Kizil Caves

Kizil Caves
قىزىل مىڭ ئۆي (Uyghur)
克孜尔千佛洞 (Chinese)
Kizil Caves on the edge of the Tarim Basin. The Western Group of caves (caves 1–80) is seen at the forefront in perspective, while the Eastern Group (caves 136–201) appears far right in the background. The modern structures at the center approximately correspond to Caves 1 to 30.
Kizil Caves is located in Continental Asia
Kizil Caves
Shown within Continental Asia
Kizil Caves is located in China
Kizil Caves
Kizil Caves (China)
Kizil Caves is located in Xinjiang
Kizil Caves
Kizil Caves (Xinjiang)
LocationXinjiang, China
Coordinates41°47′04″N 82°30′17″E / 41.78444°N 82.50472°E / 41.78444; 82.50472
Kizil Caves
Uyghur name
Uyghurقىزىل مىڭ ئۆي
Transcriptions
Latin YëziqiQizil Ming Öy
Yengi YeziⱪⱩizil Ming Ɵy
Siril YëziqiҚизил Миң өй
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese克孜尔千佛洞
Traditional Chinese克孜爾千佛洞
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinKèzī'ěr Qiānfú Dòng
IPA[kʰɤ̂tsɹ̩́àɚ tɕʰjɛ́nfǔ tʊ̂ŋ]

The Kizil Caves (also romanized as Qizil or Qyzyl; Uyghur: قىزىل مىڭ ئۆي, lit.'The Thousand Red Houses'; Chinese: 克孜尔千佛洞; lit. 'Kizil Caves of the Thousand Buddhas') are a set of Buddhist rock-cut caves located near Kizil Township (克孜尔乡; Kèzī'ěr Xiāng) in Baicheng County, Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, China. The site is located on the northern bank of the Muzat River 65 kilometres (75 km by road) west of Kucha.[1][2] This area was a commercial hub of the Silk Road.[3] The caves have an important role in Central Asian art and in the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism, and are said to be the earliest major Buddhist cave complex in China, with development occurring between the 3rd and 8th centuries CE.[3] The caves of Kizil are the earlier of their type in China, and their model was later adopted in the construction of Buddhist caves further east.[4] Another name for the site has been Ming-oi (明屋), although this term is now mainly used for the site of Shorchuk to the east.[5]

The Kizil Caves were inscribed in 2014 on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor World Heritage Site.[6]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference tokharian was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Kezil Thousand-Buddha Grottoes". xinjiang.gov. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
  3. ^ a b "Kizil Thousand-Buddha Cave". Retrieved 2007-08-05.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Rowland, Benjamin (1975). The art of Central Asia. New York, Crown. p. 154.
  6. ^ "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 17 Apr 2021.