The book a comprehensive study concerning the narrative paintings in Kucha on the Northern Silk Road (today’s Province Xinjiang, an autonomous region of the Peoples Republic of China) featuring episodes surrounding the Buddha’s death. The murals, dating from approximately the 5th to the 10th century, represent entire cycles of pictures which illustrate the events starting three months before the parinirvāṇa and ending with the first council. All together, 39 “occurrences” from the parinirvāṇa cycles have been represented in Kucha. Most of these were depicted repeatedly; only a few of them, however, were shown in separate scenes, while others were shown “within” bigger pictorial units. Relying on literary sources and comparative pictorial material, the book provides descriptions and analysis of the paintings, including both those in situ in the caves and the paintings which were removed from the walls and are presently located in the Museum für Indische Kunst in Berlin and in other collections around the world. The book is illustrated with 87 figures and 81 line drawings (mostly by the author) which make the often poorly-preserved murals comprehensible.:Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
Drawings
Figures
I. Representations of the Parinirvāṇa Story Cycle in South Asia: An Overview
II. Representations of the Parinirvāṇa Story Cycle in Kucha
1. Architectural Settings for Ritual and Religious Experience
2. The Parinirvāṇa Topics Depicted in Kucha and Their Literary Sources
3. Components of the Parinirvāṇa Cycle in Kucha Paintings
The Buddha’s last journey
Occurrence 1: Māra, demanding that the Buddha pass into parinirvāṇa
Occurrence 2: Ānanda’s grief (in connection with Occurrence 1)
Occurrence 3: The Buddha, departing from Vaiśālī
Occurrence 4: The episode featuring the river / the donation of the bowl to the people of Vaiśālī
Occurrence 5: The episode featuring the stone of the Mallas
Occurrence 6: The Buddha accompanied by Indra and Brahma
At the Buddha’s deathbed
Occurrence 7: Ānanda, talking to the Mallas (1st Indo-Iranian Style)
Occurrence 8: The parinirvāṇa (core elements)
Occurrence 9: The approach of Indra and Brahma
Occurrence 10: The conversion of Subhadra
Occurrence 11: The enlightenment of a monk
Occurrence 12: Ānanda’s conversation with Aniruddha
Occurrence 13: Ānanda’s grief (within the parinirvāṇa representation)
Occurrence 14: The worship of the tree deity
Occurrence 15: The worship by the gods from heaven (ceilings and lunettes)
Occurrence 16: Vajrapāṇi dropping the vajra
Occurrence 17: The goddess (Māyā) among the attending gods
Occurrence 18: Mahākāśyapa at the Buddha’s corpse
After the Buddha’s death: The corpse and the relics
Occurrence 19: The earthquake
Occurrence 20: Ajātaśatru learning of the Buddha’s death
Occurrence 21: The transportation of the coffin (1st Indo-Iranian Style)
Occurrence 22: Mahākāśyapa meeting Ājīvika
Occurrence 23: The opening (or closing) of the coffin before the cremation (1st Indo-Iranian Style)
Occurrence 24: The cremation
Occurrence 25: Nuns at the cremation
Occurrence 26: Mahākāśyapa at the cremation
Occurrence 27: Ānanda at the cremation
Occurrence 28: Monks bringing wood
Occurrence 29: Desperate gods and humans on a balcony above the cremation
Occurrence 30: The extinguishing of the fire
Occurrence 31: The advance of warriors demanding their share of relics
Occurrence 32: The distribution of the relics
Occurrence 33: Gods and demons carrying relics
Occurrence 34: The relics: rows of stūpas (replacing narrative representations)
The continuity of the dharma: Monks and the first council
Occurrence 35: The gods asking Mahākāśyapa to convoke the first council
Occurrence 36: Mahākāśyapa beating the gaṇḍī to call the monks to assembly
Occurrence 37: The selection of 500 arhats for the council / accusations against Ānanda
Occurrence 38: Ānanda or Upāli preaching at the first council
Occurrence 39: Scenes with monks in the parinirvāṇa cycle / the veneration of Mahā-kāśyapa?
III. Descriptions of the Representations of the Parinirvāṇa Story Cycle in Kucha
1. Kizil
Cave 4 (Kaminhöhle A [Chimney Cave A])
Cave 7 (Höhle mit dem Fresco-Fußboden [Cave with the Fresco Floor])
Cave 8 (Sechzehn-Schwertträger-Höhle [Cave of Sixteen Swordbearers])
Cave 13 (Fünfte Höhle neben der Sechzehn-Schwertträger-Höhle [Fifth Cave next to the Cave of Sixteen Swordbearers])
Cave 13? (= Höhle oberhalb der Größten Höhle [Cave above the Biggest Cave])
Cave 17 (Bodhisattvagewölbe-Höhle [Cave with Bodhisattvas in the Vault])
Cave 27 (Nischen-Höhle [Cave with Niches])
Cave 34 (Höhle mit dem meditierenden Sonnengott [Cave with the Meditating Sun God])
Cave 38 (Höhle mit dem Musikerchor [Cave with Choir of Musicians])
Cave 43
Cave 47 (Höhle mit dem Kolossalbuddha [Cave with the Colossal Buddha])
Cave 48 (Höhle neben dem Kolossalbuddha (östlich) [Cave to the Side of the Colossal Buddha (to the east)])
Cave 58 (Höhle der Behelmten [Cave of the Helmeted])
New Cave 1 (Xin 1)
Cave 69
Cave 76 (Pfauenhöhle [Peacocks Cave])
Cave 77 (Statuenhöhle [Statues Cave])
Cave 80 (Höllentopfhöhle [Hell Pot Cave])
Cave 97
Cave 98
Cave 99
Cave 101
Cave 104
Cave 107 A
Cave 110 (Treppenhöhle [Stair Cave])
Cave 114 (Gebetmühlenhöhle [Prayer Wheel Cave])
Cave 148
Cave 155
Cave 159
Cave 161
Cave 163
Cave 171 (Höhle oberhalb der Kasettenhöhle [Cave above the Coffered Ceiling Cave])
Cave 172
Cave 175 (Versuchungshöhle [Temptation Cave])
Cave 178 (Schluchthöhle [Ravine Cave])
Cave 179 (Höhle mit den Japanern [Cave with the Japanese])
Cave 186 (Mittlere Höhle, zweite Schlucht [Middle Cave of the Second Ravine])
Cave 189 (Zweite Höhle von vorn [Second Cave from the Front])
Cave 192
Cave 193 (Nāgarājahöhle [Nāgarāja Cave])
Cave 195
Cave 196
Cave 197
Cave 198 (Teufelshöhle C [Devil’s Cave C])
Cave 205 (Māyāhöhle, 2. Anlage [Māyā Cave of the 2nd Group])
Cave 206 (Fußwaschungshöhle [Feet- washing Cave])
Cave 207 (Malerhöhle [Painters’ Cave])
Cave 219 (Ajātaśatruhöhle [Ajātaśatru Cave])
Cave 224 (Māyāhöhle, 3. Anlage [Māyā Cave of the 3rd Group])
Cave 227 (Pretahöhle [Preta’s Cave])
Kizil, cave number unknown (Cave 215 A?)
Kizil, cave number unknown
Kizil or Kumtura, cave number unknown
2. Kumtura
Cave GK 24
Cave 7
Cave 10
Cave 12 (Nirvāṇa-Höhle [Nirvāṇa Cave], Höhle 33 [Cave 33])
Cave 16 (Kinnarī-Höhle [Kinnarī Cave], Höhle 14 [Cave 14])
Cave 23 (Höhle 19 [Cave 19])
Cave 30
Cave 31
Cave 34
Cave 38
Cave 42
Cave 46 (Höhle mit der Inschrift [Cave with Inscription], Höhle in der nördlichen Schlucht [Cave in the Northern Ravine])
Cave 53
Cave 58 (Nāgarājahöhle [Nāgarāja Cave], Höhle 42 [Cave 42])
Cave 61
Cave 63
Cave 65
Cave 68
Cave 71
3. Simsim
Cave 1 (Höhle mit den Kinnarīs [Cave with Kinnarīs])
Cave 5
Cave 11 (Größte Höhle [Biggest Cave])
Cave 19
Cave 20
Cave 27
Cave 30
Cave 31
Cave 32
Cave 36
Cave 40 (Ritterhöhle [Knights’ Cave])
Cave 41 (Höhle mit zwei Vajrapāṇis [Cave with Two Vajrapāṇis], Brāhmaṇahöhle [Brāhmaṇa Cave])
Cave 42 (Halle mit dem Tierfries [Hall with the Animal Frieze])
Cave 43
Cave 44 (Höhle mit den kranztragenden Tauben [Cave of the Wreath-Carrying Doves])
Cave 45
Cave 48
4. Kizilgaha
Cave 11
Cave 12
Cave 13
Cave 14
Cave 16
Cave 23
Cave 30
Cave 46
Kizilgaha, cave number unknown
5. Tograk-eken (Tuohulake’aiken)
Cave 15
6. Taitai’er
Cave 14
Bibliography
Index
Figures
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:89546 |
| Date | 14 February 2024 |
| Creators | Zin, Monika |
| Publisher | Dev Publishers & Distributors |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:book, info:eu-repo/semantics/book, doc-type:Text |
| Source | Leipzig Kucha Studies |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa2-840921, qucosa:84092 |
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