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Kucha (Modern Chinese Simplified: 库车, Traditional: 庫車, pinyin ku che, also romanized Chiu-tzu, Kiu-che, Kuei-tzu. Ancient Chinese 屈支 屈茨; 龜弦; 丘玆, also Po (bai in pinyin?)) was an ancient Buddhist kingdom located on the branch of the Silk Road that ran along the northern edge of the Taklamakan desert in the Tarim basin. (The area lies in present day Xinjiang, China). It was active from around the second to the eighth centuries.
Kucha was strongly influenced by Indian thought, and Indian kings are said to have reigned there.
Kucha and Buddhism
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 Shravakayana branch but 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, 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
- Ta-mu had 170 monks
- 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.
- Another monastery, founded by the king of Wen-Su (Uch-Turfan) had 70 monks.
Nunneries
There were two nunneries at A-li (Avanyaka):
- Liun-jo-kan: 50 nuns
- 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 Jīva retired.
Monks
Po-Yen
A monk from the royal family known as Po-Yen travelled to the Chinese capital, Luoyang, from 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-Śrīmitra was another Kuchean monk who traveled to China from 307-312 and translated three Buddhist texts.
Po-Yen
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.
Neighbors
The kingdom bordered Aksu then Kashgar to the west, and Karasahr then Turfan to the east. Across the desert to the south was Khotan.
Timeline
Sources
References
- Puri, B. N. Buddhism in Central Asia, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, Delhi, 1987. (2000 reprint)
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