancient prescription · Studies

3.1 Introduction In 2001, the Archaeological Institute of Kahsihara in Nara, Japan conducted the third and fourth survey at Asuka Kyo Enchi Iko, the site of a large pond in the garden located in Asuka, and discovered a wooden slip which contained relics from Xizhou of the Tang Dynasty period. The slip was a prescription based on the Xizhou Emergency Decoction, a medicinal remedy for stroke patients. The wooden slip was unearthed at the same time as another wooden slip that contained records of raw materials for the making of wine by winemakers in the Ministry of the Imperial Household (The Museum affiliated to Archaeological Institute of Kahsihara 2002). Asuka was Japan’s Imperial capital during the Asuka period, and it is located in the present-day village of Asuka, Nara Prefecture. From the mid-sixth century to the late seventh century, Asuka was the center of Woguo (the old Chinese name for Japan). As the wooden slip was a relic from the Asuka period and contained a prescription imported to Japan from Tang Dynasty, its unearthing not only supplements historical records and the records X. Li (B) Renmin University of China, Haidian District, Beijing, China e-mail: [email protected] © SDX Joint Publishing Co., Ltd. 2020 X. Li (ed.), Studies on the History and Culture Along the Continental Silk Road, Silk Road Research Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7602-7_3

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of medicinal prescriptions unearthed at Dunhuang, Gaochang and Turpan but also helps us to understand the level of health care in ancient Gaochang and the cultural linkage between the central government of Tang Dynasty and Gaochang. Moreover, it sheds light on the level of cultural exchange between the Tang Dynasty and ancient Japan. As such, the significance of the wooden slip should not be underestimated. While the herbal medicines listed on the prescription were incomplete, the remaining ones were produced locally in Xizhou. In fact, marine products and medicines from the southeast were not found. Therefore, there is no doubt that the prescription did come from Xizhou, and it’s possible that Han residents in Gaochang prepared the prescription in accordance with traditional Chinese medicine principles, and by combining medicines from the Western Regions and native residents’ remedies.

3.2 The Origin of the Prescription and the Reasons for Its Spread to Japan Located in the hinterland of Tin Shan in the east of Xinjiang, Turpan has been, since ancient times, inhabited by humans. According to archeological findings, from mid1000 BC onwards, the area was occupied by an ancient tribe named “Gushi” (Jushi), and they had already entered the Iron Age period. Apart from using and producing iron tools, the people were living a life of ironworking mixed with agriculture (Li 2003, p. 6). Since Zhang Qian’s mission to the West, the Turpan area and Chinese proper had established a direct linkage. From Han to Tang, the area saw a series of changes with respect to its administration. First, it was Gaochangbi (Gaochang Fort), followed by Gaochang Commandery and the related Jushi Kingdom. The area then saw the unification under Gaochang and submission under Tang, in which it became a prefecture—Xizhou—under the Tang Dynasty. Volume 174, “Prefecture and Commandery 4” in Tongdian stated that Xizhou during Tang Dynasty was already a key town in the Western Regions with “11,193 households and a population of 50,314 people.” “Xizhou, now administers Gaochang County. During the Han period, it was the seat of the former Jushi king, as well as the place where Emperor Yuan of Han established the Wuji Xiaowei (Wuji Commandant). Due to the launch of a Western military campaign, it became a place of residence for those tired and weary soldiers. As the area was a plateau, it was therefore named as Gaochang Fort. There were eight cities, and the inhabitants were Chinese people. Zhang Jun, the Former Liang ruler, set up Gaochang Commandery. This was continued in Later Wei and then fell under the control of the Rouran Khaganate. Eventually, the area came under the control of Qu Jia and his successors for generations. In the 14th year of Zhenguan of the Great Tang (640 AD), the area was conquered by Tang Dynasty and became known as Xizhou where a dudufu (military government) was established. Eventually, the dudufu was turned into Jinshan Protectorate, or Jiaohe Commandery (Du 1998, p. 4558).”

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It was possible that the Xizhou Emergency Decoction came into existence after Tang defeated the Qu family of Gaochang and set up Xizhou. It was also likely that the decoction was prepared by Xizhou officials based on an original Gaochang prescription, and in accordance with Tang’s standards and records, and subsequently presented to the central government, where it was then further standardized and promulgated for application throughout the country. According to Volume 33 “Government Officials 15” of Tongdian: “One medical officer; in the seventh month of the 11th year of Kaiyuan of the Great Tang (724 AD), a system was implemented where officials were tasked with a recording and writing job—they had to write and record herbal and various prescriptions in every prefecture. These prescriptions would then be held and stored in the government’s collection alongside with classics and history books. In the ninth month, a five-volume royal prescriptions was promulgated (Du 1998, p. 915).” While the aforementioned matter happened during the era of Kaiyuan, it was very likely that the collection of medicinal prescriptions in every prefecture started at an earlier time. As to when and how the prescription was transmitted to Japan, we can refer to a passage in “The Records of Eastern Foreigners” in the Old Book of Tang. It stated that in the fifth year of Zhenguan (631 AD), Japan, for the first time, dispatched an emissary to the Tang Dynasty (Liu 1975, pp. 5319–5342). Yet, the state of Gaochang was still in existence at that time, and Xizhou was yet to be established. As such, it would be wrong to suggest that the Xizhou Emergency Decoction had already existed. In the 22nd year of Zhenguan (648 AD), the Japanese emissary accompanied the Silla emissary and went to Tang Dynasty. By this time, Xizhou had already been established for eight years, and it was possible that the prescription was transmitted to Japan via Silla during this period. Also, the prescription could also be given away as a reward by Tang Dynasty, where it was brought back to the Auskaperiod Japan by the emissary. Of course, one could not rule out the possibility that the prescription was transmitted to Japan via civilian means. Yet, as a nation-wide prescription, it was unlikely that it could be obtained easily from the public. The unearthing of the prescription clearly suggested that there were widespread SinoJapanese cultural exchanges during the Tang period, and these exchanges happened at a very quick pace.

3.3 A Discussion of the Prescription The wooden slip with the prescription written on is rectangular in shape with round corners. The lower part of the slip is damaged, and both sides have writings in India ink with the calendar era, namely “wuyin (678 AD), or wuzi (688).” The name of the prescription is Xizhou Emergency Decoction, with the following notations: “Ephedra; gypsum, 2 taels , etc.” The reverse side of the slip has the following notations: “Female ginseng, 2 taels; apricot kernel, 5 pieces; ginger, 3 taels, etc.” Prior to the unearthing of this prescription, the ruins of the Fujiwara Palace Site (between 694 and 710, Fujiwara-ky¯o was the Imperial capital of Japan, and it saw

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the reigns of three tennos, Empress Jit¯o, Emperor Monmu and Empress Genmei) in Nara already saw the excavation of wooden slips with prescriptions. As such, it can be deduced that those relics were medicine labels and labels of country of origin of those imported medicine kept by the Department of Medicine and Drugs, as well as documents from various bureaucratic agencies to the Department of Medicine and Drugs of the Ministry of Imperial Household requesting medicinal prescriptions and the related prescription records. The drug-related wooden slips were found concentrated in two areas of the ruins of the Fujiwara Palace Site. Among them, there are notations like “Ginseng, 10 catties”; “Female ginseng, 10 catties” “Indian pokeweed, 7 catties” “Mondograss, 3 ges” “Chinese yam, 2.5 shengs” “Chinese bellflower from Muzashi, 30 catties” “Rhubarb from Takai district … 15 catties”, etc. Also, the unearthed relics also carried the following label: prescription of the “Stemmacantha Soup Preparation”. “The Stemmacantha Soup Preparation: Stemmacantha, 2 taels; Cimicifuga heracleifolia (Sheng ma), 2 taels, Chinese skullcap, 2 taels; Rhubarb, 2 taels; Chinese bitter orange, 2 taels; Common St Paul’s-wort, 2 taels; Blackened swallowwort root, 2 taels; Chinese peony, 2 taels; Chinese liquorice, 2 taels.” On the reverse side: “Ephedra, 2 taels; Stemmacantha Soup; Preparation; Cuscuta chinensis; the herbal preparation of Prince Niinomi.” The Prince Shinya in the prescription could actually mean Princess Niinomi, and if that’s the case, then according to the records about the eight-month of the 11th year of Tenmu (682 AD) in Nihon Shoki (The Chronicles of Japan), that princess could be Princess Hidaka, later Princess Hidaka, whom she had another name—Princess Niinomi (Society for the Study of Wooden Slips 1990, pp. 106–108). Wooden slips of Geshifang (Ge’s prescription) and Ishinp¯o (a Japanese medical text) were found during the excavation at the ruins of Heij¯o Palace in Nara (710–784 AD) (Haruyaki 1983, p. 185). The prescriptions were written on both sides in India ink. Side A: “…half a tael; woodland draba, 2 taels; mirabilite, 1.5 taels…” Side B: “… Obtain salt with bitter wine and …consume … Chinese mallow, 2 shengs; boil with 4 shengs of water, which would result in 1 sheng of soup for consumption.” The phrase, “boil with 4 shengs of water” could be used to extrapolate the meaning of a missing part in the Xizhou Emergency Decoction, in which that particular missing part could reasonably be interpreted as boiling with 9 shengs of water. There are no doubts that the Xizhou Emergency Decoction was originated in Xizhou. Through the study of the prescriptions unearthed at Turpan, we can gain an understanding and help to supplement the shortcomings of those prescriptions. The content and style of some of the prescriptions unearthed at Turpan are similar to the Xizhou Emergency Decoction. For example, the prescription from Tomb 153 of the Astana Cemetery in Turpan contained the following notations: “…2 taels of deskinned apricot kernel, 15 jujubes, 6 shengs of water…” (Ancient Literature Research Office of State Administration of cultural relics et al. 1981, vol. 2, p. 345) The documents unearthed from that tomb came from the 36th (596 AD) and 37th year (597 AD) of Yanchang of Gaochang. On the other hand, the prescription from Tomb 204 of the Astana Cemetery in Turpan contained these notations: “… tael, 4 taels of raw ginger, 60 deskinned apricot kernel…” (Ancient Literature Research Office of State Administration of cultural relics et al. 1983, vol. 4, p. 274) The

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documents unearthed from this tomb came from the 22nd year of Zenguan (648 AD). The Prescription of Chinese People Treating Cough and other Symptoms unearthed at Tomb 338 of the Astana Cemetery in Turpan recorded the following: “…soup: treating cough … prescription for heatiness in chest, 2 taels of Chinese magnoliavine (five-favour-fruit), 2 taels of Chinese liquorice, 2 taels of Ephedra stem, 3 taels of dried ginger … boil with 9 shengs of water, extract 3 shengs and take the medicine four times.” (Ancient Literature Research Office of State Administration of cultural relics, et al. 1983, vol. 5, p. 148) The documents unearthed from this tomb came from the second year of Yansou of Gaochang (625 AD) and the fourth year of Longshuo of Tang (664 AD). A comparison between the Xizhou Emergency Decoction unearthed at Asuka Kyo Enchi Iko and the prescriptions unearthed at Turpan suggested that the Xizhou Emergency Decoction was very similar to the Prescription of Chinese People Treating Cough and other Symptoms unearthed at Tomb 338 of the Astana Cemetery in Turpan. While both prescriptions are fragmented, it could still be determined that both contained the ingredients of Ephedra and dried ginger. Also, according to the Prescription of Chinese People Treating Cough and other Symptoms and other prescriptions from Xizhou, we could determine that the incomplete phrase, “9 …. water” in the Xizhou Emergency Decoction should mean “boil with 9 shengs of water”. This in effect makes both prescriptions almost look like each other. Apart from the unknown quantity of Ephedra in the Xizhou Emergency Decoction, the quantity of dried ginger in both prescriptions are 3 taels, and that both required the use of 9 shengs of water to boil. As such, while the name of the prescription from Turpan is missing, it’s possible that the Prescription of Chinese People Treating Cough and other Symptoms is the same as the Xizhou Emergency Decoction. Yet, the purpose of this essay goes beyond suggesting that both prescriptions shared the same ingredients. More the point is that through these relics, we can say that the theories of traditional Chinese medicine pharmacology in ancient China had entered the maturity stage during the Tang Dynasty. There were already standards pertaining to the combination of drugs and their quantity. If the prescription was vetted by the Tang government and then promulgated for nation-wide and overseas implementation, then there should be no major changes. The combination of drugs and dosage was very much the same in Xizhou and Japan, and this provided new evidence for scholars to undertake a more in-depth study of the health care system and the level of health care in Gaochang in ancient times, as well as the level of cultural exchange between the Western Regions and China proper and the level of medical exchange between Tang Dynasty and Japan. So what sort of illness did the Xizhou Emergency Decoction treat? Volume 14 of Tang Wangtao’s Waitai Miyao, a book that summarizes the theories of different illness and drug prescriptions, mentioned about nine prescriptions for boils and cold. Among them, the first and the third ones had already been discovered in Turpan. Also, a compound prescription by the name of Xizhou Emergency Decoction was included in Volume 15 of Qianjin Yaofang, a Tang Dynasty textbook of medicine, and Volume 14 of Waitai Miyao. Yet, there’re differences in the notations recorded in both texts. In Waitai Miyao, it prescribed Ephedra, dried ginger, Chinese aconite, siler,

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Chinese cinnamon, Baizhu (Atractylodes macrocephala), ginseng, Szechuan lovage, female ginseng, Chinese liquorice and apricot kernel. It was used to treat stroke, stiffened body, opisthotonos and lockjaw. In Qianjin Yaofang, it prescribed ephedra, dried ginger, female ginseng, gypsum, Szechuan lovage, Chinese cinnamon, Chinese liquorice, Chinese skullcap, siler, Chinese peony and apricot kernel. It was used to treat asthenia heat, muscular pain and numbness, imbalance of bodily fluids and acute pain in the four limbs. These two prescriptions were associated with Xizhou. (See Dai Yingxin, “The Close Relationship Between Xinjiang and China proper through the lens of Chinese Medicine Pharmacology” in A Collection of Xinjiang Historical Works), where we can ascertain those were famous prescriptions from Xizhou. As the weather in the Western Regions was cold, people could easily suffer from illness associated with the common cold and rheumatoid arthritis (Xue 1995, p. 442). It is important to point out that an earlier sample of the Xizhou Emergency Decoction could be traced to the Eastern Han period. In 1972, medicinal slips were unearthed at the Eastern Han tombs of Hantanpo in Wuwei County, Gansu, and these slips were important medical records from the Han period. Among these wooden slips, numbers 42 and 43 contained “30 candareens of compound Ephedra; 15 candareens of rhubarb; 6 candareens each of houpu magnolia, gypsum and kushen (sophora flavescens); 2 candareens each of wild aconite root and Chinese aconite. These seven ingredients, when combined and prepared, are effective to cure cold and flu, etc.” (Gansu Provincial Museum and Wuwei County Culture House 1975, p. 7) The ingredients in the prescriptions are effective in relieving cold, whereas rhubarb and gypsum are effective in clearing the heat. As such, this particular prescription has a compound effect in relieving cold and clearing the heat. The Xizhou Emergency Decoction contained a host of herbal medicines and included the five tastes, such as ephedra, gypsum, female ginseng, apricot kernel dried ginger. These ingredients promote sweating and relieve cold. In terms of classification, Chinese ephedra or mahuang belongs to spermatophyte (seed plants); gymnospermae, a sub-divison of sermatophyte; the family ephedraceae; and ephedra, a genus of gymnosperm shrubs. Plants of the genusephedra have a long history and common in many lands, including dried and desert areas in Asia, southeastern parts of Europe, the Americas and the northern part of Africa. In China, the plants can be found in areas between latitude 25° and 49°, including places in the northeast, northern China and certain areas in the northwest. Ephedra is a well-known Chinese herbal medicine, and it was used as early as two millennia ago to promote sweating and treat asthma and coughing. Shennong Bencaojing, aka The Classic of Herbal Medicine listed it as a medicine to promote sweating, relieve heat, and relieve coughing. Guangya, a Chinese dictionary, stated that ephedra was also known as longsha, and ephedra stalk was also known as gougu. According to The Classic of Herbal Medicine, ephedra, aka longsha, tasted bitter, and warm in property. It grew in river valleys. It was used to treat stroke, common cold and sweating and expel heat pathogens and break lumps. Also, it was found growing in Shanxi. Fanzi and Jiran’s Annotations on Government Treasury stated that the plants were found growing in Chang’an and vicinity (Li 2000, p. 43936).

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Aromatically, an apricot kernel tastes bitter and is warm in property. It contains poisonous compounds. The two kinds of apricot kernels can kill people and poison dogs. It is used to treat cough and asthma, chronic pharyngitis, gasp, wounds associated with childbirth and gastrointestinal dysfunction. It was also used to treat epilepsy, irritation and recurrent headache and relieve muscles and stomach pain. It could also be used as a poison to kill dogs and as an agent to dissolve tin poison. In addition, it could be used to treat stomach ailments, sweating, athlete’s foot, coughing and asthma. Apricot kernels were included in a remedy to cardiopulmonary nourishment. When cooked in a soup, it’s good for the voice. It could relieve lung heat and treat anxiety and constipation. Moreover, it could be used to kill insects, treat scabies, relieve swell and treat waist and knee pain (Li 1988, p. 1730). From a very early time, people in Xinjiang and Central Asia areas already knew about ephedra and made use of it. People in the Loulan region, which was next to Gaochang, recognized the medicinal value of ephedra and used it as a material to ward off evil spirits. For example, ephedra accessories were unearthed at the Gumugou tombs and Xiaohe tombs. The Xizhou Emergency Decoction prescribed 60 apricot kernels, and it is believed that those are sweet almonds, as bitter almonds contain hydrogen cyanide. Consumption of a small amount of hydrogen cyanide could stimulate the central nervous system, and thus act as a cardiac stimulant. Yet, over consumption could lead to death.

3.4 Conclusion The Gaochang Commandery, the state of Gaochang and Tang Xizhou in the ancient Turpan region were local regimes composed mainly of Han immigrants. As such, the cultural influence of China proper was never interrupted, and this naturally included knowledge about Chinese medicine. Due to the fact that the Turpan region was located in Central Asia, its natural environment and biodiversity were greatly different from that in China proper. Therefore, Han immigrants were forced to use the local ingredients to replace herbal medicines common in China proper. At the same time, the native people in the Western Regions had already possessed a great deal of knowledge about the medicinal value of the local plants. This means that the exchanges between different ethnic groups had resulted in a unique development of medicine in Xizhou. Also, Turpan was an important point on the Silk Road, which means that apart from absorbing medical knowledge from China proper, people there also learned Western medical knowledge from various countries in the Western Regions. In effect, this caused the medical advancements in Xizhou to become an important constituent part of ancient Chinese medicine. The advancement of Chinese medicine in Xizhou also promoted the advancement of medicine among various ethnic groups in the Western Regions. From various Uigurian medical theories, treatments, drug usage and prescription formulas, we can see that there are incredible similarities with

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its Chinese counterparts. In short, it is safe to say Chinese medicine has strongly influenced Uigurian medicine (Xue 1995, p. 445).

References Ancient Literature Research Office of State Administration of cultural relics et al (1981–1991) The Turpan excavated documents, vol 10. Cultural Relics Publishing House, Beijing Du Y (1998) Tongdian. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Li X (2003) The layout of the Jiaohe Ruins. Cultural Relics Publishing House, Beijing Li S (1988) Compendium of materia medica. China Bookstore, Beijing Li F (2000) Taiping Yulan (imperial reader), vol 4. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Liu X (1975) Old book of Tang. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Gansu Provincial Museum and Wuwei County Culture House eds (1975) Wuwei medicinal slips from Han. Cultural Relics Publishing House, Beijing Society for the Study of Wooden Slips (1990) Selections of Ancient Japan Wooden Slips. Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo The Museum affiliated to Archaeological Institute of Kahsihara (2002) Annual Excavation Progress Report for the Yamamoto Excavation 2001 Tono H (1983) Geshifang Fragmented Slip in Heij¯o Palace Slips. in Study of Ancient Japan Wooden Slips. Hanawa Shobo, Tokyo Xue Z (1995) Anxi and beiting. Heilongjiang Education Press, Harbin

Chapter 4

The Silk Road Between China and South Asia as Illustrated by the Records of Tang Dynasty’s Buddhist Pilgrim Monks Xianshi Meng

Abstract After the opening of the Silk Roads, Buddhists and monks went to China to preach their religion in many generations. Chinese Buddhists and monks also went on pilgrimages for Buddhist scriptures. All of them built wonder in the history of human civilization. The only reason behind Chinese Buddhists and monks’ pilgrimages was the strong faith in Buddhism. Buddhism was also the only reason for Chinese Buddhists and monks being attracted to abroad. The monks did many things, like getting the Sanskrit ancient records, learning Sanskrit, knowing the Buddhist temple system in India, figuring out Buddhist psychology and so on. All of them were good for the development of Chinese Buddhism. Especially, what the monks did had already changed the situation of Chinese Buddhism. The Pilgrimages changed the situation, which the Chinese Buddhism was the process of passive acceptance into the initiative. It has made an important contribution to the sinicization of Buddhism. Keywords The silk roads · Buddhism · Buddhists and monks · China-India relations · Chinese monks’ records · Sinicization of Buddhism

4.1 Introduction The Silk Road was an ancient network of transportation routes that connected Asia and Europe. During the pre-modern period, it played an important role in connecting the world, cultural exchanges and the spread of civilization. At that time, almost all of China’s linkages to the world were done through both the land and maritime Silk Roads. In fact, the Silk Road was closely connected with cultural development and the fusion of civilizations, as encapsulated by the sharing of the fruits of Chinese civilization, such as the Four Great Inventions, with the rest of the world, as well as its acceptance of foreign civilizations.

X. Meng (B) School of Chinese Classics of Renmin, University of China, Beijing, China e-mail: [email protected] © SDX Joint Publishing Co., Ltd. 2020 X. Li (ed.), Studies on the History and Culture Along the Continental Silk Road, Silk Road Research Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7602-7_4

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4.2 The Particularities of China–India Relations Among the major civilizations in the ancient world, China, in the eyes of other civilizations, was the most remote, and their linkages with it were the weakest. If China represented East Asia and India represented the South Asian subcontinent, then the rest included North Africa and Western Asia, as well as Classical Greek and Rome on the northern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. From a Western perspective, North Africa, West Asia and the northern shore of the Mediterranean Sea are areas in the Mediterranean ring, and historically, areas in the region enjoyed a very close relationship because interactions between North Africa and West Asia were not difficult even before the opening of the Suez Canal. As such, the Mediterranean ring can be seen as a larger region of civilizations. In this vein, the South Asian subcontinent and East Asia are considered relatively remote areas of civilization. To the east of the Tigris–Euphrates river basin, which is located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, lies the Iranian Plateau. After the rise of the Persian Empire, connections between the two regions were strengthened. Moreover, due to the linkages between the Iranian Plateau and Central Asia, interacting between Central Asia and the South Asian subcontinent was not difficult. As such, the Persian Empire’s conquests included both western and eastern campaigns. In the end, the Royal Road of the Persian Empire was extended to the Indus River basin. Through Iran’s intermediary role, connections between the Mediterranean region and India were established. As to the history of ancient India, there are legends that the Aryans invaded India. Afterward, the most famous invaders of India included Alexander the Great (327–325 BC) and Seleucus I Nicator (circa 305 BC). The area of military conquest and war is usually aligned with the area of cultural exchange, and this is evidenced in the history of invasions of foreign forces in India, which in turn proved that there were close connections between India and the Mediterranean region. During the time of close interactions between India and the Mediterranean region, whether the civilizations in the Mediterranean region or India had little knowledge about China. India used the Sanskrit word “C¯ına” as the name for China, and such a practice had been in existence since the Conquest of the East by Alexander the Great. Therefore, scholars have speculated that contacts between China and India had already been established prior to the conquest (Fang 1987, p. 120). Such speculation aligns with the observation made by a Chinese official and diplomat Zhang Qian, when he saw fishpole bamboo and speculated that China and India had already established connections. Nowadays, the archeological world has provided plenty of evidence to suggest interactions between China and the Western Regions were common during Zhang Qian’s time, and that there were transportation routes. However, during the period of Alexander’s conquest of the East, people in the Mediterranean region didn’t know the existence of China. It wasn’t until the period of the Roman Empire where people in the West started to have some proper knowledge of China. Zhang Qian’s missions to the Western Regions represented the Silk Road had fulfilled its function as an artery that linked up to different regions of the world, and

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it also helped linking up China with the world.1 From now on, because of Silk Road’s functions, the world had gained a wholesome meaning. After the opening up of the Silk Road, connections between China and the world got a boost, and exchanges were deepened. On the other hand, connections between China and the world were not balanced. Due to geographical barriers, regions that had enjoyed convenient transportation connections saw a close relationship. Comparing with West Asia and Europe, the South Asian subcontinent enjoyed a very close relationship with China. The people of Tang dynasty knew this scenario very well. For example, Du You, a Chinese scholar and historian, wrote in “A Brief Introduction to the Southern Sea” in the Chinese institutional history and encyclopedia text, Tongdian: Connections with the Southern Sea countries had already been established during the Han period. Those countries are roughly located south and southwest of Jiaozhou, and they are on a continent in the middle of the sea. The travelling distance is about 3000 to 5000 miles, or 20,000 to 30,000 miles. It is unknown what the distance is like if travelling by sea. Although foreign books mention about the distance, but the mileage is not confirmed. Those countries are connected with different foreign countries to the west. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, Fubo Jiangjun (General who clams the waves) Lu Bode was dispatched to open up Baiyue and set up Rinan County. Since Emperor Wu’s reign, the outer countries had dispatched envoys to China. During the reign of Emperor Huan of Han, envoys from Daqin (an ancient Chinese name for the Roman Empire) and Tianzhu (the historical East Asian name for India) came to China via this maritime route. Sun Quan, aka Emperor Da of Wu, dispatched two officials, Zhu Ying and Kang Tai, as envoys to various countries. They recorded the anecdotes and what they saw in dozens of countries during their travels. In Jin, there weren’t many people coming to China. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, envoys who came to China represented a dozen of countries. And since the periods of Emperor Wu of Liang and Emperor Yang of Sui, the number of envoys had seen an increase. After Emperor Taizong of Tang, the prestige and teachings of Chinese emperors had spread far and wide. This had resulted in an influx of people to learn and retranslate, and this influx was larger than similar ones in Liang and Sui dynasties. (Du 1988, p. 5088)

The records in Tongdian echoed the development of the Silk Road. It started with the maritime route in the Southern Sea in Han and cumulated in the zenith in Tang dynasty. The timeline as illustrated by Tongdian is as follows: “Our editing ends at the late Tianbao era of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. This leaves room for those who want to engage in further discussion (Du 1988, p. 1).” The history as recorded in Tongdian can be regarded as information about the period of Tang before the dynasty reached its zenith. It also reflected China’s knowledge of the outside world during Tang dynasty’s zenith period. In this vein, we can see in the eyes of Tang historians, China’s knowledge of the world in the Southern Sea evolved in stages. In a nutshell, the closer to China, the more knowledge it had on that foreign nation. Such a situation also applied to the Western Regions. 1 Before Zhang Qian embarked on his missions to the West, there were already connections between

China and the West. But that didn’t diminish the meaning and value of the Zhang’s travels. The meaning of Zhang’s “opening up” still exists, as only the Chinese government can represent Chinese civilization. Zhang opened up the connection between China and the Silk Road, and this was, in essence, represented China participating in the globalization process. A Silk Road without China would devoid of the meaning of world.

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The Western Region was a main area on the overland Silk Road. Like the maritime situation, China had more knowledge of those regions that were closer geographically. Broadly speaking, China was very familiar with Xinjiang (the narrow sense of the Western Regions). This was followed by Central Asia, Persia and Arabia. The fourth level involved places like West Asia Minor Asia (Eastern Roman Empire, Turkey), and finally European areas like Greek, Roman Empire, etc. In Chinese literature, India belonged to Western Regions, and it was next to Central Asia. In fact, the northwestern corner of India is connected with Central Asia. In terms of the level of familiarity in the Middle Ages, the situation of India was similar to Central Asia, that is, countries that China was relatively familiar with. And the level of familiarity determined the level and frequency of connection. In fact, Zhang Qiang only reached Central Asia in his missions to the West. Persia and Tianzhu were places that he heard about. Yet, there was much enthusiasm in China’s search for a route to India at a later time. According to Tongdian, contacts between Tianzhu and China were established during Eastern Han, “During the second (159 AD) and fourth year (162 AD) in the era of Yanxi of Emperor Huan of Han, there were frequent visits by the envoys from the south (Du 1988, p. 5261).” The Silk Road saw busy traffic during the Tang dynasty. There were frequent and direct contacts between China and Central Asia, Persia and Tazi (Arabian Empire). Whether the contacts were made by land or sea, those activities had promoted exchanges and commercial activities along the Silk Road. During the third year of the era of Xianqing of Emperor Gaozong of Tang (658 AD), Tang dynasty put down an Ishbara Qaghan rebellion in the Western Turkic Khaganate and dispatched a special emissary to set up administrative bodies there. According to Tang Huiyao, an institutional history of Tang dynasty: On the 17th day in the sixth month in the first year of the era of Longshuo (661 AD), the emissary to Tokharistan (Tarim Basin), Wang Mingyuan, presented An Illustrated Account of the Western Regions, and requested to set up administrative bodies in the 16 nations located west of Khotan and west of Persia. These included a Dudufu (an area command), 80 prefectures, 110 counties and 126 junfus (a junfu is a general’s office). Also a stele was erected in Tokharistan to mark the grace of his imperial majesty. (Wang 1991, p. 1568)

The title of Wang Mingyuan was “Emissary to Tokharistan for Establishing Administrative Bodies”. According to ZiZhi Tongjian, a reference work in Chinese historiography, Tokharistan was only a circuit (administrative division), and at that time, the same situation existed in 16 nations, where different levels of administrative bodies (dudufu, prefecture and county) were established and came under the jurisdiction of Anxi Protectorate, military and executive agency responsible for the Western Region affairs (Si 2011, pp. 6324–6325). Tang Huiyao also recorded: “The disturbances in the Western Regions had been put down, emissaries were dispatched to the State of Kang (Sogdia) and Tokharistan to investigate their cultures and productions. Also, matters related to the establishment of administrative bodies would be recorded by illustrations, hence, official historians were asked to write volume 60 of An Illustrated Account of the Western Regions (Wang 1991, pp. 1567–1568).

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Obviously, with accounts from the emissaries and specific records, China had a more thorough understanding of Central Asia. As to the South Asian subcontinent, India at that time was not a unified nation, and China’s contacts with India involved different regions. According to Tongdian, Emperor Yang of Sui once summoned nations in the Western Regions to visit China, and he was deeply regretted that Tianzhu didn’t come. In the 15th year of the era of Zhenguan of Emperor Taizong of Tang (642 AD), India dispatched an envoy to China, and in Zhenguan’s 22nd year (649 AD), Wang Xuance was dispatched to India as an envoy of Tang dynasty (Du 1988, p. 5262).2 As such, the level of understanding of India in Tang dynasty, especially the diverse situations in India, evolved in stages. For example, the encyclopedia Cefu Yuangui recorded the following about an event in the third year of the era of Xianqing of Emperor Gaozong of Tang (658 AD): In the eight month of the third year, the king of Kancipura, the king of Chuliya and the king of Malava dispatched envoys to pay tribute to the Chinese emperor. The three nations belong to the southern Tianzhu region, and they are far away. These nations haven’t established communications with China, until they spent months travelling to Jiaozhou and presenting their goods. (Wang et al. 2006, p. 11232)

The nations in southern Tianzhu didn’t dispatch envoys to China until the time when China and Tianzhu had already dispatching and receiving envoys. As such, we can see that the nations in the South Asian subcontinent had uneven relations with China. Regardless, a comprehensive comparison suggested that communications between China and India were robust. How did we reach that determination? On the level of nation-to-nation exchanges, the most representative is the sending and receiving of envoys. Business and commercial activities are the most meaningful in terms of exchanges among the peoples of different nations. Therefore, there are similarities in terms of all nation-to-China exchanges—there are exchanges of people and goods. Yet, the situation in the South Asian subcontinent or India was unique, and the uniqueness stemmed from the existence of Buddhism. At that time, Buddhism was popular in certain areas in India as well as the Central Asia region. There were monks travelling to China to spread Buddhism, and Chinese monks also went to India as pilgrims. Such a scenario constituted a unique situation on the Silk Road. It is important to stress that Chinese monks travelled to foreign nations because of Buddhism, and Buddhism was the only reason that attracted Chinese monks travelling abroad. This really highlights the special nature of exchanges between China and India, and the level of exchanges between China and other nations paled by comparison. In short, South Asia became the region where China had the deepest engagement.

2 The deeds of Wang Xuance can be referred to the clear records in the Old Book of Tang, New Book

of Tang, Zizhi Tongjian, etc. The related studies can be referred to Sun (1998).

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4.3 An Overview of Buddhist Pilgrims The first recorded Buddhist pilgrim in Chinese history travelling to the Western Regions was Zhu Zixing from the Three Kingdoms period. Zhu’s hometown was Yingchuan, and in the second year of the era of Jiaping (250 AD), he was ordained in the White Horse Temple in Luoyang. In 260 AD, he embarked on a journey to Khotan from Yongzhou, where he acquired Pañcavim . s´atis¯ahasrik¯a Prajñ¯ap¯aramit¯a, a Mah¯ay¯ana Buddhism classical text. There, he copied the Sanskrit version and asked his disciples to bring it back to China. Zhu was not only the first recorded ordained Buddhist monk in China but also the first Chinese Buddhist pilgrim travelling to the Western Regions to acquire Buddhist scriptures. Although Khotan was not Tianzhu in South Asia, he started the practice of acquiring scriptures by a pilgrimage to the Western Regions. Zhu didn’t leave behind his travel records, and his travels were mostly recorded in Buddhist literature. Hui-chiao’s Memoirs of Eminent Monks (volume 4) has clear records of Zhu’s travels, and Hui-chiao’s material came from Fayi, Zhu’s disciple. After Zhu passed away in Khotan, Hui-chiao returned to China (Hui-chiao 1992, pp. 145–149). The first successful pilgrimage to the South with clear records left behind was the travels made by Faxian. In 399 AD, Faxian, aged 65 years old, embarked on his journey from Changan and reached South Asia via a land route. He reached areas in northern, western, middle and eastern Tianzhu and spent two years living in the Sinhala Kingdom. In the end, he returned to China in the seventh month in the eighth year of the era of Yixi in Eastern Jin (412 AD) via the maritime Silk Road. Faxian’s journey to the Western Regions was accompanied by other monks, including initially, Huijing, Daozheng, Huiying and Huiwei. In Hexi, he met a group of monks including, Zhiyan, Huijan, Sengsao, Baoyun and Sengjing. Among these monks, some reached India, some passed away en route, some stayed behind in India and some returned to China (Yang 2010, pp. 146–155). It is clear that at that time, a pilgrimage to the Western Regions was already a trend. Faxian spent 13 years in South Asia and brought back a large volume of Buddhist scriptures, especially the Vinaya (Buddhist commandments). He also authored A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, a travelogue about China’s first Buddhist monk travelling to the Western Regions in search of the dharma. A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms is known as Faxian’s Biography and other titles, such as Faxian’s Travelogue, A Record of Travels to Tianzhu, Memoir of Travels to Tianzhu and Memoir of ´ Former Sraman . a Faxian’s Journey to the West from Chang’an to Tianzhu. Although the book has just over 10,000 words, it is considered valuable literature, as it was the first travelogue about a monk travelling to the Western Regions in search of a Buddhist text, and contained information about India and the Silk Road.3 Relatively speaking, a pilgrimage to the Western Regions reached its height during the Tang dynasty. As such, more well-known travelogues were left behind. Xuanzang’s Great Tang Records on the Western Regions. Xuanzang began his pilgrimage to the Western Regions in the first year of the era of Zhenguan of Emperor 3 For

information about editions of A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, please refer to Zhang 2008.

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Taizong of Tang (627 AD) and returned to Khotan in the 18th year of Zhenguan (645 AD). Xuanzang accepted Emperor Taizong’s request and compiled his travels into Great Tang Records on the Western Regions (12 volumes). The book became an authoritative account of the political and cultural aspects of the Western Regions during that period. In presenting the book to Emperor Taizong, Xuanzang said: “There were 38 nations from what I saw and heard.” At the same time, there was a lack of historical records on Central and South Asia. Therefore, Great Tang Records on the Western Regions became a valuable text and historical source for studies on the history, geography, politics, economics and religion of nations in South Asia. Xuanzang took a land route to South Asia, and he passed through many important nations and regions en route and toured extensively in India. As such, Great Tang Records on the Western Regions is considered a renowned title on the Silk Road (Ji et al. 1985). Another book written by Xuanzang that is still in existence is Great Ci’en Monastery of the Great Tang Dynasty. The first five volumes recorded the journey and encounters of acquiring Buddhist texts in the Western Regions. As a lot of information in the book was supplied by Xuanzang, the book can be deemed as a partial autobiography (Li and Yan 2000). By reading the two books and making comparisons, one can get a better understanding of Xuanzang’s journey to the West.4 After Xuanzang, Yijing became the monk who exerted more influence among the pilgrim monks in Tang dynasty. Yijing was deeply influenced by Xuanzang. In the second year of the era of Xianheng of Emperor Gaozong of Tang (671 AD), he boarded a Persian commercial vessel in Guangzhou and travelled to India. Altogether, he spent over a decade studying in India. In the midst of his travels, he once returned to Guangzhou, China, in the first year of the era of Yongchang (689 AD) and returned to India later on after obtaining pens and paper and other materials. In the second year of the era of Tianshou (691 AD), he asked Dalu to bring his writings back to China. In the first year of the era of Zhengsheng of Wu Zetian (697 AD), Yijing was back to Luoyang. Both his departing and returning trips were taken via the maritime route. Before his return to China, Yijing already sent the four volumes of his writing, A Record of Buddhist Practices Sent Home from the Southern Sea, back to China. This book is about the management system of Buddhist temples and monasteries in India, and he hoped his writing would help to improve the management system of Buddhist temples and monasteries in China (Yijing 1995). Another title by Yijing, The Great Tang Biographies of Eminent Monks who Sought the Dharma in the Western Regions, is more valuable to our discussion here. During Yijing’s travels in India, he met with many eminent monks from Tang dynasty who travelled to India to seek dharma and heard of stories about eminent monks from Tang dynasty. It was under these circumstances that he wrote the book. The book talked about the deeds of the 50–60 monks who came to India since the early Tang period, and such records reflected the glory of the Silk Road at that time (Yijing 1995). The routes to India these Tang Buddhist monks travelled on were all within the 4 Zheng

and Rui 1989, A Guide to Great Tang Records on the Western Regions. The book made extensive use of the information in theStories of the Tripit.aka Master of Dacien Templeand corrected certain errors in this edition of the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions.

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framework of the Silk Road, and this piece of information, together with information of the usage of the land and maritime routes, proved valuable in providing us with an authentic resource for our research and helping us to understand the situation of the Silk Road at that time. Apart from literature that was passed down from generation to generation, there were also surprise discoveries. For example, through Paul Pelliot and Luo Zhenyu’s study, it was confirmed that document P. 3532, discovered in Dunhuang’s Mogao Caves, was Wang ocheonchukguk jeon (“An account of travel to the five Indian kingdoms”), a travelogue is written by Buddhist monk Hyecho, who came from Silla; information about his early life is sketchy. It is believed that he was born during the reign of Wu Zetian and ordained as a Buddhist monk in Guangzhou in the seventh year of the era of Kaiyuan (719 AD). Four years later, he embarked on a journey to Tianzhu and returned to Chang’an in the 15th year of the era of Kaiyuan (727 AD). As the manuscript scroll is incomplete, his actual departing and returning routes are unclear. However, according to the descriptions written in the scroll, scholars have determined that he left China via the maritime route, and according to chronology written in the travelogue, he first went to eastern Tianzhu, followed by the middle Tianzhu, southern Tianzhu, western Tianzhu and northern Tianzhu. In the end, he went to Central Asia before returning to China via a land route (Hyecho 2000). Much like the vast majority of written records, information about Tang Buddhist monks acquiring the Buddhist scriptures was in the vicissitudes of history. Chinese Indologist, historian and writer Ji Xianlin once compiled a simple table to denote a lot of monastic records had been lost. For example, Daoan’s Anthology of the Western Regions, Zhi Sengzai’s Affairs of Foreign Countries, Zhi Meng’s Stories of Travelling Foreign Countries, Tan Jing’s Stories of Foreign Countries, Zhu Fawei’s Record of Buddhist Nations, Fa Sheng’s Stories of the Visited Countries, Zhu Zhi’s Stories of Funan, Hui Seng’s Stories of Hui Seng’s Travels, etc. (Ji 1985, pp. 1–141). Among these titles, only a portion of Stories of Hui Seng’s Travels has been retained in Temples and Monasteries in Luoyang. Other titles have long been lost. As such, the historical value of the surviving travelogues of the Buddhist monks is extremely valuable as they are major records written in Chinese, and they are irreplaceable in terms of studying the period’s South Asian history and the Silk Road.5 The monk’s records of seeking the dharma in the Western Regions are valuable literary works about the Silk Road. Unlike the envoys who represented their countries, the monastic records involved not only the countries, geography, history and local customs but also the local situations on Buddhism. As such, those records served as a religious history for India as well as a repository of information about the Silk Road. These works have become important primary sources for our study of the Silk Road in the present day.

5 As

far as academic research is concerned, other sources also provide historical information, and this is something researchers cannot ignore, such as information from Wang Xuance, official history, etc.

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4.4 The Meaning of Seeking Dharma in the Western Regions Initially, all the Silk Road trips that began in China were taken overland. Whether it was Zhang Qian’s mission to the West or Ban Chao’s military expedition, the main purpose was to target Xiongnu in the northern plains through reinforcing links with countries in the West Regions. Hence, the land route became a focal point in Silk Road trips. On the contrary, the value of the Southern Sea was limited. After the Wei and Jin dynasties, there was an increase in effort in the introduction of Buddhism to China, and the effort originated in more than one source. Apart from monks coming from the South Asian subcontinent, there were also monks coming from Central Asia. As the spread of Buddhism to China first originated from Central Asia, therefore, Buddhism the Chinese monks knew at the time carried Central Asia characteristics. And this was an impression that couldn’t be shaken off among the dharma-seeking Chinese monks. As such, the land route garnered attention in China, and this explained why the first Chinese monk who went to the Western Regions to seek the dharma, Zhu Zixing, went to Khotan first. There, he not only obtained the Mah¯ay¯ana Buddhism texts but also stayed behind for the rest of his life. According to A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, the process of seeking the dharma was meticulous. Monks paid a visit to all the monasteries along the route, and they didn’t think of India as the only destination. Therefore, the routes these pilgrim monks took had more than one value. Aside from the value associated with the routes themselves, the journey itself was also valuable, as monks paid attention to the situation of Buddhism on the ground, the local government policies for Buddhism, etc. In addition, there were descriptions of politics, culture, customs and geography. Even though we still call those pilgrimages seeking dharma in the Western Regions, it isn’t proper to understand those journeys with a simple perspective based solely on seeking the dharma. A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms stated that in Purushapura, Huida, Baoyun and Sengjing “returned to Qin’s land” (Zhang 2008, p. 34), (that is returning to China), and other people in the contingent decided to continue the journey. As far as the trio was concerned, it wasn’t necessary for them to go to India, as they felt they had accomplished their mission upon reaching Purushapura. The monks’ actual journey depended on numerous factors, such as the condition of the route and the political situation in the area. After observing vassa in Dunhuang, Faxian and his company embarked on their journey separately. The fiveperson contingent with Faxian followed the emissary and left first. It was believed that the emissary to the Western Regions was dispatched by Li Gao, the top local official in Dunhuang. Of note is that it was Li Gao who sponsored Faxian for his observance of vassa in Dunhuang. Therefore, it was very likely that the emissary accompanied by Faxian was dispatched by Li Gao (Zhang 2008, p. 3). Whether the journey was a pilgrimage or not, the travelling parties needed money to support their trips. Therefore, monetary support of sponsorship became very important. Among the pilgrim monks, some encountered difficulties as people weren’t willing to support

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the monks, as in the case of Zhiyan, Huijian and Huiwei, where they were forced to return to Gaochang to look for support. On the contrary, Faxian received support from Mr. Fu who had a high social status (Zhang 2008, p. 8). This means Faxian didn’t experience the same problem as Zhiyan’s team. Xuanzang also embarked on his journey via the land route, and he received a surprise invitation from the king of Gaochang, Qu Wentai, in Yiwu. Xuanzang accepted the invitation and went to Gaochang where he received the king’s generous support for his journey. In fact, Stories of the Tripit.aka Master of Dacien Temple contains a detailed record of manpower and material support given by the king of Gaochang: “Replenished supplies for the four samanera; made 30 sets of clothing. As weather tended to be on the cold side in the Western lands, they made extra topcoats, gloves, boots and socks. Also provided were 100 tales of gold, 30,000 silver coins and 500 pieces of damask silk and silk fabric. These supplies were good for the master’s return trips for 20 years. Gave 30 horses and 25 people.” (Li and Yan 2000, p. 21) Xuanzang obtained supplies for his trips that could last 20 years, and this translated into peace of mind for him. This also explains why his pilgrimages were smooth.6 If we compare Xuanzang’s and Faxian’s travelling routes, we can find out the route taken by Xuanzang was further away than Faxian’s. Although Faxian’s route was nearer, it was actually more dangerous. According to information from Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang dynasties, the journey from China to South Asia involved three major land routes, i.e. the Pamirs route, the Central Asia route,and the Tibet route. Both Faxian and Xuanzang took the Pamirs route. Xuanzang also took the Central Asia route, where he headed west through the northern piedmont of the Tianshan Mountains and then bypassed the Tianshan Mountains before heading south. The Tibet route was a route to South Asia after the forming of a marriage alliance between Tang dynasty and Tibet. From Tibet, the route entered Nepal and then onwards to India. Early on, scholars had noticed there were two aspects, land and maritime, in the communications between China and India. Ji Xianlin tabulated the numbers in The Great Tang Biographies of Eminent Monks who Sought the Dharma in the Western Regions, and he found that for departing trips, 23 persons took the land route and 40 persons took the maritime route. For returning trips, 10 persons took the land route and nine persons took the maritime route. Mr. Ji believed that due to the enhancement of seafaring technology, communications between China and India saw a shift from land route to maritime route during the early Tang period (Ji 1985, p. 101). Wang Bangwei studied Yijing and annotated The Great Tang Biographies of Eminent Monks who Sought the Dharma in the Western Regions. He launched a study of the book based on the topic, “Yijing and The Great Tang Biographies of Eminent Monks who Sought the Dharma in the Western Regions—Preface Prior to the Annotation.”7 In this essay, Mr. Wang suggested there were changes to the Silk Road, as communications between 6 The support given to Xuanzang by the king of Gaochang went beyond sponsoring travel expenses.

Refer to Meng 1999. Wang Bangwei’s The Life of the Tang Eminent Monk Yiching and Examinations of His Works (Wang 1996, pp. 166–186), studies of The Great Tang Biographies of Eminent Monks who Sought the Dharma in the Western Regions became chapter 7 of that book, titled “On The Great Tang 7 In

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China and India had seen a shift from land route to maritime route. “Based on Yijing’s records in the book, I deduced that the changes happened roughly after the era of Linde of Emperor Gaozong of Tang (664–665).” (Yijing 1988, p. 8). The conclusion painted a more concrete picture; whether it was land or maritime route, the travelling monks all experienced issues with supplies. There were two common scenarios. The first one dealt with monks travelling emissaries, and they travelled on either land or maritime route. Theoretically, in situations where the monks followed the emissaries, the expenses of the trips should be borne by the emissaries. For example, Xuan Zhao’s journey was subsidized by the country as he was executing the Emperor Gaozong’s order to search for eternal medicine. In the second scenario, the monks followed the merchants, and the expenses were usually borne by the merchants for those travelling on the maritime route. In both scenarios, the emissaries and merchants were not neutral parties that took care of the monks’ expenses, they also benefitted from the monks’ presence as monks were widely respected. Yet, from today’s perspective, the most important contribution from the monks’ journey to the Western Regions was the enrichment of documentary records and research information about the Silk Road. And this enrichment has translated into valuable historical data for the latter generations to study the Silk Road. Unlike emissaries, the monks’ journey was private in nature, and their contingent usually had many people. As such, their travelogues provided unique perspectives on things. This is particularly valuable for those who engage in multi-dimensional study of the Silk Road. The large number of monks seeking dharma had injected something special into the Silk Road between China and India during Tang dynasty. The Middle Ages saw an influx of foreign religions into China, and among these religions, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism and Nestorianism (lit. the “Luminous Religion”, i.e. the Church of the East) were known as “The Three Foreign Religions”. Yet, it was only Buddhism that received a different treatment, as it didn’t encounter discrimination by the “Foreign Religions”. Nevertheless, when Buddhism was first introduced in China, it did face attacks due to its foreignness. As Buddhism slowly became sinicized, China started accepting Buddhism. This resulted in a clear distinction between Buddhism and other foreign religions. When comparing Buddhism with “The Three Foreign Religions”, we can see that “The Three Foreign Religions” were purely imported religious beliefs. That is those religions were brought to China by foreigners, and no Chinese persons took an active approach to investigate those religions. Only in Buddhism that we saw an unprecedented display of interest among the Chinese. Even though the journey to the Western Regions was fraught with danger, a vast number of monks were determined to seek the dharma. This factor had played an enormous role in the spread of Buddhism in China. Naturally, there were all kinds of problems during the introduction of Buddhism in China, and this was well-understood by Chinese monks. Hence, the Chinese pilgrim monks were eager to find out ways on how to Biographies of Eminent Monks who Sought the Dharma in the Western Regions”. It included the “List of the Pilgrim Monks” as an appendix to the essay.

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better spread Buddhism in China, how to prevent and solve the existing problems, and how to secure a future for Buddhism. Relatively speaking, foreign monks were insular to the current problems Buddhism faced in China, whereas Chinese monks were in a much better position to deal with the problems. The eminent Chinese monks who sought the dharma were to fulfil the needs of China and solve Buddhism’s developmental problems in China. Faxian (334–420) was born in Pingyang Wuyang, in modern Linfen City, Shanxi,8 and the opening passage of A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms stated that “when Faxian was in Chang’an, he was disturbed about the lack of religious discipline. As such in the second year of the era of Hongshi (400 AD), he decided to travel to Tianzhu with other monks, including, Huijing, Daozheng, Huiying and Huiwei to seek the Vinaya.”(Faxian F2008, p. 2) Clearly, Faxian’s trip to India had an important goal— “to seek the Vinaya”—so to deal with the lack of discipline among Chinese monks due to the lack of a regulator framework. Faxian’s efforts paid off, as he brought back to China four of the five texts of the vinayas of the five schools. This had resulted in establishing Faxian’s “important role in developing the Buddhist monastic rules in China.” (Li 2010, pp. 86–94) In fact, the monks who travelled to India didn’t have to return to China to spread Buddhism. Daozheng, one of the members of Faxian’s group, decided to stay behind in India. “Faxian’s goal was to spread the monastic rules in China, so he returned to China by himself.” (Zhang 2008, p. 120) A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms contained a passage about Faxian visiting a samgh¯arama in Simhaladvipa (present-day Sir Lanka), in which it succinctly reflected his inner world at that time: A few years had already been passed in Faxian’s trip to China. The people he encountered were all foreigners. Looking around, there was no friendship. Companies came and went; they stayed behind or passed away. I felt very sad when I looked at myself. Suddenly, when I saw a white silk fan from China was hung from the jade statute in the monastery, I suddenly got emotional as it reminded me of my country. (Zhang 2008, p. 128)

Faxian’s goal was to spread Buddhism in China, as such, he always thought about China which resulted in profound homesickness. Yet, this also gave him the power and will to overcome challenges in his search for the dharma. Xuanzang’s objectives were even wider. The king of Gaochang, Qu Wentai, though highly of Xuanzang and hoped that he would stay behind to become Gaochang’s guoshi (a title bestowed on well-learned eminent monks or religious leaders). Yet the king didn’t know what Xuanzang really wanted. Before he left Gaochang, Xuanzang wrote a letter to the king to thank for this hospitality and support. The letter also touched on his inner-thinking about Buddhism in China and the resultant problems. He said: “Translations by foreigners were inconsistent. There were huge discrepancies, and this cased a lot of issues. The two schools in Mahayana Buddhism were understood as northern and southern branches. There were many squabbles, and they lasted few hundreds of years. With all these uncertainties, it was important to do something about it” (Li and Yan 2000, p. 22). Imprecise and inaccurate translation 8 There

were different records as to the birthplace of Faxian. Zhang Yuqin believed he was born in Linfen, Shanxi. Refer to Zhang 2010, pp. 193–203.

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was a big problem with the introduction of Buddhism in China. This had caused serious discrepancies and disputes. If the translation problem was not addressed, the troubles could last for a long time. After acquiring the scriptures, Xuanzang was ´ ılabhadra in the ready to return to China. Monks in India, from the ordinary ones to S¯ Nalanda, as well as Emperor Harshato tried to persuade Xuanzang to stay behind in India. In response, Xuanzang said he had to return to China by praising the greatness of Chinese culture, emphasizing the importance of promoting Buddhism in China or pointing out those who tried to obstruct the spread of Buddhism would attract bad karma and be punished (Li and Yan 2000, pp. 102–103, 112–113). During that period in China and India, the pilgrim monks did face two key issues. For example, Daozheng decided to stay behind in India, and Faxian and Xuanzang insisted of returning to China to spread Buddhism. In terms of the spread of Buddhism in China, there was no doubt that the contribution from latter group was more profound (Ning 2016, pp. 65–76). After Xuanzang, Yijing made the most contribution in terms of investigating Buddhism and seeking the scriptures in India. In Biographies of Eminent Monks Compiled During the Song Period, Yijing’s stories were listed at the front of the book, and there was an extensive discussion about his translation work. Yet, his motives of seeking the dharma were not discussed (Zan 1987, pp. 1–4). Wang Bangwei opined: “What Yijing cared was not about problems related to Buddhist philosophies but rather the Vinaya rules and internal framework for sangha. The goal of Yijing was to leverage India’s orthodox canon to correct errors found in Chinese Buddhism at that time. In short, Yijing attempted to right the wrongs and turn things around.” A Record of Buddhist Practices Sent Home from the Southern Sea, authored by Yijing, mainly dealt with the organization of Buddhist monasteries and temples in India and the regulatory framework for the monastic community. The motive of writing this book was to provide ideas and directions for building China’s monastic community. After all, wise men learn by other men’s mistakes; fools on their own (Wang 1996, p. 28). In fact, A Record of Buddhist Practices Sent Home from the Southern Sea contained many passages about the efforts of Chinese pilgrim monks. Through the limited words, we can get a sense of how keen those pilgrim monks were in seeking and bringing back the dharma to China. Daosheng, born in Bingzhou, entered India through Tibet in the last year of the era of Zhenguan (649 AD). “Bringing back lots of texts and images to China; upon arriving Licchavi, he felt ill and passed away.” (Yijing 1988, p. 49) Xuanhui hailed from the capital, Chang’an, and he entered through northern India and didn’t stay long. But he could “speak ‘Sanskrit clearly’”, as his Sanskrit language skills were already high. “[He] didn’t bring a lot of Buddhist texts with him on his way back to China. Unfortunately, he perished upon arriving at Licchavi.” Both monks couldn’t fulfil their ultimate aspiration of returning home. A Chengdu monk, Huining, travelled to Java through the Southern Sea during the era of Linde of Emperor Gaozong of Tang (664–665 AD). He and the local monk Zhixian translated the a¯ gama. But the story about the self-immolation of Tath¯agata (Gautama Buddha) was different than the one recorded in Mah¯ay¯ana Mah¯aparinirv¯an.a S¯utra. He dispatched his disciple, Yunqi, to bring the translated agama back to China and

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present it to the court. At the same time, he continued his translation work, but no one heard from him after a few years, and it was believed that he passed away (Yijing 1988, pp. 76–77). Hailed from Aizhou, Mahayana Zen master Deng was a disciple of Xuanzang, and spent a long period of time in India. He sighted: “The original objective was to propagate Buddhist teachings in China. Yet, I couldn’t fulfill the objective, and I am getting old. Although I haven’t forgotten it, I hope I could do it in the next life” (Yijing 1988, p. 88). Yijing and Zen master Deng once saw the belongings left behind by another Chinese monk, Daoxi from Qizhou, in the Nalanda, and they were saddened by what had happened. Daoxi carried with him more 400 + volumes of the new and old s¯utras and a¯ stras of Tang, and it was obvious that he wanted to compare and validate the books with the Sanskrit version. But “at that time the person had already passed away. The Chinese copies were still here, and there were the extant Sanskrit copies. Tears came down after seeing it” (Yijing 1988, pp. 36, 38). These monks did not sacrifice in vain vis-à-vis the development of Buddhism in China. As members of the pilgrim monks, their spirit was the same as Xuanzang and Yijing, the great ones who succeeded in their mission. Although a large number of monks couldn’t fulfill their mission, they played an important role in diversification, so that those who had a chance to succeed could enjoy a greater degree of possibility. Among all the pilgrim monks, only a small number had their stories recorded. Many stories got lost in history, but their contributions have to be recognized as their roles were irreplaceable. In addition to those monks whose stories were recoded, any Chinese monk who went to India (except those who were just visiting historical sites) also shared the same goal, i.e. how they could serve China. All in all, they contributed to the development of Buddhism in China through learning Sanskrit, obtaining Sanskrit texts, understanding the monastic system in India, and figuring out the Buddhist philosophies. Of note is that through the efforts of the pilgrim monks, the spread of Buddhism in China had taken a new direction. From passively accepting it to actively investigating the religion from a China-centred orientation, the monks had made enormous contributions to the sinicization of Buddhism.9

References Du Y (1988) Tongdian, annot. Wang Wenjin, Wong Yongxing, Liu Junwen, Xu Tingyun and Xie Fang. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Fang H (1987) Communications history of China and the West. reprint. Yuelu Publishing House, Changsha Faxian (2008) A record of Buddhistic kingdoms annotated, annot. Zhang Xun. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing 9 The

concept of Sinicization of Buddhism has a long history, and scholars nowadays use another concept, “the centre of Buddhism”, with clear connotation and denotation. Refer to Zhou 2016, pp. 43–64.

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Hui-chiao (1992) Memoirs of Eminent Monks, annot. Tang Yongtong. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Hyecho (2000) An account of travel to the five Indian kingdoms annotated, annot. Zhang Yi. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Ji X (1985) Xuanzang and the Great Tang Records on the Western Region. In: Great Tang Records on the Western Region annotated. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Ji X et al (1985) Great Tang Records on the Western Regions annotated. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Li S (2010) The objective and meaning of Faxian’s dharma-seeking journey to the west. In: Yang Z, Wen J, Yang B (eds) The Eminent Pilgrim Monk Faxian in Eastern Jin and a record of Buddhistic Kingdoms Religious Culture Publishing House, Beijing Li H, Yan C (2000) Stories of the Tripit.aka Master of Dacien Temple, annot. Sun Yutong and Xie Fang. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Meng X (1999) Xuanzang and Qu Wentai. In: Ji X, Roa Z, Zhou Y (eds) Journal of the Dunhuang and Turfan studies,vol 4. Peking University Press, Beijing. Compiled in Meng Xianshi (2004) Han and Tang’s culture and the history of Gaochang. Shandong Qilu Press, Jinan, pp 256–272 Ning F (2016) Reassessing frontier stories: the gradual acceptance of India in Chinese Buddhism (trans: Ji Y), included. In Shen D, Sun Y (eds) Studies in Sino-India relations—vision and prospect. University Press, Shanghai Si M (2011) Zizhi Tongjian (lit. Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance). Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Sun X (1998) The Deeds of Wang Xuance. Xianjiang People’sPublishing House, Urumqi Wang B (1996) The life of the Tang Eminent Monk Yijing and Examinations of his works. Chongqing Publishing House, Chongqing Wang P (1991) Institutional history of Tang. Shanghai guji chubanshe, Shanghai Wang Q et al (2006) Cefu Yuangui. Jiangsu Phoenix Publishing House, Nanjing Yang Z (2010) Study of Pilgrim Monks. In Yanag Z, Wen J, Yang B (eds) A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms. in The Eminent Pilgrim Monk Faxian in Eastern Jin and A record of Buddhistic Kingdoms. Religious Culture Publishing House, Beijing Yijing (1988) The Great Tang Biographies of Eminent Monks who Sought the dharma in the Western Regions Annotated, annot. Wang Bangwei. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Yijing (1995) A Record of Buddhist practices sent home from the Southern sea annotated, annot. Wang Bangwei. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Zan N (1987) Biographies of Eminent Monks compiled during the Song period. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Zhang Y (2010) An examination of Faxian’s Birthplace. In: Yang Z, Wen, J, Yang, B (eds) The Eminent Pilgrim Monk Faxian in Eastern Jin and A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms. Religious Culture Publishing House, Beijing Zhang X (2008) A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms annotated. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing Zheng X, Rui C (1989) A guide to Great Tang Records on the Western Regions. Bashu Press, Chengdu Zhou B (2016) From frontiers to China: the transfer of the Centre of Buddhism from India and China—an explanation, (trans: Liu X), in Shen D, Sun Y (eds) Sino-India relations—vision and prospect. Fudan University Press, Shanghai

Chapter 5

Ferghana on the Eve of the Current Era Farhod Maksudov

Abstract The paper presents the political, economic, and social-cultural situation on the eve of the current era in Ferghana using both literature and archaeological data. It reviews the recordings on Ferghana (Ta-yuan) in Chinese chronicles. The archaeological data shows in this period, the synthesized sedentary-nomadic material culture was formed in Ferghana, which is named Kugay Karabulak Culture. Based on the archaeological findings, the paper illustrates the development of architecture technics, crafts, economy, religious beliefs, and burial rites of this period. Keywords Ferghana · Ta-yuan · Kugay karabulak · Sedentary-nomadic material culture

5.1 Political History The Ferghana Valley (or Ferghana), one of less studied but interesting ancient historical-geographical provinces of Central Asia, archaeologically had faced uninterrupted gradual development of cultures beginning from the 2nd millennium BCE.1 However, the written sources never mention this province as part of either Achaemenid or Greek or Kushan Empires, which spread their powers throughout the large part of Central Asia. Starting from the end of the 1st millennium BCE the population of Ferghana has taken an active part in dynamic political events that influenced the entire Central Asian region. Increasing political and socioeconomic relationships with neighboring and distant countries (like China, India, and Iran) as well as recurrent waves of north-eastern migrations of nomadic tribes (like Yueh-chih, who moved through Ferghana to south-west and eventually destroyed the GraecoBactrian Kingdom) have considerably changed the ethnocultural and political map of the Ferghana Valley. F. Maksudov (B) Director, Associate Professor, National Center of Archaeology, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences, Tashkent, Uzbekistan e-mail: [email protected] 1 Sprishevskij

(1963), Zadneprovskij (1985).

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The earliest more or less organized information about Ferghana is found in Chinese chronicles dated to the final centuries BCE. Particularly, the Chinese historian Szu-ma Ch’ien in his book Shih-chi has recorded a description of Ta-yuan (an independent kingdom, the location of which in the Ferghana Valley is agreed by the majority of researchers) made by Chang Ch’ien in the second century BCE. Chang Ch’ien was a Chinese ambassador sent by the Han Emperor Wu-ti to the Yueh-chih, who moved to Western Regions, with a mission to encourage them for a joint military action against the Hsiung-nu. The Chinese ambassador who visited Ta-yuan for two times describes this country with great admiration.2 According to this text, Ta-yuan was a country with a highly developed sedentary culture, where 300,000 people lived in some 70 large and small towns. It was located on the west of Hsiung-nu, south-west of the Wu-sun, south-east of K’ang-chu and to the east of the Ta Yueh-chih (Great Yueh-chih). The Ta-yuan people lived a sedentary life, were occupied in farming and sowed rice, wheat, barley, and Lucerne. They also grew grapes and produced wine, which was stored in special tanks for years. Ta-yuan also bred a lot of “blood-sweating heavenly horses”, a specific bred of highly valuable horses existed only in Ferghana and prized in neighboring countries.3 People in Ta-yuan lived in fortified settlements as well as in separately built houses. Their weapons consisted of bows and spears and the people were skilled in shooting from horseback. The Ta-yuan army had 60,000 fighting men. Further on, the Chinese chronicles inform that the Ta-yuan people had deep-set eyes and thick beards and thus were similar to other people of Western Regions. Trade played an important role in the economic life of Ta-yuan. Women were highly respected. Interestingly, the Ta-yuan people never used coins, silk, and pots made of metal. When the Han Emperor Wu-ti learned about the Western Regions he was not satisfied with diplomatic relations and decided to conquer those countries. General Li Kuang-li, one of the best and well-known generals of the Chinese army, was assigned to head the military campaign to Xinjiang and further to Ta-yuan. Emperor Wu-ti’s plan to get the famous Ta-yuan horses was one of the reasons for conquering this country.4 Li Kuang-li has accomplished two military missions to Ta-yuan: the first in 104– 102 BCE and the second in 101–99 BCE. The first mission ended with no success; the General could not bring enough soldiers to Ta-yuan and had to withdraw from the occupied eastern town of Yu and further leave the country under the attack of the Ta-yuan army. The second mission was somewhat successful, it was carefully prepared and the entire country was set in motion. When the Chinese army entered the Ferghana Valley it has bypassed the town of Yu, directly moved towards and besieged the capital Ershi. After forty days of siege, the Chinese were able to destroy the water system and the outer fortress. The Ta-yuan people were still defending the inner city under the guidance of their king Mu-ku-a. Being aware that the Ta-yuan people were waiting for support from K’ang-chu and that they could resist for many more days due to large food provisions, the Chinese were satisfied with the submitted head of 2 Bichurin

(1950). (1952). 4 Bichurin (1950). 3 Bernshtam

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the king Mu-ku-a (killed by Ta-yuan people themselves) along with several dozen “heavenly” horses. They placed Mo-tsai, the local rich person, to the Ta-yuan throne and left the country. As soon as the Chinese army withdrew the marionette ruler was killed and Chang-fun, the younger brother of Mu-ku-a was lifted to the throne. Chang-fun (or Chi-shan according to other sources) continued diplomatic relations with China as an independent state. He used to send only two pairs of “heavenly” horses to China annually.5 In general, it seems the Chinese military missions to Ta-yuan could not subdue this country and it was able to preserve its independence.

5.2 Archaeological Data Since the information provided by the ancient written sources, in general, is poor and of non-regular character, the main source of reliable information about the historical processes took place in the Ferghana Valley is archaeological material. The period between the second half of the first millennium BCE to the mid-first millennium CE in Central Asian (Post-Soviet) archaeological scholarship is usually called the Period of Antiquity. This period is marked by occupying virtually the entire territory of the Ferghana Valley for settling due to the active in-migration of nomadic, seminomadic, and sedentary tribes from neighboring regions. As a result, during the Period of Antiquity, the synthesized sedentary-nomadic material culture was formed in the larger part of the Ferghana Valley.6 There are different versions of the periodization of archaeological cultures of the Antiquity Period in the Ferghana Valley made by researchers who studied the region.7 However, the majority of scholars accept Gorbunova’s periodization (1986), according to which the period between the third–second centuries BCE to seventh century CE is called the Kugay-Karabulak Culture. It is divided into three stages: Early (third–first centuries BCE), Middle (first–fourth centuries CE), and Late (fifth– seventh centuries CE).8 Although there are some minor local differences, the resemblance of this culture within the territory of the Ferghana Valley allows using the term “Kugai-Karabulak Culture”. Moreover, the two words in this name, including the earliest studied farmer’s settlement of Kugay and the most famous nomadic cemetery of Karabulak, underline the resemblance of farmers and nomads in this culture. It is remarkable that during its long history the culture of the Ferghana Valley had a specific pattern

5 Bichurin

(1950), Hulsewe (1979), Tarn (1985). (1962, 1981), Kozenkova (1959), Chulanov (1967), Baruzdin and Brykina (1962), Litvinskij (1972, 1978), Saltovskaja (1972), Brykina (1982), Kudratov (1992), Matbabaev (2009). 7 Oboldueva (1951), Zhukov (1951), Guljamov (1951), Bernshtam (1952), Sorokin (1954), Latynin (1962), Masson (1975), Anarbaev (1988), Baratov (1991), Abdulgazieva (1988), Ivanov (1999), Maksudov (2002), Abdullaev (2007). 8 Gorbunova (1983). 6 Zadneprovskij

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where the synthesis of sedentary farming and nomadic cattle-breeding cultures can be observed.9

5.3 Architecture The Early and Middle Stages of the Kugay-Karabulak Culture is a period of highest development in Ferghana. This is the period, when the number of settlements, concentrated on delta parts of mountain springs and at the beginning parts of the plains, i.e. on arable zones, was increased. The settlements usually included separate houses, fortified and non-fortified villages, castles, towns. The mud-brick architecture continued developing and the building techniques were significantly improved. Most importantly is that the fortification system was enhanced by providing fortress walls with shooting galleries and towers with shooting holes. The building materials were mudbricks (42–48 × 32–37 × 8–10 cm), mud-blocks (rounded dried up pieces of clay), and mud fillings (building walls with layers of clay).10

5.4 Crafts During this period the fine thin-walled wheel-made pottery with red slip had spread everywhere in the Valley. Sometimes the pottery was decorated with scratched ornamentation, where geometric motifs dominated. Although there were numerous pottery shapes, some of them seem to be fashionable. At the same time, several pottery-making schools or centers can be identified based on the typological analysis of pottery shapes. Besides ceramics, there also were wooden containers like baskets. Weapons are represented by complicated bows, arrows with iron heads, knives, and swords. Labor tools were made of stone and iron (grinding stones, axes, etc.). Jewelry is represented by the cosmetics set consisting of graphite pencils, bronze mirrors of various types, wooden boxes, remains of cotton and silk fabrics including imported ones, various decoration objects like diadems, earrings, bracelets, necklaces and complicated chest jewelry made of beads and Chinese coins wu-shu.11 In general, the objects of material culture inform about the commercial relations of the Ferghana people with close and distant sedentary and nomadic peoples of Kushan, Xinjiang, India, China, etc. In the fine arts, no painting or sculpture was known in this region as well. There are only some coarse anthropomorphic idols (made of clay and alabaster) that were found during excavations in south-west Ferghana.12

9 Gorbunova

(1986). (1983), Zadneprovskij (1985). 11 Gorbunova (1983), Zadneprovskij (1985). 12 Brykina (1982). 10 Gorbunova

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5.5 Economy The basis of the economy in Ferghana was farming (growing of crops such as wheat, rice, barley), fruit growing (grapes, peaches, apples, apricots), animal-breeding (sheep, goats, cows, horses, donkeys, pigs, camels) and crafts (pottery-, bronzeand iron-making, textile, carpentry, etc.). For the entire period of Antiquity, the trade was of natural exchange character and the Ferghana people never used money. The skills of applying irrigational agriculture had been transferred from generation to generation. The watering techniques were gradually improved, which eventually led to increasing the scales of farming and controlling the water of rivers and springs. Farmers initially occupied the most fertile and irrigation-friendly areas for farming, later under the pressure of increased population and higher demand for food they extended their fields towards less productive and more difficult territories. In this regard, investigations on the Kerkidan Settlements in Southern Ferghana are interesting. It is a group of sites consisting of 10 synchronous settlements, including several separate residential buildings, two fortified settlements, the castle protecting the oasis, the temple, and the cemetery. One of the fortified settlements is thought to be the administrative center and the other one was based on wine-producing.13 Studies at this unique site have resulted in getting new information on farming culture in Ferghana during the first centuries CE, where favorable hydrographic and environmental conditions have promoted the development of irrigational agriculture. Another interesting picture is seen in the Sokh Oasis, the largest river cone of Southern Ferghana. Here at the beginning of Sokh delta the people have built a castle (the site of Sari-Kurghan), which most likely had a regular garrison for protecting the representatives of local power, who controlled water.14 The topographic location of the Sarykurghan castle as well as the architectural features (like building on a high earthen platform and fortress walls with shooting galleries), all these allow us to agree with this opinion. Mapping the archaeological sites of the Ferghana Valley made it possible to reveal several other similar sites in the upper parts of the river cones, which used to be the places for local authorities regulated irrigational waters.

5.6 Religious Beliefs The spiritual culture in Ferghana during the Antiquity is represented first of all by the fire-worshipping rooms and temples. These sacred constructions usually had a central room and surrounding corridors typically built on a specific earthen platform (such as Kyzlar-tepe site in Margilan). One or more hearths, i.e. altars generally were made in the middle of the central room.15 This type of temples is considered to be typical of urbanized centers of Central Asia, where the rituals of fire-worshipping 13 Gorbunova

(1977). 1951. 15 Anarbaev and Maksudov (2007). 14 Gulyamov

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executed.16 Architecturally, the traditions of building this type of temples, which are dated back to the third–second centuries BCE, have parallels with south-western provinces of Central Asia. Perhaps starting from this time Ferghana was facing the influence of south-western cultures represented first by the appearance of red-slip pottery, which replaced the earlier light-slip Eylatan-type pottery and secondly by monumental fire-worshipping constructions built on platforms. Another source on religious beliefs of the Ferghana people is the motifs of scratched ornamentation on red slip pottery, which were found in all parts of the Valley, during excavations of the settlements as well as the burials. The researchers studied the semantics of scratched ornamentation have revealed several recurring types of motifs such as mountains, rain, vegetation, and horses. All these elements are thought to have to some extent sacred meaning. For instance, mountains are models of the universe, where all elements are reflected. Rain was also very important from ancient times when farmers’ and animal-breeders’ lives were heavily dependent on annual rainfall. In general, the study of scratched ornamentation motifs shows that poly-spiritualistic beliefs were still important in the lives of the Ferghana people, who at the same time worshipped fire. As was mentioned above, a specific type of idol-worshipping was spread at least in the south-western part of Ferghana. The traces of this belief are represented by numerous anthropomorphic figurines made of alabaster. This subject has been studied in detail by Brykina, who concluded that worshipping idols was closely related to the ancestors’ cult and totemic beliefs.17 Another very interesting architecture has been revealed during excavations at Arktepe in Southern Ferghana, which considered by Gorbunova, who studied the site, as a sacred construction.18 The sketch of the building reminds a flower.

5.7 Burial Rites Studies of burial constructions in Ferghana had yielded important information about the funeral rites of the local population during the Antiquity. The following types of burials were wide-spread in this region: earthen burials (pit-type), catacomb and podboy-type burials, surface stone-made, and earthen constructions (kurghans and kurums). Among these burials grounds, there are some groups located in close proximity to farmers’ settlements; these burials are thought to belong to farmers, whereas all other burials most likely were left by the nomads (Figs. 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6 and 5.7).19

16 Sulejmanov

(2000). (1982). 18 Gorbunova (1994). 19 Litvinskij (1972), Gorbunova (1983), Zadneprovskij (1985). 17 Brykina

5 Ferghana on the Eve of the Current Era Fig. 5.1 Rock art. First centuries CE. Ferghana (after Bernshtam 1952)

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Fig. 5.2 Weapons. First centuries CE. Ferghana (after Gorbunova 1986)

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5 Ferghana on the Eve of the Current Era Fig. 5.3 Niche-type burial. First centuries CE. Ferghana (after Litvinsky 1972)

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64 Fig. 5.4 Red-slip pottery. First centuries CE. Ferghana (after Gorbunova 1986)

Fig. 5.5 Red-slip pottery with scratched decoration. First centuries CE. Ferghana (after Gorbunova 1986)

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Fig. 5.6 Red-slip pottery. First centuries CE. Ferghana (after Gorbunova 1986)

Fig. 5.7 Red-slip pottery. First centuries CE. Ferghana (after Gorbunova 1986)

References Abdulgazieva B. (1988) Vostochnaja Fergana v drevnosti i rannem srednevekov’e. Avtoreferat diss. kand. ist. nauk. Samarkand, 20s Abdullaev BM (2007) Vozniknovenie i jetapy razvitija fortifikacii Fergany v drevnosti i srednevekov’e. Avtoreferat diss. kand. ist. nauk. Samarkand, 27s Anarbaev AA (1988) Ahsikent v drevnosti i srednevekov’e (itogi i perspektivy issledovanija)// SA, No. 1, str. 171–187 Anarbaev AA, Maksudov FA (2007) Drevnij Margilan. Tashkent, Fan, 162s Baratov SR (1991) Kul’tura skotovodov Severnoj Fergany v drevnosti i rannem srednevekov’e. Avtoreferat diss. kand. ist. nauk. Samarkand, 24s Baruzdin JD, Brykina GA (1962) Arheologicheskie pamjatniki Batkena i Ljajljaka (jugo-zapadnaja Kirgizija). Frunze Bernshtam AN (1952) Istoriko-arheologicheskie ocherki Central’nogo Tjan’-Shanja i PamiroAlaja. Otv.red. M.M.D’jakonov. MIA, No. 26, Moskva-Leningrad., 346s Bichurin NJ (1950) Sobranie svedenij o narodah, obitavshih v Srednej Azii v drevnie vremena. Otv.red. S.P.Tolstov, Izd-vo AN SSSR, M-L., Chast’ 2, 336s Brykina GA (1982) Jugo-Zapadnaja Fergana v pervoj polovine 1-tysjacheletija nashej jery. Otvet.red. E.E.Nerazik. M., Izd-vo “Nauka”, 197s Chulanov JG (1967) Nekotorye novye pamjatniki severnoj Fergany// SA, No. 2

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Gorbunova NG (1977) Poselenija Fergany pervyh vekov nashej jery (nekotorye itogi isledovanija)// SA, No. 3, str. 107–120 Gorbunova NG (1983) Kugajsko-Karabulakskaja kul’tura// SA, No. 3, str. 23–46 Gorbunova NG (1986) The culture of ancient Ferghana (VI century B.C.–VI century A.D.). BAR International Series, 281, Oxford, 365 c Gorbunova NG (1994) Poselenie Ark-tepe v juzhnoj Fergane// RA, No. 4, str. 191–206 Guljamov JG (1951) Otchet o rabote tret’ego otrjada arheologicheskoj jekspedicii na stroitel’stve BFK// V kn.: Trudy instituta istorii i arheologii AN UzSSR, tom 4, Tashkent, str. 85–122 Hulsewe AFP (1979) China in Central Asia. Leiden, E.J.Brill, p 270 Ivanov GP (1999) Arheologicheskie kul’tury Fergany (periodizacija i sinhronizacija). Avtoreferat diss. kand. ist. nauk. Samarkand, 25s Kozenkova VI (1959) Arheologicheskie raboty v Andizhanskoj oblasti v 1956 godu// KSIIMK, No. 76 Kudratov S. (1992). Poselenija levoberezh’ja r.Naryn v Fergane. Avtoreferat diss… kand.ist.nauk. Sankt-Peterburg, 23 s Latynin BA (1962) Voprosy istorii irrigacii i oroshaemogo zemledelija drevnej Fergany. Obobshhajushhij doklad po rabotam, predstavlennym kak dissertacija na soiskanie uchenoj stepeni doktora istoricheskih nauk. L., 32s Litvinskij BA (1972) Kurgany i kurumy zapadnoj Fergany. M., Izd-vo Nauka, 378 s Litvinskij BA (1978) Orudija truda i utvar’ iz mogil’nikov zapadnoj Fergany. M., Izd-vo Nauka, 256s Maksudov FA (2002) Stanovlenie i jetapy razvitija zemledel”cheskoj kul”tury Juzhnoj Fergany. Avtoreferat diss. kand. ist. nauk. Samarkand, 25s Masson ME (1975) K voprosu o severnyh granicah gosudarstva Velikih Kushan// V kn.: Central’naja Azija v kushanskuju jepohu. M., str. 42–49 Matbabaev BH (2009) Rannesrednevekovaja kul’tura Fergany. Avtoreferat diss. dok. ist. nauk. Samarkand, 58s Oboldueva TG (1951) Otchet o rabote pervogo otrjada arheologieskoj jekspedicii na stroitel’stve BFK// Trudy IIA, tom 4, Tashkent, Izd-vo AN RUz, str. 7–40 Saltovskaja ED (1972) O rabotah v severo-zapadnoj Fergane// AO 1971 goda Sorokin SS (1954) Nekotorye voprosy proishozhdenija keramiki katakombnyh mogil Fergany// SA, No. 20, str. 131–147 Sprishevskij VI (1963) Chustskoe poselenie. Avtoreferat diss. kand. ist. nauk. Tashkent, 26s Sulejmanov RH (2000) Drevnij Nahshab. Otvet.red. Je.V.Rtveladze. Tashkent, Izd-vo Fan, 343s. s ill Tarn WW (1985) The Greeks in bactria & India. Ares Publishers, Inc., Chicago MCMLXXXV, p 480 Zadneprovskij JA (1962) Drevnezemledel’cheskaja kul’tura Fergany. Otvet.red. V.M.Masson. MIA, No.118, M.-L., Izd-vo AN SSSR, 327s Zadneprovskij JA (1981) K istorii oazisnogo rasselenija v pervobytnoj Srednej Azii// KSIA, No. 167 Zadneprovskij JA (1985) Fergana// V kn.: Drevnejshie gosudarstva Kavkaza i Srednej Azii. Pod obshhej redakciej akademika B.A.Rybakova. Izd-vo “Nauka”, M., str. 195–197, 304–316 Zhukov VD (1951) Otchet o rabote vtorogo otrjada arheologicheskoj jekspedicii na stroitel’stve BFK// V kn.: Trudy instituta istorii i arheologii AN UzSSR, tom 4, Tashkent, str. 41–84

Chapter 6

Ferghana During the Early Medieval Period Farhod Maksudov

Abstract The Early Medieval Period, dated back to the fifth to eighth centuries CE in Central Asian (Post-Soviet) scholarship, is associated with dynamic socioeconomic progress in addition to the historical events leading to destabilization of political circumstances in the entire Central Asian region. At this time every oasis becomes politically independent as a result of the feudal disunity that occurred after the crisis of the Kushan Empire. This article sheds light on the cultural life in the Ferghana Valley (Central Asia) during this period based on historical records and supported by archaeological data. Keywords Early Medieval Period · The Ferghana Valley · Historical records · Archaeological data · Culture

6.1 Introduction The historical records of the Early Medieval Period inform that the new tribes, known as the Chionites (a.k.a. Kidarites)1 and the Ephtalites,2 have appeared on the political scene of Central Eurasia. In the second half of the fifth century, the Ephtalites were able to subdue the vast territories of Xinjiang, Central Asia, Eastern Iran, and Northern India and united them under the single colossal power. By connecting numerous peoples along the Silk Road, the Ephtalite Empire hosted various religious beliefs and local cults, including fire-worshiping, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, etc. Although the origin of the Ephtalites still remains unknown, it is certain that they have played an important role in the ethnic history of Central Asian peoples. F. Maksudov (B) Director, Associate Professor, National Center of Archaeology, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences, Tashkent, Uzbekistan e-mail: [email protected] 1 Zeimal (1996). The Kidarite Kingdom. In B.A. Litvinsky (Ed.), History of Civilizations of Central

Asia. Vol. 3. UNESCO Publishing. 119–133. (1996). The Hephtalite Empire. In B.A. Litvinsky (Ed.), History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Vol. 3. UNESCO Publishing. 135–162. 2 Litvinsky

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In the mid-sixth century, the new state called the Turkic Kaghanate was established on the vast territory of Inner Asia covering the area from modern-day Northern Mongolia and Altay Mountains to Semirech’ye steppes and the Western Tien-Shan foothills. By expanding westwards, the Turks confronted and defeated the Ephtalites in 563–567. The Amudarya River becomes the natural border between the Turkic Kaghanate and Sassanian Iran. At the same time, the Turks have undertaken several successful military campaigns against China. Soon, at the end of the sixth century, as a result of inner conflicts, the Turkic Kaghanate was split onto the Eastern and Western parts, where the latter included all lands of Central Asia west of the Tien-Shan Mountains including Ferghana.3 Starting from the eighth century the Central Asia region was the subject of the Arab conquest. The Arabs first appear here during the military mission of the Khorasan ruler Kuteyba ibn Muslim in 713. This mission was launched due to the participation of the Ferghana people in the anti-Arab coalition with Sogdians (the Zerafshan River Oasis) and the people of Chach (the Tashkent Oasis). Further on, the Arabs implemented several similar missions to Ferghana, however, they could not subdue the people of Ferghana for a long time since they acted jointly with the Turks, who usually opposed the Arabs. In a very complicated political situation, the Ferghana people also applied for Chinese support too. The Turkic ruler Arslan Tarkan became the leader of Ferghana in 739 and organized a strong resistance against the Arabs. Challenging fights of the Ferghana people with the Arab army lasted for 100 years. At the end of the eighth century, the Arabs defeated the ruler of Turks-Karluks, who left Ferghana. However, even in the ninth century the Arabs still had to pacify assertive Ferghanis. The last ruler, at the reign of whom the people of Ferghana refused to convert to Islam was the Samanid Nuh Asad (the first half of the ninth century).4 In the Chinese chronicles of Wei-shi (386–534 CE) and Sui-shu (589–618) Ferghana is mentioned as Po-luo-na and Po-han. In particular, the source informs that the ruler of Po-han is called Chao-wu A-li-chi and his “…residence is 4 Li in circuit; the army consists of several thousand soldiers; the ruler sits on the throne representing a golden sheep. His wife wears a golden crown. A lot of cinnabar, gold and iron5 …”. The Chinese Buddhist traveler Hsuang Tsang, who visited Central Asia in the first half of the seventh century, provides important information on Ferghana: Fei-Han. This kingdom is about 4000 li in circuit. It is enclosed by mountains on every side. The soil is rich and fertile, it produces many harvests, and abundance of flowers and fruits. It is favourable for breeding sheep and horses. The climate is windy and cold. The character of the people is one of firmness and courage. Their language differs from that of the neighbouring countries. Their form is rather poor and mean. For ten years or so the country has had no supreme ruler. The strongest rule by force, and are independent one of another. 3 Findley (2005). The Turks in World History. Oxford University Press; Grousset (1970). The Empire

of the Steppes. Rutgers University Press; Gumilev (2002). Drenije tjurki. St.Petersburg: Kristall, Moscow: ACT. 4 Bartold (1965). Sochineneija. Vol. III. Moscow: Nauka. 529–530. 5 Bichurin (1950). Sobranije svedenij o narodah, obitavshih v Srednej Azii v drenie vremena. Vol. II. Moscow-Leningrad: Akademija nauk SSSR. 274, 285.

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They divide their separate possessions according to the run of the valleys and mountain barriers. Going from this country westward for 1000 li or so, we come to the kingdom of Su-tu-li-sse-na….6

This shows that in Ferghana during this period a lot of local rulers were fighting against each other. This eased conquering the larger part of Ferghana by the Turks. Further, due to the increased penetration of Turks, the population of Fergana was gradually Turkisized. Numerous findings of the Turkic Runic inscriptions in the Ferghana Valley support this hypothesis. This was the rising period of the Western Turkic Kaghanate, when Ferghana was included in the network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass. The Ferghana Valley was a hub linking Xinjiang oases with Chach and Soghd. At the same time, it was a cultural region continuously drawing the mobile pastoralist tribes from surrounding mountains of Pamir-Alay and Central Tien-Shan. Tang-shu describes Ferghana in detail since it was then embroiled into the intensive political events with the participation of the Turks, Tang China and the Arabs. Here is the translation of a passage from Tang-shu made by N. Ja. Bichurin: …Ning-yuan is actually Po-hanna. During the Yuan Wei it was called Po-luo-na. Its distance from the Capital is 8000 Li. The ruler resides in the town of Hsi-chien on the northen side of the Chen-chu River. There are six large and about one hundred small towns. People live long lives. The continuity of rulers never interrupted since the Yan Wei (386–555)….7

Besides the city of Hsi-chien (Ahsikent, the site of Eski Ahsi), the chronicles mention Hu-men, a town in Southern Ferghana, where the local Ferghani rulers resided; and Ke-sai (Kasan), a town belonging to the Turks.8 Archaeological observations have exposed some peculiarities in the development of the material and spiritual culture of Ferghana from the Bronze Age to the Early Middle Ages. It is now thought that throughout history the Ferghana Valley was a center attracting numerous populations inhabiting surrounding mountains. Constant penetration, as well as, apparently, the ethnic affinity of these populations with different economies to Ferghana people facilitated the smooth assimilation of new groups among indigenous people and contributed to the formation of a unique cultural identity. For centuries, Fergana seems to have preserved its unique culture, although the evolution of its culture is synchronous to the cultures of different regions of Central Asia. This points out the involvement of Ferghana in many events in the history of the Central Asian region. Therefore, the culture of Ferghana evolved as a result of a mixture of mobile pastoralists and sedentary farming economies. According to one research, the culture of Ferghana was closer to the mixed nomadic-sedentary Middle Syr Darya cultures and “…was the

6 Beal (1884). Si-Yu-Ki. Buddhist Records of the Western World. Vol. I. London: Trubner & Co. Ltd.

30–31. 7 Ibid., 8 Ibid.,

319. 319.

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re-translator between the sedentary farmers’ states of Central Asia and the world of the north-eastern nomads…”.9 Consequently, since the beginning of the first millennium BCE, the territory of the Ferghana Valley has been inhabited by two groups of people: settled farmers and mobile pastoralists. For centuries farmers were exclusively able to utilize naturally fertile and well-drained soils with easy access to water. This explains why almost all of the archaeological sites left by sedentary populations are located in the middle stream deltas. In the Antiquity Period, the farming culture developed irrigation techniques allowing farmers to occupy lower deltas, with less favorable conditions and thus subject to deterioration. Mapping the Early Medieval sites throughout the Ferghana Valley shows to some extent decline of the number of settlements. Significant increase in population during the previous period resulted in boosted water withdrawal from rivers. Consequently, the lower river deltas dried up by reason of water scarcity, and the settlements located here had to move upstream towards the beginning part of the deltas. People could not move higher due to less hospitable environmental conditions in the upper foothill zones. Therefore, the settlements along the Central Ferghana desert, located in the very bottom of the Valley were abandoned. The socioeconomic conditions of the population possibly were at the same level as in the other sedentary oases of Central Asia. The other reason for changing settlement patterns in urban development during the Early Medieval Period when towns became larger and more compact; these towns serve as centers for trade and craft production. Several large towns—such as Ahsikent, Kuva, Kasan, Osh, Andijan—developed in the Ferghana Valley and, since that time, this region has been used exclusively for sedentary agriculture dependent on irrigation. The sedentary populations were mainly occupied in farming, trading, mining, and craftworks. Pastoral cattle-breeding was still important due to the abundance of pastures. This way, in the Early Medieval Period the complicated socioeconomic environment had significantly changed the life of the Ferghana people. In-migration of Turks changed the ethnocultural situation in Ferghana. The Sogdians increased their colonizing activities eastwards, which was probably related to moving of part of Sogdians to Ferghana due to clashes with the Arabs. This migration of course has resulted in changing the traditions of material and spiritual culture. For a short time, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism were spread in Ferghana, which soon after were replaced with Islam propagated by the Arabs and entering Ferghana into the Caliphate.

9 Gorbunova

(1984). Nekotorye osobennosti formirovanija drevnih kul’tur Fergany. Arheologicheskij sbornik Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha, Vol. 25. 99–107.

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6.2 Architecture Although there are a few studied sites, the change in architecture, particularly in the fortress system is observable. Intensive archaeological studies of the citadel fortress wall at Kuva—one of the most important sites in the Ferghana Valley— revealed a settlement under the citadel functioned before the rise of the medieval town. This settlement subsequently was turned into a stronghold by adjoining towers and erecting the fortress walls around the area adjacent to the castle.10 Town residents started building more powerful walls and monolith towers without inner rooms instead of towers with inner rooms and shooting galleries. The roofing is still flat and arched. Archaeological works at the Kuva Settlement yielded much information about the architecture of that period. The only Buddhist temple with surrounding residential complex in Ferghana was unearthed at Kuva. The sacral construction was built on an artificial earthen platform with stairs and consisted of a square-shaped worshipping room and a rectangular temple unified by the main wall. In front of the temple, there was a yard with entrance rooms. The temple was covered with flat wooden roof supported by wooden poles. The cult complex was full of broken painted terracotta sculpture of the Buddhist pantheon and fragments of a sculptural frizz decorated the room. The residential complex consisted of houses grouped into six quarters divided by streets with a lot of household pits and oven (tandoor). In the rooms, there were earthen (adobe) platforms for sitting (sufa) and various types of heating systems (hearths, sandals, etc.). The small rooms had arched roofs. Craftsmen of various professions such as potters, jewelers, and others lived and worked in these houses. There were also melting furnaces in this area. The entire complex including the temple and residential buildings were ruined by fire, the sculptures were brought down from podiums and broken. Most probably this was done during one of the Arab attacks.11 In the multilayered archaeological sites like Eski Ahsi often explored are the upper cultural layers. The lower layers are studied mainly in stratigraphic cuts. Therefore, information on the architecture of the ancient period is very scarce. In this regard, the single-layered sites such as suburban Kuva provide better material describing the dwellings during the ancient periods. At Eski Ahsi the remains of residential architecture of the Early Medieval Period are studied only on the Object-IX. The life on this site continued until the early thirteenth century CE (Mongol invasion), therefore, the earlier layers lie under thick strata of the ninth to thirteenth centuries. The remains of seven Early Medieval rooms were uncovered under the thick layers inside the town fortress wall structure. The rooms were built of mud blocks and adobe bricks measured 8 × 25 × 50 cm and therefore dated to the fifth to eighth centuries. The rooms are located between two fortress towers and built inside the walls, right

10 Zhukov

(1960). Obsledovanija gorodischa Staraja Kuva v 1956 godu. Kratkije soobschenija Instituta arheologii, Vol. 80, 80–84. 11 Bulatova (1972b). Drevnjaja Kuva. Tashkent: Fan. 20–50; Raspopova, V.I. (1990). Zhilische Pendzhikenta. Leningrad: Nauka. 14–198.

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next to it. Excavation works demonstrated that the rooms belonged to three residential complexes, stratigraphically allocated within three construction phases. The architectural complex consisted of the hallway and several rooms with plastered mud-brick floors, walls, and adobe sufa. Exploring the room fillings had yielded a quite rich collection of findings including ceramics (wheel- and hand-made kitchenware, cookware, and containers), metal objects (fragments of hacksaw, knives and fishing hooks), three-bladed arrowheads, pieces of iron chain, etc. The bronze and iron rings, scissors derive from the second construction phase. In one of the rooms, there was a well plastered with specific clay mass (including straw and sand) and mud-bricks. Each room was equipped with heating hearths. The room walls usually had several niches. As shown by the excavations, these residential complexes belong to essentially a single house, all the rooms of which, apparently, had a common roof. Although the house was not fully uncovered, it was found out that the entire complex had a single flat roof. Based on the stratigraphy and archaeological materials, it was revealed that the house was built, apparently, not later than the beginning of the seventh century and had three construction phases. All rooms in the main excavated area belong to the second construction phase. The first construction phase identified in some areas and did not provide dating materials. The third stage of habitation on the premises recorded stratigraphically. Archaeological findings have been obtained mainly from the floor fillings of the second construction phase and belong to the seventh to eighth centuries. The location of the rooms between the two towers and right next to the castle wall as well as the interior tend to suggest that the house could be used as military barracks. This is also supported by additional facts: the presence of the well and the lack of access to the inner town. These are the common features of the Early Medieval residential architecture of Ferghana, which functioned at least for 150 years.

6.3 Crafts Crafts as a small-scale production of goods appeared in the Ferghana Valley very early. It passed through several stages of historical development from homescale craft to large-scale artisan production. Archaeological works show that Ferghana during the Early Medieval Period was familiar with a lot of craft types including metal-work, pottery-making, wood-work, tailoring, leather-work, jewelry. The craftsmen were usually concentrated in urban centers. Compared to the earlier period the transformation of traditions in all crafts is clearly observable. Archaeologically, the most representative material of craftwork is ceramics. The ceramics production of Ferghana during the Early Medieval Period is most remarkably represented by the four consecutive archaeological complexes derived during excavations at the Eski Ahsi. The comparative and typological analyses of ceramics reveal the following most important differences between the pottery of the Early Medieval Period and the period of the Late Antiquity.

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At the end of the fourth to fifth century, the quality of most vessels is still good, that is, they have symmetrical shapes and smooth surfaces. But in some changes can be traced in the red-slip coating (so-called engobe); in particular, now the dim engobe with streaks, spots, and stripes are more common. The leading form of the complex is hemispherical bowls, which account for over 20% of all ceramics types. At this period the dishes with shiny polished surfaces fade out, ceramics with scratched ornament are dramatically reduced, and the new forms of dishes appear. In the sixth century, ceramics with red slip continues, but the quality of the engobe gradually deteriorates. Most vessels have thin red, sometimes dark, almost black engobe in strips. However, the vessels with no engobe cover become very often. Later, the share of these vessels increases. Interestingly, during this period the vessels with scratched ornament completely disappear. The wheel-made kettles cease to function and replaced by hand-made kettles. The kitchenware and containers are entirely handmade. In general, at this time the hand-made vessels account for about 15–16% of the ceramics. In the seventh century, the pottery is presented hemispherical and conical cups, narrow-necked and wide-mouth jars, pots, and containers (khum). The vessel walls are thickened and not covered with engobe. During this period, ceramics with red engobe almost completely disappears (only 3 out of 200 sherds had loose red slip). There are also some vessels with smoothed and polished surfaces. The leading pottery shapes of this period are cups with a hemispherical and conical body and inwardcurved rim, and jugs with trumpet-shaped rim. Now large bowls disappear. Mugs with cylindrical bodies and bowls with wavy edge appear in the second half of the seventh century. Thus, there are significant changes in ceramic production. According to the Ferghana ceramics, the considerable influence of pottery-making traditions of the Middle Syr Darya region and other neighboring countries is observed for this period. In the eighth century, the assortment of ceramic vessels is diverse and their technological process also experiences some changes. In particular, the vessels with specific slip are completely missing among the findings. The leading pottery shapes of this complex are mugs and jugs with trumpet-shaped rim, hemispherical and conical bowls with a straight and inward-curved rim. Also, the shapes of mugs and jugs become diversified; the glassware appears for the first time. It should be noted that the dating of the upper part of the complex is determined by the Caliphate coin minted by al-Mahdi, which refers to 775–785 CE. Therefore, the most important characteristics of the Early Medieval pottery are as follows: in the second half of the fifth century the red slip (i.e. the engobe cover on the vessels) quality deteriorates, the vessels are covered just partially, and later the engobe almost completely disappears. Interestingly, the pots decorated with scratched ornamentation become out-fashioned. Finally, the influence of the Kaunchi culture (brought to Middle Syrdarya region by nomadic groups in-migrated from north-eastern Central Asia in the first half of the first millennium BCE) can be traced in the other cookware shapes. But despite this, the local Ferghana ceramic tradition was not interrupted and took on a new look.

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Analogies to the Early Medieval pottery from Eski Ahsi derive from well-known settlements such as Kuva, Pap,12 Chardana,13 Gayrattepe,14 and other sites of the Ferghana Valley.15 The comparative analysis of ceramic complexes from Eski Ahsi with materials from Gayrattepe (located on the east) and Pap (located on the west of the Valley) presented interesting results. The upper construction period in Gayrattepe with two archaeological complexes is dated to the Early Middle Ages. Gayrat then should be dated to the end of the fifth to the sixth century because it is similar to the ceramic complex of Eski Ahsi. Both Gayrat and Eski Ahsi do not have vessels with scratched ornaments and both have vessels with loose red slip often painted as strips. The kitchenware in Gayrattepe and Eski Ahsi is hand-made. The archaeological site of Pap consists of three parts: Balandtepe, Munchaktepe, and Temirkasmaktepe. Early Medieval material was obtained from Balandtepe and Munchaktepe. The Munchaktepe materials were preliminarily dated to the period within the fifth to eighth centuries.16 Recently, B. H. Matbabaev analyzing the ceramic materials from Balandtepe and Munchaktepe, had identified two archaeological complexes belonging to the Early Medieval Period. The pottery complex of the Balandtepe Period II with ceramics from the Necropolis Crypts No. 1 and 5 and some single burials—all are dated to the fifth to sixth centuries. The pottery complex of the Balandtepe Period III with ceramics from the Necropolis Crypts No. 2, 3, 4, and 9 and some single burials—all are dated to the seventh to eighth centuries.17 The comparative analysis shows that the ceramic complex from the Crypts No.1 and 518 should be dated much later – by the second half of the sixth to seventh century. The reason for that is (a) there is a bowl with wavy rim; (b) more than 30% of vessels do not have red slip coating, and (c) available red slip coating is loose and painted in the strip. All of these signs, as it was seen on the materials from Eski Ahsi, are not typical for the fifth or even the first half of the sixth century. As for the ceramic complex from the Crypts No. 2–4 and 9, they can be dated to the second half of the seventh to eighth centuries. All the evidence suggests that the ceramics production during the fifth to eighth centuries in Eski Ahsi and generally in Ferghana experiences deep changes. The local Ferghana traditions are being increasingly influenced by the close relationship with Chach as well as the south-western regions of Central Asia. During this period 12 Anarbaev

and Matbabaev (1993/1994). An Early Medieval Urban Necropolis in Ferghana. Silk Road Art and Archaeology, Vol. 3. 223–249. 13 Abdulgazieva (1991). Issledovanija poselenija Chordona. Istorija material’noj kul’tury Uzbekistana, Vol. 25. 132–137; Matbabaev and Mashrabov (2011). Drevnij I srednevekovyj Andizhan. Tashkent: Sharq. 34–47. 14 Kozenkova (1964). Gajrattepe. Sovetskaja arheologija, Vol. 3. 218–237. 15 Bernshtam (1952a). Istoriko-arheologicheskije ocherki Central’nogo Tjan-Shanja I PamiroAlaja. Moskva-Leningrad: Nauka, MIA, Vol. 26. 346; Gorbunova (1979). Itogi issledovanija arheologicheskih pamjatnikov Ferganskoj oblasti. Sovetskaja arheologija, Vol. 3. 16–34. 16 Anarbaev and Matbabaev (1993/1994, 233). 17 Matbabaev (2009). K istorii kul’tury Fergany v epohu rannego srednevekov’ja. Tashkent: Tafakkur. 80, Fig. 95–98. 18 Ibid., 66–67, Fig. 82.

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some traditional cookware forms disappear while technological innovations emerge such as coarsening of wheel-made vessels (where the pottery walls become relatively massive), disappearing of specific red slip coating, and increasing of the hand-made pottery percentage. In addition, we would like to note that the use of metalware and woodware (especially vessels made of gourd) is widely spread among the people of this period. This is shown by a set of wooden and gourd vessels from the Pap Necropolis.19 The new types of knives with bended one side appeared; the bi-conic textile loads and cosmetic boxes become rare; bronze mirrors were mainly disk-shaped; the nomadic belts made of various figures were widely spread throughout the vast Eurasian steppes; the jewelry types were significantly changed. Innovations are the appearance of sculpture, writing, and monetary relationship. A lot of Turkic-Sogdian coins and the Abbasid imitations to Bukhar-Khudat drachmas were found during excavations at Kuva. The goods exported from Ferghana included leather, paints, medicine, glassware, etc.

6.4 Numismatics According to numismatics studies on coin circulation in the Early Medieval Ferghana, the first coins penetrated to the region were the Chinese “wu-shu” coins dated back to the second century BCE to the sixth century CE.20 The beginning of independent coinage in Ferghana is associated by the Uzbek numismatics specialist L. Baratova with four groups of coins: The first group includes coins with double portrait of a male ruler with flowing hairs and a female ruler with a tricorn hat. The coin has an inscription in a unique ancient Ferghana language of Aramaic origin which differs from other Central Asian Middle Iranian languages. The legend reads as “Ferghana ruler Chish”. These coins are dated to the 5th -6th centuries. The second group of early coins close to the above-mentioned ones and has an ancient Turkic runic inscription, which reads “qaghan” on the averse, and a Soghdian inscription “family guardian” with a tamgha (specific symbol) on the reverse. These are dated to the Turkic period, i.e. the sixth to seventh centuries. The third group is the Bronze coins with rectangular whole, tamgha and Soghidan legend reading “qaghan” minted in Ferghana in the seventh to eighth centuries. The last group of early Ferghana coins also has a rectangular whole in the center but the surrounding legend in Soghdian reads as “Alpu haqan” or “Tutmysh Alpu haqan”, where the inscription is divided by a runic tamgha.21

19 Anarbaev

and Matbabaev (1993/1994, 246, Figs. 25, 26, 29); Matbabaev (2009, Figs. 66, 85). (1996). Zhenskije ukrashenija Kugajsko-Karabulakskoj kul’tury. Drevnij I srednevekovyj Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek: Ilim. 82–83. 21 Baratova (2007). Nekotoryje aspekty tovarno-denezhnyh otnoshenij Fergany v drevnosti I rannem srednevekov’je. Rol’ goroda Margilana v istorii mirovoj civilizacii. Tashkent-Margilan: Fan. 43–44. 20 Gorbunova

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6.5 Writing The earliest evidence of writing in the Ferghana Valley is an inscription consisting of only three preserved characters on a jug, which derives from the Early Antiquity Period (fourth to first centuries BCE) site of Sultanabad I. Preliminarily assumed that the inscription is written in Kharoshti. Later in the fifth to sixth centuries, as mentioned above, the early coins minted in Feghana had a specific script based on Aramaic. Besides the coins, there was another single finding of this type of inscription placed on the body of a ceramic jug. This specimen derives from the Temple of fire-worshipers at Zauraktepe dated to the seventh to eighth centuries; however, the poor preservation prevented reading it. Interestingly, both inscriptions were found in temples.22 In the seventh to eighth centuries, the Turkic runic script becomes widespread in the Ferghana Valley. The inscriptions were usually carved on ceramic vessels, highly fragmented, or consisted of just a few characters.23 One of the most interesting findings is the ceramic jug from the Lumbitepe site, which has a fully preserved runic inscription on the handle, which forms a complete phrase and, possibly, read as “escape disease/trouble”. The runic characters of the Fergana Turkic inscriptions form a separate so-called Isfara type of script.24 Later, with the Arabs invasion to Transoxiana, the part of Soghdian population moves to the Ferghana Valley, which is also certified by increasing Soghdian influence in the material culture of this region during the Early Medieval Period. Accordingly, the Soghdian script appears in Ferghana, which was also documented by numismatic data. Archaeological evidence shows that the Kharoshti and Ferghana scripts were not as popular as the Soghdian and Turkic writings. For a short period, the latter scripts co-existed. During the Early Medieval Period, the Ferghana Valley was Turkified from ethnocultural and political point and, consequently, the Turkic runic script replaced all other writing systems.

6.6 Burial Rites The funeral customs were preserved and no radical changes are observed. The researchers suggest that the following main types of burial constructions were common in Ferghana during the Early Medieval Period: The kurghans (stacked earthen mounds) including burials on ancient surface, pit-graves, catacombs, and L-type (podboi) burials; 22 Abdulgazieva

(2007). O pis’mennosti Drevnej Fergany. Rol’ goroda Margilana v istorii mirovoj civilizacii. Tashkent-Margilan: Fan. 39–40. 23 Rahmonov and Matboboev (2006). O’zbekistonning ko’hna Turkiy-run yozuvlari. Tashkent: Fan. 7–30. 24 Abdulgazieva (2007, 41–43).

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The flat-surface burials in pit-graves covered with wooden boards; The underground crypts; On-surface constructions including mughana (or kurum – conic stuck of stones) and naus (constructions for keeping ossuaries).25

Almost all types of burials typical for the Antiquity still existed during the Early Medieval Period. However, a new type such as ossuaries can be added to the existing types. Burying in ceramic pots allows talking about the spread of Zoroastrian religion in Ferghana. The kurghans were the most common burial types; interestingly, some of them had wooden coffins. Also rarely some cemeteries include cenotaphs, which were symbolic burials of people, died far away, or whose bodies were lost. Archaeological studies at Munchaktepe (Pap) urban necropolis had exceptionally yielded a complex of underground crypts with reed wicker coffins. It was found out that the underground crypts and other two types—pit-graves and L-type graves— co-existed and belonged to inhabitants of the town located nearby (the Balandtepe site). The typical Munchaktepe complex features are burying in reed coffins located in underground crypts or put in L-type pit-graves, wealth of reed wicker baskets and woodenware, continuation of painted ceramics traditions, etc. The Munchaktepe complex is typical for the plain and foothill geographic zones of Ferghana.26 The buried women were usually put in rich silk cloth, with a lot of jewelry, including beads made of glass, stone, fruit seeds, fish vertebrae, earrings, bracelets, bronze finger rings, mirrors, etc. On the other hand, the male burials included weapons, i.e. composite bows, arrowheads, daggers, etc. The investigations in south-western Ferghana resulted in finding a complex of nauses, rectangular constructions for ossuary burials. Ossuaries are ceramic vessels, where cleaned bones of deceased were buried according to Zoroastrian customs. A lot of findings including fragments of pottery, iron arrowheads, jewelry (beads, earrings, rings, etc.) were found in the ossuaries among the human bones.27 Finally, the explorations in Northern Ferghana resulted in the discovery of kurums (or mughana). These are the stone-made cone-shaped constructions, usually containing several consequent burials. The kurums usually are isolated burial constructions and are never found with the other types of burials. The researchers tend to think that they are closely related to Zoroastrian traditions.28

25 Brykina and Gorbunova (1999). Fergana. Srednjaja Azija I Dal’nij Vostok v epohu srednevekov’ja. Srednjaja Azija v rannem srednevekov’je. B.A. Rybakov (Ed.). Moscow: Nauka. 108. 26 Matbabaev (2009, 86). 27 Brykina and Gorbunova (1999, 111). 28 Baratov (1991). Kul’tura skotovodov Severnoj Fergany v drevnosti I ranned srednevekov’je. Avtoreferat Kandidatskoj Dissertacii. Samarkand: Institut arheologii. 24.

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6.7 Religious Beliefs Archaeological studies show that from ancient times people of Ferghana practiced fire-worshiping, fetishism (idols, amulets, talismans), and animism (ancestors’ spirits, etc.). In the Early Medieval Period, these religious traditions were still kept although the new ones (Buddhism, totemic belief, Islam) arrived in the region as a result of dynamic socioeconomic and political events in Central Asia in the second half of the 1st millennium CE. Fire worshiping is the most common belief that was spread throughout the entire Central Asian region during the preceding periods. Architecturally it is represented by various types of construction from monumental detached temples (Margilan) to specific rooms within residential complexes (Sultanabad I). Architecture of Zoroastrian character was found by Kozenkova at Gayrattepe site. The excavations uncovered a central hearth (fire altar) with eight small hearths surrounding it; all filled with clean ash and accurately worked out with clay plaster. According to the researcher, this architectural complex functioned during third to sixth centuries.29 Another architectural complex including a temple of fire was uncovered as a result of archaeological explorations at Maydatepe settlement in the Kerkidon Oasis in Southern Fergana. It was the largest central room of the complex with a central hearth and surrounding adobe platforms used to keep the ashes topped with clay plaster. The hearth floor and walls had traces of the long and intensive impact of fire. The flat roof of the room was supported by four wooden columns. The complex had two secondary rooms, where one also had a large rectangular altar-type hearth with open mouth and adobe rim. The entire archaeological complex of Maydatepe is dated by Brykina to the fifth to seventh centuries.30 Archaeological investigations at the Early Medieval Kasan, which according to written sources used to be one of the administrative centers of the Ferghana Valley during this period, have revealed a room, where fire was worshiped. It was a room with an altar-type hearth in the middle, the filling of which consisted of “remains of juniper and thick layer of white ash, confirming cult character of the hearth”.31 In fact, medieval written sources inform that the people of Kasan were fire-worshipers and had a temple of fire.32 Idol worshiping is represented by findings of anthropomorphic images in kughans (burial grounds), settlements, and especially at the Kayraghach Homestead in SouthWestern Ferghana. Particularly, excavations here revealed a residential complex with a sacral room, where rich findings included remains of painted walls, coins, incense burners, and anthropomorphic idols made of clay and covered with alabaster and 29 Kozenkova 30 Brykina

(1964, 218–237). (1973). Gorodische Majda-tepe. Kratkije soobschenija Instituta arheologii, Vol. 136.

114–123. 31 Bernshtam (952b). Istoriko-arheologicheskije ocherki Central’nogo Tjan-Shanja I Pamiro-Alaja.

Moskva-Leningrad: Nauka, MIA, Vol. 26. 239. and Gorbunova (1999, 104).

32 Brykina

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Fig. 6.1 Castle of Kasan, reconstruction (after Bernshtam 1952a, b)

painted with red color. The idols were kept in specific niches of sacral room and sometimes were put, as a rule, in women’s burials as companion to the deceased. Interestingly, one of the idols had a double layer of alabaster cover on the face, like if it wears a mask (?). The outer face had rough outlines while the inner face had more realistic fine features. Idol worshiping is related by the researchers to the cult of deceased ancestors and the entire complex is dated by the mid 1st millennium CE.33 The major rituals in the Kayraghach Temple were executed at the southern wall, the place with big statues of gods, and the secondary ceremonies were accomplished in the small room with niches and seven small figurines. The custom was accompanied by sacrifices since in the western corner there were found a tiny bag with jewelry, amulets, and coins. The sacred fire was burned in the large hearth located in the center of the temple, three incense burners and small hearths in two attached rooms.34 Concurrently, the fertility cult is represented in the Kayraghach Homestead by a few adobe-made phalluses put in a specific pit on the adobe platform of one of the rooms.35 Archaeological investigations in the Kuva Suburbs have resulted in the discovery of the unique Buddhist temple and residential areas around it dated to the seventh to eighth centuries. Interestingly, it was concluded that the Buddhist temple of Kuva was built on the place of an earlier pagan temple, which demonstrates that Ferghana people practiced various religions at that time. Accordingly, it was noted that the Buddhists have used the popularity of the former pagan temple of the local deity and included it among the Bodhisattvas so that people are attracted to their traditional “holy” place. Archaeological works in the residential area and the Buddhist temple yielded a wealth of material on the history of the suburbs evolution with all signs of urban organization (Figs. 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6, 6.7, 6.8, 6.9, 6.10, 6.11 and 6.12).36 33 Brykina

(1982). Jugo-Zapadnaja Fergana v pervoj polovine 1-tysjacheletija. Moscow: Nauka. 90. 34 Brykina and Gorbunova (1999, 105). 35 Brykina (1982, 40). 36 Bulatova (1972a). Drevnjaja Kuva. Tashkent: Fan. 18, 51, 90–91.

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Fig. 6.2 Early coins of Ferghana (after Smirnova 1981; Baratova 2007)

Fig. 6.3 Sri-Devi, goddess head, fragment, Kuva (after Bulatova 1972a, b)

The origins of the Kuva Buddhist temple is linked by researchers to Tibet, since here “…the influence of the Tibetan esoteric Buddhism feels strong from iconographic point of view…” and so, apparently, the Kuva Buddhist temple might have served “…not so much the local inhabitants as the Tibetan traders and pilgrims…”.37

37 Kyudzo (2001). Dva puti rasprostranenija buddizma v Srednej Azii. O’zbek davlatchiligi tarihida

qadimgi Farg’ona. Namangan: Namangan Davlat Universiteti. 41–42.

6 Ferghana During the Early Medieval Period Fig. 6.4 Metal objects, Ahsikent

Fig. 6.5 Metal objects, Ahsikent

81

82 Fig. 6.6 Metal objects, Ahsikent

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Fig. 6.7 Idols from burial complexes, Ferghana (after Brykina and Gorbunova 1999)

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Fig. 6.8 Ossuaries, Ferghana (after Brykina and Gorbunova 1999)

F. Maksudov

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Fig. 6.9 Tables of pottery, Ahsikent

Fig. 6.10 Reed coffin, Munchaktepe (after Matbabaev 2009)

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Fig. 6.11 Turkic-runic inscription on pottery, Lumbitepe (after Abdulgazieva 2007)

Fig. 6.12 Musical instruments made of reed and wood (after Matbabaev 2009)

References Abdulgazieva B (1991) Issledovanija poselenija Chordona. Istorija material’noj kul’tury Uzbekistana 25:132–137 Abdulgazieva B (2007) O pis’mennosti Drevnej Fergany. In: Rol’ goroda Margilana v istorii mirovoj civilizacii. Fan, Tashkent-Margilan, pp 39–40 Anarbaev AA, Matbabaev BH (1993/94) An early medieval urban necropolis in Ferghana. Silk Road Art Archaeol 3:223–249

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Baratova L (2007) Nekotoryje aspekty tovarno-denezhnyh otnoshenij Fergany v drevnosti I rannem srednevekov’je. Rol’ goroda Margilana v istorii mirovoj civilizacii. Fan, Tashkent-Margilan, pp 43–44 Bartold VV (1965) Sochineneija, vol III. Nauka, Moscow, pp 529–530 Baratov SR (1991) Kul’tura skotovodov Severnoj Fergany v drevnosti I ranned srednevekov’je. In: Avtoreferat Kandidatskoj Dissertacii. Institut arheologii, Samarkand Bichurin NJa (1950) Sobranije svedenij o narodah, obitavshih v Srednej Azii v drenie vremena, vol II. Akademija nauk SSSR, Moscow-Leningrad, pp 274, 285 Beal S (1884) Si-Yu-Ki. Buddhist Records of the Western World, vol I. Trubner & Co. Ltd., London, pp 30–31 Bernshtam AN (1952a) Istoriko-arheologicheskije ocherki Central’nogo Tjan-Shanja I PamiroAlaja. Nauka, MIA, Moskva-Leningrad, vol 26, p 346 Bernshtam AN (1952b) Istoriko-arheologicheskije ocherki Central’nogo Tjan-Shanja I PamiroAlaja. Nauka, Moskva-Leningrad, MIA, vol 26, p 239 Bulatova VA (1972a) Drevnjaja Kuva. Fan, Tashkent pp. 18, 51, 90–91 Bulatova VA (1972b) Drevnjaja Kuva. Fan, Tashkent, pp 20–50 Brykina GA (1973) Gorodische Majda-tepe. Kratkije soobschenija Instituta arheologii 136:114–123 Brykina GA (1982) Jugo-Zapadnaja Fergana v pervoj polovine 1-tysjacheletija. Nauka, Moscow, p 90 Brykina GA, Gorbunova NG (1999) Fergana. Srednjaja Azija I Dal’nij Vostok v epohu srednevekov’ja. In: Rybakov BA (ed) Srednjaja Azija v rannem srednevekov’je. Nauka, Moscow, p 108 Findley CV (2005) The turks in world history. University Press, Oxford Gorbunova NG (1979) Itogi issledovanija arheologicheskih pamjatnikov Ferganskoj oblasti. Sovetskaja arheologija 3:16–34 Gorbunova NG (1984) Nekotorye osobennosti formirovanija drevnih kul’tur Fergany. Arheologicheskij sbornik Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha 25:99–107 Gorbunova NG (1996) Zhenskije ukrashenija Kugajsko-Karabulakskoj kul’tury. Drevnij I srednevekovyj Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek, Ilim, pp 82–83 Grousset R (1970) The empire of the Steppes. Rutgers University Press Gumilev LN (2002) Drenije tjurki. Kristall, St. Petersburg (Moscow: ACT) Kozenkova VI (1964) Gajrattepe. Sovetskaja arheologija 3:218–237 Kyudzo K (2001) Dva puti rasprostranenija buddizma v Srednej Azii. Namangan Davlat Universiteti, O’zbek davlatchiligi tarihida qadimgi Farg’ona. Namangan, pp 41–42 Litvinsky BA (1996) The hephtalite empire. In: Litvinsky BA (ed) History of civilizations of Central Asia, vol 3. UNESCO Publishing, pp 135–162 Matbabaev BH (2009) K istorii kul’tury Fergany v epohu rannego srednevekov’ja. Tafakkur, Tashkent, p 80, Figs. 95–98 Matbabaev BH, Mashrabov ZZ (2011) Drevnij I srednevekovyj Andizhan. Sharq, Tashkent, pp 34–47 Rahmonov N, Matboboev B (2006) O’zbekistonning ko’hna Turkiy-run yozuvlari. Fan, Tashkent, pp 7–30 Raspopova VI (1990) Zhilische Pendzhikenta. Nauka, Leningrad, pp 14–198 Zeimal EV (1996) The Kidarite Kingdom. In: Litvinsky BA (ed) History of civilizations of Central Asia, vol 3. UNESCO Publishing, pp 119–133 Zhukov VD (1960) Obsledovanija gorodischa Staraja Kuva v 1956 godu. Kratkije soobschenija Instituta arheologii 80:80–84

Chapter 7

The Representation of Non-Buddhist Deities in Khotanese Paintings and Some Related Problems Matteo Compareti

Abstract Some deities that do not present Indian peculiarities can be observed very often in Khotanese paintings in Buddhist temples or on votive wooden tablets. They present unique features that render any identification extremely challenging. In the past, scholars developed two theories. According to Markus Mode, these deities could have been introduced by Sogdian immigrants and they should be then identified as Zoroastrian ones. According to B. Marshak, they are possibly local ones and should not be associated with Sogdian gods. In the present study, it will be discussed as Marshak hypothesis seems to be more correct especially in the light of very recent archaeological discoveries in Khotan. Keywords Khotanese paintings · Votive wooden tablets · Sogdian immigrants · Buddhism · Zoroastrianism

7.1 Introduction Recent archaeological excavations in the oases that once constituted the ancient kingdom of Khotan in the Tarim Basin (Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Province, China) have resulted in the very interesting discovery of new mural paintings, some of which are inscribed in the Khotanese language. These paintings have always been found in a Buddhist context, being part of the decoration of local temples at the sites of Dandan Oilik and Domoko (Karadong and Toplukdong). It is very common to observe Buddhist images together with Indian deities such as Brahma, Indra, etc. since the very first depictions of Buddha in a human shape. Their presence is nothing but normal among Buddhists and Khotan does not represent an exception. However, such paintings present quite often specific deities whose attire, garments, and attributes cannot be entirely identified just according to Indian iconographic formulae. Experts have already proposed different hypotheses in order to identify those deities. Recently found paintings could help to understand better M. Compareti (B) Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, China e-mail: [email protected] © SDX Joint Publishing Co., Ltd. 2020 X. Li (ed.), Studies on the History and Culture Along the Continental Silk Road, Silk Road Research Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7602-7_7

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Khotanese religious art and, at the same time, shed new light on this unique Central Asian civilization that accepted many Indian cultural elements but was also able to preserve its Iranian background.

7.2 The Kingdom of Khotan The history of the kingdom of Khotan is only partially known. Most of the sources for the reconstruction of Khotanese history can be found in Chinese chronicles, especially for the period of Han expansion in Central Asia, and in Tibetan annals. Only for the interval between the second/third to eighth centuries CE is there some primary sources1 while for the period before the second century CE there are just coins (Chinese, Kushan and also local ones called “Sino-Kharoshti”).2 Following the first identifications of the main sites that once constituted the Kingdom of Khotan by S. Hedin in the late nineteenth century, the famous explorer A. Stein led some archaeological expeditions and was able to collect a great amount of artifacts.3 In Chinese sources, Khotan was famous for the production of jade, a material much in demand in the Heavenly Kingdom. Khotan was also considered the motherland of celebrated artists and the Tangshu explicitly mentioned the residence of the king embellished with paintings.4 According to the eighth-century Tibetan text Prophecy of the Li Country (Li Yul lun-bstan-pa), Buddhism (here to be intended in its Hinayana form) could have been introduced into Khotan already around the first century BCE by king Vijaya Sambhava who was followed by seven non-Buddhist sovereigns. The king who definitely established Buddhism was in fact Vijaya Virya. This information should be considered highly hypothetical not only because it is preserved in an external source but for its character that is more legendary than historical.5 Between the second-century BCE-second century CE, this territory began to be involved in the permanent state of war between the Han Empire and the Xiongnu. During the rise of Bactria as an important kingdom under the Kushan dynasty (first to third centuries), most of the southern portion of the Tarim Basin region was contested between the Kushans and Han Empire. Despite the expulsion of the Kushans by the Chinese general Ban Chao, their Indo-Bactrian culture continued to spread in this part of Xinjiang as is clearly attested by coins, textiles and other objects that have been found in quantity during archaeological excavations in Khotan and even beyond, 1 Kumamoto

(2009); Skjaervø (2004). Fragmentary manuscripts in Khotanese language have been found during excavations not always conducted according to scientific criteria (especially the very first ones) and in the repository in Dunhuang: Kumamoto (1996). 2 Cribb (1984, 1985). 3 Hedin (Hedin 1899), Stein (1907). 4 Chavannes (1903, p. 125). 5 Emmerick (1967, p. 75); Gropp (1974, pp. 30–34). It is worth observing that some new chronological data as recently proposed for the history of Khotan could actually confirm such an early introduction of Buddhism: de La Vaissière (2010).

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in the territory corresponding to Shanshan kingdom.6 In the period of the Hunnish turmoil in this part of Central Asia (fourth to sixth centuries), Khotan became a tributary of the Hephthalites to enter soon into the sphere of First Turkish Khanate expansionism.7 Chinese courts maintained good relations with Khotan and famous Buddhist monks in search of precious sutras visited this kingdom several times. Khotan also attracted the interests of the Tibetans in the second half of the eighth century after the Tang Empire was no longer able to control the Tarim Basin due to a series of internal problems such as the rebellion of An Lushan in 755–756. After the collapse of the Uighur kingdom located in Mongolia in 840, this Turkic people began to settle in the Tarim Basin, initially around Turfan and later in the whole region. In 1006 CE Khotan was conquered by the Karakhanids (840–1212) and Islam gradually became the main religion.8 Before Islamization and Turkicization, Khotan was able to maintain important cultural ties with the main neighboring civilizations such as the Chinese, Indian, and Tibetan although there could have been relations with Sasanian Persia along the terrestrial caravan routes commonly known as the “Silk Road”. Exotic goods and slaves from Khotan represent a literary topos in the Persian production of the Islamic period such as, for example, in the Book of Kings (Shahnameh). Certainly, there were favorable connections between Khotan and kingdoms that protected Buddhism and that is why one scholar spoke of the centrality of Khotan along the Silk Roads.9 The language that was spoken in this territory before being replaced by Uighur belonged to the eastern branch of Iranian languages. Documents written in Khotanese have been found during archaeological excavations in that area of the Tarim Basin and in Dunhuang.10 They all point at the Mahayana Buddhist framework which has characterized ancient Khotan at least since the fourth century AD.11 Furthermore, Khotanese was written using Indian alphabets since Indian culture had always been dominant in this part of the Tarim Basin. 6 Several

fragmentary woolen textiles embellished with typical Hellenistic subjects were excavated at Shanpula (southeast of Khotan) during Chinese archaeological expeditions. Another fragment representing the head of Hermes with his caduceus was excavated at Loulan cemetery: Rhie (2007, pp. 272–275). Japanese expeditions in the beginning of the twentieth century discovered around Khotan oasis even terracotta statuettes of Serapis-Harpocrates and Herakles: Rhie (2007, pp. 265– 266). All these objects could represent importations from the Kushan Empire where Hellenistic subjects (even divine) had always encountered great fortune. Cultural contacts between Shanshan kingdom and the Kushans appear very clearly at the Buddhist site of Miran where two stupas (M.III and M.V) embellished with painted programs definitely show elements rooted in early Ghandaran art: Filigenzi (2006), Santoro (2008), Lo Muzio (2012), Francfort (2014). 7 It is particularly problematic reconstructing this period although in some Chinese sources it is actually repeated that the tributary territories of the Hephtalites stretched from Persia in the west to Khotan in the east: Yu (2015, pp. 208, 222, 242, 252, 258). 8 Hansen (2012, pp. 199–234). 9 Forte (2012). It is worth observing that Sasanian coins have not been excavated in Khotan while they can be found in good quantity around Turfan and Kucha in the Tarim Basin: Thierry (1993). 10 Maggi (2009, 2015). 11 de La Vaissière (2010, p. 86).

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Despite the epigraphical material recovered in great numbers during archaeological excavations, the Khotanese language still presents many problems that scholars have just started to consider. In the present paper, only figurative material will be taken into account with very little references to the Khotanese language and epigraphy.

7.3 Khotanese and Sogdian Paintings The paintings recently found at Dandan Oilik and Domoko are not the only extant painted remains from Khotan. In the beginning of the last century, Aurel Stein had already discovered fragmentary mural paintings at several sites in the Khotan region and some votive painted wooden tablets specifically at Dandan Oilik. These wooden tablets are now part of the British Museum collections although some others are kept in the State Hermitage or in the Bremen Overseas Museum.12 They had been the subject of some interesting studies since they present in many cases images of divinities who do not seem to pertain to the Buddhist nor Indian sphere. Such divinities are represented on one side of the tablet while, usually, the other one has a Buddhist icon. Inscribed tablets exist but in no case are they explanatory of the scenes that they accompany. All these paintings—be they murals or wooden tablets—date in all probability to the period between the seventh and eighth centuries CE. In a very interesting article published approximately 25 years ago, Markus Mode expressed the idea that some of these divinities should be considered a Sogdian importation.13 Between the fifth and eighth centuries, many Sogdians migrated along with the so-called Silk Road caravan network that connected their motherland located in modern southern Uzbekistan-western Tajikistan with China. Sogdian immigrants in China and the Tarim Basin were mainly traders, although they could have been employed in many other fields.14 Scholars dedicated several studies to them, especially after the discovery of some sixth-century funerary monuments that belonged to powerful Sogdians who had adopted in many cases Chinese habits without completely abandoning their original cultural traits.15 The presence of Sogdians in Khotan is documented by primary sources, both in Khotanese and Sogdian languages, found during archaeological investigations.16 Markus Mode expressed the hypothesis that Khotanese votive tablets represented Sogdian divinities while the other great expert of Sogdian art and culture, Boris Marshak, considered them a genuine Khotanese product.17 Both scholars realized 12 Djakonova

(1961), Williams (1973), Gropp (1974). (1991/1992). 14 毕 (2011). See also: 段 (2015); Compareti (2019). 15 About the Sogdian diaspora in China and Central Asia, see: de La Vaissière (2005). On the so-called Sino-Sogdian funerary monuments, see: Marshak (2001), Lerner (2005), 孙 (2014), Wertmann (2015). 16 Bailey (1985, pp. 76–78), Bi and Sims-Williams (2010); Zhang (2018). 17 Mode (1991/1992, pp. 189–190, n. 44). 13 Mode

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Fig. 7.1 After: Mode (1991/1992, Fig. 1)

that there is something peculiar in those paintings that is not to be found in any other Iranian land where Buddhism was the main religious system such as in BactriaTokharistan or the kingdom of Bamyan. Together with these two main hypotheses, a Tantric (or Vajrayana) component too should not be neglected. This enigmatic aspect of Buddhism is normally associated to the Tibetan cultural sphere although it is still not completely clear how Khotanese art could have affected Himalayan Buddhist images. Some scholars have dedicated interesting studies to Khotano-Tibetan artistic interactions although no real identification for the deities on the wooden tablets from Dandan Oilik has been proposed.18 Mode developed his hypothesis starting from an eighth-century wooden tablet from Dandan Oilik embellished with the image of three divinities (Fig. 7.1). One of those divinities is a deity with four arms wearing a stylized crenelated crown. The upper arms are holding the sun and the moon exactly like the goddess Nana in eighth-century CE paintings from Penjikent. In those paintings, Nana is usually sitting on a lion that is her symbolic animal, although sometimes she is also represented without it. Mode proposed to identify the goddess in the Khotanese wooden tablet as Nana represented without her lion. Approximately thirty years earlier, N. Djakonova also proposed the same identification.19 The two male divinities alongside the central goddess on the same tablet present very strong Indian features as well. As has been already stated above, Mode was convinced about the Sogdian origin of those divinities, although such an identification presents some problems. In the Sogdiana motherland, at the main site of Penjikent, many painted images of local divinities began to display very clear Indian iconographic elements (specifically Hindu) since at least the sixth-century CE.20 However, despite their Indian 18 霍 (2007). I wish to thank Prof. Rong Xinjiang from Beijing University for this reference. On the

presence of Khotanese people in Tibet who were artisans, traders and monks, see: Hoffmann (1971, pp. 451–453). Tenth century Vajrayana Buddhist texts in Khotanese have been found in Dunhuang but they are most likely translations from Tibetan originals: Maggi (2015, p. 867). 19 Djakonova (1961). 20 Grenet (2010).

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Fig. 7.2 After: Grenet (1994, Fig. 8)

attire, Sogdian divinities were Zoroastrian ones and belonged to a local form of Zoroastrianism (or Mazdeism) called Xian in Chinese written sources.21 The most representative case is the one of Weshparkar (the Avestan wind god Vayu) depicted at Penjikent (room XXII/1) and definitely identified by the Sogdian inscription on one leg: wšpr(kr). Despite his clear association with a well-known Avestan god, in that painting from Penjikent Weshparkar is represented as Shiva, his characteristics being three heads, several arms, and a trident (trishula) in one of his upper hands (Fig. 7.2). In Gandhara and at Mathura, Hindu divinities began to be represented early on in scenes of the life of Buddha since the early Kushan period (first to third century CE), that is, when the canonic Buddhist iconography began to be developed in India.22 As Mode noted, these divinities continued to be represented in the Buddhist milieu outside of the Indian borders and were already found in China as early as the fifth century CE at the Yungang Grottoes. Therefore, in the case of actual Sogdian divinities represented among the Buddhist Khotanese paintings, the presence of Indian iconographic formulae could point to real Hindu gods accepted in the Buddhist system already in India several centuries before or as Sogdian (“Zoroastrian”) gods represented in a “Hindu garb”. On iconographical bases, in fact, it would have been

21 Riboud 22 Taddei

(2005). (1987).

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Fig. 7.3 After: Mode (1991/1992, Fig. 5)

impossible to distinguish between them. This is, in summary, the main starting point for the paper by Mode that will be mentioned many times in the present study. Some other papers have been published after the article by Mode, although the importance given to Buddhism in the process of the adoption of Indian iconography in Sogdiana has been critically reconsidered.23 Buddhism usually did not present big problems in accepting and incorporating into its system local divinities (not only Indian but also Central Asian—mainly Zoroastrian—ones) and in Khotan too, something similar hypothetically could have happened. In a very similar way, the great expert on Khotanese studies, H. Bailey, thought that when Buddhism was introduced, some problems arose with the local form of Zoroastrianism.24 Mode contrasted the divine triad on the Dandan Oilik wooden tablet under examination with three altars represented on an early eighth-century Sogdian painting from Penjikent room III/6 (Fig. 7.3). In that case, on one of the altars, an image of a multi-armed god appears because that religious object must be associated with Weshparkar whose iconography (as already observed) had been modeled by the Sogdians on that of Shiva. Consequently, in Mode’s opinion, on the other altars, there could have been Nana and another male divinity exactly as on the Dandan Oilik tablet. This latter male divinity should have been identified as Adbagh that is a Sogdian form to designate Ahura Mazda, the main Avestan god. Adbagh’s iconography was 23 Grenet

(1994, 2010), Compareti (2009). (1982, p. 1). Such “problems” between Buddhists and non-Buddhists in Khotan could be related to those seven kings who did not adhere to the religion of the Enlightened One and, according to the Tibetan Prophecy of the Li Country, reigned before Vijaya Virya. See also: 荣 (2015, pp. 318–329). According to the Tangshu, the people of Khotan worshiped the “Heavenly God” and Buddha. Chavannes had no doubts in identifying this “Heavenly God” with a Zoroastrian deity: Chavannes (1903, p. 125). 段 (2015).

24 Bailey

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based on that of Indra and, consequently, his symbolic animal was the elephant and his attribute the vajra (thunderbolt) that is actually depicted in one hand of the deity on the wooden tablet from Dandan Oilik. Some written sources could be very useful in order to support part of the hypothesis just proposed. In Chinese literature referring to the seventh to eighth century, it is said that the kings of different city-states that formed Sogdiana used to sit on thrones shaped as symbolic animals. The king of Bukhara (An in Chinese) was sitting on a throne shaped like a camel and that animal could have had an important role in local religion. A male divinity holding a fire altar can be observed sitting on a camel on some fragmentary terracotta statuettes from different archaeological sites and, much more interesting, on an altar painted in the “Eastern Hall” at Varakhsha, the site that has been identified as the residence of the king of Bukhara in the eighth century.25 Terracotta figurines of Sogdian divinities have been found in large numbers at the main Sogdian sites of Penjikent and Afrasyab/Samarkand. A god sitting on a throne shaped like an elephant could be identified without great problems with Adbagh/Ahura Mazda since, as already mentioned above, this god was superimposed on Indra in Sogdiana.26 Such an association between Sogdian and Indian gods can be found in Sogdian literature discovered in western China that was, however, produced in an entirely Buddhist milieu. Textual analysis of this Sogdian literature seems to point to an iconographical identification between Shiva and Weshparkar, a reading, to be precise, that has been recently challenged.27 Such an association can be considered correct at least in one case: the painting from Penjikent with an inscription on one leg that is definitely identifying him as Weshparkar (Fig. 7.2). Apart from the problem of the identification of Weshparkar in Sogdiana and its association with Shiva, it is not clear why Nana should have formed a divine triad together with Adbagh and Weshparkar in Sogdiana. In fact, Marshak preferred to identify the three altars in the painting from Penjikent room III/6 as dedicated exclusively to male gods: Adbagh, Zurvan, and Weshparkar.28 Mode observed that on top of the altar supposedly dedicated to Nana there is a crenellated crown that can be actually observed in some representations of Nana in Central Asian arts and (very stylized) also on the head of the deity in the Dandan Oilik wooden tablet. Despite the fact that Nana had a very high status among Central Asian peoples,29 the scarcity of written sources or any other evidence in Sogdian art would suggest using extreme caution in such associations since crenellated crowns were used also in Persia without any reference to Nana and many elements of Sasanian crowns (spread

25 Shishkin

(1963, Fig. 76), Silvi Antonini (2006). (2015a). 27 Gnoli (2009, pp. 146–149), Wendtland (2009). 28 Belenitskii and Marshak (1981, p. 31). 29 Nana was definitely the most venerated deity in Penjikent and probably in the whole Sogdiana: Grenet and Marshak (1998). She was worshiped in Bactria (Potts 2001) and in Khwarezm too (Minardi 2013). 26 Compareti

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wings, crescent, etc.) had been adopted by Sogdian rulers and deities to be spread throughout Central Asia pretty quickly.30 There is then to observe that, if the image of one divinity was the best decoration to be found on an altar dedicated to a specific Sogdian god or goddess, what was the role of the winged rams supporting those three altars in the painting from Penjikent room III/6? As already observed above, animal-shaped thrones or pedestals (such as in this case) would be symbolic animals referring to the divine or royal figure that they support. Moreover, the multi-armed deity on one altar in that same painting is not completely clear, so it should not be ruled out that he was intended to be another Sogdian deity in “Hindu garb” and not precisely Shiva/Weshparkar.

7.4 Deities in Khotanese Paintings Recent discoveries of Khotanese paintings have attracted the attention of scholars from different parts of the world. Several studies have been dedicated to the deities appearing among donors and Buddhist figures because of their attire that definitely can be Indian in some cases31 or more enigmatic such as those divinities depicted on wooden tablets probably presented as offerings to local temples.32 As already observed above, M. Mode considered the Indian attributes of some deities depicted in Khotanese paintings as a Sogdian importation. However, not all the Khotanese divinities that appear together with the images of Buddha in Khotanese paintings could be given an interpretation rooted in Indian art and culture. The same presence of a goddess (presumably) associable with Nana clearly makes the Iranian element in Khotan more and more concrete. Mode called attention to some haloed divinities represented on a horse or camel, the so-called “silk god” (who has been identified by others as Rustam, the main hero in the Shahnameh33 ) and the god standing behind two confronted horses. It is not an easy task to decide if such deities all have some “Iranian touch” because of the Sogdian activity in the Tarim Basin (Mode’s hypothesis) or because they were actually local divinities (Marshak’s hypothesis). It is even more difficult to express a hypothesis about the Khotanese pre-Buddhist religion since textual and archeological evidence is extremely scarce.

7.4.1 The Goddess Holding Sun and Moon (Nana?) Nana was a Mesopotamian goddess whose presence among Iranians could be the result of an introduction from Western Asia possibly during the time of Achaemenid 30 Compareti

(2006, p. 369), Kageyama (2007), Hiyama (2013, pp. 130–135). Muzio (2006), Forte (2014), 张 (2015); Lo Muzio (2019). 32 Djakonova (1961), Williams (1973). 33 Rowland (1974, p. 128). 31 Lo

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expansion into Central Asia34 or even before that time.35 If she is the one represented on the wooden tablet under discussion, then it is not possible to rule out that she could have reached Khotan through Kushan coins, seals, and other objects of art since she was one of the main female divinities to be found represented on the Kushan currency. Wooden images and metalwork have been commonly imported into Khotan from abroad (India, Bactria, Kashmir, Tibet, etc.) for a very long time span, practically for the entire duration of the Buddhist kingdom of Khotan.36 Bactria had very important relationships with Khotan during and after the period of Kushan domination in this part of Central Asia.37 It is then obvious to consider that the Kushan religious iconography had to be known in the southern part of the Tarim Basin, although there is an interval of approximately five centuries between the mint of those Kushan coins and the execution of paintings in Dandan Oilik. However, it is very likely that the memory of some Kushan sovereign was still alive in Khotan for a very long time as is proved by the literary work called “Kanishkavadana”. This book was dedicated to Kanishka, the most famous Kushan sovereign and a great protector of Buddhism.38 Some time before the most recent archaeological discoveries by the Sino-Japanese team at Dandan Oilik, other mural paintings had been recovered at that Buddhist site. C. Baumer who discovered these new paintings tried to identify the divinities represented in a Buddhist temple following the approach established by Mode, that is to say, from an Iranian point of view. The identifications proposed by Baumer for the divinities who presented a precise Hindu attire—although corrected by that same author some time afterward39 —had to be discarded since they have been proved to be actual Indian ones.40 This is just obvious in a Buddhist milieu. For this reason, even though the image of the deity on the wooden tablet from Dandan Oilik resembles pretty much Central Asian Nana, the other two divinities on that tablet could be identified as Hindu ones, probably Indra-Vajrapani on the left and Shiva on the right. Moreover, it has been proposed that in northwestern India too (a region where elements rooted in Iranian culture have always been found) Nana was quite well known also after the fall of the Kushans and she should not be confused with other Hindu deities who had the lion as their specific vehicle.41 One last point is worth observing about the representation of female deities in Khotanese paintings. In at least two mural paintings from the same temple excavated at Dandan Oilik by Baumer, a goddess holding one or more children can be observed among some other gods in Indian attire. It is not completely clear if she is the

34 Shenkar

(2014, p. 119). (2001, pp. 30–31). 36 Forte (2015). 37 Hansen (2012, pp. 47–48). 38 Maggi (2009, pp. 364–365). 39 Baumer (1999). 40 Lo Muzio (2006); Lo Muzio (2019). 41 Ghose (2006). 35 Potts

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same goddess (Hariti?)42 in both cases, although the presence of the children can distinguish her clearly from the divinity on the wooden tablet from Dandan Oilik whose attributes are the sun and the moon in her upper hands. In fact, if the latter could be identified with Nana then the presence of children in her iconography must be excluded since among other people that adopted this goddess and were deeply Iranized, such as the Armenians, the presence of children should be associated in all probability with Anahita.43 However, the identification of the goddess at Dandan Oilik as Nana should be considered highly speculative. Her crenellated crown is not perfectly preserved and many other Indian deities could have been represented holding the sun and the moon in their upper hands as is possible to observe in other Khotanese paintings such as in the eastern wall of Temple CD4 at Dandan Oilik.

7.4.2 The “Silk God” For the silk god no clear parallel in Sogdian art could be found (Fig. 7.4). So, Mode was forced to recognize the local status of this divinity. Implicitly he refused the identification as Rustam proposed by other scholars that were just an arbitrary assumption. The attributes of the silk god are very elusive although the four arms and elongated earlobes seem to point to a clear Indian borrowing. Images of this deity can be found only on wooden tablets from Dandan Oilik at present kept in the British Museum, the State Hermitage Museum, and the National Museum in New Delhi.44 Several other wooden tablets from Dandan Oilik present a curious scene along with the same god. These scenes suggested to some scholars the legend about the introduction of sericulture into Khotan by a princess of a neighboring kingdom already producing silk given in marriage to a local sovereign (precisely Vijaya Jaya).45 According to this tale, she was able to smuggle silkworm eggs in her headdress and, in fact, in those wooden tablets, there is also somebody pointing at the crown worn by a person who could be a woman. Usually, the silk god superintends the entire scene from his throne with some tools in his numerous hands that have been identified as objects used for silk production. In his reconstruction, Mode rendered the object in his upper right hand of the silk god found by Stein at Dandan Oilik as a spoon and not a tool for spinning silk.46 This detail is very interesting because, in their study on Sogdian ossuaries, A. Naymark and T. Mktrychev proposed to identify Adbagh/Ahura Mazda with a god represented 42 Lo

Muzio (2006, p. 192). (2015b). 44 Djakonova (1961, Figs. 1, 5), Williams (1973, Figs. 57–64). 45 According to Xuan Zang and the Prophecy of the Li Country, the princess was Chinese: de La Vaissière (2010, p. 86). The same story is reported in the Tangshu: Chavannes (1903, p. 126). On silk production in Khotan: Duan 2013. 46 Mode (1991/1992, Fig. 17.c). 43 Compareti

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Fig. 7.4 After: Rowland (1974, fig. on p. 132)

with a spoon inserted in his belt to be used during Zoroastrian sacrifices.47 On at least one Sogdian ossuary, that divinity is holding in one hand a vessel with a small stylized elephant that was not correctly identified prior to Naymark and Mktrychev’s observations.48 As already mentioned above, the elephant is actually the animal of Indra on whose iconography was based that of Adbagh in Sogdiana. There is no elephant in those Khotanese wooden tablets representing the silk god, although, it should be observed, neither does Nana present the lion in the painting where she is depicted with two more male deities. It is not clear why Mode reconstructed just a spoon in one hand of the silk god but this seems to be an arbitrary decision that does not match with Adbagh either. The so-called silk god in the wooden tablets is definitely a divine being because of his four arms: this is a trait rooted in Indian tradition. Once more, there could be 47 Mktrychev 48 Grenet

and Naymark (1991). (1986, Fig. 47).

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some problems with his association with a real local god or a Sogdian importation. A good argument to refute a Sogdian execution is the color of his garments that is green in at least three cases: in the wooden tablet found by Stein in the British Museum and in two wooden tablets kept in the State Hermitage Museum.49 The green color does not occur in a single instance at Penjikent.50 Many other divinities in Khotanese paintings are represented using a large amount of green color. This seems to be quite unusual even in the case of a Sogdian artist who migrated to the Tarim Basin.

7.4.3 The God Riding a Horse Mode found a parallel for the representation of the god on horseback on some other wooden tablets and on one painting on silk from Turfan. In this latter case, the god is wearing armor. The only element in common with the god riding a horse from Dandan Oilik is the vessel that he is holding in his raised hand and the blackbird that seems to be flying into it (Fig. 7.5). Mode proposed to associate these images with a Sogdian god that embellishes one seventh-century ossuary from Yakkabag (also known as “Khirmantepa ossuary”51 ) being represented together with an image of Nana. In his opinion, this was just another aspect of Vaishravana adapted from Sogdian art. Vaishravana played an important role in the Buddhist legend of the foundation of Khotan and his representation is quite common in Khotanese art.52 This identification is also quite problematic but it is very clear that the iconography of Vaishravana in Sogdian art is based on that of Skanda/Kartikkeya, the Hindu god of war whose animal-vehicle was the peacock and his attribute a rooster in his hands. Actually, the armored god on the Yakkabag ossuary has a bird on one of his upper hands. However, he is also holding an arrow with two of his numerous hands. The arrow seems to be a specific attribute of the Avestan god of rain, Tishtrya, who appeared in at least one eighth-century Sogdian painting from Penjikent room XXV/12 together with Nana.53 Curiously enough, in that painting, he is also sitting on a throne supported by dragons. In the astronomical-astrological sphere, Tir (as Tishtrya was known in Sogdiana) was associated with the planet Mercury and had very clear counterparts in other cultures since he was compared to Egyptian Thoth, Greek Apollo, and Syro-Mesopotamian Nabu, who was also called Nebu in the Bible.54 Of these gods, Nabu is definitely the most interesting one. He was a very

49 Stein (1907, pl. LXI); Catalogue Tokyo, 1985, pl. 102–103. It is not possible to state that green was

the color associated with this god because in some wooden tablet the pigmentation of his garments faded away. See for example: Stein (1907, pl. LXIII). 50 Lapierre (1990: 34). 51 Shenkar (2014, Fig. 112). 52 Yamazaki (1990). 53 Grenet and Pinault (1997, p. 1058), Shenkar (2014, Fig. 110). 54 Panaino (1995, pp. 47–85).

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Fig. 7.5 After: Mode (1991/1992, Fig. 15.a)

important Mesopotamian god considered to be the son of the chief of the Babylonian pantheon (Marduk) and, according to some traditions, also the husband of Nana.55 He was sometimes represented together with his symbolic animal that is the dragon exactly as was his father Marduk.56 For that reason, Nabu continued to be represented by Sogdian artists together with Nana and in at least one painting from Penjikent (XXV/12) he was depicted sitting on a throne supported by dragons. It is very interesting to observe how models rooted in extremely ancient Mesopotamian culture and art were still followed in Sogdiana. For this reason, the identification of the armored god represented together with Nana on the Yakkabag ossuary can only be Tishtrya and not Vaishravana. Furthermore, the identification of the Khotanese god as a version of Vaishravana as proposed by Mode seems to be incorrect for at least two reasons. First of all, 55 Millard 56 Black

(1999). and Green (1992, p. 134); Compareti (2017).

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Fig. 7.6 After: Williams (1973, Fig. 37)

the god riding a horse in the tablet from Dandan Oilik is not wearing armor and, in any case, Vaishravana is not a horseman. Secondly, there is one wooden tablet—the so-called “Skrine A” at present kept in the British Museum (Fig. 7.6)—showing the god riding a horse with two blackbirds around him together with an armored divinity who could very easily be identified as Vaishravana. Between the two gods, just to the left of the central tree, there is a fragmentary inscription mentioning the painter who did it but whose name has disappeared. Unfortunately, no other inscription is present. The standing figure on the left has all the characteristics of Vaishravana, such as the halo, the spear, and the model of a stupa in his left hand. On the right of the same wooden tablet, the person on the horse could be considered to be divine as well because of the halo behind his head. He is also wearing a crown and riding the same spotted horse that can be observed on the other wooden tablet from Dandan Oilik. However, there is no vessel in his hands and the blackbirds are two. In any case, it does not seem that the same god is repeated twice, riding a horse and armored. In all probability, these are intended to be two different divinities and only the armored standing one should be identified with Vaishravana. Mural paintings from a Buddhist temple in Dandan Oilik representing a parade of male figures on horses had already been published by A. Stein (Fig. 7.7) and, among them, more than one has a spotted horse that is very similar to the one in the wooden tablet from Dandan Oilik. Those deities on a procession are usually represented under Buddhist images and this is probably an allusion to their inferior status. One can also observe that, just where that divine parade begins, another enigmatic painted scene is reproduced: a boy is approaching a naked woman who seems to be washing herself

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Fig. 7.7 After: Rowland (1974, Fig. 25 at p. 214)

and protecting her nudity. It is not clear if this is a variant of the Buddhist legend of the foundation of Khotan as is reported in Tibetan and other written sources.57 Most recently, archaeologists found at Dandan Oilik Temple CD4 (Fig. 7.8) and Domoko Temple 2 (Fig. 7.9) some additional fragmentary mural paintings where horse riders appear with a vessel in hand and a blackbird over every one of them, parading in the proximity of Buddhist images. The divinities have a halo too but the horses can be of different colors: white with black spots, completely white, or reddish. The very interesting discovery on the northern wall of Temple CD4 in Dandan Oilik is an inscription in Khotanese, next to the image of one of these horse riders mentioning the enigmatic “eight spirits” (Fig. 7.10).58 It appears very difficult to consider the “eight spirits” as Sogdian divinities because there is nothing similar in the paintings from Samarkand, Penjikent, Varakhsha, and other sites of the Sogdiana motherland. Such a group of divinities is known in enigmatic written sources where they are described as protectors of Khotan. 59 Moreover, we can also observe that the number eight does not seem to have encountered great fortune in the Iranian world. In Persian Islamic literature the story of the “Eight Paradises” (Hasht Behesht) soon became a topos but there is no clear evidence that something like this existed in Sasanian Persia.60 Possibly the reference to eight 57 Yamazaki

(1990, pp. 55–56). wish to thank Prof. Mauro Maggi from Rome University “La Sapienza” for his kind reading of this inscription that fully confirmed previous translations. The Khotanese inscription can be read like this: “The donor Budai ordered to draw the eight spirits [gods] there. May they protect him”. 59 Rong and Zhu (2019). 60 Bernardini (2003). 58 I

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Fig. 7.8 After: 中国新疆文物考古研究所, 日本佛教大学尼雅遗址学术研究机构编著, 文物出 版社编著, 2009, pl. 37.2

Fig. 7.9 After: 中国新疆文物考古研究所, 日本佛教大学尼雅遗址学术研究机构编著, 文物出 版社编著, 2009, pl. 77.2

spirits was a Buddhist element and its origin could even be found in Chinese culture where, on the contrary, the number eight had great importance (not necessarily in the Buddhist sphere). It is, however, worth considering that images like these are completely unknown in the religious (mainly Buddhist) artistic production of other peoples of the Tarim

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Fig. 7.10 After: 中国新疆文物考古研究所, 日本佛教大学尼雅遗址学术研究机构编著, 文物 出版社编著, 2009, pl. 40.2

Basin. The blackbird that seems to fly directly into the rider’s vessel does not constitute any term of comparison except for a single painting on silk from the Turfan Oasis already mentioned above.61 In Kushan coinage, the image of an armored god accompanied by a bird is indisputably identified as Yima by a Bactrian inscription. His iconography has been associated with the armored divinity on the ossuary from Yakkabag already discussed by Mode. According to F. Grenet, the image of Vaishravana could have been superimposed on the one of Yima in Sogdiana not only because both deities are wearing armor, but also because they are associated with the northern direction. In fact, in the Buddhist religion, Vaishravana is the guardian of the north, and Yima as a god of the underworld could be intended to mean the northern direction which is where hell was located according to Zoroastrian precepts.62 However, Yima is never represented on a horse and he is not holding a vessel in his hands. Sogdian deities very often have a plate in one hand with the image of an animal above that could be the symbol of that very god or goddess. However, nothing like this can be observed in Khotanese art. Therefore, despite its enigmatic presence, the blackbird would point to a local origin for those images and it is not ruled out that there could be an astronomical-astrological interpretation as well. Obviously, the number eight could be associated with the luminaries of the ancient system (also the Iranian one) or their personifications that consisted of the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the Earth itself or the dragon causing eclipses (Ketu).63 Moreover, (1991/1992, p. 186). One scholar identified that god with a Yaksha: 张 2015. (2012). 63 Panaino (2015). 61 Mode

62 Grenet

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Fig. 7.11 After: Bunker (2001, Fig. 8)

the inscription is not well preserved and the painting from Dandan Oilik, at that very spot, is poorly preserved. So, it is not clear if the inscription is referring precisely to those riders who, in some cases, seem to be more than eight.64 An interesting point of comparison for the god riding a horse could be represented by some fragmentary textiles from Shanpula (not far from Khotan) that have been tentatively dated to the beginning of the Common Era.65 Some woolen fragments of a more complex tapestry are embellished with hunting scenes repeated several times horizontally (Fig. 7.11). The hunter is shooting an arrow in the direction of a composite human-headed monstrous figure in front of him while a bird is hovering just behind him above the tail of his horse. It is not clear who this hunter is but it is very probable that he is a monster-fighting hero or god possibly referred to in local pre-Buddhist religion. Scenes like these could be an echo of eastern Iranian myths calling to mind Rustam’s trials as described in the very famous poem of the Persian people, the Shahnameh. In particular, the Shanpula fragmentary textiles resemble some much later Sogdian paintings from Penjikent (room VI/41) that have been identified with the Rustam saga. Those mid-eighth-century mural paintings from Penjikent share more than one point of contact with the Shanpula textiles.66 It is not ruled out that the people of Khotan (who spoke a language called by experts “Saka Khotanese”) shared common epics with other Eastern Iranian peoples such as the Sogdians and that only during the Islamic period have been accepted into Persian literature too, for example in the Shahnameh. 64 李 (2011, pp. 40–41). Kira Samosjuk (whom I wish to thank) kindly called my attention to a specific thirteenth-century Xixia thangka from Khara Khoto at present kept in the State Hermitage Museum where eight horsemen also appear around the main central figure of Kubera/Vaishravana (Sulla via della seta. L’impero perduto, 1993, cat. 56). Not only do a couple of horses seem to have a decorative element on their heads, like the ones from Khotanese paintings, but there is also the detail of five cups in the lower part of the thangka with something inside that seems to be a trident or a flame or even a bird flying into the cup. Unfortunately, that detail is not clear and in the catalogue mentioned above those elements are described as “sacrificial offerings”. It is not clear if there is some connection between the Xixia and Khotanese paintings although the Buddhist milieu again seems to be confirmed. 65 Bunker (2001). 66 Compareti (2013, p. 28; 2015c; 2019, p. 127).

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Fig. 7.12 After: Mode (1991/1992, Fig. 18.h)

However, this does not mean that the Khotanese deity riding a horse should be identified as a Sogdian importation. That Khotanese god was most probably a local deity who had some characteristics in common with Sogdian ones since all they had the same Iranian background (actually eastern Iranian). The same representation of a deity (or very similar ones) in a procession seems to be a local tradition that was rooted in Khotanese culture and had nothing to do with Sogdian art.

7.4.4 The God Behind Confronted Horses The astronomical-astrological hypothesis could be connected also to another Khotanese image of a haloed divinity behind two confronted horses. Before discussing this deity, it would be interesting to consider previous hypotheses about his identification. Mode associated this deity with a god represented on Kushan coins in the act of riding a two-headed horse with a trident in his hand together with the inscription “MOOZDOANO” that could have been, in his opinion, just another name for Ahura Mazda.67 However, it has been proved that MOOZDOANO is just another epithet for Shiva as it is underlined also by his attribute, the trident, in his hand. The double-headed horse could be explained as a dual aspect of this god, “benign and terrible” although this explanation does not appear completely satisfactory.68 Moreover, the god MOOZDOANO is riding a horse with two heads while the Khotanese deity under examination appears together with two completely normal confronted horses. The god behind two confronted horses can be observed on a fragmentary wooden tablet coming from an unidentified site of the Khotan region (possibly Dandan Oilik) that was investigated at the beginning of the last century by German explorers. The face of the god has almost entirely faded away and only the shape of two horses can be clearly distinguished (Fig. 7.12). This artifact formerly in the Trinkler collection is now kept in Bremen Overseas Museum together with some other items from

67 Mode 68 Gnoli

(1991/1992, p. 187). (2009, pp. 146–149).

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Fig. 7.13 After: Zhang et al. (2008, Fig. 5)

the Khotan region.69 A much better-preserved image of the same deity has been recently found in a mural painting on the eastern wall of Temple CD4 in Dandan Oilik (Fig. 7.13). It was published on several occasions although in not very clear photos.70 The scene from the eastern wall of Temple CD4 is a complex one: around repeated images of sitting Buddha, there is a frame of unclear deities among whom (in the right bottom corner) also the god behind confronted horses. Apart from the latter deity, all the others display very clear Indian attributes and, in fact, they have been identified with solid arguments as Skanda/Kartikkeya together with “mothers” that is to say deities who could save the lives of sick children when opportunely worshiped. C. Lo Muzio presented a very persuasive identification for these deities although he did not propose any Indian parallel for the god behind two confronted horses.71 This is due to the fact that his iconography cannot be explained according to Indian art and culture and, as it has already been observed above, he does not present enough evidence to propose a Sogdian identification. Since the association with the astronomical-astrological sphere was already proposed for the “eight spirits” of the inscription on the northern wall Dandan Oilik Temple CD4, it seemed just obvious to search in this direction also for the god behind two confronted horses. Moreover, one should observe that some other deities represented according to Indian art in the same painting on the eastern wall of Temple CD4 are holding in their upper hands the sun and the moon. Although it is not possible to

69 Gropp

(1974, Fig. 81). et al. (2008, Fig. 5). 71 Lo Muzio (2006, pp. 193–199); Lo Muzio (2019). 70 Zhang

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identify such deities as representations of planetary Indian gods, it is, however, very likely that some connections with astronomy-astrology could be possible.72 Astronomy-astrology was always very important in ancient and medieval times. This was also true for Iranian peoples although very few traces can be found in preIslamic arts. A very interesting source of information could be represented by Islamic book illustrations that are particularly abundant only after the Mongol period (thirteenth to fourteenth centuries) in Persian language. Several studies have been dedicated to Islamic astronomy-astrology and a wide iconographical plethora has been deduced for planetary deities, signs of the zodiac, lunar mansions, decans, etc. Even clear Indian borrowings can be observed in rare Islamic illustrated texts such as for the symbolic representations of the planetary conjunctions in the thirteenth-century Daqa’iq al-Haqa’iq kept in the Bibliothèque National de France, Paris (Persan 174). In many cases, those fantastic creatures (animal and human) present several heads, legs, arms, and even attributes in their hands exactly like typical Indian deities.73 Despite the proliferation of astronomical-astrological iconographies in Islamic book illustrations, the image of a person reminding the Khotanese god behind confronted horses seems not to have been very popular. Only one single and enigmatic astronomical Jayalarid illustrated text executed in Baghdad between 1388 and 1420 representing unique personifications of the signs of the zodiac and luminaries (Paris Bibliothèque National de France, Supplément Persan 332). In particular, one representation of the Sun (folio 21v.) seems to be extremely similar to the Khotanese image of the god behind confronted horses (Fig. 7.14). Scholars are not completely certain about the origin of this Jayalarid solar iconography, although it seems quite possible that it originated in Central Asia, its roots being probably in pre-Islamic traditions.74 It is not easy to decide if such “Central Asian iconographic traits” should be attributed to Khotanese artists, although every hint seems to point in this direction. That image of the Sun (and other planets or signs of the zodiac) in that Jayalarid manuscript is definitely not rooted in Persian iconographic traditions nor in Sogdian ones. In fact, in Persia, Sogdiana, and other Iranian lands such as the kingdom of Bamyan the main solar deity was Mithra and among his characteristics, there was the rayed nimbus behind his head, a chariot drawn by horses or a throne supported by these same animals.75 72 Meng Sihui (whom I wish to thank) suggested an astronomical-astrological identification for the deities appearing together with the god behind confronted horses in the painting on the eastern wall at Temple CD4. This is just another possibility and it is very clear that in the Tarim Basin too (like everywhere else in the ancient world), astronomy-astrology was kept in high consideration. An eighth to ninth-century painted paper scroll embellished with the signs of the zodiac displaying very strong Indian (and, possibly, Iranian) elements have been found in the region of Turfan and it is at present kept in Berlin: Grenet and Pinault (1997). No image of a deity resembling the god behind confronted horses can be observed in that painted scroll but it should be noted that just the signs of the zodiac and not the personifications of the luminaries have been depicted there. So, it cannot be ruled out the hypothesis that, in case of the representation of the sun, there could have been a deity like the one in Khotan behind confronted horses. 73 Barrucand (1990–1991). 74 Caiozzo (2003). 75 Grenet (2001).

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Fig. 7.14 After: Caiozzo (2003, Fig. 5)

Despite the long interval which separates the Khotanese paintings and the Jayalarid book illustration (about seven centuries), it seems that a very similar subject has been depicted to represent a solar deity whose unusual iconography was rooted somewhere in Central Asia but not in Sogdiana. It is worth mentioning that in Khotanese language (exactly as in Khwarezmian and some isolated Eastern Iranian languages still spoken at present in the Pamir region), the Sun was called urmaysde76 and, so, it is not ruled out that the association with Ahura Mazda proposed by Mode could be somehow related to that image. Wherever such an iconography originated, it was most likely used to represent an Iranian solar deity whose memory still persisted in Islamic times. If the god behind confronted horses could be actually considered a representation of a solar deity connected with a local form of Ahura Mazda then there would be enough evidence to suggest that Khotanese pre-Buddhist religion had something in common with Zoroastrian beliefs. 76 Bailey

(1979, p. 40; 1982, p. 29). In his review to Bailey (1982), J. Russell insisted just on this curious occurrence. However, in Russell’s opinion, the fact that in Khotanese the sun was called urmaysde could not be a precise allusion to Zoroastrian belief but to more general pre-Islamic Iranian religious aspects not easy to identify. Unfortunately, that review by Russell was published more than thirty years ago in a publication whose title the author himself does not remember. I wish to thank J. Russell who confirmed his hypotheses about Khotanese religion in a personal communication.

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7.4.5 The God Riding a Camel There is one last divinity among the wooden tablets from Dandan Oilik: the god riding a camel who appears also in conjunction with the god riding a spotted horse (Fig. 7.15). Mode proposed to identify this deity as Sogdian Washagn (the Avestan god of war Verethragna) and, in so doing, he associated that Zoroastrian divinity with the god sitting on a camel on the painted altar from Varakhsha’s Eastern Hall. This divinity is also holding a vessel in his hand but no bird appears at all. Exactly as with the god riding a horse, this divinity also has been found in a fragmentary mural painting from a Buddhist temple recently excavated at Dandan Oilik Temple CD10. He appears in a parade composed of at least two gods riding camels in the proximities of Buddhist images (Fig. 7.16). No inscriptions mentioning any god have Fig. 7.15 After: Williams (1973, Fig. 67)

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Fig. 7.16 After: 中国新疆文物考古研究所, 日本佛教大学尼雅遗址学术研究机构编著, 文物 出版社编著, 2009, pl. 20.1

been found together with this painting but the impression is that in this case too, the hypothesis of a Sogdian execution does not seem convincing. As was already mentioned above, the camel was the attribute of the king of Bukhara who was sitting on a throne in the shape of this animal. It is highly probable that the main deity of Bukhara was represented in a very similar way. This god has been hypothetically identified as Washagn although many doubts have suggested that scholars should be extremely cautious.77 However, in case he could have been an image of Washagn, why should he have been reproduced twice or more in sequence? This way of representing deities seems to be quite common in Khotan but not in Sogdiana. Parades of symbolic animals of Zoroastrian deities worshipped in Sogdiana during the pre-Islamic period have been found on a painting from Varakhsha in the so-called “Red Hall”. The decoration of the Red Hall comprises three levels (Fig. 7.17). On the first level, there is a repetition of a scene that includes one main person and his attendant, much smaller in size, fighting against leopards and dragons while sitting on an elephant. The identification of the larger person as a god (precisely as Adbagh/Ahura Mazda) by some scholars have been challenged with very persuasive arguments by A. Naymark. In fact, that person could have been a heroic local king whose iconography was based on Buddhist prototypes of Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, not coming directly from India but just from the Tarim Basin.78 On the second level, there is a procession of animals and fantastic creatures that is possibly repeated also on the third level, represented as a confronted couple beside a central tree. Let us now focus on the procession on the second level. Just the lower parts of those animals can be observed. Some of them have a saddle with stirrups: they seem to be real quadrupeds 77 Silvi

Antonini (2006). (2003, p. 17).

78 Naymark

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Fig. 7.17 After: Maršak (2000, Fig. 13) (modified)

while others are definitely fantastic creatures composed of different parts of birds and lions resembling griffins or similar mythical beasts. As Naymark proposed, such animals should be identified as the symbols of local gods who do not appear in that painting since the Arabs had already started the invasion of western Sogdiana and it had probably become unsafe for local rulers to manifest too openly their affiliation to a religion extraneous to Islam. Therefore, it does not seem that a parade of camels was intended to be represented at Varakhsha but different animals and fantastic creatures, although it is not ruled out that also one (or more) camel could have been included among them. The conclusion is that Sogdians did represent sequences of their gods together with their own symbolic animals but not the same deity repeated several times. Also, in this case, the more probable hypothesis is that the god riding a camel repeated in a procession in Dandan Oilik paintings is a local creation possibly rooted in Khotanese pre-Buddhist religion.

7.5 Conclusion It seems very likely that the images of divinities appearing in a Buddhist milieu in Khotanese paintings would point to local gods and not Sogdian ones, both from a point of view of their iconographic and stylistic elements mainly in agreement with Marshak’s ideas. Very strong Iranian characteristics can be identified and this is probably due to the Iranian substratum of Khotanese language and culture that was noted long ago by other scholars such as H. Bailey. However, Mode’s hypotheses still present very interesting points that, in some cases, could be considered accurate especially if compared to mural paintings more recently discovered in the Khotan oases. Those paintings from Dandan Oilik and Domoko represent an important discovery in the field of Khotanese studies. They could in fact shed some light on Khotanese preBuddhist religion much as, in a similar way, the most recently found textile fragments

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from Shanpula had begun to suggest to us. This religion generically called “preBuddhist” hypothetically could have been rooted in a local variant of Zoroastrianism possibly still practiced by Khotanese sovereigns around the first centuries CE as it is also preserved (not explicitly, however) in the Prophecy of the Li Country. After the conversion to the new religion, all those local deities could have persisted in the form of icons or “saints” used to intercede between Buddha or bodhisattvas and believers.79 At the present state of research, it is not possible to be more precise about the identity of the deities presented in this study and any further evidence could only be achieved after new and, hopefully, enlightening archaeological discoveries in a very interesting region where Khotanese culture once developed.

References Bailey HW (1979) Dictionary of Khotanese Saka. Cambridge Bailey HW (1982) The culture of the Sakas in Ancient Iranian Khotan. New York Barrucand M (1990–1991) The miniatures of the Daq¯a’iq al-haq¯a’iq (Bibliothèque Nationale Pers. 174): A testimony to the cultural diversity of Medieval Anatolia. Islamic Art IV:113–142 Baumer Ch (1999) Dandan Oilik revisited: new findings a century later. Oriental Art XLV(2):2–14 Belenitskii AM, Marshak BI (1981) The paintings of Sogdiana. In: Azarpay G (ed) Sogdian painting. The pictorial epic in oriental art, Berkeley, New York, pp 11–77 Bernardini M (2003) Hašt Behešt. In: Yarshater E (ed) Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol XII, Costa Mesa, pp 49–51 Black J, Green A (1992) Gods, demons and symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia. An illustrated dictionary, London 毕波, 《中古中国的粟特胡人——以长安为中心》 , 中国人民大学出版社, 2011年。 Bi B, Sims-Williams N (2010) Sogdian documents from Khotan, I: four economic documents. J Am Orient Soc 34(4):497–508

79 Names of local deities submitted to Buddha appear in some Khotanese documents that were found in Dunhuang: Skjaervø (2002, p. 34). Some carpets from Shanpula looted in 2008 and confiscated by local policemen definitely show mythological scenes that could be rooted in Indian culture and religion: Zhang (2016; 2019). Even though it is not possible to identify anyone of those Indian deity with local ones, it is clear that, in the fifth-seventh centuries, non Buddhist gods were well-known in Khotan. Despite such hints about the persistence of pre-Buddhist Khotanese deities at Dandan Oilik and Domoko, some scholars have tried to demonstrate that those deities were rooted in Indian Buddhist traditions. On the occasion of the International Symposium of the Tibetan Plateau and the Silk Road: Artistic Exchanges between Tibet, Khotan and Dunhuang, 9th-13th Centuries (Hangzhou 8-11 November 2019), Zhang He presented a very interesting paper about the identification of the deities in Dandan Oilik and Domoko paintings with Buddhist protective deities specifically invoked for diseases of children. However, the winged protective deities with animal heads that she identified in a ninth century Chinese-Khotanese Buddhist text found in Dunhuang and at present kept in the British Museum (Ch. 00217 a-c, see: Lo Muzio (2019, fig. 13) could have some points of contact with the deities discussed by Lo Muzio (2006; 2019) but are iconographycally different from those presented in this paper such as the "silk god" and, above all, the god behind confronted horses who do not have any precise parallel in the artistic milieu of neighboring kingdoms (India, Sogdiana, China, etc.).

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OI 11(1):35–58 Grenet F (2010) Iranian Gods in Hindu Garb: The Zoroastrian Pantheon of the Bactrians and Sogdians, Second-Eighth Centuries. Bull Asia Inst 20:87–99 Grenet F (2012) Yima en Bactriane et en Sogdiane: nouveaux documents. In: Azarnouche S, Redard C (eds) Yama/Yima. Variations indo-iraniennes sur la geste mythique. Paris, pp 83–94 Grenet F, Marshak BI (1998) Le mythe de Nana dans l’art de la Sogdiane. Arts Asiatiques 53:5–18 Grenet F, Pinault G-J (1997) Contacts de traditions astrologiques de l’Inde et de l’Iran d’après une peinture des collections de Turfan. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres 4:1003–1063 Gropp G (1974) Archäologische Funde aus Khotan Chinesisch-Ostturkestan, Bremen Hansen V (2012) The Sik Road. A new history, Oxford Hedin S (1899) Durch Asiens Wüstens, Leipzig Hiyama S (2013) Study on the First-style Murals of Kucha: analysis of some motifs related to the Hephthalite’s Period. In: Miyaji A (ed) Buddhism and art in Gandhara and Kucha Buddhist culture along the Silk Road: Gandhara, Kucha, and Turfan, Ryukoku, pp 125–163 Hoffmann HHR (1971) The Tibetan names of the Saka and the Sogdians. XXV, Asiatische Studien, pp 440–455 霍巍, 《于阗与藏西:新出考古材料所见两地间的古代文化交流》 《藏学学刊》 , ,2007年第3辑, 第146–156页。 Kageyama E (2007) The Winged Crown and the Triple-crescent Crown in the Sogdian Funerary Monuments from China: their relation to the Hephthalite occupation of Central Asia. J Inner Asian Art Archaeol 2:11–22 Kumamoto H (1996) The Khotanese in Dunhuang. In: Cadonna A, Lanciotti L (eds) Cina e Iran. Da Alessandro Magno alla dinastia Tang, Firenze, pp 79–101 Kumamoto H (2009) Khotan.ii. History in the pre-Islamic period. In: Yarshater E (ed) Encyclopaedia Iranica: www.iranicaonline.org Lapierre N (1990) La peinture monumentale de l’Asie centrale soviétique: observations techniques. Arts Asiatiques 45(1):28–40 Lerner JA (2005) Aspects of assimilation: the funerary practices and furnishings of Central Asians in China. Sino Platonic Papers 168 李翎,《佛教与图像论稿》 , 文物出版社,2011年。 Lo Muzio C (2006) Culti Brahmanici a Khotan: note sulle pitture del tempio D13 a Dandan Oiliq. Rivista degli Studi Orientali 79(1–4):185–201 Lo Muzio C (2012) Notes on Gandhara painting. In: Lorenzetti T, Scialpi F (eds) Glimpses of Indian history and art reflections on the past, perspectives for the future, Roma, pp 319–335 Lo Muzio C (2019) Skanda and the Mothers in Khotanese Painting. In: Allinger E, Grenet F, Jahoda C, Lang M-K, Vergati A (eds)Interaction in the Himalayas and Central Asia. Processes of Transfer, Translation and Transformation in Art, Archaeology, Religion and Polity, Vienna, pp 71–89 Maggi M (2009) Khotanese literature. In: Emmerick RE, Macuch M (eds) A history of Persian literature. The literature of Pre-Islamic Iran, XVII, London, New York, pp 330–418 Maggi M (2015) Local literatures: Khotanese. In: Silk J (ed) Brill’s encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol 1. Literature and languages, Leiden, pp 860–870 Maršak BI (2000) The ceilings of the Varakhsha Palace. Parthica 2:151–167

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Marshak BI (2001) La thématique sogdienne dans l’art de la Chine de la seconde moitié du VIe siècle. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 1:227–264 Millard, AR (1999) Nabû. In: van der Toorn K, Beckig B, van der Horst PW (eds) Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible, Leiden, Boston, Köln, pp 607–610 Minardi M (2013) A four-armed goddess from ancient Chorasmia: history, iconography and style of an ancient Chorasmian icon. Iran, LI, pp 111–143 Mktrychev T, Naymark A (1991) Ossuary. In: Abdullaev KA, Rtveladze EV, Shishkina GV (eds) Culture and art of ancient Uzbekistan, Moscow, Tashkent, pp 64–70 Mode M (1991/92) Sogdian Gods in Exile. some iconographic evidence from Khotan in the light of recently excavated material from Sogdiana. Silk Road Art Archaeol II:179–214 Naymark A (2003) Returning to Varakhsha. Silk Road Newsl 1(2):9–22 Panaino A (1995) Tištrya, The Iranian Myth of the Star Sirius, Rome Panaino A (2015) Cosmologies and astrology. In: Stausberg M, Sohrab-Dinshaw Vevaina Y, Tessmann A (eds) The Wiley-Blackwell companion to zoroastrianism, Chichester, pp 235–257 Potts D (2001) Nana in Bactria. Silk Road Art Archaeol 7:23–35 Rhie MM (2007) Early Buddhist Art of China and Central Asia. Volume one. Later Han, three kingdoms and Western Chin in China and Bactria to Shan-shan in Central Asia, Leiden, Boston Riboud P (2005) Réflexions sur les pratiques religieuses designées sous le nom de xian. In: de La Vaissière E, Trombert É (eds) Les Sogdiens en Chine, Paris, pp 73–91 荣新江, 《丝绸之路与东西文化交流》 , 北京大学出版社, 2015年。 Rong X and Zhu L (2019) The Eight Great Protectors of Khotan Re-considered: From Khotan to Dunhuang, In: Forte E (ed) Buddhist Road Paper 6.1. Special Issue: Ancient Central Asian Networks. Rethinking the Iconography of Religions, Art and Politics across the Tarim Basin (5th-10th C.), Bochum, pp. 44–84 Rowland B (1974) The art of Central Asia, New York Santoro A (2008) Miran: the Vi´svantara J¯ataka. On visual narration along the Silk Road. Rivista degli Studi Orientali 79(1–4):31–45 Shenkar MA (2014) Intangible Spirits and Graven images: the iconography of deities in the PreIslamic Iranian World, Leiden, Boston Shishkin VA (1963) Varakhsha, Moskva Silvi Antonini C (2006) Ob odnom siuzhete v zhivopis’ dvorca Varahshi. In: Silvi Antonini C, Mirzaakhmedov DK (eds) Ancient and mediaeval culture of the Bukhara Oasis, Rome, Samarkand, pp 50–54 Skjaervø PO (2002) Khotanese manuscripts from Chinese Turkestan in the British Library. A complete catalogue with texts and translations. Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum. Part II Inscriptions of the Seleucid and Parthian periods and of Eastern Iran and Central Asia. Vol VI: Saka, London Skjaervø PO (2004) Iranians, Indians, Chinese and Tibetans: the rulers and ruled of Khotan in the first millennium. In: Whitfield S (ed) The silk road. Trade, travel, war and faith, London, pp 34–42 Stein MA (1907) Ancient Khotan. Detailed Report of Archaeological Explorations in Chinese Turkestan, Oxford Sulla via della seta (1993) L’impero perduto. Arte buddhista da Khara Khoto (X-XIII secolo), curator M. Piotroviskij, Milano-Lugano 孙武军,《入华粟特人墓葬图像的丧葬与宗教文化》 , 中国社会科学出版社, 2014年。 Taddei M (1987) Non-Buddhist deities in Gandharan Art. some new evidence. In: Investigating Indian Art, Berlin, pp 349–362 Thierry F (1993) Sur les monnaies sassanides trouvées en Chine. In: Gyselen R (ed) Circulation des monnaies, des marchandises et de biens. Res Orientales III, Bures-sur-Yvette, pp 89–139 Wendtland A (2009) Xurmazda and Aδbaγ in Sogdian. In: Allison Ch et al. (eds) From Daena to Din. Religion, Kultur und Sprache in der iranischen Welt. Festschrift Ph. Kreyenbroek, Wiesbaden, pp 111–125 Wertmann P (2015) Sogdians in China: archaeological and art historical analyses of tombs and texts from the third to the tenth century AD, Darmstadt

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Zhang Y, Qu T, Liu G (2008) A newly discovered Buddhist temple and wall paintings at DandanUiliq in Xinjiang. J Inner Asian Art Archaeol 3:157–170 Zhang H (2016) Kr.s.n.a iconography in Khotan carpets: Spread of Hindu religious ideas in Xinjiang, China, fourth-seventh centuries CE. Indian J His Sci 51/4: 659–668 Zhang Z (2018) Sogdians in Khotan. The Silk Road 16: 30–43 Zhang H (2019) Knotted carpets from the Taklamakan: A medium of ideological and aesthetic exchange on the Silk Road, 700 BCE-700 CE. The Silk Road 17:36–64

Chapter 8

Searching for the Origin of an Art Motif: The Tree as a Universal Separating Device in Early Indian, Iranian, Etruscan, and Chinese Art Hanmo Zhang Abstract This study rethinks the theory of diffusion by examining the tree motif as a separating device in early Chinese art and its seeming connection with ancient Indian pictorial narratives as well as the Achaemenid and Etruscan pictorial art traditions. The examination of this artistic technique disproves both the argument that this technique was diffused to China from India and the claim that there was no multiplescene pictorial narrative in Han and pre-Han Chinese art. This study argues that the similarities between art traditions in different regions or cultures do not guarantee a direct relationship of diffusion from one to another; moreover, even the similarities within the same region or culture in different periods do not guarantee a relationship of inheritance. Keywords Tree motif · Separating device · Pictorial narrative · Cultural diffusion · Scroll P 4524

8.1 Introduction A brief excerpt from Victor Mair’s argument about trees as artistic motifs that divide a pictorial narrative into different sections may help contextualize this discussion: One other unmistakable sign of the consanguinity between pien and wayang bèbèr is the tree-mountain (kayon or gunungan) painted on the latter to divide up the pictorial narrative into sections. Each of the scenes on p 4524 (see Color Plate 1) is also divided by trees and/or mountains from those that precede and follow it. I have observed similar division on Japanese narrative scrolls, whether used in etoki or not. That this particular separating device of mountains and trees could have developed independently in such widely separated areas is beyond ready credibility. When we consider that the identical device was employed in many Indian narrative illustrations, it becomes difficult not to speak of diffusion. The device was so common, in fact, that it was even utilized when only a single scene was painted on each of successive leaves of illuminated manuscripts. Here there is no need to divide the narrative sequence into discrete “moments” (shi时) or “loci” (ch’u 处). This is peculiar H. Zhang (B) Renmin University of China, Beijing, China e-mail: [email protected] © SDX Joint Publishing Co., Ltd. 2020 X. Li (ed.), Studies on the History and Culture Along the Continental Silk Road, Silk Road Research Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7602-7_8

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iconographical feature of wayang bèbèr and pien picture-scrolls could not likely have been a mere coincidence and is best explained by reference to their common Indian origin.1

To understand Mair’s argument, a brief introduction of the terms pian and wayang bèbèr is in order. The term pian 变 in the above-quoted passage, also known as bianwen 变文, or transformation text, refers to a literary form of Chinese vernacular and prosimetric narratives flourishing during the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE) and the Five Dynasties (907–960 CE) periods. Generally speaking, although later expanded to a literary genre also including historical and folkloric narratives, bianwen is associated with a movement of popularizing Buddhist doctrines through widespread forms of entertainment such as storytelling and pictorial representation. In other words, bianwen is closely associated with oral and visual performances. It is also worth noting that only after being sealed for about a millennium were the bianwen texts discovered in the early twentieth century, among various types of manuscripts in a Buddhist cave located at what is today Dunhuang in Gangu province 甘肃敦煌. This literary genre, then, has only been known to modern scholars for the last century.2 Wayang is an Indonesian word used broadly for all types of dramatic representation. The wayang bèbèr (literally “unfolding/unrolled shadows”) is a type of wayang in the form of painted scrolls consisting of sequentially related scenes made for performance. The wayang bèbèr is a kind of picture book displayed by the narrator before the audience during a show, explaining or complementing the illustrations, when he chants or tells a story.3 According to Mair’s observation, in spite of their geographical difference, the bianwen text P 4524 and the wayang bèbèr share an artistic feature: In both kinds of texts, a tree motif divides up a series of consecutive scenes explained and sometimes performed by the storytellers. This sort of artistic device is also observable in other cultures (for instance, on Japanese narrative scrolls, according to Mair), and this commonality prompts Mair to conclude that, since it is incredible that the same artistic device could have separately developed in multiple regions, we must search for a single origin, which, according to Mair, is to be found in common practice in early Indian narrative illustrations: the pictorial device of trees and/or mountains serving as separating design in storytelling and performance, which later appears in eastern and southeastern Asia. This commonality is viewed as artistic evidence by Mair to further reinforce his argument that bianwen and its Indonesian analogue, wayang bèbèr, share the same Indian origin.4 I do not intend to challenge Professor Mair’s conclusion. His observation of the artistic and functional similarities between bianwen and wayang bèbèr scrolls 1 Mair

(1988, 78–79).

2 Publications on the study of Dunhuang bianwen are numerous. For one of the most comprehensive

studies on this genre, see Mair (1989); for an example of recent major study on this genre, see Arami (2010); for the still indispensable collection of the Dunhuang bianwen texts, see Wang et al. (1957). 3 Mair (1988, 55–56). The story may be performed by more than one persons, as Wu Hung suggests; see Wu (1992, 156–158). 4 Mair (1988, 56).

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correctly illustrates their connection to the Indian practice. But the assertion that independent development of this specific separating device in multiple regions or cultures is beyond credibility deserves a second thought. As a matter of fact, a more careful examination of this separating device of trees in early Chinese pictorial art tells a different story. Recent archaeological discoveries bring to us new evidence that the application of the tree motif as a separating device dividing up narrative scenes in early Chinese art, based on available evidence, occurred no later than its Indian counterpart. Likewise, this type of artistic device was used in Iranian pictorial art tradition; in fact, examples of this sort appeared much earlier than in the Indian art tradition. The validity of Mair’s conclusion comes not from the claim that the artistic practice of applying the tree and/or mountain motif to separate the narrative scenes originated in India. One plausible scenario that may explain the widespread of this motif in culturally different regions is that the Indian pictorial narrative tradition adopted and repackaged this art motif, spreading it to Eastern and Southeastern Asian countries following the expansion of Buddhist influence in those regions.5 However, the tree motif as a separating device was not necessarily an Indian Buddhist art invention; or, even if this art motif may have been developed within India’s own art tradition, it may have been inspired by or borrowed from other cultures. Viewed from a more general art-historical perspective, Mair’s argumentation reflects one of the beliefs in this field that a precedent for a motif or technique in one place implies a direct relationship between that motif or technique with a similar motif or technique occurring later, in another place. As Mair expresses in the above passage, when enough similarities are observable and the relative chronologies become available, it is difficult not to speak of diffusion, a controversial but influential point of view perpetuating itself through the field of art history. In examining the tree motif as an artistic separating device in early Chinese pictorial art as well as its possible connections with its ancient Iranian and Indian counterparts, this paper attempts to more closely examine such a belief and hopes, through this scrutiny, to bring to our awareness the limit of this belief of diffusion. I argue in this paper that not only do the artistic similarities in different regions or cultures not guarantee a direct relationship of diffusion from one to another but that even such similarities within the same region or culture in different periods do not guarantee such a relationship. Cultural exchange is far more complex than assumed in the above theory, and the usual insufficiency of available evidence requires a much more cautious and sophisticated approach to this issue.

8.2 The Dunhuang Scroll P 4524 Mair’s discussion of the transformation texts in his monograph, as specified in the passage quoted above, centers on the Dunhuang scroll numbered P 4524, a piece of Paul Pelliot’s acquisition from the Dunhuang “library” cave and the only bianwen 5 Mair

(1988, 17–53).

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picture-scroll that has survived to the present day. The picture-scroll was made on the basis of a transformation text, which has four different versions, discovered from the Dunhuang “library” cave. Among these four versions, one, now missing, only has transcripts preserved in a later publication;6 two others (numbered P 4615 and S 4398, respectively), severely damaged, were only partially preserved; and the last version, with its two fragments in the British Library (numbered S 4398) and Beijing Library, respectively, fortunately is complete. The transformation text describes a tale called “Subjugating the Demons” (xiangmo 降魔). It tells how Sudatta 须达, Prime ´ avast¯ı 舍卫城, an ancient kingdom in southern India, was converted Minister of Sr¯ to Buddhism and managed to purchase the best suitable land to build a Buddhism ´ avast¯ı. Monastery in Sr¯ The tale begins with Sudatta’s travel with his emissary to another ancient Indian kingdom to seek a bride for his son. He comes upon and is deeply moved by the ¯ begging Ananda 阿难, who leads them to discover their ideal candidate, the youngest daughter of Humi 护弥, Premier of that kingdom and a committed Buddhist devotee. Influenced by Humi during Sudatta’s stay in the former’s mansion, Sudatta visits Buddha and is immediately enlightened. He becomes a devoted Buddhist believer ´ avast¯ı. Buddha asks Sudatta to build a monastery and invites Buddha to preach in Sr¯ ´ ariputra 舍利弗 to go with Sudatta to in his homeland first and assigns his disciple S¯ help with this matter. ´ avast¯ı with S¯ ´ ariputra as his guide, Sudatta begins to search for a Returning to Sr¯ suitable site to build a Buddhist monastery. After inspecting several places, they find ´ avast¯ı, an ideal location to build a monastery. the garden of the Crowned Prince of Sr¯ With a small trick, Sudatta persuades the Crowned Prince to sell the garden. Then, when the Crowned Prince finds out the reason that Sudatta would like to pay an extraordinarily high price—covering both the ground and trees in the garden with gold—to purchase his garden, the Prince is also moved by Buddha and is willing to work together with Sudatta to build the monastery. Completing the purchase of the garden, Sudatta and the Crowned Prince set off to return to the city. On their way, they encounter the Six Heretical Masters 六师外 道, who immediately question the Crowned Prince’s trip to his garden. Learning that the Prince sold his garden to Sudatta in order to build a Buddhist monastery there, the Six Masters feel outraged and report this news to Prasenajit 波斯匿, King of ´ avast¯ı, accusing Sudatta and the Crowned Prince of illegally worshiping foreign Sr¯ ´ avast¯ı summons deity and portraying Buddha as a devious figure. The King of Sr¯ both Sudatta and the Crowned Prince, interrogates them for what they have done and asks Sudatta about Buddha. Amazed by the story of Buddha, the King intends to see Buddha’s power and suggests a competition between Buddha and the Six Masters. ´ ariputra, Buddha’s youngest disciple coming to Sr¯ ´ avast¯ı with Sudatta, agrees to S¯ ´ contest with the Six Masters. A S¯ariputra-vs-Raudr¯ak¸sa 劳度叉 (chief magician of the Six Heretical Masters) tournament is then arranged by King Prasenajit, as he orders: The Buddhists are to sit on the east side, 6 Luo

(1927).

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The Six Masters on the western edge. I shall sit at the northern rim, The officials and commoners on the south side. The two possibilities of victory and defeat Each must be clearly recorded. If the Six Master Monks win, Beat the golden drum and cast a golden tally; If the Buddhists are the stronger, Strike the golden bell and knock the mark of victory.7 佛家东边,六师西畔。 朕在北面,官庶南边。 胜负二途,各须明记。 和尚得胜,击金鼓而下金筹; 佛家若强,扣金钟而点尚字。

´ ariputra and Soon, in front of the King and all the officials as their witnesses, S¯ ´ Raudr¯ak¸sa contest for six rounds and S¯ariputra wins six times in a row. In awe of ´ ariputra’s power, the King of Sr¯ ´ avast¯ı dismisses the Six Masters. S¯ ´ ariputra then S¯ rises up to the sky, revealing the miraculous transformations and admitting that all his power is bestowed by Buddha. At the end of the transformation text, even the Six Masters are enlightened and convert to Buddhism.8 The extant illustration and text executed on the Dunhuang scroll P 4524 are obviously an incomplete version of the original. Both the beginning and the ending of the original illustration as well as their texts on the back are missing on Scroll P 4524 and the remaining part includes five scenes separated by five trees, depicting only five of ´ ariputra and Raudr¯ak¸sa. The compositions of all the the six competitions between S¯ scenes remain similar, each generally following what King Prasenajit orders: (a) the Buddhists sit on the right (east); (b) the Six Masters sit to the left of the Buddhists; (c) between the two is the competition spot where the competition unfolds; (d) King Prasenajit and his entourage sit further left to the Six Masters;9 and, (e) a golden drum, a golden bell, as well as two servants waiting to beat or strike them also appear in each of the remaining scenes, as mentioned by King Presenajit (Fig. 8.1). Since the basic composition of each of the five scenes remains unchanged, the identification of the story depicted in the scenes is mostly based on the changing contents represented 7 Wang et al. (1957,

361–394); the translation follows Mair’s with minor revisions; see Mair (1983, 73–74). 8 Scholars tend to believe that this transformation text is made on the basis of a similar story titled “Xuda qi jingshe” 须达起精舍 (Sudatta erecting a monastery) included in the Xianyu jing 贤愚经 (the sutra for both the worthy and the obtuse), a Buddhist sutra allegedly put together in 445 CE. For the text of “Xuda qi jingshe,” see T0202.0418-21; for the bibliographical information about this text, see Seng (2008, 351); for the similarities and differences between this two texts, see Wu (1992, 139–144). 9 Here the depiction is different from what says in the transformation text: King Prasenajit sits with his entourage, his officials included, in the farther west instead in the north, as shows in the passage cited above. Also, on the P 4524 illustration, commoners as a group are not represented.

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H. Zhang (e) The Golden Drum and the Drum beater

(d) The King and his Entourage

(e) The Golden Bell and the Bell Striker

(b) The Six Masters

(c) Competition Spot

Tree

(a) Buddhists

Fig. 8.1 The typical arrangement of the scenes as seen on the second scene depicted on Scroll P 4524

at (c). In what follows is a list of the five extant competitions illustrated on Scroll P 4524. The first scene in the remaining illustration represents the first round of the compe´ ariputra and Raudr¯ak¸sa as mentioned in the text of “Subjugating the tition between S¯ Demons” (Fig. 8.2). The representation of the Buddhist party, i.e., Part (a) as shown in the typical composition of P 4524, is missing. The remaining Part (c), the depic´ ariputra’s conjuring up a giant Diamond Deity who holds a diamond mace tion of S¯ causing the collapse of the mountain conjured up by Raudr¯ak¸sa, tells the first victory of the Buddhists. The rhymed verses on the back of this scene, although with minor variations here and there, resemble those incorporated in the same section of the text of “Subjugating the Demons” (Fig. 8.3). This scene is separated from the scene next to it by a tree. Two palace ladies among King Prasenajit’s entourage, the westernmost edge of Scene 1 on the remaining illustration, turn their heads toward the next scene, seemingly reminding the viewer of the upcoming contest painted on the following panel (Fig. 8.2). Similar gestures made by one or more than one figure in King Prasenajit’s entourage arranged westernmost on all the scenes of this illustration seem to suggest that all the consecutive scenes separated by trees form a continuous narrative. Like what is described in the text of “Subjugating the Demons,” Scene 2, the scene ´ ariputra-vs-Raudr¯ak¸sa competition, next to Scene 1, is about the second round of the S¯ ´ in which a lion conjured up by S¯ariputra snaps at the back of a kneeling water buffalo conjured up by Raudr¯ak¸sa (Fig. 8.4). On the back of this scene, there are also rhymed verses describing this round of competition, similar to its counterpart appearing in the transformation text (Fig. 8.5). With a female figure looking toward Scene 3,

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Tree 1

Two figures turn their heads toward the next scene.

´ ariputra and Raudr¯ak¸sa. Fig. 8.2 Scene 1: depicting the first round of the competition between S¯ Part (a), i.e., the Buddhist group, is missing

Scene 2 is separated from both the previous and the upcoming scenes by two trees, respectively. Scenes 3, 4, and 5, each separated from their previous and upcoming scenes by ´ ariputra trees,10 depict the third, fourth, and fifth rounds of the competition between S¯ and the Six Masters. The Six Masters in a row conjure up a delicate pond adorned with jewels and lotuses in blossom, a poisonous dragon, and two monsters with terrifying looking, but the lotuses wither after the pond is trampled and the water in it is sucked up by a humongous elephant, as showed on Scene 3 (Fig. 8.6), the poisonous dragon is eaten by a golden-winged bird king, as showed on Scene 4 (Fig. 8.7), and the two monsters are subdued by Vai´sravan.a the Heavenly King 毗 沙门天王, as shown in Scene 5 (Fig. 8.8); both the elephant and the golden-winged ´ ariputra.11 On the back of the three scenes there bird king are conjured up by S¯ are three sets of verses, respectively, describing the battles between the two parties (Figs. 8.9, 8.10, and 8.11).12 However, the tree separating King Prasenajit and his entourage from the rest of Scene 5 is a device that seems to be unnecessary if we consider the similarity between the composition of Scene 5 with that of the rest on this illustration. Since there is no tree in that spot in previous similarly structured scenes and no specific reason explains the necessity of its being there, the tree motif 10 Both the tree and the mountain motifs together serve as a device dividing up Scenes 3 and 4. See Figs. 8.6 and 8.7. 11 Differing from the transformation text of “Subjugating the Demons,” in the Xianyu jing, it says ´ ariputra to subdue the monsters; see that Vai´sravan.a the Heavenly King was also conjured up by S¯ T0202.0420b04. 12 It is worth noting that, unlike the rest of the sets of verses, the verses on the back of Scene 5, although describing the same scene, are clearly different from their counterpart in the transformation text. This is an interesting point deserving further exploration, but it is not the focus of this article.

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Fig. 8.3 Rhymed verses describing the first round of competition between ´ ariputra and Raudr¯ak¸sa on S¯ the back of Scene 1

Tree 2

Tree 1

A figure turns her head toward the next scene.

´ ariputra and Raudr¯ak¸sa Fig. 8.4 Scene 2: Depicting the second round of the competition between S¯

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Fig. 8.5 Rhymed verses describing the second round of competition between ´ ariputra and Raudr¯ak¸sa on S¯ the back of Scene 2

here could have been a mishandling by the painter of this illustration in the first place; perhaps, when realizing his mistake, he converted it into an unnecessary element of decoration. It is worth noting that there are two extant representational traditions in the Duhuang paintings on the subjugation of demons based on the contents incorporated in those paintings. One tradition tends to visualize the whole tale, starting from Sudatta’s conversion to Buddhism and ending at Raudr¯ak¸sa’s submission to ´ ariputra. The inscribed scenes, dated to the Northern Zhou (557–581 CE), found S¯ in Cave 12 in the Western Caves of a Thousand Buddha 西千佛洞 serve as a good

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H. Zhang Tree 3 and the mountains

Tree 2

Figures turn their heads toward the next scene.

´ ariputra and Raudr¯ak¸sa Fig. 8.6 Scene 3: Depicting the third round of the competition between S¯

Tree 4

Tree 3 and the mountains

A figure turns her head toward the next scene.

´ ariputra and Raudr¯ak¸sa Fig. 8.7 Scene 4: Depicting the fourth round of the competition between S¯

example in this regard (Fig. 8.12). The whole picture includes two registers, each consisting of a number of scenes describing specific moments of the tale of subjugation. The “reading” of these scenes, remaining consistent with the Xianyu jing version of this story, starts from the upper left scene, proceeds from left to right on the upper register, and then naturally transitions to the lower right scene toward the end of the upper register, at last moving all the way back to the leftmost point of the lower register.13 In comparison, the other representational tradition of the “Subjugating” ´ ariputra and Raudr¯ak¸sa, tale mainly focuses on the magical competition between S¯ and the rendering of the pictorial elements, rather than lineal and chronological is

13 Wu

(1992, 140–143).

8 Searching for the Origin of an Art Motif: The Tree … Tree 5

The beginning of Scene 6

An Unnecessary tree

131

Tree 4

Figures turn their heads toward the next scene.

´ ariputra and Raudr¯ak¸sa Fig. 8.8 Scene 5: Depicting the fifth round of the competition between S¯

“oppositional” and structural in terms of their composition.14 The representation of this tale on an early Tang mural found in Cave 335, for example, completely leaves out Sudatta’s travel, conversion, and the purchase of the Crowned Prince’s garden mentioned in the text (Fig. 8.13). Based on a major difference between the Xianyu jing and the bianwen versions of this “Subjugating” story—in the former, Raudr¯ak¸sa was finally subdued by fire, while in the latter, by the wind—it becomes clear that this second representational tradition follows the bianwen description. Since both the beginning and the ending of the Dunhuang Scroll P 4524 are missing, it is difficult to determine to which of the above representational traditions it belongs. Based on all the verbal similarities between the verses on the back of the illustration and their counterparts in the transformation text, it is reasonable to surmise that a complete illustration of this sort may generally follow the Cave 12 model, recounting the whole story from Sudatta’s conversion to Buddhism to the subjugation of Raudr¯ak¸sa, whom, however, should not be subdued by fire, as said in the Xianyu jing, but by wind, according to the transformation text (as seen on the Cave 335 mural). It is also possible that the original Scroll P 4524 only includes the scenes depicting the competition because this part of the tale is more dramatic than others in this story. But unlike the “oppositional,” structural composition represented by the Cave 335 model, the composition of the Scroll P 4524 illustration is lineal and remains consistent with the bianwen narrative. Nevertheless, whichever tradition it belongs to, the remaining illustration of Scroll P 4524 and the rhymed descriptions of the scenes on the back of the illustration clearly show its undeniable tie with the bianwen tale of “Subjugating the Demons,” which not only enables the deciphering

14 Wu

Hung calls it an “oppositional composition;” see Wu (1992, 148); for an in-depth analysis of this dramatic change in composition of the “Subjugating” story, see Wu (1992, 146–169).

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H. Zhang

Fig. 8.9 Rhymed verses describing the third round of competition between ´ ariputra and Raudr¯ak¸sa on S¯ the back of Scene 3

of the represented narrative but also discloses the date of the illustration to the second half of the eighth century or thereafter.15 It is also worth noting here that, although he considers Indian narrative illustrations ancestral to the application of trees as separating device to divide up different scenes, Mair does not elaborate this point with compelling examples. The examples he mentions in a note are dated much later than the P 4524 illustration.16 It is true that the citation of a considerable number of secondary works and studies regarding lengthy title of Emperor Xuanzong 玄宗 (r. 712–756 CE) mentioned in the prelude of the bianwen tale of “Subjugating the Demons” seems to indicate that it was written in either 748 CE or 749 CE when that title was assumed. See Ch’en 1964, 289; Ling and Cai 1985, 169. 16 See Note 124 in Mair (1988, 214). 15 A

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133

Fig. 8.10 Rhymed verses describing the fourth round of competition between ´ ariputra and Raudr¯ak¸sa on S¯ the back of Scene 4

the existence of an ancient Indian picture-storytelling tradition may help enhance Mair’s argument that the performance of bianwen tales with the assistance of illustrations (like P 4524) during the Tang dynasty was rooted in the Indian tradition, but he does not provide tangible ancient or contemporary Indian examples of this sort.17 Focusing on some early examples, the following section aims to explore how 17 Mair

(1988, 17–37).

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Fig. 8.11 Rhymed verses describing the fifth round of competition between ´ ariputra and Raudr¯ak¸sa on S¯ the back of Scene 5

trees are used as separating devices in ancient Indian visual narratives, the footing on which Mair’s argumentation stands.

8.3 The Early Indian Examples in Pictorial Narrative Although stylized trees appear on some prehistoric Indian ceramics, such as those found in the sites referred to as the Kulli and Cemetery H cultures (dated to 2,5002,000 BCE and1700 BCE, respectively), these trees are considered either as elements

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Fig. 8.12 The depiction of the “Subjugating the Demons” tale in Cave 12, Western Caves of a Thousand Buddhas. Northern Zhou dynasty (557–581 CE). After Wu (1992, 141)

Fig. 8.13 Depiction of the “Subjugating the Demons” tale in Dunhuang Cave 335. Early Tang dynasty (618–907 CE). After Wu (1992, 147)

of naturalistic scenes or as motifs comparable to the later Assyrian Tree of Life.18 (Fig. 8.14) A possible connection of these early motifs with early Buddhist art in a

18 Gajjar

(1971, 8, 55).

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Fig. 8.14 Tree motifs seen on prehistoric Indian ceramics. (1) After Gajjar (1971, 9). (2) After Gajjar (1971, 57)

religious context has been suggested but is far from being substantiated.19 Moreover, unlike the trees discussed as separating devices in pictorial narratives, these early cases do not represent any narrative. The earliest examples of trees used to divide up narrative scenes appear in an early Buddhist artistic discourse dated to third century CE. The eras between the first century BCE and the fifth century CE witnessed the large-scale construction of Buddhist monasteries decorated extensively with pictorial narratives. Although a wide range of non-narrative themes (especially those panIndian motifs of semi-guardian deities, yakshas, yakshis, and serpents being part of broad Buddhist lore) also constituted a considerable part of the early Buddhist decorative art, the portrayal of Buddha as a person, his previous lives (jatakas), and his achieving enlightenment became increasingly popular over time. As a result, a pictorial narrative tradition centering on Buddha gradually began to dominate later Buddhist art. In this process, early Buddhist artists developed or adopted a number of types of visual narrations—monoscenic, continuous, sequential, synoptic, and

19 Gajjar

(1971, 55–56).

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137

conflated, for example—in representing Buddha’s stories.20 Among these many types of visual narration, the mode of sequential narrative is defined as a kind of continuous narrative that contains the representation of the protagonist in different spatial and temporal contexts; unlike continuous narrative, however, sequential narrative applies separating devices to demarcate a series of units of scenes depicting connected events.21 The means of separation vary; using tree motifs to divide up narrative scenes is not seen everywhere. The earliest and most representative examples of this sort are from Gandhara. Using undivided successive scenes to tell a story remains popular in most early sites of Buddhist art, yet this is no longer the case at Gandhara. To present a continuous narrative, the Gandhara artists would more likely use separating devices to frame those successive scenes. When framing devices are applied, a continuous narrative by definition becomes a sequential narrative. At Gandhara, sequential narratives are mostly restricted to jataka stories and are very often found along with those narrow, horizontally oriented friezes against the steps—referred to as “stair-risers”— of smaller votive stupas. One of such examples is a jataka panel found from Jamalgarhi, Gandhara, now housed in The British Museum (Fig. 8.15). Based on Schlingloff’s reconstruction of this Syama jataka pictorial narrative,22 there are seven scenes included in the remaining frieze framed and separated by six trees. The reading of the narrative starts from the right. Scenes 1 and 2, without any divider between them, are framed together by two trees, of which the one on the rightmost side is only partially preserved. Scene 1 describes the moment at which Syama is wounded by an arrow while he bends himself holding a jar to fetch water among the animals in a forest setting. This scene reflects what the Syama jataka story tells about Syama being accidentally shot by the king. Based on this story, Schlingloff suggests that the king might be hidden further right behind the partially preserved tree located on the rightmost side of the frieze.23 To the left of the bending Syama is a Syama lying on his back underneath a tree, the arrow shaft protruding from his chest. The king, standing between two trees, realizes that he shot Syama by mistake. Schlingloff’s reconstruction ignores the indication of the tree between Syama and the king as a dividing marker and considers the recumbent Syama and the king as part of the same scene, that is, Scene 2. An alternative reading of these two scenes should consider the tree as a dividing marker, which indicates that the design to the right of the tree illustrates that Syama is mistaken as an animal and shot to death by the king, while the king standing between two trees is part of the next scene, showing that he is contemplating how to inform Syama’s parents of this tragedy and how to mend what he has done to them 20 Dehejia

(1997, 3–32). (1997, 20). 22 The Syama jataka is recorded in Shanzi jing 睒子經, which has two different versions of translation preserved in the Buddhist canons; see T03n0174, T03n0175a, T03n0175b, and T03n0175c. The theme of filial piety a significant role in making the Syama jataka story more eminent than other jataka tales. In fact, the story of "Shanzi" was so popular among Chinese society that it crossed the boundaries of Buddhism and became a fiber of China’s own tradition. 23 Schlingloff (1988, 69). 21 Dehejia

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Fig. 8.15 The Syama jataka carved on a frieze. Gandhara. Third century CE. (1) Two broken frieze pieces numbered 1880.55 and 1880.54, respectively, in the British Museum collection. (2) Line drawing of (1) with the sequence of scenes being numbered. After Schlingloff (1988, 357–358)

(Fig. 8.16). Syama appears twice in Scene 1, which may reflect the artist’s aim to depict the process of Syama’s being shot to his death, an artistic expression not rarely seen in Indian art.24 The king’s determination is depicted in the third scene, which shows that the king holds Syama’s water jar walking between two trees, having made the decision to serve Syama’s parents as their son. The flow of the narrative from right to the left abruptly alters after Scene 3. Instead of continuing its right-to-left movement, the designer of the frieze directs the viewer to the very left, the beginning of this designed frieze (Fig. 8.15), where, between two trees, the king is presenting Syama’s water jar to Syama’s parents, relating their son’s death and expressing his readiness to serve them like their son. This is Scene 4. From this point on, the narrative moves from left to right. In the next scene (Scene 24 Schlingloff

(1988, 226–238).

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139

(1) 3

2

1

(2)

Fig. 8.16 (1) Schlingloff’s identification of Scene 1 and Scene2. (2) Revision of (1)

5) framed by two trees, the king leads Syama’s blind parents to the place where their son’s body lies. Hair heaped in a large chignon, Syama’s father holds the king’s hand with his right hand, while his left holds a long, thin stick. Syama’s mother, with one hand, draped upon her husband’s shoulder, bend her knees a little bit, just like her husband. Scene 6 is also framed by two trees, between which are two human figures. The figure to the right is identified as Indra, the god of rain and thunderstorms in Hinduism, and the other figure who is holding a parasol is Indra’s attendant. They come to the scene to cure Syama’s wound. With the miracle performed by Indra, this Syama jataka story culminates in the final scene, Scene 7, which again is framed by two trees. While the arrow shank is still visible in his chest, Syama is surrounded by his parents. The god Indra, with a vajra in his left hand, is pouring nectar onto Syama’s head to resurrect him, while the king, standing next to Syama’s father, put his palms together in awe and prayer. The Syama jataka had been a lasting, popular theme in early Buddhist pictorial art as seen in the Ajanta, Sanchi, and Gandhara Buddhist sites.25 On a wall painting dated to the second century BCE in the early phase of the Ajanta Buddhist art tradition, a composition emphasizing the center as the climax of the Syama jataka narrative appears to be similar to the Gandhara relief design examined above (Fig. 8.17). It is true that trees are painted on a number of scenes of this wall painting, but obviously, they are not made to divide up the scenes; instead, they are indicators of the forest 25 Schlingloff

(1988, 64–72).

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Fig. 8.17 The Syama jataka story, wall painting. Ajanta. second century BCE. After Schlingloff (1988, 355–356) Fig. 8.18 Carved Syama jataka. Sanchi. first century BCE. After Schlingloff (1988, 355)

where Syama and his parents lived.26 A Sanchi depiction of the Syama jataka tale, dated to the first century BCE, adopts the mode of continuous narrative including three scenes in a single framed unit, but there is no divider separating one scene from another (Fig. 8.18). In Gandhara, different modes of pictorial narrative—monoscenic (Fig. 8.19), continuous (Fig. 8.20), and sequential (Fig. 8.15)—all dated to the third century CE, are observable in the Syama jataka representations. Trees appear in all three modes of pictorial narrative, but they clearly serve as separating devices only in the Jamalgarhi case examined above. Moreover, the arrangement of narrative scenes in Fig. 8.20, a Syama stair-riser now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, does not follow the center-focused composition and roughly adopts a right-to-left movement of the narrative. 26 Schlingloff

(1988, 67).

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Fig. 8.19 Carved Syama jataka. Gandhara. third century CE. After Schlingloff (1988, 357)

Fig. 8.20 Carved Syama jataka. Gandhara. Third century CE. After Schlingloff (1988, 357–358)

Another early example of the use of trees as separating devices to divide up the scenes of a sequential narrative is also from Gandhara, dated to the same period the abovementioned Jamalgarhi Syama jataka relief was made. This sequential narrative depicts the Vessantara jataka tale, another popular and long-lasting theme in early Buddhist pictorial art. The Vessantara jataka tale tells the story of one of Buddha’s previous lives as the compassionate prince Vessantara, who in this tale is willing to give away everything he has, including his status as a prince, his riches, his children, and even his wife, to show the true virtue of being completely devoted to Buddhist charity.27 The depiction of this story carved on the extant three fragmentary stone slabs also from Jamalgarhi, Gandhara, is incomplete. In Schlingloff’s reconstruction, six scenes are identified on the remaining stone slabs (Fig. 8.21). With each scene being framed by two trees, the designs on the three stone slabs form a sequential narrative. In Scene 1 there are two human figures and an elephant. One of the human figures, Prince Vessantara, hands the powerful white elephant to the other figure, a Brahmin from a hostile state. The elephant has helped Vessantara’s state win many battles and is considered the elephant of the state. After giving away the state elephant, the prince has to escape from the capital city. The next scene, also framed by two trees, depicts Prince Vessatara and his family traveling on a cart pulled by two horses, 27 The Chinese translation of the Vessantara jataka tales is called Taizi Xudana jing 太子須大拏經,

see T03n0171.

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Fig. 8.21 Carved Vessantara jataka tale. Gandhara. Third century CE. After Schlingloff (1988, 400)

while two Brahmins stand before two horses, demanding both the cart and the horses. Prince Vessantara obviously satisfies their request, since, in the next scene, both the cart and the horses are gone; the prince and his wife are left in the scene, each holding a child in their arms. It is worth noting that on the right end of the partially preserved second slab is part of a scene that is not identified by Schlingloff. Now only one human figure holding a child in his or her arm remains in the scene; the unidentified scene is supposed to express another part of the Vessantara jataka tale framed by trees. Similarly, since Scene 1 clearly marks the right end of a stair-riser, there could have been one or more than one scene to the left of Scene 1 on the first slab. In both cases, the trees as separating markers not only frame each and every individual scene related to the story, but they also guide the reading as well as the reconstruction of this pictorial narrative. Despite the unidentified scene following Scene 3, however, the Vessantara jataka story continues from right to left on the third stone slab. On the scene labeled as Scene 4 between two trees at the right end of the remaining slab, the design shows that Vessantara is giving away his two children (all of them are in their humble hut) to the vicious brahmin Jujuka, who, standing beside the hut, is demanding the two children from Vessantara. On the scene to the left of Scene 4, also between two trees, we see that Jujuka is wielding a stick about to beat the Vessantara’s two

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Fig. 8.22 Scenes separated by enframed pillars. Gandhara. After Dehejia (1997, 94)

Fig. 8.23 Scenes separated by lotus stem. Bharhut. After Dehejia (1997, 94)

children. The depiction further to the left of this scene, identified as Scene 6, is only partially preserved. It depicts a lion, conjured up by the god Indra, standing in Madri’s (Vessantara’s wife) way, trying to stop her from going back home to see her children being given away by her husband. As shown on the fragments of these stone slabs, the Jamalgarhi presentation of the Vessantara jataka tales strictly follows the definition of a sequential narrative, applying, in this case, the images of trees as separating devices to frame each and every scene. Like what we see in the unidentified scene next to Scene 3, the lack of the other tree as a divider on Scene 6 also indicates that this scene is incomplete. The pictorial narrative of the Vessantara jataka is not complete, either. Dehejia gathers that there should be a fourth stair-riser, now lost, on which the conclusion of this tale is designed.28 As mentioned earlier in this section, there are various types of dividers applied in the making of sequential narratives in early Indian Buddhist art. These dividing motifs, besides trees, include framed pillars (Fig. 8.22), waving lotus stems (Fig. 8.23), couples flanked by pilasters (Fig. 8.24), and sometimes, architectural structures (Fig. 8.25). On a relatively complete frieze from Goli dated to the third century CE, we find the use of the combination of multiple types of dividers— architectural structure, pillar, hut, and tree—to illustrate a complete version of the Vessantara jataka tales (Fig. 8.26). As Schlingloff’s reconstruction shows, the narrative starts from Scene 1—which is between the motifs of an architectural structure and a pillar—on the left of the frieze, where one sees the prince riding the state elephant, attended by his entourage. 28 Dehejia

(1997, 199).

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Fig. 8.24 (1) Scenes separated by enframed couples. Nagarjunakonda Museum. After Dehejia (1997, 20). (2) Scenes separated by enframed couples. Nagarjunakonda Museum. After Dehejia (1997, 180). (3) Scenes separated by enframed couples. The British Museum. After Dehejia (1997, 161)

Fig. 8.25 Scenes separated by architectural structures. The Indian Museum. After Dehejia (1997, 161)

The next scene, framed by two pillars, depicts Vessantara pouring water over the elephant’s trunk and the hands of the Brahmin to confirm the state elephant as a gift that has been given away. Right after Scene 2, Schlingloff suggests a continuing reading of the narrative to the left of the architectural structure as Scene 3, which, mostly damaged, depicts the citizens urging the king to banish the prince, as Schlingloff assumes.29 Nevertheless, the meager remains of Scene 3 are not sufficient to 29 Schlingloff

(1988, 244).

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Fig. 8.26 Carved Vessantara jataka tale. Goli. Third century. After Schlingloff (1988, 400)

support Schlingloff’s reading. In fact, Scene 4 (enframed by a pillar and one or more than one tree), the picture next to the right of Scene 2, naturally follows Vessantara’s action of giving away the state elephant to a hostile Brahmin: as a result of his action, the prince, his wife, and their two children are banished from the capital on a cart drawn by two oxen; but the prince is again approached by two Brahmins to whom the prince will give away his oxen. Separated from Scenes 4 and 6 by trees on the left and right sides, respectively, Scene 5 shows the prince and his wife pulling the carriage, in which their two children sit. Again, two Brahmins stand in front of the prince and his wife, asking for the carriage and, again, the prince satisfies their demand, for, in the next scene (Scene 6) enframed by two trees, the carriage disappears and the couple has to carry their children with their arms. Next, both Scene 7 and Scene 8 are set in a space framed by a tree on the left and Vessantara’s humble hut on the right. The picture of Scene 7 occupies most of this space, showing that the prince again carries out his promise for absolute charity by giving away his children to the evil Brahmin, who, appearing in the design (Scene 8) located at the upper-left corner of Scene 7, wields a stick to beat the two children. After losing his children, as shows on Scene 9, Vessantara sits sunk in a meditation posture on a seat beneath a tree, usually an indexical sign of the presence of the Buddha.30 The next scene depicts Madri carrying food on a shoulder pole, while the animals are trying to stop her from returning home on time so that she will not see how her children are given away to the Brahmin by her husband. This scene is roughly demarcated from its neighboring scenes by the tree behind the sitting Vessantara on the left and a pillar and part of another tree on the right. Alternatively, in order to keep the flow of the narrative more fluent, Scene 8 as a whole can be viewed as a separating device dividing Scenes 7 and 30 Dehejia

(1997, 12–13).

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9. The pictorial narrative concludes with a scene enframed by two pillars, suggesting a court setting where Vessantara’s father is holding his two grandchildren, whom he managed to buy back from the evil Brahmin. To sum up, trees as indexical symbols indicating the presence of Buddha are frequently seen in early Buddhist art, but trees as dividers separating neighboring scenes appear mostly in the mode of sequential narrative.31 Although sometimes the tree as a divider might serve as a reference to the wild world—a forest or mountainous setting where the story unfolds—no evidence shows that the tree as a divider is necessarily developed from the tree as an icon. In fact, the trees as dividers in most cases can be replaced with other types of separating devices, for example, pillars or architectural structures, as illustrated above. Moreover, such use of trees had not been ubiquitously applied in Indian Buddhist art, but rather was restricted in a very limited number of places; the surviving examples are few. As examined above, the most representative examples of trees used as dividers between scenes are from Gandhara, northwestern India, dated to third century CE. The Goli example is dated to the same era, but Goli is located in the south, far from the Gandhara region. It is unclear whether the similar use of trees as dividers resulted from diffusion or longdistance transmission. For the purpose of this paper, it is especially worth pointing out that contrary to what Mair claims, the dates of the early examples of trees used as separating devices in ancient Indian art are actually much later than that of similar early Chinese examples.

8.4 The Early Chinese Examples in Pictorial Narrative and a Continuous Tradition Mair is not the only one who believes pictorial narrative consisting of multiple scenes in China emerged later than the Indian examples. Wu Hung also mentions on several occasions that all Han and pre-Han narrative paintings are episodic, which, according to Wu Hung, means that “a story is always represented by a single scene,” and that the multiple-scene narrative scheme emerged only from the Wei and Jin periods (220–420 CE), represented by Gu Kaizhi’s 顾恺之 (a. 344–409 CE) “Luo shen fu tu” 洛神赋图 (Rhapsodic Images of the Nymphs of the Luo River).32 Recent archaeological discoveries in China, however, forcefully demonstrate that the use of multiple scenes to depict a story in Chinese art occurred much earlier than previously thought; moreover, in those newly discovered examples of the early Chinese art design, tree motifs are sometimes seen to separate those sequential scenes.

31 There

are, indeed, examples showing no necessary connections between neighboring scenes separated by dividers in early Indian Buddhist art tradition. For example, on the frieze of Stupa 3 at Nagarjunakonda, seven unrelated stories were incorporated together and separated by the motif of a couple flanked by two pillars; see Dehejia (1997, 180–181). 32 Wu (1992, 145–146; 1989, 133–134).

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Fig. 8.27 Design on the inner side of the cover of a cosmetic box found from Leigutai, Hubei province. Early Western Han (206 BCE–8 CE). After Zhang (2011, 75)

One of the most compelling examples of this sort is the pictorial design on the inside of both the lid and the bottom of a cosmetic box excavated from Tomb 1 at Leigutai, Xiangyang (Hubei) 湖北襄阳擂鼓台. Discovered in 1978, this tomb is located to the south of present-day Xiangyang, in Xiangfan 襄樊 municipality. It is comprised of an outer coffin and two nested inner coffins. According to the excavation report, the tomb is dated no later than the thirteenth year of Emperor Wen of the Han 汉文帝 (167 BCE), early Western Han period (206 BCE–8 CE).33 The cosmetic box under discussion is lacquered and cylindrical in shape. The diameter of the lid measures 23.8 cm, and the whole box is 9.7 cm high. The pictorial design on the lid (Fig. 8.27) consists of four scenes separated from one another by trees. Looked at in a counterclockwise sequence, Scene A includes 33 Xiangyang

Diqu Bowuguan (1982, 154).

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two male figures wearing hats with high-protruding mortarboards; one of them has a prominent horizontal hat-fastener near the collar and a long sword hanging from his belt. The next scene (B) contains a standing bird with outstretched wings and a running quadruped with a human face. In the third scene (C), two female figures are seen, with a flying bird in profile close to a tree on the right. In the last scene (D) two female figures, shown in profile, turn toward a male shown full-face and holding a sword in his arms. The design on the inside of the vessel bottom (Fig. 8.28) includes three scenes, arranged in clockwise order. In two of them, a three-figure group appears two walking female figures portrayed in profile with a male figure walking between them (E and

E

Fig. 8.28 Design on the inner side of the bottom of a cosmetic box found from Leigutai, Hubei province. Early Western Han (206 BCE-8 CE). After Zhang (2011, 76)

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G). In scene E, we see, in addition, a squatting figure with non-human facial features and upward-pointed ears protruding from its forehead. The animal’s left hand is holding its long tail. The same figure is also seen in scene G, again accompanied by the above-mentioned three-figure group; here it is shown in a different posture, dramatically dashing leftward. The scene in between (F) includes four human figures: three males and a female. The three males all seem to be staring at the female; the one close to her is grabbing or pointing at her with his right arm. The excavation report does not explain whether this design represents a narrative. In fact, this piece was largely ignored in the field of early Chinese art history for over three decades since its excavation. In a study of a Chinese bronze mirror with a designed silk backing (Fig. 8.29) in the Lloyd Cotsen collection published in 2011, the design on the Leigutai lacquered cosmetic box plays a key role in identifying the design on the silk backing. With the help of both transmitted and newly excavated materials, especially design and inscriptions on a few early Chinese bronze mirrors called the Wu Zixu 伍子胥 mirrors, the study finds that the seven scenes on the Leigutai lacquered box depict the Wu Zixu narrative.34 Like what we see in the representation of sequential narratives discussed above, the trees on the design of the Leigutai lacquered box also serve as separating devices dividing up the scenes on the ring-shaped bands. According to the study of the Cotsen bronze mirror, the two male figures in Scene A are the king of Yue and one of his two ministers, either Fan Li 范蠡 (in accordance with the Wu Zixu mirror) or Zhong 种 (following the literary accounts), presumably engaged in plotting the strategy of a “beauty trap.” The next two scenes, B and C, show the two beauties Xi Shi and Zheng Dan. The setting on B, with a running animal, birds, as well as the trees framing them, may evoke the two women’s home at Mount Zhuluo 苎萝山, referred to in the Wu Yue chunqiu 吴越春秋.35 As I mention in that article, such a setting would be compatible with the two girls’ original occupation of selling firewood. Nevertheless, the recurrence of a wild scene with a game—animals and/or birds—on similar designs prompts a second thought on such interpretation. This kind of design maybe a hint of the transmission of the hunting scene typical in ancient Assyrian and Iranian art and deserves further exploration. Scene D, showing two females following a male figure, probably depicts how the two beauties were found by an officially sent beauty scout, as described in the Wu Yue chunqiu. The narrative continues on the bottom of the vessel body with the depiction of two female figures and a squatting animal figure. The two female figures in Scene E are Xi Shi and Zheng Dan, here again, shown at the end of their three-year training program mentioned in a Wu Yue chunqiu passage.36 The male between the two females may be Fan Li, the Counselor-in-Chief of Yue, who, according to the Wu Yue chunqiu, was 34 Zhang

(2011). to the Kuaiji zhi 会稽志, Yudi zhi 舆地志, and Shidao zhi 十道志, Mount Zhuluo is located at Zhuji 诸暨 (Zhejiang) and has long been connected with the Xi Shi and Zheng Dan legend. For the details of this information, consult the Yuan dynasty commentator Xu Tianhu’s 徐 天祜 notes; see Zhao (1999, 143). 36 Zhao (1999, 143). 35 According

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Fig. 8.29 (1) Design on the backing of Chinese bronze mirror in the Lloyd Cotsen collection. After (2009, 141). (2) Line drawing of (1). After (2009, 140)

sent to Wu as the envoy to escort the two beauties. The squatting long-tailed figure in this scene may also help us identify the male figure as Fan Li. Another anecdote in the Wu Yue chunqiu tells how Fan Li recommends to the king of Yue a certain Yue maiden trained in martial arts as the right person to train the Yue army for its upcoming fight against Wu. On her way to the capital city, the Yue maiden meets an

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elder conjured from a monkey testing her fight skills. It mentions in the text that the elder turns himself into a white monkey flying to a tree.37 The next scene, F, shows the dramatic moment when Wu Zixu admonishes the king of Wu. Two of the three male figures should be the king of Wu and Wu Zixu; the third could either be Fan Li or Wu Zixu’s political enemy, Pi 嚭, the Great Steward of Wu.38 The female figure in this scene is either Xi Shi or Zheng Dan. Based on the plot of the story, we may identify the male figure standing next to and gesturing toward the female figure as Wu Zixu in the act of delivering his admonition. The final scene, G, which resembles scene E in its pictorial composition, possibly represents the king of Wu taking the two women from Yue in defiance of his minister’s advice. Once again, it is hard to fit the non-human figure in this interpretation, but the similarities in its facial features to that of its pendant in the adjacent scene E, from which it is separated merely by a tree, suggest that it is the same animal and should be interpreted in the same vein: as a visual reminder of Fan Li’s lingering presence at the Wu court now intruded upon by his Yue spies. The tree may function simultaneously as a dividing element and as a symbolic reminder of the Wu Yue chunqiu account that “Elder Yuan then flew into the tree and turned himself into a white monkey.”39 The successful identification of the Wu Zizu narrative on the Leigutai cosmetic box alone disproves the claim that multiple-scene narrative schemes did not appear in Han and pre-Han eras. The Leigutai cosmetic box is dated no later than early second century BCE, five centuries earlier than the earliest Indian example of the same sort, which also casts doubt upon Mair’s argument that the tree motif appearing in a pictorial narrative as the separating device in Chinese art resulted from the diffusion of similar usage of tree motifs from India. Yet the Leigutai example is neither the earliest nor the only example illustrating how trees are used to demarcate neighboring scenes, especially in the representation of sequential narratives. On this point, the designs on another lacquered box discovered from Tomb 2 at Baoshan at Jingmen, Hubei, 湖北省荆门包山 and on the back of another bronze mirror from the Lloyd Cotsen collection serve as good examples. Based on excavated writing materials from the same tomb, the tomb occupant of Baoshan Tomb 2 died and was interred at about 292 BCE.40 This prompts scholars to date the lacquered cosmetic box found in this tomb back to late fourth or early third 37 Zhao

(1999, 148). For a more detailed version of this passage, see Yiwen leiju (1965) 95: 1652. Weng (1991) compares different versions pertaining to this story in various texts. The pronunciation of Elder Yuan’s surname evidently speaks his true identity, a simian (猿) instead of a human being in this context. Meir (1992: 200–202) discusses “yuan 猿” in an article on the origin of the Sun Wukong 孙悟空 character. It is also worth noting that, according to datable literary resources, monkeys still lived in mountainous areas of present-day Zhejiang 浙江 province as late as the mid-eighteenth century, and they can be found in parts of southern China even today. On monkey depictions in the Han, and possible Indian influences on this iconography, see Wu (1987). 38 Zhao (1999, 144–147). 39 Zhao (1999, 148). The description of the scenes follows that of the 2011 paper with minor revisions. 40 Hubei sheng Jing Sha tielu kaogudui Baoshan mudi zhengli xiaozu (1988, 10–11).

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century BCE, over a hundred years earlier than the projected date of the Leigutai cosmetic box. On the outer wall of the cover of this cosmetic box is a ring 5.2 cm high and 87.4 cm long, on which five scenes of an uneven length separated by five tree motifs are depicted (Fig. 8.30). The ring-shaped form of this art design makes it an unbroken band. In Scene 1 (enframed by two trees) we see the illustration of five human figures and two flying birds above their heads. To the left of Scene 1, on Scene 2, also enframed by two trees, there are four human figures standing beside a carriage. The fifth human being in the scene is on the carriage, holding the reins of two horses. In this scene more (four) flying birds are added. Further left to Scene 2, Scene 3 is an animal scene, in which two animals (possibly a dog and a boar) are dashing from right to left. Next, in Scene 4, there is a carriage pulled by three horses, with three figures riding and one figure following the carriage. In Scene 5, the carriage in Scene 2 (pulled by two horses) and the carriage in Scene 4 (pulled by three) both appear. Carrying three passengers, the carriage pulled by two horses is preceded by three running human figures, who are behind the carriage pulled by three horses. To the left end of this scene, a kneeling figure bows before the three horses. 2

1

5

4

3

(1) 2

1

5

4

3

(2)

Fig. 8.30 (1) Stretch-out view of the design on a cosmetic box excavated from Baoshan, Hubei province. (2) Enlarged picture of (1)

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Although minor differences do exist, the readings of these scenes that now exist mostly rely on the ritual codes regarding diplomatic trips and reception, codes which we know about thanks to early ritual texts as well as relevant excerpts from other texts.41 These readings are plausible, yet, in applying undatable passages from later synthesized ritual texts to interpret this art design, they ignore the specifics and neglect the obvious continuity of a sequential narrative scheme with recurring motifs in the scenes separated by tree motifs. It is true that not all the scenes separated by such dividers as tree motifs are representations of sequential narratives, yet the continuously repeated elements—such as the same group of human figures and identical carriages—on the design of the Baoshan cosmetic box suggest that this design represents a story instead of generalized illustration of certain ritual codes. Nevertheless, the lack of generally accepted indexical icons or inscriptions in the scenes prevents this narrative from being identified easily. The recurring representation of a group of five figures in three different scenes (1, 2, 5) may serve as an important cue for the story of Chonger 重耳, later Lord Wen of Jin 晋文公 (r. 636–628 BCE), and his five determined followers. Chonger was fond of befriending shi 士 gentlemen when he was young. At the age of seventeen, he famously made friends with five worthy men (Zhao Cui 赵衰, Hu Yan 狐偃, Dian Xie 颠颉, Wei Wuzi 魏武子, and Sikong Jizi 司空季子) who, giving themselves up to Chonger’s cause, followed him during his nineteen-year-long exile and later helped not only enthrone him as the ruler of Jin, but also made Jin one of the few hegemonic states in the Spring and Autumn period (770–475 BCE).42 The pictorial design on the Baoshan cosmetic box may describe how the five gentlemen followed Chonger during his forced exile. Scene 1 shows the five gentlemen, while Scene 2 seems to describe the moment the five gentlemen hear about the unsuccessful assassination plot against Chonger attempted by the court, and prepare to leave the State of Jin with their master. Chonger’s carriage is seen in Scene 4, pulled by three horses in the front and followed by a figure holding a diplomatic tally behind. Scene 5 spreads more widely than all the other scenes so that both Chonger’s and his followers’ carriages are displayed in the same scene. Chonger’s carriage and diplomat are on the left, followed by three of the five worthy gentlemen running on foot and two on a carriage drawn by two horses. Scene 5 can also be viewed as a close-up image reflecting the experience of Chonger’s and his followers’ longtime exile. The kneeling figure at the left end of this scene seems to suggest that Chonger and his five advisors are greeted back to Jin, a symbol of the end of their exile and a beginning of a new era. Scene 3 does not seem to easily fit into the 41 For

example, see Hu (1988). “Jin shiji,” it clearly mentions that when Chonger went on exile, “Five gentlemen and other dozens of unnamed followers followed him on exile to Di” (从此五士,其余不名者数十人, 至狄). The names of the five gentlemen are Zhao Cui赵衰, Hu Yan狐偃, Jia Tuo 贾佗, Xian Zhen 先轸, and Wei Wuzi魏武子. The five gentlemen became Zhao Cui, Hu Yan, Dian Xie 颠颉, Wei Wuzi, and Sikong Jizi 司空季子 in the Zuo Commentary. The difference among these and other name lists of the “five gentlemen” to some extent reflects the formation and transmission of the lore on Chonger and his followers. See Shiji “Jin shijia”: 39:1656; Chunqiu zuozhuan zhu, Xigong 23: 404–405. 42 In the Shiji

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narrative. The animal scene on the Baoshan cosmetic box, similar to the previously discussed wild scene on the Leigutai cosmetic box, may have some connection with the theme of hunting in early pictorial art. To be sure, the above reading of the art design on the Baoshan lacquered cosmetic case is less definite than the reading of the Leigutai design for the lack of clear information directly linking the design on the Baoshan cosmetic box with the story of Chonger’s exile. Nevertheless, the recurring motifs on consecutive scenes at least ensure a reading of the design as a sequential narrative even if it represents different moments related to Chonger’s exile or even depicts a narrative other than the Chonger story. In any case, this design becomes the earliest example of a multi-scene pictorial narrative with trees as between-scene dividers: it is dated to as early as the fourth century BCE, over a century earlier than the Leigutai design. It is worth mentioning here that these early representations of sequential narratives are mostly discovered either on concentric bands (the Leigutai design) or cylindrical surfaces (the Baoshan design), since the length of these bands enables the display of a narrative represented in multiple scenes. Besides the cover, bottom, or surface of cosmetic boxes, as shown in the two cases examined above, the back of bronze mirrors is another medium on which continuous narratives are depicted. When it is necessary to separate the scenes, round bosses are often used as the dividers to make four equal quadrics of the band (Fig. 8.31). On a rare bronze mirror dated to 450 BCE–8 CE (the Warring States to Western Han) in the Lloyd Cotsen collection, both round bosses and tree motifs are used to divide the scenes on a ring-shaped band on the back of the mirror43 (Figs. 8.32 and 8.33). This design includes painted decoration in concentric bands surrounding the central boss, the inner band consisting of symmetrically spaced qi 气 motifs, and the outermost one, two sets of narrative scenes (B and B ) punctuated by two hunting scenes (A and A ). On the basis of the direction in which the horses on A and A gallop, the reading of the design follows a clockwise order. In Quadrant B, there are three scenes, each including a pair of human figures flanked by two trees. Although partly damaged, all three scenes are more or less identifiable. The picture of B1 is severely damaged; its remaining depiction of a standing figure on the left end faces toward the next scene, B2, where two kneeling figures, dressed in white and blue, respectively, face each other, while the two figures in B3 both kneel and face B2, the middle scene of Quadrant B. Quadrant B’ also includes three scenes separated by trees. There are two figures in B 1, a scene flanked by a tree to the left and a boss to the right. Similar to what appears in B1 in the B quadrant, both figures in B 1 face the next scene, B 2, while the figure on the right holds a diplomatic tally. There are likewise two figures in B 3, which is also flanked by a tree and a boss. Like those in B3, both figures in B 3 also face B 2, the scene in the middle, where four figures are depicted. It is worth noting that the figure who holds a diplomatic tally on the left of B 3 seems to reappear on the left of B 2, indicating that this design represents a sequential narrative. It is interesting that in each series of scenes, the narration moves 43 Similar designs on an unprovenanced bronze mirror is discussed in The Birth of Landscape Painting in China. See Sullivan (1962, 18 and Pl. 6).

8 Searching for the Origin of an Art Motif: The Tree … Fig. 8.31 (1) Design of a Wu Zixu-motif bronze mirror in the Shanghai Museum collection. Eastern Han period (25–220 CE). (2) Ink rubbing of (1)

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Fig. 8.32 Pictorial design on a Chinese bronze mirror in the Lloyd Cotsen collection. After Cahill (2009, 134)

from both directions (clockwise and counterclockwise) to the middle. Nevertheless, what these two series of narratives represent and whether or not they are related remain unknown. The similar hunting scenes depicted in Quadrants A and A each include two horses galloping from right to left. The riders in both scenes seem to be shooting an animal—possibly a boar in A—running between them with bows and arrows. The animal motif is less clear in A’ because of the damage. The two riders of each of the two pairs in A and A are dressed in red and blue, respectively, while the horses are white. It is unclear, however, whether or not the riders are associated with those appearing in the narrative scenes; it is also unclear whether the hunting scenes are parts of a large narrative involving the designs on all the four quadrants. Nevertheless, like the animal scenes on the Baoshan and Leigutai designs, the hunting scenes on

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A’

B1

B B2

B3

B’1

B’2

B’

B’3 A

Fig. 8.33 Line drawing of Fig. 8.32. After Cahill 2009, 134

this Cotsen mirror may once again reflect a practice in early art that includes hunting or animal scenes in the design of pictorial narratives (Fig. 8.34). Although the reading of some of the details may need further confirmation, the above three representations of multiple-scene pictorial narrative convince us of the early existence of not only sequential narrative but also tree motifs as dividers separating neighboring scenes in early Chinese art. It is interesting that in early and medieval China, tree motifs as between-scene dividers were not merely applied to sequential narratives, they were used to separate unconnected scenes (Fig. 8.35) or multiple images as well (Figs. 8.36 and 8.37). Mair comments on the wide use of trees as separating devices in Indian art; in early China, too, this device was utilized even when only a single scene was designed as well (Fig. 8.38). It turns out that the different usages of tree motifs as separating devices in Indian art, as discussed by Mair, all also appeared much earlier in Chinese art. If put in a framework of diffusion as Mair suggests, does this entail a reverse trajectory of transmission—instead of from India to China, from China to India? The use of tree motifs as separating devices for multiple-scene narratives continued in later periods, as seen in Gu Kaizhi’s famous painting “Luo shen fu tu,” all the way to the projected era in which S 4524 was painted. Shall we argue, then, based on the theory of diffusion, that the use of tree motifs as separating devices is the continuation of an earlier Chinese art tradition?

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Fig. 8.34 (1) Hunting scene on the design of Cotsen bronze mirror. (2) Animal and bird scene on the design of the Leigutai cosmetic box. (3) Animal scene on the design of the Baoshan cosmetic box

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Fig. 8.35 Ink rubbing of carved images on a wall of a tomb at Maocun. Han dynasty. After http:// bbs.sssc.cn/thread-518535-1-1.html (identified as the depiction of remonstration 進諫)

To better answer these questions, it is necessary to examine some of the examples in Achaemenid and Etruscan art traditions.

8.5 The Achaemenid and the Etruscan Examples Compared to the early Indian and Chinese examples examined above, tree motifs as artistic devices to separate neighboring scenes appeared even earlier in ancient Iranian art. One famous example of this kind is seen on the walls of the remaining Audience Hall, also called the Hall of Xerxes or the Apadana, of the Persepolis palatial compound. Located on the western side of Persepolis, the Apadana was built under the watch of two consecutive kings, Darius the Great (r. 522–486 BCE) and his son Xerxes I (r. 486–465 BCE). The construction work began in 515 BCE and, after Darius passed away thirty years later, Xerxes I continued his father’s project until the whole project was completed. The layout of the palace is rectangular in shape, as its plan shows (Illustration 8.1). Decorative schemes that almost mirror each other—although differences in minor details do exist—were carved on the friezes of the passages leading to the stairways on its north and east sides. In a highly formulaic style of presentation, twenty-three

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Fig. 8.36 Images of the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove and Rong Qiqi carved on a brick wall of Tomb found in Nanjing. Fifth century. The Nanjing Museum collection

Fig. 8.37 Line drawing of Fig. 8.36

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Fig. 8.38 Ink rubbing of a design carved stone. Han dynasty. After Xin (2009, 367)

delegations are depicted lining up on multiple registrars, all walking toward the central stairway with tributary gifts to be presented to the king.44 Figure 8.39 shows part of the northern face, the upmost register of which was almost completely removed by early travelers or expeditioners; now fragments can be seen in museums around the world. The lower two registers are mostly identifiable. As Fig. 8.39 shows, separated from its neighboring scenes by motifs of cypress tree, each individual delegation is led by an usher ahead in either Median or Persian dress. The following is a reading of the designs on the lowest registrar, which is better preserved (Fig. 8.40). The members of Delegation VI are identified as Lydians ushered in by a receptionist dressed in Persian clothes. There are altogether six Lydians depicted, all wearing cloaks, but the three members walking in the front wear beehive-shaped hats, while the three in the rear are bare-headed. This delegation brings bowls, bracelets, and a chariot pulled by two horses to the king. Separated from Delegation VI in the front and from Delegation XII behind by the motifs of cypress tree, Delegation IX, identified as the Cappadocians, is ushered in 44 Some of the reliefs on the northern side of the Apadana have been exposed to the air for many centuries and been partially damaged. The casts made by the Weld-Blundell expedition team during 1892–1893 are based on the reliefs from this side discovered by M. Dieulafoy in 1884. The eastern side was later uncovered by the Chicago expedition in the 1930s and was better preserved. See Curtis and Tallis (2005, 65); The Trustees of the British Museum (1932).

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Illustration 8.1 Position of the Hall of Xerxes on the Plan of Persepolis. After The Trustees of the British Museum (1932)

by a receptionist in Median dress. Dressed almost identically, the five Cappadocians all wear trousers, cloaks fastened at the right shoulders, and ridged hats with tied earpieces. They are presenting a horse and folded costumes to the king. Enframed by two cypress trees, Delegation XII consists of eight Ionians led by an usher in Persian dress. All bareheaded and wearing cloaks with a fringe at the bottom, they bring bowls, cloth, and balls of wool to the king. Ushered in by a man dressed in Median clothes, Delegation XV comprises of a group of Parthians or Bactrians. All five members have their hair banded, their cloaks belted, and their trousers tucked into their boots. They bring with them bowls and a two-humped Bactrian camel to the king. The last delegation shown in Fig. 8.40, ushered in by a receptionist dressed in Persian clothes, is considered from India. Among its six members, only the leader of this delegation wears shoes, while the rest are barefooted and hair-banded. They bring to the king axes, a donkey, and jars. As the above descriptions demonstrate, the delegations portrayed on the northern and eastern sides of the Apadana are similar to one another: Each comprised of five to eight members, they come from local centers of the powerful Achaemenid Empire, bringing special local products to the king as tributes, ushered in by receptionists wearing either Persian or Median clothes, and separated from their neighboring delegation(s) by the motifs of cypress tree. To be sure, the scenes divided up by trees here do not represent a narrative with consecutive plots, but it is very clear that the

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Fig. 8.39 Part of the tributary procession carved on the northern frieze to the stairway of the Persepolis Apadana. sixth to fifth century BCE. After Curtis and Tallis (2005, 66–67)

tree motifs are intentionally applied to divide those “scenes.” In other words, the trees depicted here are not generic trees designed to represent a natural setting, but serve merely as separating devices or symbols to enframe many individual units of art. Viewed from this perspective, the tree motifs separating one delegation from another function similar to those dividing up multiple narrative scenes, which suggests that both the designers and the viewers of the Apadana tributary procession were well aware of the use of tree motifs as separating devices in the sixth to the fifth century BCE. The use of tree motifs as separating devices in art designs is also seen in the Etruscan art tradition. Based in the northwestern Apennines Peninsula, the Etruscan civilization gradually reached the summit of its power between the eighth and sixth centuries BCE. Toward the end of the sixth century BCE, the Etruscans dominated almost the whole of Italy, although the Campania coastal areas were partly controlled by Greek Map 8.1). The extant Etruscan wall paintings from tombs dated from the seventh to the fifth century BCE show both oriental and Greek artistic influences as well as the Etruscan artists’ own contribution.45 More closely related to the current discussion is the wide application of tree motifs as separating devices in the Etruscan 45 Groenewegen-Frankfort

and Ashmole (1972, 404–411).

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Fig. 8.40 (1) Bottom register of the tributary procession carved on the northern frieze to the stairway of the Persepolis Apadana. sixth to fifth century BCE. After Curtis and Tallis (2005, 66–67). (2) Line drawing of (1)

wall paintings.46 In a newly excavated single tomb chamber numbered 2437, or Tomba dei Giocolieri, the fully decorated rare wall is divided into four sections by four trees (Fig. 8.41). The bearded man enframed by two trees on the right is identified as the tomb occupant. Seated on the stool and holding a staff with his right hand, he seems to be watching the performance carried out by three performers in the next scene. Among the three young performers, the one on the far left is playing double pipes and looks to be accompanying the girl balancing a candelabrum on her head next to him, while the young man on the right seems about to throw the rings in his hands to the top of the candelabrum. Further to the left, there is a naked male figure in a dancing pose, also enframed by two trees. In the leftmost scene are two other male figures, one seated on the ground, while the other stands on a platform and holds a wreath in his right hand. The right wall of this chamber is also fully decorated. Separated by four trees, five dancers of various poses line up on the right wall (Fig. 8.42). This tomb is dated to the middle of the sixth century BCE, slightly earlier than the design of procession on the Persepolis Apadana walls. The decoration of this type of single-chambered Etruscan tombs became standardized during the middle of the first half of the fifth century BCE. Usually, with 46 For

a general introduction of Etruscan art, including its painting, see Briguet (1986).

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Map 8.1 Map of the Etruscan civilization. Based on a map from The National Geographic Magazine Vol. 173 No. 6 June 1988

a banqueting scene on the back wall and scenes of dancing and music-playing on the sidewalls, this standardization in the layout of decorative themes remains consistent with the design appearing in that region toward the end of the Ionico-Etruscan period (650–500 BCE).47 Two tombs referred to as Tomb of Leopards and Tomb of Triclinium at Tarquinii serve as good representatives in this regard. Both dated to around 470 BCE, these two tombs are famous for their vivid artistic expression of 47 Pallottino

(1952, 67).

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Fig. 8.41 Painting on the back wall of Tomba dei Giocolieri, No. 2437, Etruscan. Mid-sixth century BCE. After Moretti (1970, 22–23)

Fig. 8.42 Painting on the west wall of Tomba dei Giocolieri, No. 2437. Mid-sixth century BCE. After Moretti (1970, 26–28)

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Fig. 8.43 Back wall of Tomb of Leopard, Tarquinii. 480–470 BCE. After http://www.agefotost ock.com/en/Stock-Images/Rights-Managed/IBR-2339728

characters and movement as well as their effective use of bright color. What is less explored is their ostentatious use of plant motifs to space out the depicted figures. The back wall of Tomb of Leopard includes three registers (Fig. 8.43). Two leopards (after which this tomb is named), facing but separated from each other by a plant motif, occupy the trapezoid-shaped upper register, while plant motifs line up in the bottom register of the wall. The central, middle register shows three couples reclining on three couches separated by plants and two naked male servants serving the banquet in the front.48 Along the side walls are dancers and musicians performing before the couples on the back wall, each enframed by plant motifs. Unlike in this tomb design, the three couples on the back wall of Tomb of Triclinium are not spaced out by tree or other plant motifs, but by chaplets, (Fig. 8.44) yet the dancers and music-players drawn on the side walls are all divided up by tree and bird motifs. We see three female dancers with lighter skin and two male figures (a barbiton player and a dancer) tinted a darker tone of orange-brown on the left wall (Fig. 8.45); a similar artistic arrangement appears on the right wall, but the male musician on the right wall plays double pipes instead of the stringed instrument barbiton (Fig. 8.46). The highly formulaic arrangement of space and decorative themes exemplified by these two tombs reflects Etruscans’ belief in the afterlife. The portrayal of various figures in a festive banqueting and entertaining setting as well as the depiction of poultry and stock suggests that Etruscans considered death a continuation of this worldly life and sensual pleasure transferrable from this world to the other. The scenes of festivity and the buried banqueting utensils in the tombs may also express the bond between the deceased and the living in ritual, a symbolical reinforcement of the socio-economic position of both the deceased and his/her family. As shown 48 Similar design on the back wall also appears in Tomba della Nave—No. 238, also dated to mid-fifth

century BCE. See Moretti (1970, 202–203).

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Fig. 8.44 Painting on the back wall of Tomb of Triclinium, Tarquinii. Ca. 470 BCE. After http:// www.arretetonchar.fr/n%C3%A9cropole-de-monterozzi-tarquinia-tombe-du-triclinium/

Fig. 8.45 Facsimile of the wall painting on the western wall of Tomba del Triclinio, Tarquinii. Ca. 470 BCE. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

by the frescoes of Tomb 2437 at Giocolieri, the layout of the decorative themes clearly emphasizes the central position of the back wall design, in which the deceased is probably portrayed enjoying food, drink, and entertaining performances.49 The 49 While the couples reclining on their couches on the back wall design, as seen on Tomb of Leopard

and Tomb of Triclinium, are usually interpreted as different couples together enjoying the banquet and entertaining performance at the same moment, I would bring out the possibility that this is a depiction of one couple at different moments, separated by either plant or chaplet motifs. This

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Fig. 8.46 Facsimile of the wall painting on the eastern wall of Tomba dei Triclinio, Tarquinii. Ca. 470 BCE. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

dancers and musicians on the side walls, therefore, are entertaining the deceased and are subordinated to the back wall both visually and spatially. The designs on both the back and the side walls together depict an event celebrating the transition from this world to the other and, since this type of design was sealed in the tomb permanently after the funerary ritual, the design also wishfully and symbolically perpetuates the festive nature of the afterlife.

8.6 Conclusion: The Burden of Proof Now, if we place together all the pieces of evidence presented above and analyze them in light of the assumption of diffusion—that is, in light of the belief that most inventions happen just once in history and are later diffused to other places through human imitation—it seems natural that (a) the artistic application of tree (with or without mountain or birds) motifs as separating devices to space out different scenes emerged in the Etruscan art tradition in as early as mid-sixth century BCE; (b) following the expansion of both the Etruscan influence and the Achaemenid Empire, this artistic means became known by ancient Iranians through cultural contact and was soon adopted by the Achaemenid artisans, as demonstrated by the tributary procession carved on the walls of the Apadana at Persepolis slightly later than the early Etruscan cases; (c) the influence of this Ancient Iranian empire extended far to the east and, possibly through long-distance transmission, this artistic method was brought to early China and became available to southern Chinese artisans in the late assumption is supported by the inference that the back wall is preserved to depict the deceased person, not a deceased group, and the similarities in clothing and appearance of the couples. This is not unusual in early European artistic expression; see Schlingloff (1988).

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fourth or early third century BCE, as the design on the Baoshan cosmetic box shows; (d) this method gradually assimilated into the Chinese art tradition and was passed on to later generations of artisans, as is clearly seen in the designs on the Leigutai cosmetic box and the Cotsen bronze mirror, both dated to the Western Han dynasty, as well as in the portrayal of the Luo River nymphs by Gu Kaizhi in the Eastern Jin period (317–420 CE) and that of the eight worthies on the wall of a Nanjing tomb dated to the latter half of the fifth century CE; and (e) the transmission of this artistic expression surprisingly bypassed ancient India when being transmitted to the east, but after it reached China and was integrated into Chinese art tradition for centuries, it was brought to Gandhara and Goli—located in northwestern and southern India, respectively—in third century CE either from China or from the west. The above description of the transmission of the tree motif as a separating device in multiple-scene artistic expression obviously contradicts Mair’s claim that the tree motif as a separating device was imported from India through cultural contact. Instead, this description suggests that this method seems to have gone through some circuitous routes: after being transmitted to the ancient Iranian empire from the Etruscan civilization, it crossed northern India without leaving any trace, was exported to early China first and, then, several hundred years later, diffused to India either from the west or from the east (China). This route means that not only was this technique not diffused from India to China but that the opposite might have happened: The technique could have experienced a reverse path by being transmitted from China to India around the third century CE, five to six hundred years after the first Chinese example of this sort. The problem with this description is the insufficiency of supportive evidence. It is true that the influence of the Achaemenid Empire expanded to eastern Mediterranean regions, including a big part of the Aegean Sea area, (Map 8.2) yet that occurred

Map 8.2 Map of the Persian Empire at the peak of its influence. After Curtis and Tallis (2005, 11)

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Fig. 8.47 Detail of incised decoration on a pan vessel found in Tomb 2040 at Shanxian, Henan province. Mid-fifth century. After Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo (1994, 62)

during the peak of the Achaemenid power, in the early part of the fifth century BCE to the best of our knowledge; we do not know much about this ancient Iranian polity before the second half of the sixth century, and we certainly do not possess information of any sort of certainty about the actual contact between pre-Achaemenid Iranian people and the Etruscans. The transmission of this artistic means directly from the traditional Achaemenid region to China has not been verified, either. To be sure, the influence of the Achmenid power reached eastward as far as Gandhara, which was a satrapy of this Persian Empire during the reign of Darius I (r. 522–486 BCE) and remained one of the key geopolitical spots of the Persian Empire during the reign of other Persian rulers. If there indeed was a place in the Persian Empire responsible for the transmission of this technique to China, few would have been more suitable than Gandhara to serve as the springboard to make such a transmission happen. The earliest evidence for the appearance of this technique, however, is five hundred years later than the earliest Chinese case, which, according to the theory of cultural diffusion, might have been ancestral to the technique later used in the Gandhara region. Moreover, tree motifs are often seen on Eastern Zhou bronze vessels (mostly dated to the early to late fifth century BCE), which are found both in the lower Yangzi valley and the more central regions in the north.50 As the remaining pictorial context shows, some of the tree motifs suggest a wild setting where hunting activities coexist (Fig. 8.47), while others are clearly decorative (Fig. 8.48). On the lower register of the design on a bronze lian basin dated to pre-Han period, the trees mostly function as separating devices (Fig. 8.49). Compared with the assumption that the technique of using trees as separating devices resulted from cultural diffusion from ancient 50 For discussion of the decoration on these bronze vessels from the perspective of cultural exchange, see Thote (1999); for discussion of some of the same materials from the perspective of landscape painting, see Bulliing (1962) and Sullivan (1962).

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Fig. 8.48 Detail of incised decoration on a gilded jian basin found at Huixian, Henan province. Fifth century BCE

Fig. 8.49 Inlaid decoration on a lian vessel in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts collection. Warring States period. After Sullivan (1962, pl. 12)

India or Iran, the application of this technique on the Baoshan cosmetic box is more likely associated with the practice in decorative art as seen on the bronze motifs. Nevertheless, this does not necessarily exclude the possibility that the design on the P 4524 scroll was influenced by Indian pictorial narrative art. Since bianwen was an art form intertwined with the popularization of Buddhist doctrines, the pictorial narrative seen on Scroll P 4524 might have been closely associated with Indian Buddhist art of the time and, as a result, might have adopted the means of using trees to space out the scenes. This interpretation, however, remains indeterminable since, by the time this scroll was made, the technique of using tree motifs to divide up

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multiple scenes had been available to Chinese artisans and consumers for centuries. It is equally possible that the performers of bianwen tales chose this then already Sinicized technique to illustrate a foreign story. Although the designs on the Baoshan and Leigutai cosmetic boxes were not accessible in the eighth century CE when the P 4524 scroll was made, Gu Kaizhi’s paintings, the “Luo shen fu tu” certainly included, had remained popular among Chinese artists and collectors; its way of using tree motifs would not be anything new to many at the time. Moreover, a further examination of P 4524 shows us that not only the appearance of the trees but also the humane figures, who are identified as foreign monks and kings according to the narrative, all look like Tang Chinese. If we also take into consideration the facial differences between Chinese and Indians, this seems to suggest that, rather than directly copying an art form of Indian origin, the painter of P 4524 followed a Chinese art tradition at his disposal. Here, it is also necessary to make another point clear. Even if it is true that the painter of Scroll P 4524 followed a Chinese art tradition in making the illustration, it does not necessarily mean that the use of tree motifs as separating devices seen on P 4524 is an inheritance of the art form reflected by the Baoshan pictorial design, which can be further traced to an Achaemenid or Etruscan art tradition from the perspective of a diffusionist. First of all, the currently available evidence is far from sufficient to picture a path in which this technique is transmitted from Western Asia or the Mediterranean Etruscan civilization, although some sort of cultural exchanges between ancient Iran and the Etruscans and between ancient Iran and early China is believed to have happened. Similarly, the existence of cultural contact between early China and India does not entail the transmission of this technique from China to India, either. In fact, even a continuous transmission of this technique within China proper from the fourth century BCE to later eras is unguaranteed. How could an art motif become popular in a different culture? Why would a culture adopt a foreign art motif and integrate it into its own? Who brought their art to a new culture and who in this new culture adopted or adapted this new art form? Who were the patrons consuming this art form and how did they learn to appreciate this art form? Were they immigrants now living in a foreign culture or were they natives curious about exotic products? These—among other—questions must be addressed with the support of relevant evidence in order for an effective picture of the transmission of an art motif to be presented in connection with specific social, historical, or religious backdrops, backdrops where a footing of cultural exchange or diffusion can be set up. Time serves as a necessary dimension in assessing the transmission of certain art motifs, but it is not the only measure, and the assumption of cultural diffusion cannot be oversimplified. In other words, so far as the use of tree motifs as separating devices in different cultures is concerned, an earlier form of a certain art motif is not necessarily ancestral to its later form; it is possible that this artistic technique had been developed in different regions or cultures in a different time. For this reason, before locating the evidence to support the assumption of diffusion, it sounds more reasonable to adopt an alternative stance, that is, to consider the tree as a universal separating device possibly developed in various regions independently as an early pictorial art technique.

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Acknowledgements This project is supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities and the Research Funds of Renmin University of China.

References Arami H 荒见泰史 (2010) Dunhuang bianwen xieben de yanjiu [敦煌变文写本的研究]. Zhonghua shuju, Beijing Briquet M-F (1986) Art. In: Bonfante L (ed) Etruscan life and afterlife: a handbook of Etruscan Studies. Wayne State University Press, Detroit Bulling A (1962) A landscape representation of the Western Han Period. Artibus Asiae 25(4):293– 317 CBETA 汉文大藏经: http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/. 7 April 2015 Cahill SE (2009) The Lloyd Cotsen Study collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors Volume I: catalogue. UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, Los Angeles Ch’en KKS (1964) Buddhism in China: a historical survey. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1964 Chungqiu Zuozhuan zhu 春秋左传注 (1990) By Yang Bojun 杨伯峻. Zhonghuan shuju, Beijing Curtis JE, Tallis N (eds) (2005) Forgotten empire: the world of ancient Persia. University of California Press, Berkeley Dehejia V (1997) Discourse in Early Buddhist Art: visual narratives of India. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishes Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi Gajjar IN (1971) Ancient Indian Art and the west: a study of parallels, continuity and symbolism from Proto-historic to Early Buddhist Times. D. B. Taraporevala Sons & Co., Private Ltd., Bombay Groenewegen-Frankfort HA, Ashmole B (1972) Art of the ancient world: painting, pottery, sculpture, architecture from Egypt, Mesopotamia, Crete, Greece, and Rome. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Hubei sheng Jing Sha tielu kaogudui Baoshan mudi zhengli xiaozu 湖北省荆傻铁路考古队包山 墓地整理小组 (1988) Jingmen shi Baoshan Chu mu fajue jianbao 荆门市包山楚墓发掘简报. Wenwu 5:1–14 Hu Y 胡雅丽 (1988) Baoshan 2 hao mu qihua kao 包山2号墓漆画考. Wenwu 5:30–31 + 29 Ling Y李永宁, CaiW蔡伟堂(1985) Xiangmobianwenyu Dunhuang bihuazhong de ‘Laoduchadou sheng bian 《 降魔变文》 与敦煌壁画中的“劳度叉斗圣变. In:Dunhuangwenwuyanjiusuo (ed) 1983 nianquanguo Dunhuang xueshutaolunhuiwenji (shikuyishubian) 一九八三年全国敦煌学 术讨论会文集(石窟艺术编), 2 vols. Gansu renminchubanshe, pp 65–233 Luo Z 罗振玉 (1927) Dunhuang ling shi 敦煌零拾. Liujing kan series 六经堪丛书 Mair VH (1988) Painting and performance: Chinese picture recitation and its Indian Genesis. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu Mair VH (1989) T’ang transformation texts: a study of the Buddhist contribution to the rise of vernacular fiction and drama in China. Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge Mair VH (1983) Tun-huang popular narratives. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Moretti M (1970) New monuments of Etruscan Painting. The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park (Trans. Kiang D) Pallottino M (1952) The great centuries of painting: Etruscan Painting. Editions Albert Skira, Geneva (Trans. Stanley ME) Schlingloff D (1988) Studies in the Ajanta Paintings: identifications and interpretations. Ajanta Publications, Delhi Seng Y 僧佑 (2008) Chu Sanzang ji ji 出三藏记集. Zhonghua shuju, Beijing (3rd printing of 1995 edition)

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Sharhar M (1992) The Lingyin Si Monkey disciples and the origins of Sun Wukong. Harvard J Asiatic Stud 52(1):193–224 Shiji 史记 (1982) By Sima Qian 司马迁. Zhonghuashuju, Beijing Sullivan M (1962) The birth of Landscape Painting in China. University of California Press, Berkeley The Trustees of the British Museum (1932) Photographs of Casts of Persian Sculptures of the Achaemenid Period mostly from Persepolis (Twelve Plates). The University Press, Oxford Thote A (1999) Intercultural relations as seen from Chinese Pictorial Bronzes of the Fifth Century B.C.E. Res 35:10–41 Wang Z 王重民 et al (1957) Dunhuang bianwen ji 敦煌变文集. Renmin wenxue chubanshe, Beijing Weng S 翁士勋 (1991) ‘Wu Yue chunqiu Yuenü’ jiaoshi《吴越春秋·越女》 校释 (Collation and explanation on the Yuenü chapter in the Springs and Autumns of Wu and Yue). Tiyu wenhua daokan 2:66-69 Wu H (1992) What is Bianxiang 变相—on the relationship between dunhuang art and dunhuang literature. Harvard J Asiatic Stud 52(1):111–192 Wu H (1987) The earliest pictorial representations of Ape Tales: an interdisciplinary study of Early Chinese Narrative Art and Literature. T’oung Pao 73:86–112 Wu H (1989) The Wu Liang Shrine: the ideology of Early Chinese Pictorial Art. Stanford University Press, Stanford Xiangyang Diqu Bowuguan 襄阳地区博物馆 (1982) Hubei Xiangyang Leigutai yihao mu fajue jianbao 湖北襄阳擂鼓台一号墓发掘简报 (Preliminary report on the excavation of Tomb 1 at Leigutai, Xiangyang, Hubei), Wenwu 2:147–154 Xin L 信立祥 (2009) Zhongguomeishuquanji: huaxiangshihuaxiangzhuan Huangshan shushe, Anhui Zhang H (2011) A performance design on a Chinese Bronze Mirror in the Cotsen Collection. In: von Falkenhausen L (ed) The Lloyd Cotsen Study collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors, vol II. Cotsen Occasional Press and UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, Los Angeles (Monumenta Archaeologica 25), pp 74—87 Zhao Y 赵晔 (1999) Wu Yue chunqiu 吴越春秋 (Springs and Autumns of Wu and Yue). In Xu T 徐天祜 (ed). Jiangsu Guji Chubanshe, Nanjing Zhongguo kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo 中国科学院考古研究所 (1956) Huixian fajue baogao 辉 县发掘报告. Kexue chubanshe, Beijing Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo 中国社会科学院考古研究所 (1994) Shaanxian Dong Zhou Qin Han mu 陕县东周秦汉墓. Kexue chubanshe, Beijing

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Chapter 9

Verification on the Name and Reconstruction on the Theme of the Wall Paintings and Statue in Kumtura Kuqun Qu Cave 12 Tao Liu Abstract This paper first judges Cave 12 in Kumtura Grottoes (hereinafter referred to as Kumtura Cave 12) as HÖhle 33, Nirvana-Höhle named and numbered by Albert Grünwedel instead of Kumtura Cave 38 which has been acknowledged by academia. Second, it restores the position of the wall paintings based on the information and historical photos from Germany and French expeditions in the early twentieth century which are currently collected by Museum für Asiatische Kunst Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Third, it identifies and reconstructs the wall paintings and statues in Cave 12, along with discussions about its pictorial composition and related Buddhist beliefs. Keywords Cave 12 in kumtura grottoes · Wall paintings · Reconstruction · ´ akyamuni conquering the demons to attain Buddhahood · Bhais.ajyaguru S¯

9.1 Introduction Kumtura Cave 12 is a central-pillar cave with a barrel-vaulted ceiling in the middle of a row of caves in the south near the ground at Kucha county in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.1 According to the author’s field investigations in 2014 and 2015, Kumtura Cave 12 is composed of a hall and a rear chamber. The hall is decorated with a shallow niche taking the shape of lotus flower pedals in the front wall with a low stand in the lower part, a corbel arch in the sidewalls, and a corbel vault. The chiseling traces of a niche can be captured on the east side of the right sidewall near the corridor, between which and the floor erects a low statue stand. One can hardly catch sight of wall paintings in the cave, except for a broken piece of mud cake on the ceiling of the right corridor left with a lateritious line. This paper is the translation version and the original version in Chinese see Liu (2017, pp. 96–103). T. Liu (B) Associate Professor, College of Arts, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China e-mail: [email protected] 1 Kumtura

Grottoes are divided into Gukou Qu and Kuqun Qu, each numbered, respectively. This paper discusses Kumtura Cave 12 in the Kuqun Qu throughout the whole dissertation. Kumtura Cave 12 in this paper all refers to the one in Kuqun Qu rather than the one in Gukou Qu. © SDX Joint Publishing Co., Ltd. 2020 X. Li (ed.), Studies on the History and Culture Along the Continental Silk Road, Silk Road Research Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7602-7_9

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Based on the field investigations mentioned above and the verification of materials collected by Germany and French expeditions in the early twentieth century,2 the author judges Kumtura Cave 12 as HÖhle 33, Nirvana-Höhle named and numbered by Germany scholar Albert Grünwedel instead of Kumtura Cave 38 which has been acknowledged by academia. Since there are relatively abundant textual and pictorial materials of Kumtura Cave 12 from these expeditions, the author restores the position and identify the content of wall paintings in the cave. On this basis, the author further identifies and reconstructs the main statue and the pictorial composition in the cave, followed by discussions about related Buddhist beliefs.

9.2 Comparative Verification Between HÖhle 33 Nirvana-Höhle and Kumtura Cave 12 Albert Grünwedel kept a detailed log of a cave in No. 2 valley in Kumtura. He numbered and named it HÖhle 33, Nirvana-Höhle (Grünwedel 1912, pp. 28–31). In 1992, Chao HuaShan(晁华山) made a comparative analysis of the Chinese numbers in his article “Preliminary Investigation of the Caves of Kumtura” and Teruo Nakano’s(中野照男) article “The Investigation and Subsequent Research of the German Expeditions’ Investigation in the Early twentieth Century” and concluded that HÖhle 33 was Kumtura Cave 38 numbered in Chinese (Chao 1992, p. 175; Nakano 1992, p. 233). Since then, the comparison result has been used as an important reference in academia. After field investigations in Kumtura Cave 38 and comparison with HÖhle 33, the author finds that there is no corresponding relationship between the two caves in terms of both architectural structure and the content of the wall paintings. Therefore, the author, based on the records of his predecessors and his own field investigations, draws the plan of Kumtura Cave 38 (see Fig. 9.1) and makes a detailed comparison with that of HÖhle 33, Nirvana-Höhle (see Fig. 9.2) and relevant written records below. First, Kumtura Cave 38 is a central-pillared cave with two niches on each sidewall of the hall, which looks similar to the plan of HÖhle 33 drawn by Albert Grünwedel. If examined carefully, however, we can find that there is a niche carved in the central part of the front wall of the back corridor in Kumtura Cave 38, but there is no sign of such a niche in the same position on the plan of HÖhle 33. Secondly, as recorded by Albert Grünwedel, the wall paintings on the front wall of the hall in HÖhle 33 were themed with the armies of Mara attacking the Buddha. 2 The Royal Prussian Turfan-Expeditions investigated in XinJiang for four times during 1902–1904.

The German Expeditions came into Kumtura Caves to map, take photos, make the line drawings, cut and take the wall painting and bring them back to Berlin for three times. The French Expedition led by sinologist Paul Pelliot investigated Kumtura Grottoes during March to August 1907. They focused on the Douldour-âqour named by Paul Pelliot. The French Expedition took a great deal of historical photos of Kumtura Grottoes, which are particularly valuable for the research and restoration of the wall paintings.

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Fig. 9.1 Plan of Kumtura Cave 38 in KuQun Qu numbered in Chinese (drawn by Liu Tao)

In sharp contrast, in Kumtura Cave 38, there is a well-preserved seated Buddha image painted in the corresponding position, on whose left side there is a halo surrounding the figure. Outside the halo, there are broken pieces of two images of offering Bodhisattva left. Apparently, there is no corresponding relationship between the two themed wall paintings. Accordingly, the author argues that Kumtura Cave 38 does not correspond to HÖhle 33, Nirvana-Höhle. Instead, the latter indicates another cave. Although the above judgment was first made by Jia YingYi(贾应逸Jia 2008, pp. 259–272), it should be noted that Jia’s conclusion that the theme of the armies of Mara attacking the Buddha in the front wall of the hall in HÖhle 33 was from the front wall of the hall in Kumtura Cave 10 (Jia 2008, p. 270) was wrong, according to the

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Fig. 9.2 Plan of HÖhle 33, Nirvana-Höhle named and numbered in German (referring to Grünwedel 1912, p. 29, Fig. 54)

author’s verification of relevant materials and his own field investigations. The author makes a thorough comparative analysis of Chinese, German, and French literature records and pictorial data. The literature records mainly come from the notes of Albert Grünwedel (Grünwedel 1912, pp. 28–31) and A Comprehensive Introduction to Kumtura Caves (Zhuang 1992, p. 264) while the pictorial data is from the historical photo taken by the French Expedition and numbered AP 7044 by the Musée national des Arts Asiatiques-Guimet3 and those taken by German Expeditions and numbered B 0236, B 1183, B 1236, B 1852, B 1992 and B 1993 by Museum für Asiatische Kunst Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.4 Both of them are compared with corresponding photos published in the Caves in China: Kumtura Grottoesand Complete works of Chinese Art Classification: Complete Works of Wall painting in XinJiang. China 4 Kumtura, the tracing copies of the wall painting on the front wall of the back corridor of Kumtura 3 The

pictorial materials taken by the French Expedition in 1907 were provided by Max-PlanckInstitut für Kunstgeschichte and postal doctoral researcher Satomi Hiyama at Museum für Asiatische Kunst Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. 4 The pictorial materials of Kumtura grottoes taken by German expeditions in the early twentieth century were provided by Museum für Asiatische Kunst Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

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Cave 12 by staff at the Office of Arts of Xinjiang Kucha Grottoes Research Institute before it was removed, as well as the wall painting on the front wall in Kumtura Cave 12 restored and removed by the Institute that the author encountered within the work station in Kumtura Grottoes.5 Based on the comparative results, the author also judges that what these photos numbered and collected by Museum für Asiatische Kunst Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and Musée national des Arts Asiatiques-Guimet capture are all wall paintings in HÖhle 33 Nirvana-Höhle numbered and named by Grünwedel. The details are shown below. First, the historical photo numbered AP 7044, which captures the front wall, the left, and right corridors, and the ceiling of the hall in HÖhle 33 Nirvana-Höhle, clearly shows the original appearance of the cave before the German Expedition removed its wall paintings. According to the author’s recognition, the right ceiling was decorated with three rows of pictures containing a Buddha and two Bodhisattvas facing the front wall, each separated by cloud patterns. The armies of Mara were painted on the corner of the right ceiling near the front wall, which seems to be an extension of the wall painting themed with the armies of Mara attacking the Buddha. In contrast, the wellpreserved wall painting on the right ceiling of Kumtura Cave 10 covers three seated Buddhas, under whom stand monks and nuns making offerings to Buddhas, which is apparently inconsistent with the historical photo numbered AP 7044. Therefore, it is appropriate to conclude that the wall painting describing the armies of Mara attacking the Buddha on the front wall of the hall in HÖhle 33 Nirvana-Höhle does not correspond to Kumtura Cave 10 argued by Jia Yingyi. Second, the historical photos numbered AP 7044 and B 1183 also captured a Bodhisattva statue on the north side of the front wall of the back corridor. The Bodhisattva holds a lotus flower in his right hand, which is completely consistent with Grünwedel’s record.6 Through the comparative investigation of these pictorial materials, the author has found that the posture and the missing parts of the Bodhisattva are exactly the same as the one in the wall painting on the front wall of the back corridor in Kumtura Cave 12.7 Third, the historical photo numbered B 1852 captured the images on the interior sidewall of the right corridor of the central-pillared cave, showing the arrangement of the Buddha, the Bodhisattva, and the Buddha arranged from the inside out. In the plan of HÖhle 33 Nirvana-Höhle, there are records of positions numbered 9, 5 The

wall painting on the main wall of the back corridor in Kumtura Cave 12, which was copied by Wang Jianlin(王建林) at the Xinjiang Kucha Grottoes Reseach Institute during 1989–1991, is collected by Xinjiang Kucha Grottoes Reseach Institute as the author noticed during his field investigations. The wall painting at the position has been removed and restored by the institute, which is compared with the one the author happened to see in the working station in Kumtura Grottoes. 6 The image is located at the position numbered 8 in the plan drawn by Albert Grünwedel. See Grünwedel (2007, pp. 50, 55). 7 The wall painting on the front wall of the back corridor has been removed and preserved by the Xinjiang Kucha Grottoes Research Institute. By comparing the photos published in the Buddhist Caves in China: Kumtura Grottoes with the tracing copy by Wang Jianlin before it was removed, the author has found that the positions of the Bodhisattva in these pictorial materials are the same.

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10, and 11, in correspondence to Buddha No. 9, Bodhisattva No. 10, and Buddha No. 11 (Grünwedel 1912, pp. 55–56). Moreover, similar images at the position have also been published in China. Through a detailed investigation, the author has found that what the historical photo numbered B 1852 captured is actually images on the interior sidewall of the right corridor of Kumtura Cave 12. Fourthly, the historical photo numbered B 0236 captured the images on the interior sidewall of the left corridor of the central-pillared cave, showing the arrangement of the Buddha, the Bodhisattva, and the Buddha from the inside out. In the plan of HÖhle 33 Nirvana-Höhle published by Albert Grünwedel, there are records of positions numbered 3, 2 and 1, in correspondence to Buddha No. 3, Bodhisattva No. 2, and Buddha No. 1, along with the line drawing of Bodhisattva No. 2 (Grünwedel 1912, p. 55) whose image has been published as well.8 Through thorough comparison, the author has found that what the historical photo numbered B 0236 captured is actually images on the interior sidewall of the left corridor of Kumtura Cave 12. Fifth, the historical photo numbered B 1993 captured the image of an offeringmaking figure on the north side of the front wall of the hall. In the publishment by Grünwedel, he not only described and analyzed the offering-making figure in Uighur costumes but also provided relevant line drawing (Grünwedel 1912, p. 52) whose original image has also been published (Editorial board of complete works of Chinese Wall paintings 1995, p. 201). By investigating the position and content of the image, the author has concluded that what this photo captured is the wall painting in Kumtura Cave 12. Sixthly, the historical photo numbered B 1236 is the exterior view from Kumtura Cave 12 to Kumtura Cave 17, which captures the left side of the niche in the front wall and the left corridor in the hall in Kumtura Cave 12. The wall painting is themed with the armies of Mara attacking the Buddha, which is completely in line with the content of the front wall of the hall in HÖhle 33 Nirvana-Höhle. Through the comprehensive comparison between the historical photos taken by German and French Expeditions, it can be seen that what they captured are both Kumtura Cave 12 as the positions and content of images in the cave are completely the same as those in HÖhle 33 Nirvana-Höhle. The historical photo numbered B 1236 clearly shows the exterior view of Kumtura Cave 12 and its relative position with Kumtura Cave 13 to Kumtura Cave 17. From the themes of wall paintings to cave architecture and to the relationships among caves, it can be concluded that HÖhle 33 Nirvana-Höhle numbered and named by Grünwedel corresponds to Kumtura Cave 12.

8 The

wall paintings located in exterior sidewall of the back corridor of Cave 12 have been cut out and protected by Kucha Grottoes Academy. The author think the Bodhisattva wall painting in this location is the same according to compared the photo published in Chinese Grottoes • Kumtura Caves with the copy drew by WangJianlin before the wall painting was cut out.

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9.3 Identification of the Position Distribution and the Thematic Content of Wall Paintings in Kumtura Cave 12 After the above investigation and analyses, the author has confirmed that HÖhle 33 Nirvana-Höhle corresponds to Kumtura Cave 12 rather than Kumtura Cave 38 or Cave 10 as his predecessors often concluded. Based on relatively rich pictorial materials and written records collected by Museum für Asiatische Kunst Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and Musée national des Arts Asiatiques-Guimet, the author further identifies the content of the wall paintings in Kumtura Cave 12 and restores their position distribution.

9.3.1 Front Wall According to the historical photo numbered AP 7044 and the pictorial materials published by Albert Grünwedel, at the central part of the front wall of Kumtura Cave 12, a niche taking the shape of lotus flower petals was carved, leaning forward with a missing Buddha statue, and there was a stand at the lower part of the front wall of the hall. Inside the niche, the halos around the head of the statue were decorated with spiral patterns, surrounded by patterns in leaves and flower petals in three concentric circles, and the halos surrounding the figure were also decorated with spiral patterns and surrounded by patterns in leaves and flower petals in two concentric circles. The tree leaves painted between the upper part of the niche and the roof represent the Bodhi tree, the canopy of which was decorated with two hands paying homage to devas. Around the niche to even the barrel-vaulted ceiling were paintings describing scenes of the armies of Mara attacking the Buddha. It can be found that the entire sidewall depicted Buddha conquering all the demons to attain enlightenment.9 The fragments of wall paintings in Kumtura Cave 12 removed and stitched by the German Expedition are collected and numbered III 8834 by Museum für Asiatische Kunst Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (see Fig. 9.3). In the re-stitched picture, the sections of wall paintings regarding the armies of Mara are numbered III 8835a and III 8835b, but the fragment numbered III 8835c had been broken or missing during Second World War.10 According to the historical photo numbered AP 7044, along with the above fragments, the author reconstructs the wall painting on the front wall of the hall in Kumtura Cave 12 and makes the following line drawing (see Fig. 9.4).

9 See

the discussions in the third part of this paper. the archive record card in Museum für Asiatische Kunst Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

10 See

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Fig. 9.3 Picture numbered III 8834 of the removed wall painting on the front wall of the hall in Kumtura Cave 12 re-stitched by Museum für Asiatische Kunst Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Cultural Relics Administration Commission of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region 1992, Fig. 196)

Fig. 9.4 Line drawing of the restored wall paintings on the front wall of the hall in Kumtura Cave 12 (drawn by Liu Tao)

9.3.2 Ceiling According to the historical photo numbered AP 7044, there are three columns of wall paintings left on the right side of the barrel-vaulted ceiling of Kumtura Cave 2, each of which contained the images of the Buddha and two Bodhisattvas, between

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whom were by cloud patterns. The subject and style of the ceiling painting are very similar to those in Kumtura Cave 13.

9.3.3 Right Sidewall The right sidewall was decorated with two small niches, each supported by a base of the same length with the sidewall and surrounded by painted attendant Bodhisattvas. According to the historical photo numbered B 1852, inside the niche on the east side of the right sidewall, the halos around the head were decorated with spiral patterns which were surrounded by patterns in leaves and flower petals, while the halos around the figure were painted in three concentric circles in different patterns, that is, radiating wave patterns, semicircular flower bunch patterns and leaves patterns representing light from inside out, between every two of whom were straight-line stripes. Above the niches were painted canopies, and around these niches were images of Offering Bodhisattvas. Grünwedel recorded the traces of black radiating lines in the second niche on the left side of the doorway and inferred that there should have been a seated Acalanatha Buddha statue in front of the black niche (Grünwedel 1912, p. 51).

9.3.4 Right Corridor According to Grünwedel’s record, Samantabhadra riding an elephant and accompanied by his servants was painted on the interior sidewall of the right corridor, whose image has been published (von Le Coq and Waldschmidt 1922–1933, p. 549). As Albert Grünwedel noted, the exterior sidewall was decorated with the combination of a standing Buddha, a standing Bodhisattva and a standing Buddha from inside out, and each side of the standing Buddha in the east end was accompanied by a smallsized Bodhisattva. The title frames were all distributed on the west side of the Buddha or Bodhisattva. As Zhuang QiangHua (庄强华) recorded, the title inscriptions of the standing Buddha in the west end read, “南无藏……” (Zhuang 1992, p. 264). As shown in the historical photo numbered B 1183, the ceiling of the right corridor was painted with flower bunch patterns that were surrounded by cloud patterns. The corner where the arch and the wall meets was decorated with flower patterns, between whose decorative edges and the flower bunch patterns were painted with a row of seated Buddha, whose image has also been published (von Le Coq and Waldschmidt 1922–1933, p. 547).

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Fig. 9.5 Line drawing of the restored wall painting on the front wall of the right corridor in Kumtura Cave 12 (drawn by Liu Tao)

9.3.5 Back Corridor The front wall of the back corridor was painted with five Buddha images, of which standing Bodhisattva and Buddha were arranged alternately. From north to south, they are the Bodhisattva holding a lotus flower in his left hand,11 the frontfacing Buddha,12 the Bodhisattva with three heads and six arms,13 the front-facing Buddha,14 and the Bodhisattva holding a wish-fulfilling jewel in his left hand.15 Above the five Buddha images was a decorative band in tea flower patterns, whose fragments have been removed by the Xinjiang Kucha Grottoes Research Institute. According to relevant materials, the author redraws the whole picture of the wall painting on the front wall of the back corridor (see Fig. 9.5). The author also sketches the wall painting themed with Buddha entering Nirvana on the facade of the back corridor with reference to Albert Grünwedel’s record, whose image has been published.16 The central part of the ceiling of the back corridor was decorated 11 The title frame was on the north side of the Bodhisattva, in which the inscriptions were too broken to be read clearly. 12 The title frame was on the north side of the Buddha, in which the inscriptions were too broken to be read clearly. 13 The title frame was on the north side of the Bodhisattva, in which the inscriptions were too broken to be read clearly. However, Grünwedel noted that according to Doctor Franke’s explanation, the inscriptions read, “南无十二面观世音菩萨,” which literally means Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva with twelve faces (Grünwedel 2007, p. 56.). 14 The title frame was on the south side of the Buddha, in which the inscriptions were too broken to be read clearl. 15 The title frame was on the south side of the Bodhisattva, in which the inscriptions were too broken to be read clearly. 16 See German work (von Le Coq and Waldschmidt. trans. 2006, pp. 250–251, Plate 12). The picture of Buddha entering nirvana had been wrongly recorded as a piece of wall painting from HÖhle 14 (Kumtura Cave 16 in Chinese), which was corrected as a picture from HÖhle 33 by Waldschmidt. According to the verification in this paper, HÖhle 33 correspond to Kumtura Cave 12 instead of Kumtura Cave 38. As Grünwedel recorded in the Xin Jiang Gu Fo Si, this picture has a width of 1.9 m and a height of 1 m, which is of the same dimension with Plate 12 in Volume 3 of Die Buddhistische Spätantike in Mittelasien. Accordingly, the author concludes that Plate 12 in Volume 3 of Die Buddhistische Spätantike in Mittelasien is from the façade of the back corridor in Kumtura

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with flower bunch patterns surrounded by cloud patterns, each side of which was painted with Thousand Buddhas. The wall painting on this position was removed by the German expedition and numbered III 8822.

9.3.6 Left Corridor According to Grünwedel’s record, the interior wall of the left corridor was painted with Manjusri riding a lion and surrounded by attendants. The exterior wall was decorated with three standing figures, namely, the Buddha holding a tin staff in his right hand and an alms bowl in his left hand,17 Bodhisattva holding a censer18 (von Le Coq and Waldschmidt 1922–1933, trans. p. 546) and Dipamkara19 from outside in. The ceilings of both the left and right corridors were adorned with flower bunch patterns and surrounded by cloud patterns, and the corner where the arch and the wall meet was painted with decorative edges, between which with flower bunch patterns and cloud patterns were painted with a row of seated Buddha.

9.3.7 Left Sidewall The left sidewall was decorated with two small niches, each supported by a base of the same length with the sidewall. According to the historical photo numbered B 0236, inside the niche on the east side of the left sidewall, the halos around the head of the statue were decorated with spiral patterns and surrounded by the patterns in leaves and flower petals, while the halos around the figure were painted in three concentric circles in different patterns, that is, radiating wave patterns, semicircular Cave 12. This picture was cut and removed by the first German expedition in 1903. In the author’s view, Jia YingYi made the wrong judgment that this picture was from the façade of the back corridor in Kumtura Cave 12. First, Grünwedel mainly referred to the picture to name HÖhle 33 NirvanaHöhle. As Grünwedel’s descriptions of Nirvana-Höhle are very complete and accurate, we can see that the pictorial reference for the naming of the cave did not involve Kumtura Cave 45—a cave studied by the fourth German expedition after describing, taking photos, cutting and removing its wall paintings. As for the specific records of Kumtura Cave 45, see Albert von Le Coq. Von Land und Leuten in Ostturkistan: Berichte und Abenteuer der IV. Deutschen Turfan expedition. Qi, S. (trans.) Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 2008, p. 118. The earliest research on the cave can be referred to Albert von Le Coq, “Peintures Chinoises Authentiques De L´Epoque Tang Provenant Du Turkestan Chinois,” Revue des arts asiatiques, Musée Guimet (Paris, France), Librairie des arts et voyages etc., Band 5, 1928b, pp. 1–8. We can infer from these references that this picture of Buddha entering nirvana is neither from Höhle 14 advocated by Le Coq nor from Kumtura Cave 45 argued by Jia but from HÖhle 33 recorded by Grünwedel and Waldschmidt. The cave verified in this paper is exactly Kumtura Cave 12. 17 The title frame was on the west side of the Buddha. 18 The title frame was on the west side of the Bodhisattva. 19 The title frame was on the east side of the Buddha.

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flower bunch patterns and leaves patterns representing light from inside out, between every two circles of which were straight-line stripes. Above the niches were painted canopies, and around these niches were images of Offering Bodhisattvas. According to the historical photo numbered B 1992, inside the niche on the west side, the halos around the figure were decorated with patterns in leaves and flower petals, while the west side of the niche was adorned with three rows of images, each with two Bodhisattvas.

9.3.8 Anterior Wall According to the historical photo numbered B 1993, the north wall of the doorway on the facade of the hall in Kumtura Cave 12 is divided into two parts of pictures with three horizontal lines up-down. There are two offering Bodhisattvas in the upper part, with the one on the south side left with broken pieces of sleeves of the robes and the one behind well-preserved. The latter in a loose robe held a censer in hands and wore a leather belt, with hair down to shoulders, showing a Uighur-style dressing. The picture in the lower part is too blurred to be recognized accurately. According to the historical photo numbered B 1992, the south wall of the doorway on the facade of the hall in Kumtura Cave 12 can be divided into two groups of figures by two horizontal lines up down, between which were some Chinese inscriptions. On the north side of recognizable Chinese inscriptions were traces of blurred Uighur inscriptions. The south sidewall of the facade was painted with two bhikkhu figures facing each other with offering-making hand gestures. Behind the one on the south side was a title frame with blurred inscriptions, and there are remnants of inscriptions on the position near the legs of the figure on the north side. The heads of the two figures making an offering to the Buddha are still left below the south sidewall of the anterior wall, with the one on the north side wearing a winged hat with hair down to his shoulders, at the back of whom was decorated with a title frame with blurred inscriptions. There is another title frame on the north side of the figure with blurred Chinese inscriptions, on the north side of which there should be painted with an offering-making figure. The female figure on the south side inserted a wooden comb in her hair, behind whose head was a title frame with unrecognizable inscriptions (see Fig. 9.6). Grünwedel noted that no satisfactory results were obtained from the remnants of the Chinese inscriptions near the doorway they copied (Grünwedel 1912, p. 56). With reference to the historical photo numbered B 1992, the author has recognized three pieces of Chinese inscriptions on the south sidewall of the facade of the hall in Kumtura Cave 12. The first one was carved between the two lines dividing the pictures on the south side of the anterior wall up down, which read from left to right: “癸 亥之岁五月廿四日茗第惠整戬深两共到此志.” The second one was carved near the legs of the monk on the north side of the left façade, which read from up down: “……禅弱.” The third one in the title frame on the north side of the male figure in the lower part read from up down: “四……”.

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Fig. 9.6 Line drawing of the restored wall painting on the south side of the doorway in the façade of the hall in Kumtura Cave 12 (drawn by Liu Tao)

In addition, according to the published data in Germany, the third and fourth German expeditions also removed the wall paintings in flower stripes of the corridor in Kumtura Cave 12 (Dreyer 2002, P. 171, IB 8832 und P. 204, IB 9205a, b.). The fragments of the wall paintings removed from Kumtura Cave 12 by the Royal Prussian Turfan-Expeditions are briefly listed in Table 9.1, while the restored fragments of the wall paintings removed from Kumtura Cave 12 by the Xinjiang Kucha Grottoes Research Institute are listed specifically in Table 9.2. Through the above analyses and verification, the author creates a drawing of the restored wall paintings in Kumtura Cave 12 based on their subject, content and position distribution below (see Fig. 9.7)

Name

Buddha Entering Nirvana

Buddha Conquering the Demons to Attain Buddhahood

Section of the Armies of Mara in Buddha Conquering the Demons to Attain Buddhahood

Section of the Armies of Mara in Buddha Conquering the Demons to Attain Buddhahood

Serial No.

1

2

3

4

III 8835b

III 8835a

III 8834

IB 8835

IB 4448

German directory and collection No.

Front wall of the hall

Front wall of the hall

Front wall of the hall

Facade of the back corridor

Position

von Le Coq and Waldschmidt, Vol. 6, Plate 23, pp. 515–516, 545;

514 × 267.5

Verified by comparing the materials provided by Museum für Asiatische Kunst Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

50 × 61.5

(continued)

Verified by comparing the materials provided by Museum für Asiatische Kunst Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

53 × 74

Verified by comparing the materials provided by Museum für Asiatische Kunst Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Le Coq & Waldschmidt, Vol. 3, Plate 12, pp. 221, 250, 251, 627

100 × 195

Dimension (width × height Source cm)

Table 9.1 List of fragments of the wall paintings removed from Kumtura Cave 12 by the Royal Prussian Turfan-Expeditions (von Le Coq and Waldschmidt 1922–1933, trans.; Dreyer 2002; Cultural Relics Bureau of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region 1992)

190 T. Liu

Name

Bodhisattva Holding a Censer

Flower bunch stripes & Buddha image

Set of Samantabhadra Riding An Elephant

Buddha, Bodhisattva & Devas

Serial No.

5

6

7

8

Table 9.1 (continued)

IB 8824–8826

IB 828

III 8822

IB 8822

IB 8827

German directory and collection No.

von Le Coq and Waldschmidt, Vol. 6, Plate 25, pp. 517, 518, 547

208 × 106

Back corridor

About 126 × 110 (a, b, c), 87 × 57 (d Arhat Image) in

(continued)

von Le Coq and Waldschmidt, Vol. 6, Plate 28, pp. 518, 519, 550

von Le Coq and Waldschmidt, Vol. 6, Plate 28, pp. 518, 519, 550

Verified by comparing the materials provided by Museum für Asiatische Kunst Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

von Le Coq and Waldschmidt, Vol. 6, Plate 24, pp. 516, 517, 546;

102 × 149

Dimension (width × height Source cm)

Interior sidewall of the right 175 × 150 corridor

Vaulted ceiling of the corridor

Central part of the exterior wall of the left corridor

Position

9 Verification on the Name and Reconstruction on the Theme … 191

Patterns in lotus flowers

10

III 8826

Buddha & Bodhisattva

IB 9205a

IB 8832

III 8824a

Bodhisattva & cloud patterns

Flower pattern stripes

German directory and collection No.

Name

9

Serial No.

Table 9.1 (continued)

Corridor

Corridor

Vaulted ceiling of the back corridor

Vaulted ceiling of the back corridor

Position

Verified to be Plate 28c in von Le Coq and Waldschmidt (Vol. 6) by comparing the materials provided by Museum für Asiatische Kunst Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Musueum für Indische Kunst, Dokumentation der Verluste, Band III (2002): 171 Musueum für Indische Kunst, Dokumentation der Verluste, Band III (2002): 204

108 × 71

43 × 22

36 × 41

(continued)

Verified to be Plate 28a von Le Coq & Waldschmidt (Vol. 6) by comparing the materials provided by Museum für Asiatische Kunst Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

77.5 × 90.5

Dimension (width × height Source cm)

192 T. Liu

Decorative stripes

11

IB 9205b

German directory and collection No. Ceiling of the corridor

Position 38 × 38

Musueum für Indische Kunst, Dokumentation der Verluste, Band III (2002): 204

Dimension (width × height Source cm)

The author created the list by referring to the above literature and the wall painting materials and archive card records provided by Museum für Asiatische Kunst Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. The number format “IB + Number” in the list is borrowed from the old number format used by the Museum für Völkerkunde before the Second World War. The number format “MIK + III + Number” was the one used by the Museum für Indische Kunst Berlin, where “MIK” is the abbreviation of the museum. In 2006, the Museum für Indische Kunst Berlin and the Asian Art Museum were merged into Museum für Asiatische Kunst Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, so the abbreviation “MIK” is deleted by using directly the number format “III + Number.” The fragments of wall paintings with the number format “IB + Number” indicate that they has been broken or missing during the Second World War, while those with both the number formats “IB + Number” and “III + Number” show that they have been stored in Berlin and can be examined comparatively

Name

Serial No.

Table 9.1 (continued)

9 Verification on the Name and Reconstruction on the Theme … 193

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Table 9.2 List of fragments of the wall paintings removed from Kumtura Cave 12 from 1991 to 2014 Serial No.

Collection number by the Xinjiang Kuqa Grottoes Research Institute

Subject content

Position

Source

1

Piece 1

Unknown

Unknown

2

Piece 2

Standing Bodhisattva

Interior sidewall of the right corridor

3

Piece 3

Standing Buddha

Interior sidewall of the right corridor

Verified by comparing the materials provided by the Xinjiang Kucha Grottoes Research Institute

4

Piece 4

Standing Buddha

Front wall of the back corridor

5

Piece 5

Standing Bodhisattva

Front wall of the back corridor

6

Piece 6

Standing Buddha

Front wall of the back corridor

7

Piece 7

Unknown

Unknown

8

Piece 8

Standing Bodhisattva

Interior sidewall of the left corridor

9

Piece 9

Flower bunch and Vaulted ceiling of cloud patterns the back corridor

10

Piece 10

Flower bunch anddd cloud patterns

Vaulted ceiling of the back corridor

11

Piece 11

Standing Buddha

Front wall of the back corridor

12

Piece 12

Standing Buddha

Interior sidewall of the left corridor

13

Piece 13

Thousand Buddhas and cloud patterns

Vaulted ceiling of the left corridor

14

Piece 14

Offering-making figure in Uighur costumes

Right side of the doorway in the façade of the hall

15

None

Bodhisattva with three heads and six arms

Front wall of the back corridor (continued)

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Table 9.2 (continued) Serial No.

Collection number by the Xinjiang Kuqa Grottoes Research Institute

Subject content

Position

16

None

Standing Buddha

Interior sidewall of the right corridor

Source

There was severe flooding in Kumtura grottoes in the late 1980s. To rescue cultural relics, the Dunhuang Research Academy and the Xinjiang Kucha Grottoes Research Institute worked together to cut and remove the wall paintings in ten caves in the lower part of the KuQun Qu of Kumtura Grottoes, namely, Cave 10, Cave 11, Cave 12, Cave 13, 14, Cave 16, Cave 25, Cave 27, Cave 38 and Cave 60, covering an area of some 112 m2 in total. See Sun (2000, pp. 150–152). Aihemaiti (2011, pp. 457–459). Afterward, the DunHuang Research Academy and the Xinjiang Kucha Grottoes Research Institute jointly restored this batch of fragments of the removed wall paintings, which have been housed in the Xinjiang Kucha Grottoes Research Institute. Not until the end of 2014 was the restoration work completed. According to the materials provided by the institute, the author reviewed the source and position of the removed and restored fragments of wall paintings

9.4 Identification of the Content of Some Paintings in the Hall in Kumtura Cave 12 and Reconstruction of Statues in the Front Wall The author has basically restored the subjects of the wall paintings in Kumtura Cave 12 and their position distribution. On this basis, the author has further identified some images and reconstructed the main statues in the front wall of the hall in Kumtura Cave 12 according to the relationship between its wall paintings and statues.

9.4.1 Armies of Mara Attacking the Buddha on the Front Wall The front wall of the hall in Kumtura Cave 12 was painted with the armies of Mara attacking the Buddha, which is the only wall painting with such a subject found in the central-pillared cave according to the exiting published data regarding Kucha Grottoes. Most wall paintings themed with Buddha conquering the demons to attain enlightenment have been found on the façade and sidewalls of the corridor in centralpillared caves, as well as the front wall and sidewalls of a square cave among Kucha Grottoes, whose positions are basically not fixed.20 20 The

wall paintings themed with Buddha defeating the demons in a central-pillared cave can be found on the semi-circular wall of the vaulted ceiling above the façade of the hall of Kizil Cave 98, the exterior sidewall of the left corridor of Kizil Cave 175, and other positions. Those in a square cave can be found on the semi-circular section of the ceiling of the front wall in Kizil Cave 110, the right sidewall of the hall in Kizil Cave 76, and other positions.

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Fig. 9.7 Plan of Kumtura Cave 12 and contented-based drawing of its wall paintings (drawn by Liu Tao)

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The semi-circular walls of Kizil Cave 98 and Kizil Cave 110 were both painted with the subject of Buddha defeating the Demons to attain enlightenment, while similar content was found around the niche taking the shape of lotus flower pedals in the front wall of the central pillar in Kumtura Cave 12. The section of the armies of Mara attacking the Buddha can all be found on the semi-circular walls of the three caves mentioned above, showing the inheritance between the wall painting in Kumtura Cave 12 and the local plate of Buddha defeating the demons at Kucha. However, it should be mentioned that the halos around the head of the statue in the niche were decorated with spiral patterns and surrounded by patterns in leaves and flower petals in three concentric circles, and the halos around the figure were also decorated with spiral patterns and surrounded by patterns in leaves and flower petals in two concentric circles, which was obviously influenced by the Chinese culture. Unlike, the halos around the head and the body of the Buddha were decorated with overlapping circular aureoles, which shows that popular Chinese-style patterns were added into the wall painting of Buddha defeating the demons on the basis of the original local plate at Kucha. Therefore, it is appropriate to say that Chinese cultural elements were added into this type of wall painting by Uighurs based on the local painting tradition at Kucha. The author has concluded that the original statue in the niche in the front wall of the hall in Kumtura Cave 12 should be Sakyamuni Buddha, which composes the subject of Buddha defeating the demons to attain enlightenment with the surrounding wall painting depicting the armies of Mara attacking the Buddha. This subject, which is the most common one in wall paintings, embodies the idea that Shakyamuni defeated all demons and became enlightened, obtaining his dharma body. The front wall of the hall in Kumtura Cave 12 was decorated with the wall painting with such a subject, and the façade of its back corridor was painted with Buddha entering Nirvana. Therefore, the subjects of wall paintings in the façade and posterior wall of the central pillar in Kumtura Cave 12 both reflect a strong belief in Buddha’s dharma body in Mahayana Buddhism.

9.4.2 Bodhisattva with Three Heads and Eight Arms in the Middle of the Front Wall of the Back Corridor The Bodhisattva with three heads and eight arms was painted in the central part of the front wall of the back corridor in Kumutura Cave 12 (see Fig. 9.8). Grünwedel recorded it as “six-armed Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva with many heads” and noted the title of the Bodhisattva as “南无十二面观世音菩萨” (Grünwedel 1912, pp. 55–56), which literally means Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva with twelve faces. In Chinese Grottoes: Kumtura Caves and complete works of Wall painting in XinJiang, China 4 Kumtura, it is recorded as the “Bodhisattva left with three heads and four arms.”(Editorial board of complete works of Chinese Wall paintings 1995, pp. 84, 200). It is recorded in both the Chinese-style Caves in Kumtura (Ma 1992) and the

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Fig. 9.8 Line drawing of the Bodhisattva with three heads and eight arms on the central part of the front wall of the back corridor in Kumtura Cave 12 (drawn by Liu Tao)

Overview of the Contents of the Kumtula Grottoes(XinJiang Kucha Institute 2008, p. 100) as the Bodhisattva with three heads and eight arms. The same record can also be found in the General Record of the contents of Kumtura Grottoes(XinJiang Kucha Institute 2008, p. 264) and the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva in Ancient Buddhism at Kucha (Liu 1993). Furthermore, Zhuang and Liu concluded that the one was indeed the Bodhisattva with three heads and eight arms. According to the original copy of the wall painting and Liu’s description, the author also concludes that the Bodhisattva should be the one with three heads and eight arms, neither the one with six arms nor the one with four arms. Although Grünwedel noted the title of the Bodhisattva as the “Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva with twelve faces,” (Grünwedel 1912, p. 56) there is no sign of the twelve-faced feature in the image of the Bodhisattva. There are more than hundreds of types and images of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, among which the one with many heads and arms belongs to the pictorial tradition of Tantric Sects. In Tantric Buddhism, “six forms of Avalokitesvara”21 and “seven 21 The six forms of Avalokitesvara in Tantric Buddhism are Arya-Avalokitesvara, thousandarmed and thousand-eyed Avalokitesvara, Ek¯ada´samukha Avalokitesvara, Cundi-Avalokitesvara, Hayagriva Avalokitesvara, and Cintamanicakra Avalokitesvara.

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forms of Avalokitesvara”22 are worshiped, while the Bodhisattva with three heads and eight arms in Kumtura Cave 12 obviously differs from the forms of Avalokitesvara in Tantric Buddhism in terms of the features of heads, number of arms, facial expressions, the objects held in the hands, and the crown. For example, Hayagriva Avalokitesvara often appears in the wrathful manifestation of a horse-headed deity with three faces and six arms, while the Bodhisattva in Kumtura Cave 12 has compassionate faces and wears his hair in a bun, showing inconsistent features with Hayagriva Avalokitesvara. Moreover, Ek¯ada´samukha Avalokitesvara worshiped in Tantric Buddhism is often arranged in two or more tiers, some even holding the Sun and the Moon in hands, such as the colored linen Avalokitesvara bust of the Five Dynasties from Dunhuang housed in the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia (Lin 1995, p. 3) and the eleven-faced Avalokitesvara on the central part of the north wall in MoGao Cave 76 of the Song Dynasty (DunHuang Research Academy 1987, Fig. 105). Although the Bodhisattva with three heads and eight arms in Kumtura Cave 12 holds the Sun and the Moon in hands, we can see from the remnant of the bun that the image does not have eleven faces, which indicates that the Bodhisattva is not Ek¯ada´samukha Avalokitesvara. No record of Avalokitesvara with three heads and eight arms has been found in Buddhist scriptures, and the statue with such an image was developed late, like the Sutra of Avalokitesvara with three faces and eight arms painted on the north side of the east doorway in Cave 2 of Tangut the Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves at Anxi (DunHuang Research Academy 1996, p. 222; Zhang 2012, Plate 44-44 (1-1), 201–202). In comparison, there are many remnants of the Bodhisattva with eight arms and often a head, three heads, nine or eleven heads, that is, the Bodhisattva with three heads and eight arms in Kumtura Cave 12 belongs to a type of Avalokitesvara with eight arms (Liu 1993, p. 37). If Franke’s verification of the title inscriptions as “南无十二面观世音菩萨” (Grünwedel 1912, p. 56) is absolutely accurate, the Bodhisattva with three hands and eight arms does not correspond to the content of the title inscriptions. Accordingly, the author argues that the pictorial features of Avalokitesvara in Tantric Buddhism were localized at Kucha so that they might not necessarily correspond to classic records.

9.4.3 Buddha on the Westmost Side of the Exterior Sidewall of the Left Corridor The standing figure painted on the westmost side of the exterior sidewall of the left corridor in Kumtura Cave 12 is a standing Buddha (see Fig. 9.9). As Grünwedel recorded, the image was either the standing Ks.itigarbha or Amoghapasa holding a tin staff (Grünwedel 1912, p. 55). Unlike, the author, referring to the historical photo numbered B 0236, concludes that the image is neither of them but Bhais.ajyaguru. 22 The

seven forms of Avalokitesvara in Tantric Buddhism include Amoghapasha Avalokitesvara and the six forms of Avalokitesvara mentioned above.

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Fig. 9.9 Bhais.ajyaguru on the exterior sidewall of the left corridor in Kumtura Cave 12 (Le Coq und Waldschmidt, Ernst. Trans. Vol. 6. 2006. p. 517. Pl. 232)

First of all, the images of Ks.itigarbha are usually bare-headed Ks.itigarbha and capped Ksitigarbha. After the Tang Dynasty, the typical image of bare-headed Ks.itigarbha was the one wearing a cassock and holding beads in hands on a lotus stand. The typical image of capped Ksitigarbha was the one sitting on a lotus throne who wore a cap and a cassock, holds a tin staff in his right hand, and holds a rosary or makes a mudra with his left hand (Luo 1998). According to the historical photo numbered B 0236, the author carefully examined the standing figure on the westmost side of the exterior wall of the left corridor in Kumtura Cave 12 and found that there was the knot of flesh on the head of the figure instead of a cap. In other words, the standing figure is not Ks.itigarbha. Second, Amoghapasa is one of the “seven forms of Avalokitesvara” worshipped by the Tantric Sects and one of the “six forms of Avalokitesvara” worshipped by the Tendai Sect. The Bodhisattva is renowned for guiding and receiving all sentient beings with his holding of a snare, who often appears in a Bodhisattva image with three faces and four arms, holding a lotus flower and a snare in his two left hands and a vase and a rosary in his two right hands. According to the historical photo numbered B 0236, the standing figure was standing Buddha rather than Bodhisattva with multiple arms, so it is inappropriate to identify the image as Amoghapasa, neither. Therefore, the author has excluded the possibilities of identifying the standing figure on the westmost side of the exterior wall of the left corridor in Kumtura Cave 12 as Ks.itigarbha or Amoghapasa as Grünwedel did. According to the pictorial material numbered B 0236, the standing figure holds a tin staff in his right hand and a patra in his left hand as Bhais.ajyaguru does. Although the concrete image of Bhais.ajyaguru was not described in the Bhais.ajyaguru Sutra, it can be found in the Buddhist scriptures relating to the Buddha. For example, the Yao Shi Ru Lai Nian Song Yi Gui (药师如来念诵仪轨) reads: 安中心一药师如来像,如来左手令执药器,亦名无价珠。右手令作结三界印,一着袈裟结 跏趺坐,令安莲华台,台下十二神将。(The Da Zheng Buddhist Scriptures, Vol. 19, p. 29b)

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The detailed records of the image of Bhais.ajyaguru can also be found in relevant Japanese Buddhist literature, for instance, the content regarding Bhais.ajyaguru in the Iconographic Selections(图像抄) collected by the RyuKoku University reads: 世留布,像有二样。一者扬右手,垂左手,是东寺金堂并南京药师寺像也……二者左手持 药壶,以右手作施无畏或右手曲水指或火空相捻。又有唐本持钵锡杖,或左手持钵,其钵 十二角,右手作施无畏云云印。(Que 1702).

We can see from the above records that the objects held by Bhais.ajyaguru in Tang Dynasty are a patra and a tin staff, which was a popular image of Bhais.ajyaguru of that time. As is revealed in many images of Bhais.ajyaguru well-preserved in MoGao Grottoes at DunHuang, the main feature of Bhais.ajyaguru is the holdings of a patra and a tin staff. In Kumtura Cave 12, the standing figure painted on the westmost side of the exterior sidewall of the left corridor holds a tin staff in his right hand and a patra in his left hand, on the west side of whom are the standing Avalokitesvara holding a censer and the standing Dipamkara, which indicates that the Buddhist images on the wall were painted and worshiped independently. Overall, the author concludes that the standing figure in Kumtura Cave 12 should be an image of Bhais.ajyaguru.

9.5 Conclusions Due to the limitation of pictorial data, the author can only make a logical identification and reconstruction based on the existing data. According to the data collected by the German and French Expeditions, the author reconstructed the subjects of the wall paintings on the front wall in the hall in Kumtura Cave 12 and thereby examined the main ideas and beliefs in the construction of the cave. The front wall of the hall was painted with the story that Shakyamuni defeated the armies of Mara and became enlightened, which conveys the essential belief in his dharma body, together with the subject of Shakyamuni entering Nirvana. Moreover, the standing images painted on the walls of the left, right, and back corridors in the hall also indicate that the beliefs in multiple Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism were appreciated in the cave, among which only the worship for Dipamkara, Bhais.ajyaguru and Avalokitesvara can be identified. In addition, the Avalokitesvara image with three heads and eight arms on the front wall of the back corridor embodies the advocate of the Exoteric Buddhism, which shows that the advocate of Tantric Buddhism had been incorporated into Kumtura Cave 12. Acknowledgements The author would like to thank to the Kucha Grottoes Research Academy in Xinjiang and Museum für Asiatische Kunst Staatliche Museen zu Berlin for their assistance in data collection.

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