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Vignato. Qizil: an Interpretation of District Six, Caves 109-121 in Gunei
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Figure 2. Plan, prospect and photograph of District Six. (Photograph: © Staatliche Museen
zu Berlin, Museum für Asiatische Kunst/Photograph)
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Vignato. Qizil: an Interpretation of District Six, Caves 109-121 in Gunei
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First is the group formed by Caves 120 and 121. It is carved in a high posi-
tion on the cliff and is visible from a relative distance. Cave 120 is a small
square cave well plastered with no traces of paintings. Its shape and size
suggest it was a meditation cell. Cave 121 is a regular monastic cell, the
front wall of the main chamber has completely collapsed, but the fireplace
well preserved. Note the location, Cave 121, a monastic cell, overlooks the
only entrance into the district. This sort of cell, which might have served
as a residence for a gatekeeper or guardian, is a common feature in the
rock monasteries of Kuča.
The group is currently inaccessible. A major collapse occurred during
the monastic period. The cliff face collapsed for a depth of approximately
three meters. This caused significant damage to not only the original tun-
nelled staircase, traces of which are still extant, but also the stone carved
antechamber of the group. The staircase was subsequently restored and a
cantilevered timber structure was built in front of the two caves to replace
the antechamber. Through these repairs, the two caves could be still kept
in use (Fig. 3).
Figure 3. Caves 120 (center, upper position) and 121 (right). Note the straightened section
of the rock and the traces of carved steps below Cave 120. Notice also the postholes used
for the restoration of the stairway as well as those used for the installation of the soffit of a
cantilevered structure above the doorway of Cave 121. Cave 119 (right) is below and to the
left; Cave 119A I in front of it, covered by wooden poles
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Vignato. Qizil: an Interpretation of District Six, Caves 109-121 in Gunei
Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale, 52, 2016, pp. 145-172
ISSN 2385-3042
Below and to the west lies Cave 119. It is a large cave that has so far
evaded any significant scholastic attention. Its final incarnation appears to
have been as a lecture hall. The abundant construction marks still extant
allow for a clear reconstruction of the transformation and development of
this cave. The antechamber has a longitudinal rectangular plan. The front
section of the chamber is damaged. It is comparatively small for such a
large main chamber. Even more unusual is the presence of two entrances.
One, a doorway leads straight through the main wall into the main cham-
ber, while the other, carved into the right wall of the antechamber, leads
to a short corridor which then turns ninety degrees before entering the
main chamber through its front wall. A closer examination reveals that
the main chamber was created by merging two smaller and independent
caves, each of which had its own entrance. At some point the requirement
for a cave of this type and function was deemed so important to the func-
tioning of this district that two smaller caves (storages?) were sacrificed
in its construction. The importance of the cave can be inferred from the
numerous renovations it underwent, which I detail below (Fig. 4).
Figure 4. Plan of Cave 119.
The dotted lines indicate the size
of two original cells which were
successively merged into one cave
in a late period
Cave 119A was discovered in 2000 in front of Cave 119. The cave has par-
tially collapsed. Only part of the main chamber and a narrow tunnel with
four small cells opening on its main and side walls are extant (Xinjiang Qiuci
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Vignato. Qizil: an Interpretation of District Six, Caves 109-121 in Gunei
151
shiku yanjiusuo 2001, pp. 62-63; Howard, Vignato 2015, pp. 87-97). Although
asymmetrical and without traces of plaster, it can be interpreted as a medi-
tation cave, since comparable caves can be found in the Kuča area (Fig. 5).
Figure 5. Cave 119A, plan and
section. Adapted from: Xinjiang
Qiuci shiku yanjiusuo 2001, p. 61
Caves 116, 117 and 118 take up the central section of the cliff face. They
are carved at different levels and relatively far from one another. Any likely
connecting passages between the caves were lost in the collapse of the
cliff face. There is nothing to indicate a unified plan. All three are square
caves are markedly different in size, plan (of both the antechamber and
the main chamber), and ceiling type. All three caves were decorated in
Style A (First Indo-Iranian Style), forming the highest concentration of
decorated caves in the district. The narrative and layout of the décor of
each of the three caves is different.
Cave 118 is unique in several ways. Starting with the stone carved an-
techamber which shows signs of having collapsed and been successively
remodelled. The ceiling of the main chamber is a transversal barrel vaulted
ceiling, unusual in a square cave. The carving of this cave is exception-
ally precise. This can best seen when looking back at the front wall of the
main chamber. From this perspective the matching oblique angles of the
lintels of the doorway and both windows can be clearly observed. Such
mathematical attention to detail is not found in any other cave in Kuča.
The layout of the décor is also unique. The centre of the main wall, op-
posite to the doorway, is decorated with a single scene – the Story of King
Māndhātar enclosed within one of the largest and most complex decorative
frames in Kuča (Satomi Hiyama 2010). A band of decoration (circa 40 cm
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