Kucha monastic cluster, (towards) Kuqa, Xinjiang, CN

Raw data

Kucha monastery. Sarvastivadin tradition in place in the time of Xuanzang.
- Foltz (1999:49).

Kumarajiva (b. 344) of Kucha [with a Sarvastivadin monastery] studied Mahayana works in Kashmir. He "became a proponent of the Mahayana approach on his return to Kucha. He was taken forcibly to the Chinese capital Lo-yang in 402, where he stayed until his death in 412 or 415. Some 300 translations of Buddhist texts into Chinese are attributed to him." - Foltz (1999:51).

"(3) Kucha/Guici: Iranians, Indians, and Tokharians lived together in this city. The city maintained contacts with India. For example, the famous translator monk Kumarajiva of the fourth century CE is from Guici in Kucha. According to his biography, his father was an Indian who came to Kucha and married a daughter of the king’s family. As a child, he was sent to north Indian countries to study. He later became famous in China as a translator of Buddhist scriptures. This shows that there existed a strong international network of Buddhist society at that time. It also reflects the rich international flavor of the city. Many Indian Buddhist scriptures (mainly of Nikaya texts) as well as some Buddhist texts in the Tokharian language were discovered here. On the outskirts of Kucha, in Kizil and Qumtura, many cave temples with wall paintings were constructed."
(Kudara 2002a:99-100)

Input by: tmciolek, Apr 25, 2009

"Buddhism was introduced to Kucha before the end of the 1st century, however it was not until the 3rd century that the kingdom became a major center of Buddhism, primarily the Sarvastivada school of the Sthavira or Sravakayana branch, but eventually also Mahayana. (In this respect it differed from Khotan, a Mahayana-dominated kingdom on the southern side of the desert.)
According to the Chinese Book of Jin [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Jin], during the third century there were nearly one thousand Buddhist stupas and temples in Kucha. At this time, Kuchanese monks began to travel to China. The fourth century saw yet further growth for Buddhism within the kingdom. The palace was said to resemble a Buddhist monastery, displaying carved stone Buddhas, and monasteries around the city were numerous.

Monasteries

  1. Ta-mu had 170 monks
  2. Che-hu-li on Po-shan (Chinese 白山?; pinyin: bai shan?), a hill to the north of the town, had 50 or 60 monks.
  3. Another monastery, founded by the king of Wen-Su (Uch-Turpan) had 70 monks.

Nunneries
There were two nunneries at A-li (Avanyaka):

  1. Liun-jo-kan: 50 nuns
  2. A-li-po: 30 nuns

Another nunnery, Tsio-li, was 40 li north of Kucha and is famous as the place where Kumārajīva's mother Jiva retired.

Monks
Po-Yen
A monk from the royal family known as Po-Yen travelled to the Chinese capital, Luoyang, from AD 256-260. He translated six Buddhist texts to Chinese in 258 at China's famous White Horse Temple, including the Infinite Life Sutra, an important sutra in the Pure Land Buddhism.

Po-Po-Śrīmitra
Po-Po-Śrīmitra was another Kuchean monk who traveled to China from 307-312 and translated three Buddhist texts.

Po-Yen2
A second Kuchean Buddhist monk known as Po-Yen also went to Liangzhou (the Wuwei region of modern Gansu), China and is said to have been well-respected, although he is not known to have translated any texts."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kucha#Monasteries

Input by: tmciolek, Dec 16, 2009

Final data (and their sources)

Last updated: 07 Sep 2013

Lat/Long coordinates' accuracy:
The monastery in question is assumed to be situated actually no farther than 20 km from the point defined by the coordinates below.

Location of Kucha monastic cluster, CN.

General location of the Kucha monastic cluster, CN.
lat=41.7278 long=82.9364
Mapping & images: Falling Rain Genomics (http://www.fallingrain.com), 2009.


Google Map link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=41.7278+82.9364+(Approx.%20loc.%20of%20the%20Kucha%20monastic%20cluster,%20CN)&ll=41.7278,82.9364&spn=05.0,05.0&t=k&hl=en


Final data - explanatory notes

1. Monastery's name

  • Kucha monastic cluster

2. Monastery's modern country & province

  • China:Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu

3. Monastery's alternative/historical names

  • [missing data]

4. Monastery's lat/long coordinates


5. Other known nearby Buddhist monasteries

  • [missing data]

6. Modern name of the known nearest city, town, or village


7. The settlement's alternative/historical names


8. The settlement's coordinates


9. Monastery's major Buddhist tradition


10. Monastery's Buddhist sub-tradition

  • Sarvastivada - Foltz (1999:49)

11. Date-early

MBM chrono-tag 0200-32p 0233-66c 0367-99p - tmciolek 07 Sep 2013
0200-32p 0233-66c 0267-99c 0300-32c 0333-66c 0367-99c 0400-32c 0433-66c 0467-99c 0500-32c 0533-66c 0567-99c 0600-32c 0633-66c 0667-99p dated-ex


12. Date-intermediate

  • 630's, the time of Xuanzang - Foltz (1999:49)

MBM chrono-tag 0633-66c 0667-99p - tmciolek 07 Sep 2013


13. Date-late

  • [missing data]

14. Details of contacts with other monasteries

  • "A monk from the royal family known as Po-Yen travelled to the Chinese capital, Luoyang, from AD 256-260. He translated six Buddhist texts to Chinese in 258 at China's famous White Horse Temple [i.e. Baima monastery], including the Infinite Life Sutra, an important sutra in the Pure Land Buddhism." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kucha#Monasteries
  • "A second Kuchean Buddhist monk known as Po-Yen (#2 - tmciolek) also went to Liangzhou (the Wuwei region of modern Gansu), China and is said to have been well-respected, although he is not known to have translated any texts." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kucha#Monasteries

15. Type of evidence regarding the monastery

  • Chinese texts.

16. Additional notes

  • [missing data] (incl. details of the size of the monastic population)

17. Corrections & addenda to this page were kindly provided by

  • [missing data]

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