Tag: Buddhist Art

The Journeys of Xuanzang, part one: Desert Monasteries

In the prologue, we introduced the Buddhist monk Xuan-zang and explored the world of Tang-dynasty China. Xuan-zang left this world behind, contravening imperial decree about leaving the country without a permit, to pursue Buddhist teachings in India.

However, once he left the Yumen Pass, he immediately ran into a major issue: the Gobi Desert.

The Gobi Desert, photo by Richard Mortel, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The road from the Yuman Pass to the next stop, the oasis at Hami, was barren, dry, with extreme heat and cold, and not well marked. Xuan-zang, who had little experience with this kind of travel, at one point lost his waterskin, became lost, and collapsed due to exhaustion. It is said that the bodhisattva Guan-yin guided him in his darkest hour to Hami.

The Hami Oasis

A map of the first part of Xuanzang’s journey. I made this using Inkarnate (a great online map tool). Apologies for any geographical mistakes. Free for non-commercial use.

The town of Hāmì (哈密), also known as Kumul (قۇمۇل) in Uyghur, was populated by a Chinese military colony since the Sui Dynasty, but had been cut off from China during turbulent times. At Xuan-zang’s time, it pledged loyalty to the regional Turk rulers while still maintaining diplomatic relations with the new Tang Dynasty. Some months after Xuan-zang left, Great Tang’s expansion absorbed Hami into its empire.

Here in Hami, Xuan-zang stayed at a Buddhist monastery where three Chinese monks lived. They were overjoyed to see a fellow monk, and offered him lodging. Xuan-zang did not stay too long here, and moved onto the larger city of Turpan.

The King of Turpan

The “Flaming Mountains” near the city of Turpan on the Silk Road. Photo by es:User:Colegota, CC BY-SA 2.5 ES, via Wikimedia Commons

The city of Turpan (Uyghur: تۇرپان) also called Tǔlǔfān (吐鲁番) in Chinese was a prosperous city since ancient times, and changed hands often, but since antiquity had a large Chinese community, and considerable Chinese cultural influence, especially compared to cities further west.

The King of Turpan at this time was a devout Buddhist, and gave Xuan-zang a warm welcome upon his arrival, but also pressured him to stay rather than continue his journey. When Xuan-zang politely refused, the King of Turpan begged, cajoled, and threatened him. Xuan-zang was not allowed to leave, and he resorted to fasting to make his point. The king relented, and got Xuan-zang’s promise that he would stay for a month to preach to the people of Turpan, and would return later upon his return trip.

Once this agreement was reached, Xuan-zang stayed as promised. He used this time to explore the area, including the ancient city of Gāochāng (高昌), also known as Qocho, which was the former capital of a once-powerful kingdom, where he gave sermons to audiences there. Archeological excavations have show plenty of evidence of a vibrant Buddhist community at the time.

Remnants of a Buddhist stupa at Gaochang. Photo by Colegota, CC BY-SA 2.5 ES, via Wikimedia Commons

Xuan-zang also likely visted the nearby Bezeklik caves as well:

The Bezeklik Caves as seen from above. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo by T Chu, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Bezeklik caves are a massive grotto that served as a monastery for the local Buddhist monastic community. Many of the walls and ceilings were painted with frescoes of the Buddha, or other famous imagery, though in later generations, these were often defaced or damaged by locals for one reason or another (superstition, religious prohibition against human imagery, or simply raw materials).

A fresco of various buddhas. Notice that the faces have been scratched off. Photo by Colegota, CC BY-SA 2.5 ES, via Wikimedia Commons

Further, European archeologists looted the caves and brought many works of art back to Europe, only for them to be destroyed later in World War II. Thus, very little remains of the artwork now, but what does remain is simply spectacular, and a shining example of the fusion of cultures along the Silk Road at this time.

Bezeklik caves, Pranidhi scene 14, temple 9. Note the Sogdian men depicted in reverence of the Buddha. See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Two Buddhist monks, one Eurasian (possibly Sogdian or Tokharian), and one East Asian. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
A Uyghur prince, photo by The original uploader was Kellerassel at German Wikipedia., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Once Xuan-zang’s month was completed, the King of Turpan made good on his word. He provided Xuan-zang with many goods, supplies and letters of introduction to the kings further along the road. He now traveled with a caravan toward the next city Yānqí (焉耆) known by many other names, including Karasahr (قاراشەھەر in Uyghur) or Agni from the old Tokharian name, but not before being robbed by bandits! Evidentially, the bandits had already killed and robbed an earlier caravan, and were content to be bribed by Xuan-zang’s party and left with no further violence.

Upon reaching the city of Yanqi/Karasahr/Agni, Xuan-zang was said to have received a warm welcome, and described a city with ten different monasteries, and with two thousand monks practicing Hinayana Buddhism.1 He did not have flattering things to say about the king of Yanqi though, and later in 643 when the king broke his allegiance with Great Tang, the emperor Taizong, whom we met in the prologue episode, steamrolled Yanqi’s army and took the king prisoner.

Xuan-zang for his part only stayed for one night and moved on toward the city of Kucha. Kucha is an important city in early Buddhist history, but as we’ll see in our next episode, it was caught in a game of political tug-of-war…

Until the next episode: the Western Turks!

1 The term Hinayana is a loaded term in Buddhism, and frequently misunderstood. It has also been used as a pejorative by Mahayana Buddhists too. Without getting lost in the weeds, think of “Hinayana” Buddhism as any pre-Mahayana Indian-Buddhist school. It is not the same as Theravada Buddhism (the other major branch of Buddhism) since both branches were geographically separate and had little interaction with one another.

The Hidden Treasure of Horyuji

Much of our recent trip to the cities of Kyoto and Nara was planned ahead of time, however, we did have a couple unplanned visits we did that both worked out very well. One of them was the ancient Buddhist temple Horyuji. Horyuji is ancient, even by the standards of Buddhist temples in Japan. It was founded in 607, at a time when the early Japanese Imperial court was first establishing relations with China, and the Korean peninsula.

This is important because Horyuji shows a lot of elements imported from “Kudara” (百済), which was the Japanese word for the Korean kingdom of Baekje,1 and the wider Korean peninsula as a whole. This was a time when the Korean peninsula was not one country, but three major kingdoms, all ethnically Korean, along with several minor fiefdoms, each fighting for survival. Baekje was a particularly rich and developed country with close contacts with Tang-dynasty China, and also with the fledgling Japanese “Yamato” court. It was through Baekje that Buddhism first came to Japan, along with a lot of cultural and technical know-how from the continent. Japan, for its part, often sent military aid and such to help defend Baekje from its rivals.

In any case, Horyuji as a very old temple represents a snapshot in time when Chinese and Korean influences were very strong. The architecture, statues and such all show a combination of local, and imported influences. Further, because the temple was one of several founded by the semi-legendary Prince Shotoku, the temple is a testament to his forward-thinking efforts to reform Japan, in contrast to the reactionary Mononobé Clan whom he defeated in battle.

However, travel warning: Horyuji is kind of out of the way from modern Nara. We had just finished our trip to Todaiji, and with some time to spare, my wife remember a haiku she had learned in school that featured Horyuji. However, it turns out that Horyuji was in a pretty isolated area outside of modern Nara, so getting there from downtown took a 30 minute taxi ride at a cost of ¥7000. We decided to go late in the afternoon, and the taxi driver was noticeably concerned about us heading there so late in the day, but was our only chance to go, so we risked it.2

Horyuji contains several treasure houses, and a museum, with countless artifacts from early Japanese-Buddhist history. Unfortunately, like many temples in Japan cameras are often not allowed, however, the website has many excellent photographs, so I highly recommend perusing the English website.

The temple complex of Horyuji was considerably larger than I first expected:

Steps leading up to the front gate…
Temple courtyard

Because it was so hot, and so late on a weekday, there were very few people there, primarily a school field trip (in the photo above, you can see the teacher carrying an orange flag). To the left you can see a tall pagoda, which in Japanese is called a go-ju-no-tō (五重塔, lit. “five-storied tower”):3

The pagoda above (English description here) is said to be one of the oldest still standing, and buried underneath may be some ashes or bones of the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, himself.

To the right, the Golden Hall (kondō, 金堂):

As the English description explains, this is one of the oldest, extant wooden buildings in Japan. Seeing the “triad” or “trinity” of Shakyamuni Buddha (photos here) enshrined there was amazing. I had often seen photos of it as an example of artwork of the period, but I honestly never imagined I’d see it face to face. I was definitely in awe.

Speaking of which, when people normally think of a trinity, they either think of The Matrix, or of the Holy Trinity in the Christian religion. However, Mahayana Buddhism often paired a particular Buddha with a pair of attendant Bodhisattvas into trinities of its own. Horyuji was unusual in having several such works of art, where most temples might have only one.

For example, in the photos above, you can see a building with white curtains over the entrance. That was the great lecture hall (daikōdō, 大講堂), where a trinity of the Medicine Buddha (photo here) and his two attendant Bodhisattvas was enshrined. I paid obeisance there to help with my gout, which was quite painful that day. I also took home special paper talisman (ofuda) the temple provided against Covid19.

Another statue that really stood out to me was the famous “Kudara Kannon”, a statue of the Bodhisattva Kannon either made in Baekje in the 6th century, or made by artisans imported from Baekje. You can see a photo of it here (scroll down a bit), but it was much taller than I expected. The Kudara Kannon was quite tall and slender, looking down over us, yet serenely beautiful too. It looked fragile, and yet had endured for countless centuries.

In the museum, I also saw an illustrated history of Prince Shotoku, the patron of Horyuji (and of Japanese Buddhism in general) from the 12th century:

Tokyo National Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Someday I will write more about Prince Shotoku, because as a religious figure he is well-known in Japan, but not outside the country. He’s a fascinating figure, but also the his origin story is pretty fascinating too, and shows further fusion of Korean immigrant culture in Japan.

Anyhow, I really wish I could have done more justice to this visit, but the temple website in English is excellent, and the experience was very fascinating as an amateur historian, and Buddhist-nerd.

1 Baekje ultimately fell to Silla, unfortunately. There are plenty of excellent K-Dramas about this historical period in time, by the way. There are plenty of excellent K-Dramas in general, I would argue.

2 Because we were in the middle of nowhere after the temple closed, and no taxis around, getting back to our hotel required some help from locals, who showed us some local buses to use, plus a few transfers. In short: be mindful of the time, and how you get back to Nara if you go to Horyuji. That said, it was definitely worth the visit.

3 The term “pagoda” is something many Westerners are vaguely familiar with, but are unaware of the significance. Many Buddhist temples in antiquity (and sometimes even modern ones), keep a Buddhist “storehouse” of relics, sutras, etc. This is based on the ancient Indian stupa, where relics of Shakyamuni Buddha and his followers were housed, and served as pilgrimage spots. The term pagoda is possibly based on Chinese language, but definitely shows misunderstanding by early European visitors.