Chinese government historians and archaeologists declare the history of Buddhism in the Uyghur region before Islam as a part of Chinese Buddhism and Buddhist traditions, and even state that some Buddhist ruins in the region belong to Chinese dynasties. and relations, especially about the origins of Uyghur Buddhism, are controversial. In promoting this view, Chinese government archaeologists present the ruins of Mora Buddha Temple, 4.5 kilometers outside Mor Village within the borders of Bashkeram Village, Kashgar, as one of the typical archeological traces representing this view.
According to the news about this published on the social media platform of the Chinese channel "China Road", from several archaeological excavations carried out since 2019 for the Mora Buddha Temple, the initial form of this temple, which was built in the 3rd century AD, was based on the local architectural features of Central Asia, India and Kashmir. Although it has, but later it gradually began to change to Chinese architecture, especially in the period from the 7th century to the 10th century, it was found that this characteristic was particularly reflected, and it was argued that Chinese Buddhism became fashionable in this place.
According to the report, archaeologists have found that the Chinese Buddhist architectural style of the temple reflects the main worship hall built in the late 7th century, and historians have suggested that the temple was built under the orders of Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty and that there are historical records that it was administered by a Chinese monk. However, Western archaeologists and Buddhist researchers believe that Buddhism began to spread to the Uyghur region from the Kushan Empire period, and that the Buddhist temples and Buddhist centers in Hotan, Kucha, Karanagara and other places in the region began to fall into disrepair after the 9th century, and from the Karakhanid era. Gandhara Buddhism, which belongs to the Indo-Greek Buddhist culture of that time, has proven to be the source of Buddhism and has a close connection with it.
The presentation of Uyghur Buddhism by Chinese government archaeologists as a part of Chinese Buddhism, the Chinese government's efforts to sinicize Uyghur land since 2017 have intensified, and its re-evaluation of Uyghur history is becoming widely accepted as a part of the consciousness of the "Commonwealth of the Chinese Nation". Presenting at the same time. However, Johan Elverskog, a professor of history at Southern Methodist University in the United States, a religious researcher, and the author of the book "History of Uyghur Buddhism" denies that the Han or Tang dynasties spread or expanded Buddhism in the Uyghur region.
Johan Elverskog pointed out that historical documents show that Buddhism spread to the Uyghur region from Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan, and documents in Iranian languages did not show that Hotan adopted Buddhism as the official state religion in the 2nd-3rd centuries AD. He emphasizes that many religious texts were translated into Hotan language at that time, and that the ancient Hotan state played a great role in the spread of Buddhism in the region.
Johan Elverskog told us in an exclusive interview about this last week: "They (the monastery) strongly supported the emergence of Buddhism in the region at that time. Of course, while the Chinese claim that Buddhism originated in the region during the Han Dynasty and that the Han Dynasty controlled the region for a time, the Chinese also entered the region during the Tang Dynasty, but this entry was of a military nature. Their occupation of these places was ``colonial agriculture'' in order to cultivate the barren land that was used to support the military. So, they never built a real Buddhist temple in the area."
Johan Elverskog pointed out that although Wu Zetian, the famous queen of the transition period of the Tang Dynasty, supported Buddhism, it was not possible for the Tang Dynasty to build a temple in a country like the West Country at that time. Johan Elverskog said: "Of course, the famous Queen Wu (Zetian) at that time supported Buddhism on purpose, but this did not mean that she supported Buddhism in a country like Xinjiang. It was not possible for the Tang Dynasty to build a temple in a country like West Diyar at that time.
However, in Chinese state media, historians claim that late 7th- and early 8th-century Tang Dynasty empress Wu Zetian ordered the construction of four "Da Yun Temples" in Anxi, and that one of the four temples is the Mora Buddha Ruins near Kashgar Bashkeram. However, Dr. Qahar Barat, a researcher of Buddhist culture in the United States, emphasizes that the Buddhist culture of Hotan, Kashgar, and Kucha Qatar is a fragment of the Hindu-Greek Gandhara Buddhist culture that existed in present-day Pakistan from the 3rd century BC to the 12th century AD.
Kahar Barat believes that there is "absolutely no Chinese influence" in the Buddhist culture of these places. He said that in fact, the construction style of Buddhist temples in the Tang Dynasty was modeled after that of India, so it is an exaggeration to say that the Mora Buddha ruins modeled the temple construction style of the Tang Dynasty. But Chinese state media claims that "Buddhism flourished in Sulegh (Kashgar) during the Han-Tang period, and that Buddhism and Han Buddhism were popular in Theravada." However, Professor Johan Elverskog said that it is clear that the construction of Mora Temple was not built in the Chinese style, but in the Indian style.
"If you look at the construction of the Moravian temple, it is very clear that it was not built in the Chinese style," says Johan Elverskog. It is clear that the North West Indian style is prominent in this construction. This place is the main source of Buddhist culture, especially Hotan Buddhism. They did not translate Buddhist texts from Chinese. Thus, Buddhist iconography (pictorial art) was modeled on the Northwest Indian model in absolute terms.
However, the pre-Islamic history of the Uyghur region in China, especially the Buddhist era, has been further expanded since Xi Jinping's call to build a "common consciousness of the Chinese nation" by linking Uyghur Buddhism with Han and Tang Buddhism, restoring many Buddhist ruins and turning them into famous tourist attractions. strengthened. Analysts say Chinese authorities are using the region's Buddhist past as a "spiritual common ground" to build a "common consciousness of the Chinese nation".
Xia Ming, a political science professor at the City University of New York in the United States, points out that China's interpretation of historical Uyghur Buddhism by linking it to Chinese Buddhism shows the tendency of the Chinese Communist Party to seek its current legitimacy from Chinese dynasties dating back thousands of years.
Professor Xia Ming said in an interview on June 17: "In fact, the Chinese Communist Party is looking for its legitimacy from the feudal dynasties. His notions that his creations were millennia ago or even eternal are a fundamental denial of human nature. From that point of view, any point of view of the Chinese Communist Party is against human nature.
Xia Ming pointed out that this is the highest point of two hundred years of the Chinese Communist Party regime, which shows the lack of legitimacy of its regime.
Professor Xia Ming therefore stated that the Chinese Communist Party of China is selectively using aspects of Chinese history that are favorable to them. Xia Ming says: "Looking at the thousands of years of China's history, you can see that the Chinese Communist Party will pick and choose any historical node and talk about it if it is useful to them. For example, he often emphasizes that the Qin Dynasty unified China and the Han-Tang Dynasty brought prosperity. »
Xia Ming pointed out that the Chinese Communist Party views the Han Tang Dynasty's relationship with neighboring countries and regions as a kind of "subjugation and conquest" relationship.
Experts point out that Uyghur Buddhism originated in India, but Al-Alimdari, who is in charge of Chinese ethnic affairs, points out that Chinese culture is the most important guiding factor in the region. On June 12, at the international conference entitled "Xinjiang's history and future", Pan Yue, director of the Chinese National Ethnic Affairs Committee, gave a speech and explained the starting point of understanding the history and culture of the Uyghur region to the participants. It turns out that Pan Yu said: "Although Xinjiang's culture is diverse, it exists in unity, and the most important factor that unites them is Chinese culture." He emphasized that in order to understand the history and culture of the Uyghur region, "Xinjiang should be studied from the perspective of the common history of the Chinese nation and the multi-polar unity of the Chinese nation, and Xinjiang should be understood from the perspective of a region where many cultures and religions coexist and ethnic groups live together." However, Professor Johan Elverskog, in addition to the terrible things that have happened in Xinjiang since 2017, described the Chinese government's attitude towards the region's history as "historical terrorism" or "rewriting the history" of the region.
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