Journal | Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale
Journal issue | 52 | 2016
Research Article | Qizil: an Interpretation of District Six, Caves 109-121 in Gunei
Qizil: an Interpretation of District Six, Caves 109-121 in Gunei
Abstract
For over a century studies on the caves of Kuča were mainly focused on the paintings; little attention has been dedicated to cave architecture, while the way caves related to one another forming a living monastery has gone almost completely unnoticed. In previous studies I proposed a division of the site of Qizil in seven districts: among these, District Six was the one which presented most interpretative difficulties. In recent years the iconography of five painted caves has been the object of many studies, but the remaining 18 undecorated ones have been systematically ignored. Realizing how this district keeps on stimulating art historians’ interest – other relevant studies are presently being carried out – the present work offers a more complete description and analysis by focusing on the unique assemblage of caves and groups of District Six; some essential features never mentioned before are also introduced here. Finally, the provisional interpretation of District Six as a special ritual area will contextualize it in the overall site of Qizil.
Submitted: April 1, 2015 | Accepted: April 14, 2016 | Published June 30, 2016 | Language: en
Keywords Caves function • Meditation cells • Soot • Qizil caves
Copyright © 2016 Giuseppe Vignato. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.14277/2385-3042/AnnOr-52-16-7
