Essays and Studies in the Art of Kucha (Leipzig Kucha Studies 1)

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About the Book The series Leipzig Kucha Studies, in which seventeen volumes are planned, aims at publishing the results of the long-term research project (2016-2030) "Buddhist Murals of Kucha on the Northern Silk Road". The project, conducted under the auspices of the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig, focuses on an impressive corpus of wall paintings datable to approximately the fifth to tenth centuries CE and located in the Buddhist cave complexes of the ancient kingdom of Kucha on the Northern Silk Road. These narrative and devotional paintings form one of the most important sources for our understanding of the religious and intellectual history of Buddhism in Central Asia during the first millennium. The project is devoted to recording and annotating all surviving paintings of the region, including the fragments that were removed from their original sites as well as destroyed murals from which only drawings and historical photographs remain.

The first study by Ines Konczak-Nagel, "Painted Buddhist Cosmology: The Pictorial Programme of Central Pillar Caves in Kizil", demonstrates how Buddhist cosmology, always seen in connection with the Buddhist path of salvation, is represented in the selection of topics and the arrangement of paintings on the cave walls.

The second study by the same author, "Re presentations of Architecture and Architectural Elements in the Wall Paintings of Kucha", is part of an ongoing extensive analysis of the material culture depicted in the paintings. The architecture represented provides insights into the local Tocharian architecture of Kucha, which has since disappeared.

The study of Monika Zin, "The Monk Kasyapa in Kucha, the First Council, and the Furtherance of Buddhist Teaching" examines the inclusion of multi-scenic representations of the first council at Rajagṛha into the sequence of paintings illustrating the events connected with Buddha's death. There is good reason to believe that the monk Mahākāśyapa who according to legend convoked the council was worshipped in Kucha as a saintly guardian watching over the perpetuation of the Buddhist teachings.

About the Authors Ines Konczak-Nagel graduated in Indian Art History at Freie Universität Berlin before serving for two years as Assistant Curator at the Museum of Indian Art in Berlin. She received her Ph.D. from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich for a thesis on representations of the prophecy of Šakyamuni's Buddhahood in the wall paintings of modern Xinjiang, she worked at the Museum of Asian Art in Berlin and taught South and Central Asian Art History at the Leipzig University. Since January 2016 she is research associate in the project "Buddhist Murals of Kucha on the Northern Silk Road" at the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig.

Monika Zin studied Art History, Indology and Dramatics in Krakow and Munich. Between 1994 and 2016 she taught Indian Art History in Munich at the Institute of Indology, Ludwig Maximilian University. Since April 2016 Professor Zin is team leader of the Research Centre "Buddhist Murals of Kucha on the Northern Silk Road" at the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig. Her scholarly contributions include numerous articles on the identification of narratives in early Indian Art and several monographs: Ajanta -Handbuch der Malereien, 2: Devotionale und ornamentale Malereien (2003, English version to be published by IGNCA), Mitleid und Wunderkraft. Schwierige Bekehrungen und ihre Ikonographie im indischen Buddhismus (2006), Samsara cakra (2007, with Dieter Schlingloff). The Kanaganahalli Stūpa (2018).

Foreword The present book - the first of seventeen volumes scheduled for the series "Leipzig Kucha Studies" unites the first results of the long term research project (2016-2030) "Buddhist Murals of Kucha on the Northern Silk Road" that appear in print. The project, conducted under the auspices of the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig, focuses on an impressive corpus of wall paintings datable to approximately the fifth to tenth centuries CE and located in the Buddhist cave complexes of the ancient kingdom of Kucha (Kuča) on the Northern Silk Road, the present-day Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. These narrative and devotional paintings form one of the most important sources for our understanding of the religious and intellectual history of Buddhism in Central Asia during the first millennium.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages