Kucha (Kuchar) ( Uig. كۇچار , Chinese р , Pinyin : Kùchē ) is an oasis in the Aksu district of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of the PRC , the administrative center of Kucha County. Population - 70.305 ( 2007 ). Located at an altitude of 1057 m above sea level, at the foot of the Tien Shan.
History
At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. and earlier, the oasis was inhabited by native speakers of Tochar languages - presumably Caucasoid Yuezhi . Heap has long been a thriving city-state and the center of Buddhism on the Great Silk Road . The level of ancient Kuchar art can be judged by the murals of Buddhist cave monasteries located in Kizil (75 km from Kuchi).
Kumarajiva (344-413), the first great translator of Buddhist sutras from Sanskrit to Chinese, was born in Kucha. His father was an Indian, and his mother was a Kuchan princess. He was later abducted and brought to Liangzhou, and then to Chang'an , so that he would translate the code of Buddhist canons.
When in 630 the monk Xuanzan passed these lands, he made a note that two huge thirty-meter Buddha statues stand on both sides of the western gate of Kuchi. Xuanzang also noted:
| The capital in a circle is about 17-18 li [1] . Millet, wheat, and rice are also grown. Bred grapes and pomegranates. Lots of pears, apples and peaches. Local ores are yellow gold, copper, iron, lead and tin. The climate is mild, [the inhabitants of] honest manners. The script is modeled after the Indian, but strongly modified. The art of playing musical instruments is much higher than in other countries. Clothing - from embroidered patterns of wool fabric. Cut hair, wear hats. For trade use gold, silver and small copper coins. The king is from Quizhi, not far from the mind and is influenced by the senior dignitary. According to local custom, when children are born, their heads are squeezed with boards and flattened. There are about 100 monasteries, about 1000 people are monks. They profess the teachings of the "little chariot", the school of sarvastivada. The teachings of the Sutras and the establishments of the Vinaya correspond to Indian patterns: those who study them exactly follow the original scripture. Confessing “gradual teaching”, “three pure [types of meat]” are mixed with food. They are prone to purity, committed to scholarship and in their zeal, compete with the laity [2] . |
In the years 648-649 The heap was conquered by the Chinese empire of Tang [3] . Subsequently, Kucha became dominated by the Uyghurs who became Muslims. In one of the Uigur songs, the beauty of local girls is praised:
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In the XVIII century, one of the Kuchi palaces became the residence of Emperor Qianlong .
According to the Old and New Encyclopedic Dictionaries of F. A. Brockhaus and I. A. Efron, at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries the city of Kucha was surrounded by a high mud wall. The surroundings were well crafted and covered with orchards. Coal, copper, iron, ammonia, sulfur, salt, iron products, and skillfully crafted leather were exported from the city and county. The leather went to Aksu , where high-quality shoes were made from them.
At the beginning of the XX century, Kuchi Buddhist monasteries were visited by two Russian expeditions, French, Anglo-Indian, German and Japanese.
Notes
- ↑ 8-9 km.
- ↑ From the “Notes on the Western countries [era] of the Great Tan” by Xuanzang, translation by Alexandrova (Pretender) N.V.
- ↑ The official conquest of Kuchi ended on January 19, 649.