Subashi Temple

Subashi Buddhist Temple Ruins - East Area

Subashi Buddhist Temple Ruins - West Area

The Subashi Temple is a ruined Buddhist temple near Kucha in the Taklamakan Desert, on the ancient Silk Road, in Xinjiang, Western China. The city was partly excavated by the Japanese archaeologist Count Otani.

Other famous sites nearby are the Kizilgaha caves, the Kumtura Caves, the Kizil Caves and the Simsim caves.^[1] These sites and others along the Silk Road were inscribed in 2014 on the UNESCO World Heritage List as the Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor World Heritage Site.^[2]

A sarira, a Buddhist relic box of the 6th–7th century, discovered in Subashi shows Central Asian men in long tunics, reminiscent of other friezes which have been called Tocharian.

The "Witch of Subashi" is another famous archaeological artifact, the mummy of a woman with a huge pointed hat, thought to be a representative of early Caucasian populations who lived in the region around the beginning of our era.

Sarira casket from Subashi. Wood covered with hemp and painted. 6th-7th century. Otani Collection. Tokyo National Museum.
Central Asian men, detail of Sarira box.
Central Asian men, detail of Sarira box.
Subashi painting, 6th-7th century CE.^[3]

References[]

^ (Other than Kizil)... "The nearby site of Kumtura contains over a hundred caves, forty of which contain painted murals or inscriptions. Other cave sites near Kucha include Subashi, Kizilgaha, and Simsim." in Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press. p. 438. ISBN 978-1-4008-4805-8.
^ "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.
^ Turner, Jane (Ed.). The dictionary of art. New York : Grove's Dictionaries. p. 312. ISBN 978-1-884446-00-9.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)

External links[]

The Subashi casket at the Tokyo National Museum

Coordinates: 41°51′21″N 83°02′49″E / 41.85583°N 83.04694°E / 41.85583; 83.04694

This Chinese location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

This Xinjiang location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

This article about a Buddhist place of worship is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

[1] (Other than Kizil)... "The nearby site of Kumtura contains over a hundred caves, forty of which contain painted murals or inscriptions. Other cave sites near Kucha include Subashi, Kizilgaha, and Simsim." in Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press. p. 438. ISBN 978-1-4008-4805-8.

[2] "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.

[3] Turner, Jane (Ed.). The dictionary of art. New York : Grove's Dictionaries. p. 312. ISBN 978-1-884446-00-9.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)

[1]

[2]

[3]