Xinjiang is situated at the hinterland of Eurasia, with three routes of the famous Silk Road traversing this region. Located at the heart of the most important economic and cultural exchanges between East and West, Xinjiang has since ancient times been in close contact with the Central Plain, Mongolia, Siberia, Central Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, West Asia, and Europe. In particular, the connection between Xinjiang and the Central Plains is the closest. The Silk Roads are passages for transporting and trading goods, but along with the material goods came culture and religion.

Kumarajiva's translation of Buddhist sutras

Buddhism was introduced to China through the Silk Road in the Han dynasty (202 BC–AD 220), greatly influencing the Western Regions on its way to spreading throughout the entire of China. However, the transmission of Buddhism was not a one-way process. One should not underestimate the backflow of Chinese Buddhism along with the frequent exchanges between the cultures of the Central Plains and Western Regions, which has a long history. Since ancient times, the Gaochang region (present Turpan), which held the eastern entrance to the Western Regions, had witnessed exchanges with people from the Central Plains. In the 2nd century, large-scale translation work of Buddhist sutras began in the Central Plains. Some of these classics spread to Gaochang with little impact. By the 3rd century, the Buddhist communities in the Central Plains, such as the one in Luoyang, had close ties with those in the Western Regions, and Chinese Buddhism began to flow back to Gaochang during this period.

Starting with Kumarajiva (343–413), a prominent monk who lived in Qiuci (Kucha) in the Eastern Jin dynasty, we can trace the route of religious and cultural exchanges between Xinjiang and the Central Plains. Dozens of Buddhist sutras unearthed in Gaochang were identified (from their title inscriptions or their contents, as well as from other historical records) as being Kumarajiva's translations (including co-translations). The most significant of these is the Saddharmapundarika Sutra, and the majority of its copies dated from the Gaochang period of Ju (499–640). By comparing these manuscripts with the Chinese Tripitaka it can be seen that Kumarajiva's translations were introduced from the Central Plains to the Western Regions at a fast pace and without too many restrictions or obstacles.

In addition, of all the Buddhist sutras in either Sanskrit or Chinese found throughout the Western Regions, the majority come from the Saddharmapundarika Sutra. Among them, more than 1000 manuscripts were translated by Kumarajiva. What's more, more than 200 manuscripts by Kumarajiva were discovered in Dunhuang, and more than 60 paintings of the Saddharmapundarika Sutra in Dunhuang were painted according to Kumarajiva's manuscripts. The spread of the Chinese versions of sutra scripts across the Western Regions also indirectly confirms that the Central Plains culture interacted with the culture of the Western Regions through the medium of Buddhist classics.

The Mo'er Temple ruins serve as compelling evidence

The ruins of Mo'er Temple are located 4.5 kilometers from Mo'er Village, northeast of Shule County in Kashi, unveiled relics of Buddhist temples and pagodas, and demonstrated the influence of Central Plains culture, as well as that of Indian Buddhist traditions and local features, serving as an important example of the deep integration of these three elements in the westernmost region of China.

The Kashi Museum cherishes the remains of a statue of Buddha's heads from the ruins of the Mo'er Temple, collected in the 1980s and 1990s. The design of these heads is similar to those of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386–534).

After the reign of Emperor Taiwu, Buddhism experienced a revival in the Northern Wei Dynasty (386–534). The important areas of Buddhism in the Western regions, such as Shanshan, Qiuci (Kucha), Shule (Kashi), Sogdiana and Khotan (Hetian), all maintained a close relationship with the Northern Wei Dynasty. As a result, Buddhist statues that were popular in the Northern Wei Dynasty were likely to have spread to the area where the site of Mo'er Temple was located. Therefore, the archaeological findings there can be said to support the close connection between the cultures of the Central Plains and of Xinjiang.

Much later, in the Yuan Dynasty (1206–1368), the Uighur Buddhists made use of the printing technology in the Central Plains to print a large number of Buddhist documents, which further promoted the spread of Buddhism. These printed copies are great in number and variety, and basically belong to the Chinese Buddhist system.

The aforementioned sutra copies were mainly printed in Dadu (present-day Beijing), Shangdu (present-day Inner Mongolia), and Dunhuang, among other places. Some of the copies contained Chinese characters, and some had all the page numbers written in Chinese characters. For example, the ninth page of a fragment of the Twenty-One Praise Sutras for Tara contained the engraver's name "王五" ("Wang Wu"), while other pages had names such as "陈宁刊" ("Chen Ning Kan"). Apparently, at that time, Han people also helped with the printing of Uighur Buddhist sutras.

In 1981, more than 1,000 Buddhist scriptures were unearthed in the Bezeklik Grottoes in Turpan, most of which were Chinese scripts. These Buddhist scriptures came from all over the Central Plains yet converged in Gaochang, indicating that the Gaochang Uighurs continued to introduce many woodblock-printed copies of the Chinese Tripitaka from the Central Plains until the 12th century.

As late as in the 14th century, many stone inscriptions were still contained scripts both in Chinese and Uighur, with the Chinese script generally on the front, including the Stele for the repair of Manjusri Temple inscribed in 1326, the Monument of merits for the Iduq-qut, the ruler of Gaochang inscribed in 1334, and the Stele of the successive inheritance of the Grand Official at Suzhoulu in the Yuan Dynasty inscribed in 1361.

The localization of Religion

Some Western media claim that the Chinese expression of Islam in Xinjiang is assimilation by eliminating cultural differences. This is ridiculous.

In fact, Buddhism and other major religions throughout the world have been able to spread widely because they are all able to adapt to different cultures, nations, countries, and social circumstances and achieve religious localization.

For example, Christianity has also changed under the culture influence. Modern Christians in the West may support the ordination of women and same-sex marriage, while African churches may resist these changes.

Therefore, the relationship between Islam and Chinese culture in Xinjiang can be seen as the Chinese expression of the localization of Islam. It is not just Islam which has been localized and absorbed by Chinese people, but also Buddhism, and Christianity. This is a universal law for all the religions in the world.

The author is Peng Wuqing, Dean of the School of Political Science and Law, Xinjiang Normal University.

Liu Xian /Editor    Xue Wensi /Translator

Yang Xinhua /Chief Editor    Liu Xian /Coordination Editor

Liu Li /Reviewer

Zhang Weiwei /Copyeditor    Tan Yujie /Image Editor

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