哈密大像窟遗迹新探

A New Exploration of the Remains of the Large Buddha Caves in Hami

开凿大像窟是哈密地区佛教建筑、造像艺术的突出特征。哈密现存大像窟遗迹主要集中在今哈密东部、天山南麓的庙尔沟佛寺遗址,本文对其形制、造像题材、窟内装饰、营建背景等分析后认为,庙尔沟大像窟始建于唐安史之乱之前,与唐代大规模经营西域战略有紧密的关联。唐代中原地区的弥勒信仰经河西走廊向西域传播在哈密留下痕迹,遂使哈密大像窟既融合了龟兹大像窟的形制特点,又与中原佛教信仰、塑造弥勒大像以及河西弥勒造像风格一脉相连。

The construction of large Buddha caves together with statues of a sitting Maitreya Buddha was a prominent feature of the Buddhist architecture of the Hami region.The extant remains of the large Buddha caves of Hami are mainly concentrated in the Miaoergou Cave Temple site located in the east of Hami,and at the southern foot of Tianshan Mountain.By analyzing and studying the form,themes,decoration and construction history of the caves,this paper concludes that the large Buddha caves at the Miaoergou site were built prior to the An-Shi Rebellion in the Tang dynasty,and were closely related to the Tang dynasty's strategy of managing the Western Regions on a large scale.The Tang dynasty belief in Maitreya from the Central Plains spread westwards along the Hexi Corridor and left its traces in Hami,which led to both an integration of the form and structural characteristics of the large Buddha caves from Qiuci(Kucha),and an inheritance of the style of Maitreya statuary from the Hexi and Central Plains regions.