001 Grottoes Kizil Thousand-Buddha Caves Researchers date the earliest excavation of Kizil to the end of the third century CE, yet no stele bearing a direct date survives. Buddhist imagery from India, Gandhāra, and the Iranian plateau reached Kucha along the Silk Road and was painted onto the cave walls; Xuanzang's westward journey and Wukong's return east with Sanskrit scriptures made Kucha a way-station where monks and texts met in passing. More than a thousand years later the Huijiang Tongzhi still records that there were “several hundred caves,” only by then the five-colored buddhas on the walls had grown “blurred and peeling.” Western Jin Dynasty Kizil Township, Baicheng (Bay) County, Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Kizil Thousand-Buddha Caves · Kizil Caves · Grottoes →
002 Grottoes Bingling Grottoes The Bingling Temple Grottoes are carved into the cliff face on the north bank of the Yellow River in Yongjing County, Linxia, Gansu. The Tibetan word “Bingling” means “where one hundred thousand Maitreya Buddhas dwell.” The Shuijing Zhu records many stone chambers in the cliffs here, called “Tangshu Caves” (ghost caves) by the Qiang people. In Cave 169 an ink inscription reading “first year of Jianhong” (Western Qin, 420 CE) was discovered, one of the earliest known dated inscriptions in Chinese grottoes. After the Liujiaxia Reservoir filled in 1968, the site can only be reached by boat. Sixteen Kingdoms-Western Qin Yongjing County, Linxia City, Gansu Grottoes · Western Qin · Gansu →
003 Architecture Small Wild Goose Pagoda The Small Wild Goose Pagoda stands within the Jianfu Temple in Xi'an. Built during the Jinglong era of the Tang dynasty with funds contributed by palace women, it originally had fifteen stories. According to the Shaanxi Tongzhi (Shaanxi Provincial Gazetteer), the Yimao earthquake of the Jiajing era split the pagoda in two, and the Guihai earthquake reunited it. During Wang Fuchen's rebellion the pagoda split again, and after the rebellion was quelled it returned to its former state. The temple buildings were completely destroyed during the Jurchen-era migration, leaving only the brick pagoda standing. Tang Dynasty Xi'an, Shaanxi Province Small Wild Goose Pagoda · Jianfu Temple · Xi'an →
004 Architecture Xingjiao Temple Pagodas The Xingjiao Temple Pagodas stand within Xingjiao Temple on the Shaoling Plateau in Xi'an. They are the collective designation for the three relic-burial pagodas of Xuanzang, Kuiji, and Woncheuk. The Xuanzang Pagoda occupies the center and is somewhat larger, erected when the temple was founded in the 2nd year of Zongzhang (669 CE); the Kuiji and Woncheuk pagodas flank it on either side and are somewhat smaller. The pagoda inscriptions of Xuanzang and Kuiji are Tang originals carved in the 4th year of Kaicheng; the Woncheuk inscription stone was broken and what is now embedded on the pagoda is a later re-carving. Tang Dynasty Chang'an District, Xi'an, Shaanxi Xingjiao Temple Pagodas · Xingjiao Temple · Xuanzang →