The Hakubi Project

 It may sound strange if a Japanese researcher went to Germany to study Buddhist Art History – but this is what I did. The reason why I, as an Art-Historian with an expertise on Central Asian Buddhist art, had to go to Europe is deeply entangled with a curious fate of the Buddhist mural paintings of the ancient Kucha Kingdom. Kucha is located at the present Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. Situated at the strategic point of the ancient Silk Road trade network, a unique cultural landscape once flourished in Kucha in which cultural impacts from East and West met and merged. Numerous Buddhist rock monasteries still preserved around the Kucha region bear the witness to the prosperity of the Buddhist monastic culture of this region. About one third of these rock monasteries are gorgeously decorated with wall paintings, as well as statues and wooden architectural components. The so-called “Indo-Iranian Style” paintings from the 5-7th centuries are of the special importance, as they strongly reflect local features and thus can be regarded as a precious repository of information about the historical and social backgrounds of the region. Through the activities of international expeditions at the beginning of the 20th century and the following World War II, the mural fragments of Kucha are now scattered around the world. Along with the introduction to the historical background of Kucha, this seminar will show how to read the “visual language” of these Buddhist mural paintings through some specific examples.