Study On The Development Of The Central Pillar Caves In China

The Central pillar cave is an important type of Buddhist worship caves,which are distributed from the western regions to the northern part of Central Plain,existing for nearly ten centuries.There have been some special studies on the central pillar cave but still a lack of systematic research,so this paper will systematically sort and analyze the evolution of the central pillar caves in China from three parts.Chapter one makes a systematic arrangement of the central pillar caves in China,which are divided into the western region and the inner region in terms of geographical distribution.The development of the central pillar cave in western region is divided into four periods,the mid-4th to the 5th century is the initial period,the first batch of central-pillar caves were excavated in the Kizil and Semsem caves.The middle of the 6th to 7th centuries is the prosperous period,the central pillar caves were generally excavated in the caves of Kucha,and further extended to the east area,Karasahr and Gaochang.Some changes took place in the period of the late 7th to the mid 9th century,characterized by the infiltration of Mahayana Buddhism and the decline of Kizil caves.From the mid-9th to 13 th century,the central pillar caves declined and showed a blend of Kucha?Chinese and Uyghur Khaganate arts.The inner region is divided into three periods,from the beginning of the 5th century to the early 6th century,which is equivalent to the Northern Wei Dynasty and the Western Wei Dynasty.Hexi was the first to excavate the central pillar caves.In the middle of Northern Wei Dynasty,the central pillar caves came to properous in Yungang caves and Dunhuang caves,and later were wildly excavated in various places from Hexi to Central Plain,and around the western part of Liaoning Province,even northernsichuan,with the diversity and creativity in shape.From the middle of the 6th century to the beginning of the 7th century,equals to Northern Zhou Dynasty and Northern Qi Dynasty to Sui dynasty,there was an obvious reduce in the scope and quantity of the central pillar caves,and the shape tended to be simplified and further sinicized.From the early 7th century to the 13 th century,equal to the Tang and Song dynasties,the buddhist temple caves became the mainstream,with only scattered excavation of the central pillar caves,concentrated in Dunhuang caves and buddhist caves in Shaanxi.Chapter two focuses on the the shape and structure of the central pillar caves.The central pillar caves in India are known as the chaitya,characterized by directly buliding the stupa in cave,rather than the central pillar,which is just the significant difference between the central pillar cave and the chaitya,and different styles were formed in western regions,Hexi and Central Plain respectively.Kizil is the typical representative of the central pillar caves in the western regions,creating a long-shaped cave,coupon arch roof,and mushroom-shaped central pillar with an open niche on the front and murals on the other walls,three low aisles around the central pillar form a roundabout.This style has been replaced by an independent central pillar in inner region,the multi-storied square pillar with niches and statues on all sides were first developed in Hexi area,but there are still some remnants of the arched passage of the Kizil cave.Yungang caves and Gongxian caves are the representatives of the central pillar caves in Central Plain.In Yungang caves,it's even more pronounced that the central pillar simulates the multi-storied pagodas,and there are a lot of wooden-like structures in Yungang central pillar caves,show a clear tendency of sinicization,which have profound influence on the central pillar caves of the Northern Dynasty.The central pillar caves in Gongxian caves combine the central pillar with the Chinese bed-curtain to form a square pillars with wooden-like drapery,such a style reaches its height in the central pillar caves of the Northern Zhou and northern Qi dynasties,which is the fully sinicized form of chinese central pillar caves.Chapter three studies the image configuration and the faith theme of the central pillar caves.The excavation of the central pillar caves is closely related to the monks practice of early Buddhist Meditation.The frescoes and statues in the cave are themain objects of Buddhist Meditation.Due to the differences in Buddhist beliefs,in the western regions and the interior of China,there are also obvious differences in the image configuration of the central pillar caves.Buddhism in the western regions comes directly from the Kophen Buddhism,where the Meditation Practice of the Hinayana has a profound influence.The image arrangement of the central pillar cave highlights the theme of the Hinayana,which is based on the principle of "only Buddha",emphasizing the belief of Nirvana.The prosperity of the Central pillar caves in the mainland was directly related to the Mahayana Zen of the Sixteen Kingdoms Period and Northern Dynasties as they provided the main place for the monks to view the Buddha and meditation.Nirvana and Maitreya beliefs were emphasized in the Hexi region,where the murals in the caves revolve around the Buddhas of Three Periods and Thousand Buddhas.In Central Plain,the combination of Prabhutaratna Buddha,Bodhisattva Maitreya and Buddha is the main image theme.In the late period of the Northern Dynasty,with the retreat of the early meditation thoughts,the Mahayana theory such as the Sukhavati and the Hua Yan flourished in the north,which had an impact on the early practice of ascetic meditation,the central pillar caves could not meet the needs of the secular public,and the sinicization and secularization of Buddhism reached its peak in the Tang and Song Dynasties,the original meaning of the central pillar caves finally disappeared.As a main form of the early Buddhist worship caves,the central pillar caves have a limited development in India and G?ndh?ra,which are the original places of Buddhist art,but undergone nearly ten centuries of development in China.In this process,the Central pillar caves in the Western Regions and the interior of China show the differences in the structure,the main theme of belief and the overall development vein.Generally speaking,the Buddhist culture in the western region is more original and independent,while the inland Buddhist culture has been developing toward sinicization and secularization since its introduction,the development of the central pillar cave is a vivid portrayal of this process.