Introducing Kuqa
Grimy strip-mall-modern meets traditional donkey carts amid dusty poverty in Kuqa (Kùchē), a former Buddhist city-state and oasis on the ancient Silk Road. Here Kumarajiva (AD 344?−413), the first great translator of Buddhist sutras from Sanskrit into Chinese, was born to an Indian father and Kuqean princess, before later being abducted to Dūnhuáng and then Cháng’ān to manage translations of the Buddhist canon. When the 7th-century monk Xuan Zang passed through, he recorded that two enormous 30m-high Buddha statues flanked Kuqa’s western gate, and that the nearby monasteries held over 5000 monks.
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Last updated: Jun 3, 2009
Thorn Tree forum discussion
Recent posts
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Re: Xinjiang off the beaten path
by jan83 09 August 2011
Quick observations for other major places along the way: *Sayram lake* - absolutely beautiful if the sun is shining. Weather changes…
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Re: southern silk route closed?
by danglik 02 August 2011
Hi all, there is not any restrictions to visit the cities and towns along Sothern Silk Road, you can visit Kashgar, Yarkant, Hotan, Keriya…
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Re: Xinjiang off the beaten path
by jan83 02 August 2011
I plan to go from Ily (Yining) to Kuqa via the Bayanbulak grassland. 1) Anybody took the road recently? How long does it take and how…
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