Senmusaimu Thousand Buddha Caves

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The Thousand Buddha Caves of Senmusaimu ( Chinese  森 木 塞姆 千佛洞 , Pinyin Sēnmùsāimǔ Qiānfó Dòng , English Senmusaimu Thousand Buddha Caves ), the cave temples of Simsim (or Sim-sim) or simply Senmusaimu grottoes ( 森 木 塞姆 石窟 , Sēnmùsāimǔ shíkū , English Senmusaimu Caves / Senmusaimu Grottoes ) in Kuqa County (Kutscha), Xinjiang , China, are among the more famous Buddhist cave temples on the Silk Road . They date from the time of the Wei to Jin and Sui to Tang dynasties , most of the wall paintings are from the time of the Southern and Northern Dynasties , the latest belonging to the era of the Gaochang Kingdom (Huihu Gaochang).

They are located about 40 km northeast of Kutscha near a Hanzeit signal station in the small valley of Kirisch-Simsim. Most of them are defaced and only remnants of the former wall paintings can be seen there.

The German research team under Albert Grünwedel , Albert von Le Coq , H. Pohrt and Theodor Bartus came through here in 1906 on the third German Turfan expedition (December 1905 - April 1907) and took some wall paintings with them.

The site was added to the list of monuments of the People's Republic of China in Xinjiang (4-189) in 1996.

literature

  • Zhongguo Xinjiang Bihua Quanji 5: Keziergaha Senmusaimu 中国 新疆 壁画 全集 5: 克孜尔 尕 哈 森 木 赛姆 [Complete Collection of Xinjiang Murals 5: Keziergaha Senmusaimu Grottoes] 中国 壁画 全集 编辑 委员会 Zhongguo Bihua Quanji Bianji. Tianjin, 1995; ISBN 7531412969 (Tianjin Renmin Meishu 天津 人民 美术)
  • Peter Hopkirk : Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia . The University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst 1980, ISBN 0-87023-435-8 .
    • Peter Hopkirk: The Silk Road. In search of lost treasures in Chinese Central Asia , translated from the English by Hans Jürgen Baron von Koskull. rororo, Reinbek near Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-499-18564-4 .
  • Zhongguo da baike quanshu : Kaoguxue (Great Chinese Encyclopedia: Volume Archeology). Beijing: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe, 1986

Web links

Coordinates: 41 ° 46 ′ 5.9 ″  N , 83 ° 23 ′ 56 ″  E